White Powder

I was late. Didn't know by how long. In fact I didn't even know what time it was. From what it seemed like it must have been about nine in the evening. The streets were still lit and the traffic was bothering. I felt as if I had just woken up, was still a little sleepy, or everything around was just a little hazy. I was going to meet my childhood sweetheart after.... I last met her in school when I was in standard eight, it had been eleven years since. Where I was supposed to meet her I did not know, the driver seemed to know though. She was meeting me with her husband. And all my friends, my girlfriend and my ex- girlfriend. They were all already there, the setting seemed strange because the only link between the two groups, or was it three, was me. I got off the car or was it an auto-rickshaw, I did not pay much attention to the vehicle I was driving in, and in an instance reached the doorstep. I did not know whose house it was. I rang the doorbell.

The door was opened, I can't remember who opened it. I entered with the hope that I would be acknowledged and greeted with excitement. But my presence did not really excite anyone. in the first glance around the house I could not find Bhamti, that was her name. The house felt familiar, felt a lot like home. There was a drawing room which had only a dining table in the middle and chairs around it. On one side there was a terrace and there were two doors on two other sides which went into two rooms I presumed. I was supposed to know this house, I had apparently spent a lot of time here.

Finally I found her. She looked as gorgeous as always, I felt an urge to go hug her tightly. I said "Hi", and walked up to her, but all we could manage was a strange handshake. This was sexual I thought. It seemed that she was as nervous as I was. She introduced me to her husband, can't recall his name, he was a tall, well built man but was quite ugly to look at. She was tall as well but petite. She was wearing a short top and low waisted jeans. She was slim. She had small feet and beautiful toes. She was wearing jeans but I could figure out how beautiful her legs would have been. I pictured the lines of her calf muscles and her thighs. Her bums were round and firm. The little bit of her stomach which was visible had a little baby fat, but was shapely. Her small navel was right in the middle of this stomach. Her back had that line going right through the middle, with the two little dots, or indents, on either side of her lower back. Her waist was curvy and the curve went up to meet two beautiful, at least that's what I imagined, small breasts. Her hands were prettier than her toes, probably because they were more protected, her fingers long and fragile. Her arms were thin yet curvaceous. Her collar bones jutted out and her neck was long, the lines were accentuated when she moved or tensed it. Her chin was round but at the same time pointy. She had beautiful lips, rosy and pouty. Her nose was blunt, still it complimented her beauty. Her eyes were naughty, maybe because of the shape which resembled that of an Indian sparrow or because of her eye lashes which were long and curved upwards. Her hair was black but they looked brown when light fell on it. Her skin was smooth and pale but fair. She was beautiful. This was definitely sexual.

I admired her for a a long time, it seemed, before I somehow managed to take her into one of the rooms. I don't remember what I said or did. This room I knew very well, it was my girlfriend's bedroom where I had spent innumerable nights, sometimes drunk or stoned and always accepting everything that my girlfriend had to offer. Speaking of my girlfriend, I did not know where she was or where the others were either. At that moment I did not care, for I had the most beautiful girl in the world, or at least that's what I felt about her. The room was small and it was dimly lit with a tungsten lamp which had a red lamp shade because of which the room had an orange hue. There was a mirror on one wall and a mattress on the other side. There was a small window covered with a curtain over which was an air conditioner. I switched on the AC, it started with a loud noise but soon the noise mellowed down and the room became pleasantly cool.

We started, no, I started clicking pictures of her, with a camera that we found lying, which I guessed was also my girlfriend's. Bhamti was a treat for a photographer, every curve on her skin with the orange light falling on it extruded an immense amount of character, the nature of which could not be described with mere words. I loved her, I lusted her, I could kiss her and lick her, every part of her body and skin right then and there. Her husband walked in. I thought she minded him being there but did not show it. She became uneasy in front of him. I tried to make them comfortable, and asked him to join the photo shoot. They posed as a couple for a couple of pictures. Somehow the pictures came out hazy. She asked me to shoot some solo photographs of him. I complied, but the pictures kept getting hazier. It was time to stop, I put down the camera.

They were getting late, they said, as they had a flight to catch. I did not know how much time I had spent with her, but now it seemed as little as a moment. A moment that did not hold enough and ended abruptly. They were leaving. I could not stop my self from kissing her goodbye, she felt awkward about it, I could see it in her eyes. To neutralize the awkwardness I immediately kissed him as well. He did not seem to mind. They were leaving. They said their goodbyes to everyone, and I noticed that they had come with another friend whom I had not noticed till now. How I wanted her to stay, I think I did.

Suddenly her husband turned around, held my wrist, and pulled me into the other room. He was followed by their friend. As soon as all three of us were inside, they locked the door. This room was filled with white light, the sort that comes out from a fluorescent tube. He asked the other man to take something out of his pockets who carefully took out a folded piece of paper, quite large in size, from his pocket and gave it to the husband, who then carefully unfolded it. It contained a white powder, he then mentioned its name which again I can't recall. They each had a heaped spoonful of it and offered me one as well. I ate it. From the moment it went into my mouth I felt a buzz travelling through my lips to the inner recesses of my brain and then to the tips of each of my limbs. I had never felt this good, or strange. They then ripped a piece of the paper, put some of the white powder in it and gave it to me to keep for later. I thanked them. They opened the door and we came out into the drawing room where the others were waiting. From the expression on her face I could make out that Bhamti knew why we had gone inside the room. The others had weird expressions on their faces.

The three of them left. I saw her leaving but somehow now I wasn't feeling that hollow from inside, nor was I upset, nor did I want her to stay anymore. it was all OK. The main door closed behind them and I went back into my girlfriends bedroom. Now, for the first time in evening, I saw, or paid attention to, my friends, my ex girlfriend and my girlfriend. The room was still dimly lit with the same lamp. They were all sitting and drinking in the room. I unfolded the paper with the white powder and put it in front of them. They all looked excited, and I saw the kind of excitement I was expecting when I entered the house initially. I lied down and fell asleep.They all probably had a spoonful of the white powder. I think I woke up after a while but when I opened my eyes, I could not see anything in front of me. it was all black. I freaked. I shut my eyes and opened them again. Black. I had gone blind, I guessed it was because of the white powder. I wondered what had happened to the others. I had no idea where they all were as the room felt empty. I had to give it one more try, I shut my eyes again, tightly this time, and opened them wide with a jerk.

I wake up. I am in the same room, my girlfriend's. She is lying naked next to me. The room is lit exactly the same way. The contours of her body and her smooth skin look beautiful in the orange light. Her name is Swati. I get up and light a cigarette, take a long drag. I exhale.