Twenty One
Traitors, you bastards,' Mama screamed. I noticed his left hand. It bled and the
kerosene had burnt part of his kurta's left sleeve.
'Catch them,' Mama shouted. He and five other men ran up the stairs. Ish, Omi
and I ran into the branch manager's office and shut the door.
'Hold these,' Ish said. His hands trembled as he shuffled through the cricket
equipment we kept in the manager's office. Ish picked up a bat. Mama and his
group had reached the branch manager's office door.
'Open or we will break it,' Mama said, even though they didn't bang the door.
They continued to threaten us but didn't act. Perhaps they were afraid of what we
would blow up this time.
My heartbeat sounded almost as loud as their screams.
'I don't have my phone. Give me yours, I'll call the police,' Ish said to me.
'We will not leave,' Mama's voice reverberated through the door.
I passed my phone to Ish. He dialled the police number.
'Fuck, no one is picking up,' Ish said and tried again. Nobody answered.
Ish hung up the phone and shook it in frustration. Beep Beep, my phone said
as a message arrived. 'It's an SMS,' Ish said as he opened it.
Hey, stay safe tonight.
By the way, just got my period!!
Yippee!! Relieved no?
C U soon my hot teacher.
Love - me.The message came from supplier Vidyanath. Ish gave me a puzzled look. I
shrugged my shoulders and reached to take my phone. Ish moved the phone
away from me. He looked at me in shock. He turned to the message and went into
details. He saw the number. He dialled it.
I came close to a cardiac arrest.
'Hey, cool no? I never thought I'd be celebrating a period,' Vidya rattled off on
the other side as she saw my number. I could hear her cheerful voice even though
Ish held the phone. 'Vidya?' Ish said as his brows became tense. 'Ish bhaiya?' she
said.
Ish looked at me. He cut the line and kept the phone in his pocket.
For a moment we forgot that we had murderers at our door. Ish stepped
forward towards me as I backtracked until I reached the wall.
'Ish I can explain...,' I said even though I couldn't. Ish dropped the bat on the
ground. He lifted his hand and then - slap! slap! He deposited two of them on my
face. Then he made his hand into a fist and punched me hard in the stomach.
I fell on the ground. I felt intense pain, but I felt I had lost the right to say
anything, including screaming in agony. I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes.
I deserved this. I had to pay for the second mistake of my life.
'What the hell are you doing?' Omi said even though he understood the
situation well.