Superstar: Horn OK Please (17 page)

“I know you had a nightmare. It’s alright, Chief. We’re alive. I know what you saw last night in your dream”, said Lobsang, as she hugged me, “You just saw what could have happened had we not had you morons in our lives. Love conquers everything. It was a boon that you morons had upset Jenny and she decided to meet the Wolfman ahead of time!”

Derek let out a whistle; it was a huge relief for him. Hound looked at Derek and sniggered.

“Why did I see what I just saw, Lobsang?” I said, still holding both of them tight, “And where is that old bag of bones, that lovable witch of a Nanny? Is she alright?”

“You saw exactly what would have happened had Jenny made a deal with the Wolfman” said Lobsang grimly, as she pulled away from me, “The truth is – she hasn’t! Else, we wouldn’t be alive now”.

“So what does it really mean then?” I asked, not knowing fully what she said.

“I don’t know. But what it could mean is that today is going to be a very long day”, said Lobsang, ever talking in riddles and I hated her for it.

“Wakey! Wakey! Grab your coffee”, said broomstick Nanny as she walked in through the door, pushing a trolley that had three pots of steaming coffee. She was wearing a garishly pink skirt that clashed violently with her pink lipstick. Her pink-painted fingernails seemed to be at war with her pink sandals.

Maybe, Jenny should have struck a deal with the Devil. It did seem like a welcome thought then…

***
 

CHAPTER TWELVE

***

***

Roses are red and violets are blue,

She would turn 23 tonight, she felt brand new,

She was bathed in love; she didn’t know what to say,

In her entire life, today was her happiest day;

For a fleeting moment, hope shone through,

They’d give it their best shot; they did what they could do,

They planned a simple plan, that’s how they went about it all,

They had to try to save her, set things right by nightfall;

It would come; the Beast shall demand its share,

No mistakes or she would die, they wouldn’t dare;

They wanted her to live; they had it all figured out,

For life is ‘bout living, that’s true without any doubt;

Happiness; friendship for others, it was love for some,

Just before the darkest hour, soon the Beast would come;

Everything planned out, they were ready to fight,

A prayer for the dying, it was the darkest night;

And they wait in anticipation, to save her soul,

Few minutes to midnight, soon it was time to Rock ‘n’ Roll;

But if smiles and Imagination makes you say ‘Cheese’

Drive on, that’s the spirit of Horn OK Please…

***

A celebration:

The morning rays of the sun shone through the balcony window as though they were all out to please the Mansion of the Gods today. After all, Jenny would turn 23 tonight and maybe today would be the last time the sun would shine in the D’Silva household, draped in shadows. I had a wicked plan.

“Wake up, lazy bones, it’s time to rise and shine”, said Cathy, rudely shaking his shoulder. Derek lazily opened his eyes to realize that the world had already woken up and was hell bent on not allowing him to sleep any longer. He wondered what a woman was doing in his arms still when it was morning.

“Ah! You two make an awesome pair”, said Lobsang, as she clasped both her hands and feigned to swoon at the sight of the dreamy couple. Jenny looked as snug as a bug in a rug cuddled up next to Derek.

“My ass! Jenny would have looked a lot better with me any day. If only she had better taste when it came to men”, said Hound, painfully aware of the fact that the woman he was in love with was ga-ga over his buddy.

Goose laughed and said, “Real men? If Jenny had taste, she would go after a real man like me! You guys are just dumb mutton chops on legs”, looking at me as I nodded in agreement unable to suppress a smile. Was the love triangle turning into a rhombus?

“Well, isn’t anybody going to ask me what I want?” said Jenny, sleepily rubbing her face as she got up from the sofa and walked towards Nanny, “How I wish I could date all of you like in ancient times!”

Goose guffawed at the retort as Derek and Hound looked on dumbstruck.

“Well, what do you want, my beautiful angel?” said matchstick Nanny, as she handed her a mug of steaming coffee. She reminded me of that witch from Snow white, doling out poison apples as she went around the room serving coffee. Maybe, she had chanced upon the secret recipes finally. The pink old bat was full of glee today.

“Alright, all of you better listen to me today. It’s my birthday eve after all!” said Jenny as she pinned up her hair and walked towards the balcony. She looked breathtakingly beautiful when the morning rays of sunlight kissed her face. A lone strand of hair ventured out of the bun, only to be lost in the beauty of her divine face. It caressed her cheek now and then. Her hair glowed with a golden tinge as sunrays landed softly on her tresses. In every way, she looked like a goddess.

“So what’s it going to be? What do you want?” I said, wondering what else is going to be taken away from stupid vacation infested with ghosts and demons in this evil Mansion of the Gods.

“Chief, it’s going to be the other way round today. Let me go to my room and freshen up first, I have a gift for each one of you. It’s happy thanksgiving the way I see it”, said Jenny gleefully as she saw bright faces all around the room. I felt like a turkey then.

“You do that, angel face, but first, let’s all grab some breakfast. We’ve got to plan for the fireworks tonight”, said Hound. Lines of concern showed on his face as he gently kissed Jenny on her cheek.

“Don’t you worry, Hound, I know exactly what I’m going to do. Now stop worrying.“ We headed out to grab some breakfast. Derek was seething in anger.

For us, a well-balanced breakfast would be cornflakes with almonds and fruits soaked in chilled Redbull. Milk be damned, if they choose, they can put it back into the cows or packets or wherever it comes from.  Add a few brown toasts dripping with melted cheese and eggs over, easy by the side. Wash it down with another can of Redbull and nicotine. Hell! That’s what our breakfast had been for many moons on the road.

Jenny was back in her room alone, fresh as a daisy now as she took out her diary and wrote about her encounter with the Wolfman. She felt happy as her words filled the pages of her diary.

Sunny side up:

It was close to noon as we sat around the open, airy balconies of the mansion that opened out to the pool. It was a beautiful day, better than any other day in the Mansion of the Gods. I took in the picturesque surroundings of the tea, coffee and spice plantations that surrounded the D’Silva mansion just beyond the golf course. It didn’t fit right to think that I’d come here to write, Derek had come here to play golf, Goose had come here to click snaps of wildlife and Hound had come here to compile his poetry. I wondered what had bitten me in my nuts to have even vaguely suggested this place for a destination.

“Surprise!!” exclaimed Jenny, as she walked into the airy balcony where we were lounging, lazing and enjoying the perfect day so far. “Here, Goose, this is for you”, said Jenny, as she thrust out a neatly packaged gift in Goose’s hands, “You morons are the last ones to receive gifts from me, others already have received their goodies!”

“Ah! There you are! You took your own sweet time to join us, didn’t you? Busy writing in your diary, I suppose?” I said, wondering why she took so long for her make up. Anyway, she looked exactly the same as she did an hour ago. Jenny smiled at me and said nothing.

“Hey! Thank you, gorgeous, now that you’re playing Santa Claus today, what’s in this packet?” asked Goose, as he took the packet from Jenny’s hands and went about tearing the gift wrapper with glee the way a 5-year old would have.

It contained a set of albums of animals, birds, plants and insects that were ever spotted around the D’Silva estate. Some of the pictures were in black and white too. Jenny had given her most prized collection to the wannabe nature photographer. Goose stared at it for some time and exclaimed, “This is just wonderful, Jenny, I’m so touched! But this would mean your years of work around the estate and you wish to give it all away to me?”

“Why not, Goose? Aren’t you the wild one anyway? I hope these pictures inspire you to become an awesome wildlife photographer someday soon, become all rich and famous. Then you could take me out on a date and thank me for it. Won’t you, you sexy hunk of a man?” said Jenny, smiling, knowing fully well that the gift had Goose overwhelmed. Goose blushed and nodded as he gave a big bear hug of gratitude to the beautiful woman.

Jenny turned to Hound and handed him a neat packet of thickly bound books and said, “Here, Hound, this is for you. I hope you like it. I know you came here to this place to compile your scattered poems. I hope these will inspire you. Not that they’re anything great, but it’s a compilation of every rhyme I’ve written till date. Sometimes, I write. Now you must promise me that someday, you will write the most awesome piece of poetry for me. I love you for loving me, Hound”, said Jenny, as she put her arms around Hound and tears welled up in her eyes.

Hound stood like a big, fat ape, not knowing how to respond. She’d taken him by complete surprise today and he somehow managed to mumble out something that sounded like “Thank…you” as she turned and walked towards me.

“Here, Chief. This is for you”, said Jenny, as she placed a small box in my hands, “It was given to me by my father on Father’s day when I turned 6. He’d left it for me to open this box when I could start writing. I’m giving this to you for this is a magic pen, or so he said. Your words will flow beautifully when you use this pen to write with. Please don’t sell it off on eBay, Chief?”

I tore open the box to stare at the most exquisite piece of art in my hands. I took the thick, heavy, golden pen in my hands. It seemed handcrafted to perfection.

“This is so precious, Jenny. He sure must have loved you a lot”, I said, amazed at how beautifully heavy the pen was. It was magical no doubt. I promised Jenny that I wouldn’t sell it off on eBay. Of course, I know of other good places to sell stuff. But not this pen, I wouldn’t sell it. I cared for Jenny.

“Chief, my Dad loved me lots. My mom used to tell me that he called me his
‘Superstar’
, he wanted me to become one”, she said, misty-eyed as I wrapped my arms around her to comfort her. I wouldn’t have normally accepted such a gift from anyone, but Jenny was special in a very nice way.

In just a few days, we’d all grown to love her. If it hadn’t been for Derek, Hound and maybe Goose, I’d have fallen in love with Jenny myself. But since the queue was very long and I couldn’t kill my friends, I chose to stay moored in the friendship zone.

“What’s for me, doll? Where’s my stuff?” said Derek, grabbing Jenny by her arms and planting a kiss on her beautiful lips.

“The most special gift is for you, you big, dumb, beast! I give you my heart for keeps”, said Jenny, pulling away from him as she fished out a leather diary. It contained her very personal and intimate thoughts.

“Oh, No! Not another diary please!” howled Derek, utterly dismayed by his gift, “Everyone else gets something cool and I get to read another diary, gorgeous? Hell! I’m not even through with Winston’s diaries”.

The dismay showed on Jenny’s face as she said pleadingly, “Please take it, Derek, I’ve bared my soul to you. I’ve written about everything that’s ever mattered to me in this lifetime. You mean the world to me, Derek. I love you so much! Please don’t say no?” begged Jenny.

It was the perfect gift for the perfect fool. No one could love Derek more than Jenny and that fool was too stuck up to know.

“You make her cry today and I’ll punch you in the head”, said Hound, stepping in, “Take it. And learn to respect the lady!” Derek sheepishly accepted the gift as Jenny locked her arm in his and got down from the balcony as both of them walked towards the golf course. I could see Jenny talking all the way while Derek seemed to be admiring the golf course.

Jenny was extra chirpy and happy today. That’s something that I never like about people. I mean, it scares you shitless when they’re overly buoyant, doesn’t it? She seemed like a dim bulb glowing extra bright just before the fuse, dumb enough to fall in love with Derek, too smart for the others. I decided to be extra sure that we had a perfect plan. Jenny told us about the meeting with the Wolfman at Siem Reap and how scared she had been. He had spoken to her and given her two choices.

The useless stray wolf of a man had asked her to murder Derek or Hound – the freaking jerk of a Devil. At least this is what I got out of what she said. I knew Jenny had something in her mind when she laid out the perfect plan. But there was something about her behavior today that bothered us all.

She’d said that only when the Wolfman had touched her with his cold, clammy hand by mistake, did something inside her wake up and she got all the answers at the blink of his evil eye. Now, whether the Wolfman had pawed her on purpose or not, we’d never know. But Jenny had explained that she now knew the weakness of the Winston and her Doppelganger. She’d said that we would have to use their weakness if we were to attempt doing away with the evil ones.

We were soon joined by Cathy and Lobsang. We sat in the Crystal Room and chatted up. They’d gone out for a stroll and now they looked fresh and beautiful. Cathy looked attractive despite of her age while Lobsang was born beautiful.

Simple plan:

“I know what you’re thinking, Chief”, said Lobsang as she came and stood by my side, flanked by Cathy on the other. She always freaked me out when she said that. I mean, it’s not normal that someone walks up to you every day and tells you that they know what you’re thinking.

Goose stared at her as Lobsang said, “Passion is a weakness too. In fact, whatever you are passionate about, the Wolfman shall use it against you for he is just another stooge of the Devil. So the ones you love or are loved by, shall be used by the Wolfman against you. He wants you to have a distraction, pure and simple”.

“How does this theory help? What’s your point?” I asked, rattled by the sheer nakedness of my puny brain that seemed to have been so skillfully dissected by Lobsang.

“Look, Chief, the point is clear. Jenny’s weakness is the Wolfman’s strength and her strength is the Wolfman’s weakness. The moment she falters, the Doppelganger would walk in and rip her apart. But what if we were to come up with a plan that would distract Winston with Jenny’s Doppelganger? Wouldn’t that be cool? And that’s precisely what Lobsang is trying to tell you!” said Cathy, looking exasperated.

“Can we all speak in plain English please? Simple enough for us to understand?” said Goose; obviously the logic went way over his head. He wasn’t the only one. I just pretended to look wise as I nodded my head in agreement. I continued to look at Lobsang with the most intelligent look I could have managed then.

Hound sat ensconced in a comfortable beanbag. I swear he looked like Simba, the Lion King, just chillin’ out on top of the rock on a bright, sunny day. He was listening to every word being spoken, a few of them being registered by Goose and I. He seemed amused. Probably, he was in awe of our collective wisdom when we had two loony chicks telling us how to confuse the Devil.

“You see, from what we’ve seen in the past few days is that the Doppelganger hates fire. Jenny can control fire; she can do whatever she wants with it. Next, the evil Winston is just a minion of the Wolfman. He is just a pawn. The real battle is between Jenny and the Wolfman, if I were to say so. We know that Winston is waiting for the clock to strike midnight before he will try to take away Jenny’s free will first and then suck out her soul. He will then let Jenny’s Doppelganger take the body. Jenny’s Doppelganger will become an exact replica of Jenny at midnight tonight, just that it won’t have her soul. If we can trick her to walk into the ‘Circle of Light’ before midnight, she would be trapped inside the wall of fire. The spirit of Winston in the beast will jump into the circle of fire to kill the Doppelganger, mistaking it for Jenny. It is an animal after all! The trick is to figure out how to trap it inside a wall of fire and let the beastly wolf take her down. That will give Jenny time to escape!” said Lobsang excitedly, almost jumping for joy.