THE GAME
It rained non stop.That’s the first thing I remember about that day.The sound of rain falling in the background all the time.Other than that I remember looking at myself in the mirror,looking at my red eyes, red from all the crying. It is hard I told myself that day, this game is hard.
*********
You asked me about the people I met that day.People?There are people everywhere in college.If you ask me whose face I remember best ,it would be the face of Merk ,as she lay in her bed dead and cold.It was I who found her body.
And then I remember the face of Maxwell,the guy that Merk loved.I remember meeting him in the corridor,his face peaceful.He hadn’t heard the news yet.
It was a one way love for Merk.Maxwell had several women who worshipped him.He was soft-spoken ,carefree and handsome.His golden locks reminded you of some Prince in a fairy tale you read as a kid.Even though Merk was a beauty whom everyone adored and desired ,she couldn’t make Maxwell fall for her with all her charms.But she had fallen hard ,and it was impossible for her to fall out of it.Every time we had dinner together, I had to listen to her stories of Maxwell .About how cold he was,how he was not ready to commit to anyone, about how she herself still had a chance...Maxwell was the world to her for these past few months. But now she lay dead and he still walked with not a care in the world.
I walked away without breaking the news to him.I could imagine what his reaction would be.
I also remember that the questioning finished pretty fast.I was back in my dorm at nine.They asked me questions like "Why do you think she killed herself?" and I was like " I don’t know"
"Did you know she possessed the poison?"
"No"
“How did you know she was in her room?"
“I couldn’t find her anywhere else”
“Why were you looking for her?”
I remained silent at this point.I had to quickly think of a lie. "I hadn’t seen her all day.I just wanted to check up on her.”
The officer paused and there was a silence, which was filled with the sound of the rain.
He got up, shook hands with me.“That will be all Ms.Rostam. ” he said turning away.
I got up and walked out sighing. This man had no passion. He would proclaim it as suicide and close the case. As for me, I wasn’t so sure.Only yesterday had Merk told me along with the usual Maxwell gossip,about this pair of shoes she wanted to buy.If we waited just a couple more days ,she told me ,there would be a sale and she could buy it for half the price.She was really looking forward to it.Not certainly the talk of someone who was thinking of ending her life. As a matter of fact I was looking for her to give her the news that the sale had started a day early.
I somehow did not give this clue to the police officer. As a matter of fact ,he certainly would not have thought it relevant.But yet I felt by some instinct that I shouldn’t tell him.As if my subconscious wanted him to somehow close this case,and dismiss it as suicide.
As I walked back into the dorm,my mind took the form of a police officer and I began to question myself.
This police officer in my imagination was rather intelligent.His first question was-
“What were you doing last night?”
" I was in the library ”
" Did you see Merk last night?”
" Yes I did.”
“Where?”
“In the library ”
“Did you guys go together?”
“No”
" What was she doing there? ”
" Reading a book,of course”
“What was the book’s name, Ms.Rostam?”
There would be a pause at this moment.
" The silence of the moon God”
She was reading that book,she told me because it reminded her a lot about Maxwell.The library had just one copy which they wouldn’t lend anyone.It was an old eastern epic tale which got recently translated.I thought it was about unrequited love or something like that,from what she said.Merk was not much of a reader and only a book like that could bring her to the library.Last night when I saw her sitting comfortably at one corner of the library,pouring into that book,I wouldn’t think for all the world she would end her life the next day.
The imaginary police officer was still asking me questions.
“So if we assume that she did not kill herself,who do you think would have done it?”
“I don’t know who.”
" What about you? Were you always on good terms with her?"
At this point I would forgive the imaginary police officer and say-
" Yes, she was a good friend.I wouldn’t kill her”
“Can you think of anyone else who would wanna-”
" No”She had no enemies.I was sure. She would have ,had she won over Maxwell. But she didn’t.
The police officer in my imagination got up from his seat and shook hands with me the way the real police officer had done.But instead of moving away he came closer and asked me ,
“Would you like to play a game ,Ms. Rostam?”
“Yes” I replied.
“It’s called cat and mouse."
The police officer began to disappear .He was explaining the rules of the game but I couldn't hear him. I had fallen fast asleep.
