Best Friends

**Disclaimer: The names are fictitious and not intended to cause offence.

The judge slammed his gavel as soon as he finished reading the sentence.

"The accused is to be taken into custody and provided with medical attention. He is then to be observed, the finding of which must be shared with the police department and court. His release into society is pending the result of these observations."

Patrick D'Abreau was taken into custody and guided through the corridor amidst the flashing lights of the cameras. The corridors were filled with hordes of journalists and photographers. This was, after all, the biggest case in years.

The defence lawyer, Mr. Laxminarayan Prabhu, had cleverly coddled the court into a medical dilemma. He had spent the last 8 weeks thinking about how to get a man guilty of murdering four people in cold blood, go free of capital punishment. The trial was long, after even longer discussions over coffee, cigarettes and sometimes, scotch. Prabhu had presented the facts of the case unabashedly, stating that Patrick had indeed stabbed the four men, repeatedly, in their heads. He had no time to plan the murders, which made it a crime of passion. He murdered all the men in a day, which again meant that this was not premeditated. The case and had some interesting moments, but all that mattered in the end was that he had managed to avoid imprisonment or the death penalty completely. He stretched his legs on his cluttered desk and thumbed through the file, reminiscing the case.

“Good morning! You are early to the office. What happened? Did she kick you out?” Patrick D’Abreau chided his friend Abhilash good naturedly.

“Quite the contrary, my dear fellow. She kept asking for more and I had to rush out, or else I would have to skip work. And besides, who would keep you company?” Abhilash responded to Patrick with a jibe of his own.

Patrick rolled his eyes and smiled. Abhilash was his best friend. His only friend. Patrick worked at a local IT services firm. The last 15 years had been a sedentary journey for him. His work required him to be encompassed in a cubicle, surrounded by monitors and files. There was hardly any room for anyone, but Abhilash had managed to squeeze in. Abhilash did not have the diligence of his friend though, and Patrick would sometimes worry about his friend. But he had managed to survive for the 10 years that he had in the organization. Each week, Abhilash would leave the office on Friday with a woman colleague, to return on the following Monday. How he managed to pull it off, Patrick did not know. In the monthly review, Abhilash always sat next to Patrick, and always had some great ideas. But he always passed them onto Patrick. For some reason, he feared speaking in meetings. Abhilash also avoided meeting his colleagues in a group. He often made up excuses to Patrick, but Patrick knew it was something else. He did not probe. Just last week, they were discussing a project in the cafeteria. As soon as the associates came in and joined their table, Abhilash hurriedly got up and left, citing a stomach upset. Patrick knew that something was bothering Abhilash. He also knew that Abhilash would open up to him once he felt he needed to.

“I just don’t want to get noticed, and then have to take on more work. That is what I have you for!” He once told Patrick during their smoke break.

Abhilash always kept him company though, during his late nights and extra work. On more than a few occasions, they hit the bar post work and had a drink before calling it a night. But he always vanished on Friday evenings, regardless of what Patrick had lined up. Abhilash gave his sex life utmost importance. Patrick secretly did not mind. After a week’s hard work, he preferred to go home and crash onto his bed.

Patrick handed a cup of coffee to Abhilash as he settled into his chair. He looked at the pile on his desk with a blank expression.

“What do you think is the most urgent in this haystack? Did you go through any of them?” Patrick asked his friend.

“Let’s wait for the first call. Whoever is screaming about some file, we’ll look at it first. That would be the most urgent.” Abhilash yawned as he spoke. He felt a pencil hit him in the chest an instant later. “Hey! That could kill me!”

“Relax. It wasn’t sharpened.” Replied Patrick. The phone buzzed as he had finished speaking. Patrick answered it.

“This is Patrick. Good morning sir…yes sir…. of course, sir…. no, not yet…..we’ll be there sir.” He replaced the receiver. “Let’s go. We found the urgent file.”

Abhilash grimaced, as he got out of the chair. “Can’t you relax for a bit?” But he was already sorting out the files. They strode towards the conference room.

“Why was this not looked at last night? Is your brain addled?? Did you check if it works?” One of the senior managers yelled. Patrick fumbled for a response at the tirade. He looked around, but Abhilash had not joined him in the conference room. He noticed him waiting outside.

“Are you waiting for someone to join in?” Came the hard question from one of the senior managers.

“Sorry sir, this will be complete.” Patrick finally managed to say, but he was cut short by another screaming.

“You people just don’t understand! This company does not belong to my father! There is a reason why the file is marked URGENT! Stop day dreaming, and get some work done for a change!” Another manager screamed.

“Yes sir, no problem sir.” Patrick hurriedly stepped out of the conference room, leaving the four senior managers fuming behind them. Abhilash was quiet.

“What’s the matter? No comeback lines?” Patrick looked at his friend. Abhilash was silent. This was unusual. Patrick looked at his friend with concern. “All good? That wasn’t so bad” He smiled at Abhilash.

“Wasn’t it? What are we? Slaves? Where is the professional decorum? Why are we working here?” Abhilash flashed an angry look at him. Patrick had never seen his friend this disturbed, and they stepped outside the office for a smoke.

“Come on! They speak like that all the time. We just need to get the job done.” Patrick tried to comfort his friend.

Abhilash shook himself and stared at Patrick. “Do you always roll over? Did you check if you had a spine? I mean, every single time, you work your ass off to ensure things don’t get held up. These folks just ripped you apart, and you have nothing to say?”

Patrick was surprised at the calmness in his voice. “Dude, what are you trying to say?”

“Let’s go back there and tell them what we did manage to finish last night. They cannot get away with flushing us down the drain every single time.” Abhilash looked at him dead in the eye and said.

Patrick was too stunned at the reaction, but somewhere, he thought Abhilash made sense. He would politely tell his bosses about the hold up on the file and inform them that the documents were yet to be signed by the software exports authority. That’s why the file was pending, beyond their control. He nodded, “Let’s go.”

They finished their smoke and turned towards the conference room.

“Excuse me sir, but there is something you need to know about this file” Patrick said, as they stepped in.

“You are still here?? Were we not clear when we told you the job was to be finished last night?”

Patrick had stopped listening, as he laid his eyes on the table. He spotted a paper cutter. Abhilash saw it too, and he glanced at his friend. Patrick looked at him and saw the glint in his eyes. Abhilash nodded. Patrick picked up the paper cutter and looked up. He couldn’t hear anything. He stepped ahead and stopped short of the first chair. The senior manager for the accounts stared at him. “Are you even…” He never finished. Patrick brought down the paper cutter into his mouth with such a force, that he slumped into his chair immediately. The others began to scream, but Patrick could only hear Abhilash saying “Well done.” He turned and smiled at his friend. An instant later, he caught the second manager and slit the jugular vein, leaving him to bleed out. The third and fourth were trying to run away, but he caught them both and tripped them on the floor. Patrick shoved the paper cutter into the eye socket of one and hit the head of the other. He kept thrusting the paper cutter repeatedly for a few minutes. He couldn’t hear Abhilash anymore, but he saw him standing in silent appreciation. Patrick then looked up to find other members of the staff staring at him. Some in shock, some in awe.

Prabhu stood up for his closing statement. He took his time, reflecting on the notes on his table.

“There is a noted study, where a tree was planted in a village. The tree was given water each day, and some amount of manure initially to aid its growth. The villagers then took turns to walk up to the tree and condemn it verbally each day. The results were being recorded by botanists and sociologists. The result of the daily abuse caused the tree to wither and die within weeks.

Yes, Patrick D’Abreau stabbed four men to death. You heard the statements of the staff. You heard the statement of the psychiatrist. You heard the statement of the police officers who arrested him. He made no attempt to run. Instead he kept repeating, ‘What do you have to say now, buddy?’

Who was he talking to? He had not planned this crime. He reacted. He stated that his friend told him to stand up for himself. Where is this gentleman? We proved that this man is mentally ill and is unable to rationalize. There are statements from staff members who have noticed Patrick speaking to himself, smiling and even drinking two coffees. There is the statement from the receptionist who said that he often whispered something to his side, while passing her. Patrick has photographs of places which he says he visited with his friend, Abhilash. Please tell me, where do you see this friend in these photographs?

The case is simple. This man is mentally ill and needs treatment. We cannot condemn the mentally retarded. Our constitution requires us to prove that the accused is fully aware of his crime. This isn’t some hardened criminal we are talking about. This man does not have any record of any violence, and yet he kills four men in a day. He uses a paper cutter. He speaks to someone who doesn’t exist. You cannot ignore the fact, that for a man with no record of a violent past, 15 years of service and a sedentary lifestyle, he was pushed to a state of mental imbalance by the very people he worked with.

Where do you think he should be sent? Jail? He may kill a few more. Hospital? He may come back reformed. Why must he not be given a chance, when in our country, we have given chances to terrorists, murderers and rapists who commit acts of crime because they feel like it?

Patrick stared at the blank wall in his room. The room was bare, with padded cushions everywhere. The furniture was screwed into the floor. He smiled. “So, what do you have to say now? Did you find my spine?”

Abhilash patted his shoulder, “Yes I did, buddy. I’m with you in this, till the end. Don’t worry.”

**Copyright : Amit D'Souza

Reproduction, translation, copying not permitted.