Sweet Revenge

Jay ate his breakfast in silence, enjoying his solitude. He cleared his plate and dusted the table, Sonia hated it when he did not clean up after himself. He left for work without even so much as glancing at Sonia who was fast asleep. Jay hated being an editor for “The Express” and the fact that “The Express” was the worst selling paper in Mumbai only added to his misery but he was thankful for the job as it gave him a chance to be away from Sonia. Work was his only oasis in the dreadful desert that his life had become.

Traffic in Mumbai was growing at a faster rate than India’s population. Jay stopped yelling at the car in front of him and turned on the radio to hear the voice of Eric Clapton crooning ‘Wonderful Tonight’. Jay smiled to himself as this was the song that he had sung when he proposed to Sonia back in college. He couldn’t believe how fast things had happened back then. He had met Sonia at an inter-college tennis tournament and everyone was surprised how Sonia who was an amateur player had managed to beat last year’s champion, Jay. He remembered how embarrassed he had felt when Sonia had met him after the match and had casually commented “You would have won if you had concentrated more on the ball and less on my legs”. They had dated for a month after that and then on the last day of college Jay had proposed to Sonia and they got married that December.

They had always been a mismatch but Jay had been too mesmerized by Sonia’s beauty to ever notice it. The spell finally wore of in their second year of marriage and then the fights had started. They fought about everything, right from Jay’s habit of admiring every beautiful girl that he saw to trivial issues like leaving the towel on the bed after a bath. Things had only gotten worse in the last 2 years and they now slept in separate rooms and the only conversations that they had revolved around whose turn it was to pay the bills or some other task that they had decided to divide amongst themselves.

There were nights when Jay stayed over at Cindy’s. Cindy was his secretary and it was their affair’s first anniversary today which reminded Jay that he had to buy her that sexy lingerie set that she had wanted. He wondered if Sonia ever missed him and he pictured Sonia answering “Like a hole in her head” which made him laugh.

Jay reached office and spent the entire day sifting through articles to be published in the weekend edition of the paper. At seven, he remembered that he was supposed to meet Cindy for dinner. He rushed home to change into something more apt for dinner stopping on the way to pick up a bunch of red roses.

The house was cloaked in darkness when Jay reached home. “Great, Hitler’s not home yet, I should slip out before she gets back” said Jay. He switched on the lights and saw that there were some papers kept on the dining table along with a bright red envelope. Jay opened the envelope and instantly recognized Sonia’s handwriting. “This isn’t a love letter for sure” mumbled jay and sat down to read the note,

“Jay, I have had enough of this life and I think it’s about time we parted ways. I have known about your affair with Cindy for a year now and the detective I hired has gathered enough proof to ensure that I can get everything in the divorce settlement. Please see the pictures enclosed along with this letter and if you do not want them to be published in all the newspapers of the city (including yours) then sign the divorce papers and also be ready to sign over the house and car to me.

P.S. I hope she was worth it.

-Sonia”

The hollowness of his marriage struck Jay after reading the note. He wasn’t upset about losing his wife; the only thing that was making him sad was losing the house that his father had left to him in his will. Jay called Cindy to tell her that it was over. Ironic, how he lost his wife and girlfriend on the same day.

Jay moved into a small 1-BHK apartment the next week. Sonia had taken everything. Jay was glad that she at least let him keep his clothes. His hatred for Sonia knew no bounds and the thought of Sonia living in his father’s house made his blood boil every single time. All that Jay wanted was revenge but he had no clue about how to get it. Jay decided to go to sleep and he got into bed with Jeffery Archer’s new novel and then after reading for a while he suddenly sat up and started laughing hysterically. He would have his revenge and the opportunity had been staring him right in the face, literally.

Jay stopped over at Hadim’s (the most famous chemist in India) on Thursday and he purchased 500 grams of “Japanese Knotweed”. He then proceeded to buy a black tracksuit and a flashlight and waited for nightfall to come.

Sonia had a habit of going to her mother’s house every Thursday night and Jay knew that he had all night to carry out his plan. He took his time drilling holes into the house knowing that no-one would bother him as their neighbors were holidaying in Rome. He then placed small balls of “Japanese Knotweed” into all the holes that he had made and prepared to leave. He stopped to take a look at the house and a small tear rolled down his eyes when he thought about how he was destroying what his father had build but then it would all be worth it when Sonia would realize that the house that she had clawed out of his hands was now worthless. He would have the last laugh.

Archer and a little googling had educated Jay about “Japanese Knotweed”. It is a special weed which if discovered on any building site can cause the site to become worthless. It eats its way into a building’s foundations, even reinforced concrete causing the entire building to come crumbling down in about ten years. The only way to destroy the weed is to set fire to the entire building.

Jay sent an anonymous letter to the Mumbai Housing Safety Board (MHSB) on Friday to carry out a safety survey of Sonia’s house and then waited. Sweet revenge was on its way.

It had been 2 weeks since his call and Sonia hadn’t called. Jay was both anxious and irritated. Had his plan failed? “It can’t be. I followed all the instructions I found on the internet and the “Japanese weed” was of the highest quality” said Jay to himself. He called the MHSB to discover that they hadn’t been able to carry out the inspection as yet. He threw his whiskey glass against the wall causing broken pieces to fly in all directions. “I wish the bitch would just die” yelled Jay and then the phone began to ring.

It was Sonia’s mother. “There’s been an accident…” she said and started sobbing. Jay’s heart stopped. A million thoughts crossed his mind. “Had the chemical caused the house to come down on Sonia so soon? Will I go to jail? I didn’t mean to kill her. I was…” He was brought back to reality by Sonia’s mother’s voice on the other end of the line. “She was driving to work and a lorry crashed into her car, she was so young…” was all she managed to say before she hung up.

The next day Jay received a letter from Sonia’s lawyer. He burst into tears after reading it. Maybe it was because he realized that he missed Sonia or maybe because he realized how unfortunate he really was.

Sonia had modified her will after the divorce and she had arranged for the house to be transferred back to Jay in her will.

—THE END—

Note: “Japanese Knotweed” has been picked up from ‘A Prisoner of Birth’ by Jeffrey Archer.

By Chitresh Sinha