Seema's Journey Ch. 06

"Shit!" Seema gasped. She rubbed her eyes. "Why did I fucking agree to you filming us? Fucking hell Jake. Fucking hell..." Seema weeped. She jammed her hand to her forehead. "Why are there people following us? What are they going to do?"

'I don't know Seems, but listen...Mo' is a bad fucker. You've seen what he enjoys doing with video cameras. And I think he's into stuff much, much worse~'

"Like what?"

'Well I don't know specifically,' Jake answered curtly. 'The spreadsheet means something, but...I don't know what. I just know he's not the kind of guy you would get on the wrong side of.'

Seema's deep concern threatened to boil over into pure panic. She wanted Simran to come back. As long as they were together, nothing would happen to her. Seema would protect her from anything and anyone. Just like Simran had done for her. Seema burst into tears, jigging up and down like a small child.

"Jake...," Seema sobbed. "You hit me...you hit me and you tried to rape me...why...why...why Jake?"

'Seems...' Jake's words were choked. 'Seems...all I can say is sorry...I was in a very bad place...you know that I~'

Seema cut the call. She took several deep breaths, closed her eyes and drew a trembling finger over the wet trails left by her tears. She immediately dialled Simran's home number, glancing nervously at her front door. Thankfully, Simran answered.

'Hi honey! Everything ok?'

"Oh, Sim...better for hearing your voice, that's for sure," Seema said. She clamped her eyes shut and pressed her fingers against them, holding her breath to stop herself from crying and betraying her panic.

'Aww, sweetheart. You sound wobbly. What's up, my love?'

Seema could hear the faint rustle of a beanbag chair as Simran sat down.

"Oh, nothing. Just missing you...really, really, really missing you, and really excited that we're going to live together."

'Missing you too babe. And I'm excited too. I've let the estate agents know, so...'

"So... you may as well move in here as soon as possible then." Seema finished. She pressed a finger over the microphone of the receiver to block any sounds, and sniffed at the snot running from her nose. Her chest reacted painfully to her held breath as she tried to stop herself crying out loud.

'Yeah!' Simran giggled. 'I'm not going to be much longer babe. Can't wait to get back to you.'

"Mmm, Sim. I'll see you in a bit then."

'Yeah, love you Seem. Are you ok?'

"Yeah fine...just come back babe. Love you too Sim."

#

Seema sat at the kitchen table in front of her laptop. She had the disc in the drive and had opened the spreadsheet. It didn't seem to make any sense. She couldn't tell whether it was a client list or just a portable address book. If it was a client list, it was certainly huge and varied. There were two columns, the left most was name and address and filled the sheet from top to bottom. The rightmost column was not full, but each name was aligned with either one or two entries from the left. The names in the rightmost column were all female, whilst the names in the leftmost were a mixture. Seema ran her fingers through her hair and exhaled slowly.

There was a rhythmic knock at the door. In one swift motion Seema ejected the disc from her laptop and buried the disc at the bottom of her laptop case. She ran to the door.

"Hi gorgeous!" Simran said, wrapping her arms around Seema as soon as the door was open.

"Ah, Sim...thank goodness..."

"What, you thought I wasn't coming back?" Simran chuckled. "You're stuck with me now babe!"

"Oh, I'm very pleased with that," Seema smiled, trying to hide her utter relief. She was about to kiss Simran when Bal' stuck his head around the door. "Oh..."

"Yeah, Dad's helped me bring some of my stuff over-"

"Hello again Seema...sorry to intrude-"

"No, no it's fine...come in." Seema felt a little more relief at Bal''s presence, knowing that he was handy with his fists.

#

"It is a nice apartment Seema," Bal' said as he sipped his cup of tea. He was obviously feeling awkward. Simran sat next to Seema on the edge of the sofa, arm draped over Seema's thighs. The conversation had been a little stilted, but Bal' seemed determined to appear to be comfortable, to his credit, Seema thought. He was almost succeeding.

"Thank you..."

"It'll be perfect for us for the time being," Simran said cheerfully. "I spend most of my time here anyway." She giggled, leaning in to Seema.

Bal' finished his tea in two big gulps. "Yes...yes...well, I will start bringing your things from the car Simran, yes?" Bal' stood up a little too quickly.

"I'll do it Dad, don't worry~"

"Tell you what, I'll give you a hand," Seema said to Bal. She stood up and turned to Simran, putting a hand affectionately on her shoulder. "You can start moving stuff around in the b... umm ... to fit your stuff in."

Simran chuckled as she caught Seema's meaning. "Ok."

"Ok," Bal' said, shuffling awkwardly on his feet. "Let's go."

Seema flicked a smile at Simran as she and Bal' made their way to the door. Seema wedged the door open and followed Bal' as he trundled out. She held her breath as they walked towards the steps, but was relieved when she saw that the sleek black Mercedes had gone. As they approached Bal''s car, Seema plucked up the courage to ask him some questions. This was the ideal opportunity, after all.

"Umm, can I talk to you about something, Ba- umm, Mr~"

"Please, call me Bal'," he said, waving a placating hand. He chuckled self-consciously. "Though...I'm not ready for 'Dad' yet."

Seema laughed nervously. "Ok...Bal'."

"Seema, please don't feel awkward. I am...ok with it, you know? What is it you want to talk about?" Bal' leant against the boot of his car, easily pushing the suspension down a few inches.

"Well...umm," Seema looked about nervously. She took a deep breath. As she told him everything about the disc and the numbers, Bal''s face turned a deep red, and his eyes glowered darkly. His body became tense as Seema told of the pictures and the videos. Seema's eyes moistened. "The thing is," she sobbed. "One of the videos was Sim...in the toilet..."

Seema stared at Bal'. He remained silent, his jaw tensing rhythmically. His eyes closed.

"Bal'?" Seema sniffed. Bal''s eyes remained closed as he sat motionless. "Thing is Bal', I don't want to tell Sim any of this. She thinks that it's over with now, and she's so happy...I don't want to spoil her happiness."

Bal' exhaled, his body relaxing. He glanced at Seema. "You are a good person Seema. I can see why my sweetness is... in love with you."

"Problem is, if I send the disc to the police, Sim will have to become involved," Seema started to weep. "And I don't want her finding out that he filmed her ... not after everything..."

Bal' reached out and placed his hand sympathetically on Seema's shoulder.

Seema continued. "I don't know what to do Bal'." Seema looked at him pleadingly. "What should I do? And what do those numbers mean?"

Bal' was silent. He looked away into the distance. Seema could see that within him, there was an almighty struggle going on. Bal' shook his head and laughed without humour. He rubbed his forehead vigorously, nodding and dipping his head to the struggle within. He stood up and paced around whilst Seema looked on, her confusion turning to worry. Bal' returned to lean heavily against the boot of his car. He fixed Seema with a stare full of hurt.

"I am not Simran's father," Bal' blurted suddenly. "He is. Mo', the bloody bastard...he is Simran's real father." Bal''s eyes became moist. "I have never spoken about this to anyone..."

"Wha ... What?" Seema said quietly in disbelief. Time seemed to suddenly stand still.

"Those numbers you were given. It is the birth certificate. That bastard nearly stole my wife. We had only been married for a year, and he nearly stole her from me." Bal''s voice was husky. As he recalled his memories, the hurt and anger played over the muscles in his jowly face.

"But...Bal'~"

"Simran must not know of this Seema, please. I don't want her to know that her real father is that greedy, dirty bastard. I love her like she is my own. Mo' didn't want anything to do with her ... bloody bastard! He discarded her...discarded my wife..."

Seema was reeling. "Oh Bal'...bloody hell~"

"Yes...a bloody mess. My own brother seducing my wife...bastard...but I have things on him...oh yes-"

Seema recalled Bal''s threats after he had pummelled Mo'. "Secrets...?"

"Yes, secrets...but they will be secrets no longer. He has a chequered past, Seema. Tax evasion, money laundering...prostituting young women, oh yes," he said as Seema's eyes opened wide in horror. "I will bring him down." A vengeful smile split Bal''s face as he considered his revenge.

Seema shivered and swallowed hard. "He's really done those things?"

"Oh yes...and I tried to help him, protect him because he was my brother. Our parents left us to an orphanage, you see. He was my little brother, so I had to protect him..." He snorted and shook his head, unaware of the tiny globs of spittle at the corners of his mouth. "I even forgave him for trying to steal my wife. I even believed that he would stop all the horrid things he was involved in." Bal' shook his head as large droplets of salty liquid oozed from the corners of his eyes and rolled down his fleshy cheeks.

Seema was silent. She couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. Her hands were shaking wildly and her mouth became desert dry. There were so many things she didn't understand. "So...what's his thing for Sim?" She swallowed on the rising nausea churning her guts.

"Hmm?" Bal' had been deep in vengeful thought. "For Simran? Mo' is obviously a dirty bastard freak. It was he who engineered Simran's break up with Kirran. He tricked me then, too." He spat his words out. "But...that birth certificate means nothing to him~"

"Yeah...but," Seema was confused and scared. She thought of Simran, happily busying herself inside, smiling as she contemplated living with Seema. Seema sighed, blinking at her tears; she desperately wanted to feel as joyous as Simran. "What if Mo' suddenly produces this birth certificate...that would destroy Sim~"

"Which is why she must never find out." Bal' said, suddenly calm. "Give me the disc. This spreadsheet file...it must be important to him. Maybe I can work out what it is...then I will bring an end to it all."

Seema found the idea of giving the disc to someone else a welcome one. Give it away, then she would have no more worries. "Ok. I'll have to give it to you when Sim's not looking." Seema felt totally out of her depth. The whole situation made her feel as if she were drowning. Worst of all, Simran knew nothing of it, save that her uncle was a pervert. She realised Jake had been telling the truth. He was trying to help her.

Bal' nodded. He opened the boot of his car and lifted two large cases out. Seema dried her eyes and took the other two. Carrying Simran's cases lifted her mood only a little, but it was a welcome lift. Simran was moving in, they would be living together at last. Seema managed a smile. Just before they got to Seema's front door, Bal held back.

"Seema," he whispered. "Thank you."

"Ok," Seema said quietly, not sure what he was thanking her for. She stepped through the doorway. "Sim, here are your bags..."

There was no answer. Bal' kicked the wedge from under the door and shut it. The silence was deafening.

"Sweetness?"

"Sim?" Seema called. She dropped the cases on the floor and walked towards her kitchen, but stopped dead in the doorway. The kitchen table was bare. Her laptop had gone, along with its case. The blood in her veins turned icy cold.

At the very edge of her senses, a faint smell triggered hazy memories from her school days. She heard Bal' mumble. She was about to turn towards him when two muscly arms coiled around her, quick as a striking snake and so tight she thought her ribcage would crumple. Pain shot through her left breast as the vise-like grip tightened even further, squashing her nipple back against her ribs and pinning her arms to her sides. Before she could yelp from the pain, a hand roughly jammed a bundle of wet cloth to her face, covering her mouth and nose. For a second, as she panicked and gasped for air, the smell amplified and she suddenly realised what it was. She tried to scream, but her muscles relaxed of their own accord and the pain in her breast and ribs subsided, floating away from her as the air around her turned to syrup.

"Sim..." Seema was not sure whether she had said it, or thought it.

Seema's thoughts became fuggy and her vision indistinct and jittery. As if a door to a brightened adjoining room had slammed shut, darkness engulfed her. With a long and soft sigh, she fell unconscious.