A favour

My life was in shambles.

The Great Recession had taken everything from me. I was laid off from my job. The small business I ran on the side went belly up. My girlfriend of over a year, with whom I had begun to envision a future, dumped me. Mainly because of my grim financial situation.

I couldn't pay back my loans, and lost my apartment. I also had to sell my car and was forced to move into a tiny studio apartment in a sketchy part of town.

In just a few months my life had been flushed down the toilet. I couldn't believe things could get so bad.

I was able to find a job that paid just enough for me to survive. Every day, I woke up, maybe ate breakfast, went to work, finished my shift, went home, had something to eat and went to sleep. For the first few months, I just existed this way like a zombie.

Then the anger began to surface. I was passed off almost all the time. I was angry at life. At the economy. At the woman I thought I loved.

Soon enough anger turned to agony. And I became desperate to numb the pain. I did this by hitting the bottle. Hard. I'd get drunk almost every day and so, unsurprisingly, I showed up to work drunk one day and was fired.

I had hit rock bottom and if I didn't find another job, I'd soon be homeless. I was alone and drowning in my own misery and self pity.

Well, not completely alone.

I did speak to my neighbour, Arun occasionally. He too was a victim of the economy. But he was handling his situation way better than I was dealing with mine.

Arun ended up saving my life.

I was running out of money. I knew that with my alcoholism, it was very unlikely that I'd find another job. I knew I wasn't going to be able to make rent the next month. So I decided to take the easy way out.

I slit my wrists and lay in bed, waiting to bleed to death.
Just as I was fading out, I saw Arun's face. Just before the world turned dark.

I woke up in a hospital. Arun was right there. He told me he had come over to ask me if he could borrow a screwdriver and found me bleeding.

I began to weep out of shame and guilt.

But Arun assured me that I didn’t need to be ashamed. That we were friends and we'd fight together. He said something to me that has stuck with me to this day.

"You've hit rock bottom. Now the only way togo is up!"

Impossible as it seemed at the time, my life did begun to improve with the help of my friend and saviour.

I went into a government funded rehab programme. And with Arun's help, I slowly began to come out of the grip that alcohol had on me. He also helped me with money until I found another low paying job. What helped me the most was seeing Arun's perseverance. He just would not give up, no matter what life threw at him. I drew strength from his strength.

Soon, I began to feel human again.

Fast forward about three years later, I was running my own start up delivering food. Arun's career had also started taking off as he landed a stable job at a tech company.

Around this time I also met the love of my life and future wife, Ragini. She worked part time at another office in the same building as my company's office. She was working on getting her Master's Degree.

My business was gaining momentum but i wasn't making a lot of money. Ragini didn't care. She liked me and that was all that mattered to her. I took this as a good sign and we became exclusive. In the months that followed, we would fall deeply in love.

Arun top had met his future wife, Alia.

He and I would attend each other's weddings. We would both become fathers. I, to two wonderful children, a daughter and a son. And Arun to a beautiful daughter.

Before we knew it, a decade had passed.

By now, Arun and I weren't able to talk on a daily basis. We lived in different parts of the city and were busy with our families and work. But we did check in on each other ever so often.

I knew that Arun and Alia's married was going through a rough patch. They had decided to separate, and Arun had moved into an apartment close to the home they used to share. Their daughter Reva, now six years old, stayed with her mother.

I was concerned about my best friend. I knew this separation was hurting him deeply. Even though he tried to keep any pain he felt out of his voice, I could tell that he was heartbroken.

Then one night, I recieved a call from him.

"Raj, come meet me in the parking lot at the mall. I need your help with something."

I was apprehensive, but this was my best friend. The man who had saved my life. Of course I would help him. Ragini stirred beside me, and asked what was wrong. I kissed her and assured her that everything was fine and that Arun just wanted to talk. I told her to go back to sleep and that I'd be back soon.

I drove to the vacant parking lot of the mall that was located just a short distance from my home.

I could see Arun's car parked there. I walked over and got in.

"Arun, what's going on man? Everything OK?"

Arun looked pale. His eyes were swollen. Possibly from crying.

"No." He replied in a shaky voice, "everything's not fine. I did something. And I need your help."

"You did something? Something illegal?"

"Yes. I need you to help me move something. And help me clean out the trunk of my car."

Now, I was frightened. What did Arun do?

I had a terrifying feeling that the thing in his car that he needed moved, was a dead body.

"What's in the car, Arun?" I asked, "is it..... is it a body?"

"Not one. Two." Arun said, multiplying my horror, "It's Alia. And the guy I caught her in bed with."

"Arun! Fuck! Fuck man! What the fuck did you do??" I nearly yelled at him.

"I had suspected for a while that she was seeing another man. Reva is at her grandparent's place, so I figured i might catch the scumbag with Alia tonight. And i did. The moment i saw them in our home, in our bed, i lost it. I took out my gun and shot both of them in the head."

He said all this as I listened in sheer disbelief.

"Are you gonna help me?" He asked again, "I can't go to jail, Raj. I can't let Reva grow up without a father."

I'm ashamed to admit that for a second, I considered helping him.

He was my best friend. He saved my life. How could I let him go to prison?

Arun himself didn't bring up what he had done for me. I don't think he had even thought of it. But that didn't change the fact that I felt so indebted to him.

Thankfully, better sense prevailed.

"I can't help you Arun. I can't help you cover for murder. You need to turn yourself in."

"No" He replied simply.

"You're on your own then" I said, before trying to exit the car.

Before I could get out, I felt the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of my neck.

"Raj, you know I can't let you leave now." Arun spoke in an eerily calm voice.

My heart was now pounding and I had broken into sweat.

Was Arun going to kill me just to cover up his crime?

Whoever this man was, I had to believe that my friend, my brother, was still in there somewhere. I had to try to reason with him.

"You're gonna end me too Arun? Would you be able to live with yourself? You couldn't leg me die all those years ago. Would you really be able to kill me now?"

Arun's eyes filled up and he began to tremble.

I continued.

"And even if you can. Then what? You'll have taken me away from Ragini. You say she's like a sister to you. Would you turn her world upside down? You say you can't let Reva grow up without a father. But you want that fate for my kids?"

Arun was sobbing now.

"She betrayed me, Raj. I loved her so much.... and she..."

"Arun, you need to turn yourself in. I assure you, Ragini and I will take care of Reva. She'll always be safe and loved."

He was silent for the next few seconds. I couldn't tell if I had convinced him to confess, or if he was still going to kill me.

Then he said, without looking at me, "Go. Just go".

I got out of his car, and drove him.

On the way I kept checking if Arun was following me. He wasn't.

I got home and told Ragini everything. We decided we needed to call the police.

Arun was sentenced to twenty years in prison. He might be out sooner if he behaves well in prison. Which actually seems likely.

I visit him often. He doesn't hold any kind of grudge against me. He always assures me that I had done the right thing.

Ragini and I are now raising Reva in our home. Whether she will be able to forgive her father when she comes of age, is anyone's guess. But my wife and I still try to make sure that she knows that her father loves her.

Don't get me wrong. What Arun did was despicable. Absolutely heinous. And he is getting the punishment that he deserves.

But he's still my best friend. He's still my brother. And I cannot help but love him as one.