“Hello!”

“You open your mouth one more time and I swear I will beat you to death,” said Mr. Hudson grabbing his wife by her arms. He shoved her on the floor and paced towards the main door. He slammed the door to close it and drove away in his black cruise. Mr Andrew Hudson was a wealthy businessman who travelled frequently for work. He had a tall and muscular presence. He was married to his wife Alice for about eleven years now.

Minutes later, the phone rang. Alice, who was still sobbing, picked herself from the floor. Wiping her tears, she picked up the landline. “Hello!” said a deep manly voice from the other end.

Who could it be? Thought Alice. “He…Hello! Who is it?”

The man replied, “Mrs. Hudson! How are you doing?”

“I am ok, may I know who is calling?”

“Mr. Hudson, he has not changed a bit. I know you were really unhappy with him, now everything is going to be alright.” said the stranger in a stern tone and hung up.

Alice was left bewildered by the mystery caller.

Some weeks have gone by now and life was running its usual course. Andrew’s bashing continued with Alice. Alice had totally forgotten about the mystery call. Today she was busy preparing for Andrew’s business trip. She carefully packed his clothes, other essentials, and his medicines. His was to catch a flight in the afternoon.

As Alice sat with a cup of tea in the empty house, the phone rang.

“Hello! How are you doing Mrs. Hudson?” said the man on the other end.

Alice suddenly remembered the voice of the mystery caller.

“Who are you?” asked Alice feeling an unsettling sensation at the back of her neck.

“You don’t need to worry about your husband anymore, he not going to hurt you ever again.”

“What? What are you saying? I don’t understand” said Alice in a shaky voice “What did you do?”

“Just a little trick I did, a swap of labels in his medicines, which I delivered last week at your doorstep.

His heart had started getting weaker day by day and today as he flies, it will all come to an end”

“By the way, I am Tim” said the stranger and hung up.

Mrs. Hudson’s heart sank. She could not believe her ears. A sense of chill and relief ran down her spine.

Six years ago, Tim who was young boy of fifteen years, came looking for work. He helped the Hudson’s when they had shifted into their new house. He was their gardener. A shy & sincere boy for his age. He was admired in the neighbourhood and got work easily in other households. Often one could see bruises on his arms and neck. He never talked much about his family, just said that he liked working and was saving money for his future. About a year later, he suddenly stopped coming to work. There was news that he was alleged in the murder of his stepfather, who used to abuse him and his mother. Since he was a juvenile and no concrete evidence was found, he was not charged. He was sent to child care services under psychiatric supervision.

The next day, few houses away from Mrs. Hudson’s, Mrs. Grey’s phone rang. With her bruised hands, she picked up the phone and a man on the other end said “Hello!”