Free Arranged by the Stars by Kamy Chetty Page A

turning his head from
side to side, to make sure he wasn’t hurt.
    Too late. He had been
hurt and worse than that. He was about to question his parents and
most likely break their hearts.
    “ Ma, someone
broke into the clinic this morning.” If he waited maybe she would
tell him. Then he wouldn’t have to ask. The cowards way out but how
could he ask his parents if they were drug dealers?
    Her arms went around him
and she squeezed so tight, he couldn’t breathe. “You’re okay. They
let you go. You’re okay.” Tears streamed down her eyes while she
continued to hold him.
    He didn’t need to know
more than that. Whatever was going on, they knew. The only question
was, why were they not telling him?
    He slowly pulled away and
forced her to meet his gaze. “Ma, what’s happening? They took Ash.
You need to tell me what’s going on.”
    “ Your Papa
didn’t want you to work there. He didn’t want you involved. This is
all wrong.” She sniffed and turned away from him.
    Kieran watched his father
and wondered what went wrong. “I don’t believe it. Not Papa. He
wouldn’t.”
    Julie placed her hand on
his shoulder. “No it’s not your father. It’s Latha. She had some
problems. After Johnny died, and then you left―it was hard for her
to cope. I know it’s not an excuse to use drugs, but she felt lost.
We tried to help, but it wasn’t enough. We sent her away for a
while hoping to fix things. Those people are bad and they keep
coming back.” She went to his father’s side and held his hand.
“Your father was scared you would feel responsible.”
    Did his father blame him?
He certainly blamed himself. All of this was his fault. The
problems with Latha, definitely his fault. He had promised Johnny
he’d take care of her, and he didn’t. Couldn’t then, couldn’t
now.
    How could he fix this
mess when he had no idea how to start? Short of collapsing in a
heap and admitting defeat now, he had no beacon of hope.
    “ I’m sorry
Ash got mixed up in this,” Julie said.
    Now what? Report this to
the police and hope for the best? He looked around the hospital
room. If this were Ash, she wouldn’t sit around. She wouldn’t hand
it to someone else and then sit back. She tracked him down, almost
lost her job to hand him a wedding ring he didn’t need.
    She didn’t sit in her
room and sulk when she couldn’t tie a sari, something most Indian
girls would’ve done. She went on the Internet and learnt how to do
it. Yes, it was wrong, but she tried. Then when a jellyfish stung
her, she screamed like hell, and instead of calling an ambulance,
she put lemon juice on the welts.
    Here he was a
grown adult sitting with his mum, wondering what he should do when
a drug dealer kidnapped his pretend fiancée. His fingers combed
through his hair as his jaw clamped shut. When he touched the
tender spot on his head that felt sticky with blood, he smothered a
curse. Ash wouldn’t sit here and wait. Dammit, neither would I.
    In two hours he had
enough information on the drug dealers in Goa to know where most of
them sold their substances and where their popular hangouts were.
The information was broken down to what they loved to sell, and to
who, and what their personal drug of choice was.
    He also knew the name of
every member of the special anti narcotics cell that operated out
of the police department in the local police station. But all of
that information wasn’t any good without someone who could
infiltrate the organisation and kick down doors for him.
    Four hours and the clock
continued to tick. Still no news if Ash was alive.
    *****
    Ash had spent time in the
good part of town and the bad part of town, but this was ten times
worse. There was definitely the smell of salt and sea, but she
hadn’t smelt death so rife before. Her legs had grown numb and as
she twisted to a more comfortable position in the dark, murky place
she was in, she squirmed. Was that human flesh? It was too warm to
be dead human flesh.
    Her