Adultery Priya Didi

[shailu4ever]

Scene: Monday – Sad Morning continued

 

Ravi stood in the corridor outside Flat 401, his legs refusing to move, his eyes fixed on the half-open door. The air felt heavy, still, almost sacred. The faint murmur of voices inside, the subdued sobs, the sound of people moving around, everything blurred into a dull hum. His heart thudded in his chest, slow and painful, as though it were struggling to accept what his mind already knew.
 
Vamsi, Neetu, and Sirisha were gone.
 
The words echoed in his head, senseless and cruel. Only yesterday, he had heard Neetu’s laughter float down the corridor. Only yesterday, Sirisha had teased him over messages. Vamsi had called him for a movie. And now, all that warmth, that familiar presence, was erased in an instant.
 
He stood there as the mortal remains arrived in the mortuary van, the sound of the engine breaking the silence of the building. The driver and two attendants opened the back doors slowly, and the sight of the covered bodies made something inside him collapse. He wanted to move closer, to see their faces one last time, to tell them something, anything, but his feet would not obey. His throat burned.
 
The relatives, Vamsi’s uncles, cousins, and a few family friends, had gathered by then. Their faces were pale, their eyes hollow, their voices mechanical as they handled the formalities with the security officer and the building association. Ravi helped where he could, signing a form, holding a bag, fetching water, his body moving on instinct while his mind refused to register what was happening.
 
When the van doors opened, he found himself standing a few steps away, his hands trembling. The sheets were lifted one by one, and with each glimpse, a wave of disbelief washed over him. Vamsi, the man who was always full of jokes and stories, now lay utterly still. Neetu, whose voice had once filled the air with warmth, looked serene, too serene. And Sirisha, the bright, lively girl who had brought laughter to every room, was silent, her innocence frozen in time.
 
The courtyard of the apartment complex was filled with people now, neighbors, relatives, bystanders. No one spoke loudly. Even the children playing near the gate had gone quiet. The only sounds were the soft instructions of the men arranging the transfer vehicle that would take them to their native place in rural Andhra Pradesh.

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