Avijit Misra vs. Vibhuti Dabral (FTC '14)

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Murder or Suicide

(Avijit Misra)
DISCLAIMER: All characters in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to those who are living or dead is purely co-incidental.

In Tampa, Florida the news spread like wild fire that the dead bodies of professional wrestler Mike Howlett, his wife Tracy and son Braxton were found in the Howlett House. The bodies of Tracy and Braxton were on their beds while Mike‘s body was hanging with a noose tightened around his neck.

It appeared to police that Mike had killed his family and committed suicide after that. Police wanted to believe this theory as neither had they found any signs of forced entry into the house, nor they wanted to find any.

Because media was keenly interested in reporting anything related to this double-murder suicide case, police wanted to solve it quickly in order to show their efficiency.
The only person who was not convinced with this theory was FBI officer Victor Max. Being a fan of Howlett for years, he could not believe this theory. Apart from documents related to this case, he also started studying the biography of Howlett. He obtained a lot of information about him from net to find his possible enemies. Apart from articles on internet, he also found the personal diary of Mike. He also started reading it. Mike had written about his memorable moments only. Victor saw stories of Mike‘s life that happened years ago. Reading about Mike‘s feelings, Victor could imagine everything in his head. He knew some facts but now, he could live those facts in his mind. His mind started sinking into following story.

For years, Mike Howlett had been a popular wrestler, competing in a popular wrestling promotion called American Wrestling Excitement (AWE). Because he was not good looking, he had been a low-card wrestler for most of his career.

Tracy was a dancer who along with some other dancing girls would dance in the ring after the end one match when there was still time for other match to begin. She was also the girlfriend of World Champion Ashton King.

One night, after the show, Mike was returning to his locker room when he saw Tracy arguing with Ashton King. Tracy was pushing Ashton away from her.
Ashton said, “What is wrong with you? I got you job here! You are my girlfriend! I am the only one who has the right to kiss you!”
Tracy yelled, “Really? Tell me who was she!”
“Who are you talking about?” Ashton acted innocent.

Tracy shouted with rage to embarrass Ashton and ensure everybody would hear her, “That stripper who was giving you lap dance last night in the club! I saw everything!”
Ashton said, “Come on! I was drunk! She was just a whore! Lower your voice! Nobody should hear such things about a champion like me!”

Tracy slapped Ashton and said, “She was not a whore! In fact, I would be whore if I allow a scum like you to touch me!”
Infuriated Ashton yelled, “You two-bit trashbag! How dare you slap the champion, the show-stopper, the headline, the main event of your show? You get your salary because of me! I don‘t need your permission to touch you!”

Ashton grabbed Tracy with Tracy protesting and screaming loudly. Mike had seen enough. He intervened broke them off saying, “Is there a problem?”
Ashton shouted, “There is no problem, low-card! Is there Tracy?”
Mike raised his voice, “I am not talking to you, bastard! I am talking to her!”
Embarrassed Ashton yelled, “AWE owner Lance McCain knows that I call the shots here! I‘ll get both of you suspended! Even dismissed!”

Mike said, “Only to save my job, I cannot allow you force yourself on an innocent girl!”
Victor came out of flashback when he heard the footsteps of his assistant Grace. Victor recalled that almost a decade ago, there was a backstage brawl between Mike and Ashton.

Grace came with some papers in her hand and said, “Good Morning Sir! This is the blood report of Mike Howlett! According to this report, there was no alcohol in his blood!”
Victor was puzzled, “What? An empty beer can found near the dead body of Mike! This means he did not drink beer from it! What about Tracy‘s blood report?”
Grace replied, “Tests are complete and report is being prepared! Her blood does not have any sign of alcohol!”
Now Victor was convinced that there was a killer involved in this story. He had to find the killer at any cost.

Victor continued to read the personal diary of Mike that was filled Mike‘s feelings and conversations. His mind went again into flashback as relieved following decades old moments:

Next evening after the brawl, Tracy went to Mike and said, “Mike! Thanks for saving me last night! I am really sorry to see you getting suspend for a month! Even I am being suspended! Tonight you lost your match to Bane! And the post-match assault you suffered from him was supposed explain the on-screen injuries that would keep you out of action for two months! But the real reason I am being suspended is because I returned the diamond ring that he had gifted me last year! Last night I removed it and threw it on his face! He swore revenge on me!”

Mike said, “I am sorry! I sympathize with you!”
Tracy said, “Don‘t be! I am happy that now I know that man who offered me ring was a womanizer! He was a scum! I am thankful to you for saving me!” Tracy kissed Mike on the cheek and walked out of his locker room.

As Tracy walked out, she saw Ashton coming from the other side. Scared, she walked back into Mike's room and said, “Mike! Can I have dinner with you tonight?”
Mike was surprised. He said, “Yeah sure! I would be happy to host you!”
Mike and Tracy walked out together. In order to keep Ashton at bay, Tracy wrapped her arm around Mike's arm, trying to show Ashton that she had someone who would protect her.
Ashton angrily saw Mike and Tracy leaving and muttered something. Mike heard Ashton muttering, “She is a slut!”
At the restaurant, Tracy said, “The way Ashton looked at me tonight, it really scared me! I wonder why I allowed him to enter my life! He is not going to take my acts of slapping, snubbing and spurning him kindly! Maybe I need to find someone who can save me! The way you stood up for me last night, knowingly risking your job, I wished I could go back in time and at the time I joined instead of meeting and knowing Ashton, I should have met and known you!”
Mike said, “Not your fault! Before coming to AWE, Ashton was wrestling at American Championship Wrestling (ACW)! There he started as a low-card wrester and went on to become a main-eventer! I was competing in independent circuit at that time but I was following the developments of ACW! When you made your debut there, Ashton was already a big star! His glamour and charm could influence any junior level employee there! You could never know me because when I signed with ACW, at that time both you and Ashton had left ACW and went to AWE! Years later, I came to AWE only because they were paying me more!”
Tracy said, “I was a dancer in ACW! One day, Ashton called me and said that he could get me a dancing job in AWE and I would be paid more! I quit ACW and joined AWE! I never knew when he got into my pants and when he made me his sex slave! I guess I allowed the wrong guy to hold my hand! I am surprised that you saved me last night and still did not show any interest in holding my hand!”

Mike said, “If I hold your hand, I am not going to let go of it as long as I am alive!”
Tracy laughed, “Are you proposing me?”
Mike replied, “Depends on how you define a proposal!”
After dinner, Mike walked Tracy to her hotel room. Tracy was playing with the keys, hinting that she wanted to kiss Mike and start a relationship with him. Mike just said good night and walked away, thinking it was too soon to kiss a girl on first date. This impressed Tracy even more as now she could see the gentleman behind that intimidating, rough face.
Victor came out of flashback with a beep in his alarm wrist watch. He had to talk to his juniors to show his findings and talk about their findings. Forensic experts were examining many things that FBI had collected from the house of Mike Howlett. Dr. Nelson told Victor, “Post-mortem report has come! Mike‘s brain was the brain of an 85-year old Alzheimer patient! His head injuries maybe due to the reason of his move diving head-butt! This proves that Mike was not in his senses when he killed his wife and son! ” Victor replied, “No! I know how much Mike loved his family! He was my hero! My heart says that he and his family were murdered! I will prove his innocence!”
Meanwhile, Louisville, Kentucky, Emergency meeting was going on in the headquarters of AWE. Daphne McCain who was the Chief Brand Officer of AWE was saying, “American media always gives negative coverage to wrestling industry! What Mike Howlett has done is not going to be forgotten! We need to do something to ensure AWE does not get maligned because of Howlett‘s action!” Lance McCain, Daphne‘s father and the owner-cum-chairman of AWE said, “We need to distance ourselves from him! Erase him from our history!”
John Livingston, the son-in-law of Lance McCain and the Executive Vice President of Talent and Live Events in AWE said, “I disagree! I am a former professional wrestler! Howlett is a former world champion in our promotion! You cannot pretend as if he never existed! Howlett had defeated me in the main event of our biggest event WrestleOlympia XX to win World Heavyweight Championship! He celebrated in the ring with our other World Champion! Remember our AWE Champion Alejandro Esparto?”
Lance replied, “Let his name be in the list of champions! We will remove the match summaries from those links! I order all his pictures and the pictures of matches he participated in to be removed from our website! Same thing goes for all the videos featuring Mike Howlett!”

Meanwhile, Victor Max had reached the house of professional wrestler Emilio Esparto who was on leave, recovering from an injury because of which AWE had sent him on leave.
Victor politely introduced himself and said, “Mr. Esparto! You and Mike Howlett had been family friends for years! Your uncle Alejandro Esparto was also a very good friend of Mike Howlett! I checked the call records of Mr. Howlett and the last call he had received was from you! Aljendro‘s death three years ago had shook Mike! Enough to prove how close he was to your family!”
Emilio replied, “Yes! I called Mike! It was a Sunday! We were supposed to perform at a Pay Per View event! Mike did not show up! I called him to ask him what happened! He said that he overslept and missed the flight! Then he said that his door-bell was ringing! Some was at his door! He promised to call me later and hung up! Next I heard of Mike was the news of death on news channels!”
Now Victor was convinced that there were no signs of forced entry because the killer rung the bell and entered through the door. Now it was easy for Victor to conclude that the killer was someone known to Mike and maybe someone who had a history with Mike. That is why Mike allowed the killer in. He asked Emilio, “Do you know any person who was enemy of Mike?” Emilio said, “Mike was a good man! He did not have enemies! The only person who could hate him was Ashton King and the world knows the history of Mike and Ashton!”
Victor thought, “The killer left one copy of Bible near every dead body! This thing needs to be figured out! I suspect Ashton King as the killer and Emilio is also saying the same thing! I need to find more evidence!”

He left Emilio‘s and contacted the police in Nashville to trace the movements of Ashton King and get his travel details, call records and internet usage details. He went back to Tampa and reading the personal diary of Mike, he came across another conversation between Mike and Tracy that made him visualize following story in his mind.
Next morning, Tracy drove to her hometown to live with her parents until her suspension was over. She was at her home when she received a text message from Ashton King, saying that there would be “a lot of hell” when her suspension got over.
Upset Tracy called Mike. Mike said, “Hey Tracy! How are you? Just got off the phone with ACW Vice-President Greg Bishop! He is offering me to leave AWE and return to ACW!” Tracy told Mike about messages from Ashton! She said, “I am sorry do bore you with this but my heart was telling me that I could share this only with you!” Gathering courage in her heart she said, “I love you Mike!”
For a moment there was no response from the other side. Then Tracy heard Mike‘s voice, “We will return to AWE as a real life married couple! Is that OK?” Tracy was happy.
During the last week of her suspension, she drove to Tampa and went to Mike‘s house. They got married in court. Ashton was frustrated with this wedding as fans of social media were saying that Mike was more man than Ashton. Jealous Ashton confronted Mike and accused him of “stealing his girl”. However, directives issued from chairman‘s office, forced him to shut up. Two years after their marriage, Mike and Tracy had a son Braxton.

Victor came out of flashback when Grace came to his desk with a paper and said, “I got this fax from Nashville! Maybe you are right! At the night of Howlett family was murdered, Ashton King was indeed in Tampa! I checked the Wikipedia page of Mike Howlett Double-Murder-cum-Suicide case and it was a shocking revelation!” Victor asked, “Really! What was that?” Grace replied, “Wikipedia page was made 14 hours before FBI found the dead bodies! I am sure the page was created by the killer! I got the cyber team trace the IP address of computer used for creating the page! They traced it to Nashville in the house of Ashton King! Forensic team has found some finger prints on beer cans that might probably belong to King! I also found an old interview of King in which he admitted that he was a Satanist! Maybe he put Bibles next to dead bodies in order to mock God!”
Victor informed Nashville police everything. Hours later, he received a call from Nashville police and learnt that a police team went to the house of King. He confessed murdering Howlett family and shot himself in order to avoid arrest. Victor learnt following story from the confession of King:
After Ashton entered the house of Mike, he knocked him unconscious with an iron rod. He murdered the little boy Braxton and told Tracy that he avenged the insult she heaped on him years ago. Mike wanted Tracy to be with him and he thought that killing the child would destroy the bond between Tracy and Mike. Tracy was shocked to see the dead body of her son. She said, “But what was the fault of my son! Why did you involve him? May God punish you!”Infuriated Ashton, who wanted Tracy to elope with him, murdered her as well. And then he hung unconscious Howlett from ceiling in the gym to make his death look like a suicide. He placed Bible next to dead bodies and had a beer before leaving the house. After leaving house, he went to airport and took a flight to Nashville. In Nashville, he made Wikipedia page from his home. After confessing his crime, Ashton told the cops, “I wanted to be with Trcay! But she is dead!” He snatched a gun from a cop and shot himself.

Victor was satisfied with the fact of Ashton committing suicide when news spread in media. AWE decided partially allow Mike Howlett matches now. John Livingston asked Lance McCain to reinstate Mike to the due credit. McCain said, “I will do that partially! Not fully! My wife Brenda is a senator and her political opponents can accuse our company of providing a stressful atmosphere to employees!”
Victor was happy that now the souls of Howlett family would rest in peace.

Rating - 56/100



A DATE
By VIBHUTI DABRAL

A CAFE- DIMLY LIT-DAY

FADE IN

(A guy is sitting in a corner, alone. He is wearing white sweatshirt and black slacks. He is around 25 years old. Out of boredom, he begins to tap on the table, while looking around with a bored expression. He then checks his watch. The waitress comes over to him:)

WAITRESS
What would you like Sir?
GUY
Um, nothing. Thanks. I’m waiting for someone.
WAITRESS
Alright.
(Goes away.)
(The door breaks open, and a girl comes in. She is wearing pink shirt and blue trousers.She looks around, then comes over to the guy.)
GIRL
They have changed the decor, haven’t they?
(Pulls over the chair, and sits down.)

Sorry for keeping you waiting. I was stuck-up somewhere.ch
GUY
It’s alright.
GIRL
So how long have you been waiting?

GUY
Er... just five minutes. It’s nothing.

GIRL
Awww, you’re so understanding. Usually I’m not late for anything, but this is an exception. I’m really sorry.
GUY
Okay. You don’t have to apologise. I totally...

GIRL
(Interrupting him:)
Yeah, so you know what? I left pretty early, but this girl, you know her, her name’s Iris, I ran into her. And boy, did we talk. We had a really long conversation, about, you know, girly things. She’s got a nice taste when it comes to fashion and stuff. So we talked for a while, and she took me to this boutique, where they have loads of these Chinese jewellery. Beads and pearls and stuff. All
fake, of course. I almost forgot I have a date with you. When I realised that, I made sure I don’t keep you waiting for me for long.

GUY
Okay. No problem.
GIRL
Jeez, Iris’ such a bitch.
GUY
(Looking at the menu:)
What would you like?
GIRL
Well, some coffee and bagels?
GUY
Alright. I’ll have the same.
(Waves towards the waitress,
who comes over to their
table.)
WAITRESS
Now if you’re ready to order...?
GUY
Well, we’ll have coffee for two...
GIRL
(Interrupting him:)
... And bagels!
(CONTINUED)CONTINUED: 3.
WAITRESS
Alright Sir,... ma’am.
(Winks at the girl, and goes
away.)
GUY
So...?
GIRL
So where were we? Yeah, why I got
here late. Y’know I’m not usually
late for anything. In fact, I have
a reputation for being in time for
everything. I race with the clock.
Literally. But this bitch, Iris.
She’s got me late. You know what?
About Iris, she’s one bitch.
Big-time. I’ve known her for a
while, but I never got along with
her really. But she,... she’s
always being nice with me and all.
I know her well though. She hates
me. She’s jealous of me. Say, why
don’t you tell me something about
yourself? I don’t wanna do all the
talking. Where are you from?
GUY
Well, I’m from Providence, but my
folks now live elsewhere. I was
born and raised there. I came here
right after my high school and...
GIRL
(Interrupting him:)
I knew someone from Providence
once. He was my one-time boyfriend.
Jesus, he was such a schmuck! He
had a pea-sized brain. He’d...
well, I don’t know why I was with
him. I wasn’t even looking for a
relationship. But you know, we had
the same interests. I met him at
the church. Not that I am religious
or anything, but I did met him
there. He even bought me a poodle!
It was so cute! We fed him
together, and one day he fed him
some junk and he died. And so we
broke up.
(CONTINUED)CONTINUED: 4.
GUY
Over the dog?
GIRL
No, not because of the dog. You can
always have another, and a better
one at that. The main thing is, he
was a schmuck! And he had a huge
ego. He just won’t try to
understand me. I never had any
breathing space while I was with
him.
(In a loud voice:)
Dick!
(A few people look into their
direction, and the guy squirms
with embarrassment.)
GUY
There are people around. Will you
please...?
GIRL
(In a low voice:)
Fuck people!
GUY
Well...
GIRL
It might sound weird to you but I
really don’t care about people. I
don’t care someone’s mad or
something, I really just don’t
care. I don’t care if somebody’s
died. People die all the time. One
day I’ll die, and I guarantee no
one will give a shit. I might seem
selfish, but I can see things how
they really are. Being sentimental
hurts you, something that can be
taken advantage of. It’s
practically stupid. I know I sound
obnoxious, but it’s fact. Tell me
why you think it’s wrong to think
like that?
GUY
You don’t sound obnoxious, but very
worldly-wise. Emotions aren’t a
curse. Well, not all the time.
(CONTINUED)CONTINUED: 5.
GIRL
You’re right. I sorta agree.
(The waitress brings coffee,
and places it on the table.)
WAITRESS
Enjoy your coffee.
GUY
Thanks.
(The waitress leaves.)
GIRL
So I’m not a fool, I understand
people, and guard myself from them.
I’m bitchy from the outside. I
don’t care about being popular. I
don’t care if people don’t like me.
GUY
(With a smirk:)
Sure you don’t.
GIRL
So, what about your folks?
GUY
They live in Providence.
GIRL
Tell me about them.
GUY
Well, my dad is a Bible salesman,
and my mom is an elementary school
teacher. I have an older sister. We
are devout Mormons. As a kid I used
to attend the church every Sunday
but don’t do that anymore.
Actually, ours is a weird family.
Our family uses mock threats to
show affection, so there are a lot
of threats going around whenever
there is a family reunion.
(Pauses:)
I don’t suppose you think it’s
cool?
GIRL
Oh no, I think it is totally cool.
My family’s kinda weird too. I
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)CONTINUED: 6.
GIRL (cont’d)
think my parents handed down my
siblings a bad gene mix. They all
have learning disorders.
Particularly my sister. She never
learned her alphabet from A to Z.
Not me though. I’m very smart. Oh,
and everyone in my family swears
like a sailor, even though they are
all very educated. My dad calls me
"Little Shit." Isn’t that funny?
GUY
That’s very funny. A weird family,
you’ve got there.
GIRL
Aww, screw that! That can’t be
helped. You can’t choose your
family. Anyways, how did you brokeup
with your former girlfriend?
GUY
Umm, she broke-up with me because
she thought I was addicted to my
Playstation and didn’t pay enough
attention to her. She also broke up
my Playstation the day she dumped
me. She told me I reminded her of
her dead brother on my birthday.
(Pauses:)
I know that sounds incredible, but
that’s true.
GIRL
(Laughs:)
That’s funny. I’m sure the girl’s a
bitch. What I say is, a loner’s got
to find another loner. And you
never know when people will get
pissed off with you. Even for lame
reasons. You can’t please everyone.
And why should you even try to
please anyone anyway? Life is
short. I break rules. I don’t
apologise, ever. It annoys the hell
out of people, but what do I care?
Life is not meant to tread
carefully, it’s meant to sprint.
Without a care in the world. And
yet people don’t understand it. The
way I see it, life is a series of
random events, all very irrational.
(CONTINUED)CONTINUED: 7.
GUY
I can’t agree more. I’ve always
wondered why Kamikaze pilots wore
helmets?
GIRL
Oh, you say such dead clever
things!
GUY
Thanks. You say very interesting
things yourself. My sister is kinda
like you, bubbly and vivacious.
GIRL
Oh, what’s her name?
GUY
Felicity.
GIRL
That sounds like a cat’s name. I
have a pet cat. And he’s adorable.
You know what I call him? Bazinga
the Fuzzy Butt. He’s cute! I talk
with him. Meow meow! He’s the
Devil’s pet. Looks like Hitler,
with his whiskers. Oh and he’s not
fussy at all. He eats dog food. He
eats with me. I’m totally a cat
lady, so to speak. I...
(Waves her hand excitedly. Her
arm hits her coffee and it
spills.)
Oh shit!
GUY
(Reaches for the tissue, and
hands her a few.)
GIRL
Oh thank you... Jeff. You’re so
kind.
GUY
(Raises eyebrows:)
I’m not Jeff!
GIRL
Huh? You’re not Jeff? Who are you?
(CONTINUED)CONTINUED: 8.
GUY
My name’s Clarence. Say, are you
Amber?
GIRL
Amber? My name’s Marjorie. Marjorie
Byrd. B-Y-R-D.
(Looks around. Then says with
a hint of surprise:)
Is this Fortune?
GUY
Nah, it’s across the street. This
is Lucky’s. (Pauses.Then smiles:)
Don’t you think you’re with the
wrong guy at the wrong place?
GIRL
(Touches her hair, visibly
embarrassed:)
Fuck yes, looks like I am.
GUY
You’re not my date. As it turns
out, my blind date didn’t turn up
at all.
GIRL
I wish I knew how my blind date
looks like. I hope he’s not ugly.
Who fixed the date for you anyway?
GUY
My friend Ellen.
GIRL
The one who wears glasses? And has
red hair?
GUY
(Surprised:)
Yes. Yes. Do you know her?
GIRL
She’s my sister. And she fixed the
date for me too.
GUY
(Laughs:)
Boy, it’s small world.
(CONTINUED)CONTINUED: 9.
GIRL
It is. I never knew Ellen’s such a
matchmaker.
GUY
Me neither.
GIRL
(Gets up:)
Alright, I hate to say this, but I
gotta go. Ciao. And good luck with
your date.
(Rushes out of the door.)
GUY
You too. (Smiles.)
(Looks at his watch, and
continues sipping his coffee.
The screen fades.)
FADE OUT

THE END

Rating - 50/100

Result - Mr. Avijit Misra wins the exhibition challenge.