Her eyes shone seeing the sight. She went to the bar to check if there is anyone outside. She stayed near the bike for a while and observed.
“You go inside and distract the shop owner for a while.” She returned to him and said, handing him three notes of INR 100.
Shyam limped in the bar and went to the counter.
“One bottle.” He said.
“Which one?”
“Whichever you like.”
The shop owner took him as tipsy and went to showcase then Shyam heard the faint sound of a click, telling him she had broken the steering lock of a bike.
The shop owner also heard it and looked back but at the same moment, Shyam distracted him, “hurry mister, my bottle.” his voice stammering like a drunkard.
“Okay,” the owner said, “don’t make so haste, badload.” He used his regular word for tipsy man.
Shyam looked from the corner of his eyes and saw her working with cables of the bike.
“Hey! Mister.” He said.
“What?” the owner said, in a sharp voice.
“Give me two bottles,” he again acted stammering, “one isn’t enough for a person like me.” and smiled.
The owner couldn’t gather his intention and took out two bottles from the showcase.
Shyam handed him all three notes and got INR 80 s change.
He went to Charmi and handed her bottles. She put them in her bag and started walking, Shyam followed her, limping.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.” She answered, “we need to walk away.”
Charmi handed him the bag when they left the bar some yards back, “keep this and be ready.”
“What?” it confused him.
“I am just coming, with the bike.” She went back near the bar, Shyam was watching her. Trying to watch her as there was darkness and she wasn’t visible clearly.
She reached a bike. She had broken the steering lock already. Now she was in the flashlight of the bar. Shyam could see her sitting on the bike. She kicked start the bike and sped up it.
The bar owner came out shouting when Charmi was halfway to Shyam. And he ran behind her.
Charmi stopped near Shyam, “get on the bike.” She shouted.
Shyam gathered all of his strength and hoped on the rear seat. It was hard for him but he knew the bar owner was coming and fear can open anyone up. Perhaps he hoped as pillion rider wasn’t by his strength but on pure adrenaline.
Shyam looked back to see the bar owner stopped halfway, panting heavily.
Charmi knew most of about bikes she had jacked Yamaha instead of the Splendour resting near it. Shyam had heard Yamaha had a good pick up speed but that day he experienced too.
“Turn left from Mazar,” Shyam spoke as soon as the threat of the bar owner had gone.
“You should ride straight,” Shyam said as she turned left from Mazar.
The bike was racing through the darkness, however that time the headlights were on. They were out of Chandigarh border and now were in Punjab. After fifteen minutes ride, they again entered the Chandigarh border.
“Turn left,” he said, “and please lights out.”
“Yes, boss.” She said, her words weren’t sarcastic, but she just wanted to smooth the mood.
Now the road is a single lane where you can’t see a single vehicle after eight of the night and luckily, it was ten and the road was nothing but desert. Still the lights of the bike were out.
Charmi halved the speed as the chill of November was penetrating through their bodies.
“Would you like to spend the night at the jungle or in a tunnel?” he asked, trying to know her opinion.
“I think tunnels would be the best hiding place.”
“And jungle?”
“They will search us next twenty-four hours like mad and mostly in the jungle.”
“And after twenty-four hours?”
“They will mistake us out of the city and their search would be broad, mostly their focus will be in search out of the city.”
“Between Kambala and Saketadi is a huge tunnel under the road.” He said.
After ten minutes Charmi stopped the bike. They dragged it out from the sight of the road and hid it covering with bush around.
She brushed their footprint and tire’s print with a dry bush and went to the tunnel, still the bush in their hand, being dragged behind them, brushing their footprints.
The tunnel was dry as it was winter, not a monsoon. They sat inside the tunnel taking the dry bush inside to cover themselves.
Charmi opened the bag and took out an injection from it. She attached the syringe and filled it with the drug.
“Put off your shirt.” She said.
Shyam did as she said. He felt the pain in his left hand while putting his shirt off.
“Be careful,” he said, “I am taking it for the first time.” His face childish, his eyes staring her.
“I am also giving it for the first time,” she smiled, “doesn’t move your hand.”
Two of Shyam student Asha and Hiral were now nurses. He remembered them but it wasn’t useful. He shut his eyes close. Charmi gave injection on his right shoulder.
Shyam felt it wasn’t as painful as he had imagined. Maybe his right leg and left hand had numbed his mind, blocking it from any other pain.
When he opened eyes Charmi was filling injection again.
“This one is for what?”
“This is anti-rabbis.” She said, “that one was tetanus.”
As soon as he closed eyes Charmi gave him a dose of anti-rabbit.
“Now you will have to four, one on the third day, one on the seventh day, one on twenty-eighth.”
Shyam put on the shirt. His body was feeling cold.
“You need stitching on your hand.” Charmi said observing his right hand, “but we have no suturing needle and thread nor do I know how to do it.”
She regretted not having experience of stitching but Shyam didn’t answer her. She took cotton and a bottle of spirit from the bag and cleaned his wound.
The blood had thickened over it. Charmi needed to pressure the cotton to clean it properly. It was paining him more; he pressed his lips hard and endure it, bravely or maybe he didn’t want to cry in front of a girl – manly ego.
After cleaning his wound, she pressed a small square piece of cotton wet in spirit over it and banded it with a long strip of cotton cloth.
Then she banded this thigh the in the same way and washed her hand with a pouch.
“We have only twenty pouches of water.” She said and handed him a pouch.
“Okay.” He drank water from the pouch, feeling it tasty than prison water.
She took a packet of bread out from the bag and handed him one from it, “sorry, but I can’t give you tomato sauce with it as you have taken medicine.”
She applied tomato catch-up over her bread.
“You have a good knowledge of medicine.” He said, taking a bite at his bread.
“Store owner has told me,” she said through her mouthful.
Shyam took another bite, imagining the taste of bread with tomato catch-up. But the fancy couldn’t help. He finished his bread as fast as a starved man and asked for another one.
She gave him one and took one from herself.
What if it’s warmer? He thought while finishing it.
He didn’t like the taste or smell. It reminded him his mother. I will thank my mom as soon as I get a chance. He decided. He wanted to thank his mom for warm meals and dinners.
But the next moment thoughts of his father rushed to him. would he allow me home? He had rebelled against him for Archana. He remembered his brothers. They were also disappointed with him. he knew it was easy to convince them but father…
It wasn’t as easy to convince him.
He drank another pouch and felt the need for a cigarette to chase the smell of bread out from his stomach.
He asked for cigarettes and it really relieved him from that stale smell of the bread.
“We can’t sleep together.” She said as he finished his cigarette.
“Why we need to sleep together?” he said, “this tunnel is enough big that we can sleep separately from each other.”
“I mean at the same time.” She said, “we need watching in turn.”
“Sorry,” he stammered, feeling shy, “sorry for misunderstanding your meaning.”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m not feeling sleep now. My body is aching,” he said inching to the tunnel till his back rested to tunnel wall.
“Oh! I forgot” she jumped.
“What?”
“Painkiller” she gave him a painkiller.
He thanked her for it, not a formality but it was a genuine thanking.
“Now you will feel better,” she said, “painkiller will start its effect in fifteen minutes.”
“And what about you?”
“I don’t think I should sleep,” she said, “you are tired and wounded and under the dose of the drug. And above all, you don’t know how to shoot. I can’t sleep under your watch.” She gave him a friendly look, “you sleep, I will wake you up at five of the morning.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” she said, “of course.”
“You can wake me at one or two. If you don’t trust my watch then I will give you company.” He said, observing the forest around.
“Okay.” She said, “I will if I feel the need.”
The fatigue and sleep caught him as soon as he closed eyes.
*
Archana threw his mobile phone as soon as she reached the Delhi bus station and got on the bus for Gohana.
At midnight bus dropped her at Gohana. She took an auto to reach the hostel. The mistress shocked to see her.
She told her all what had happened to her.
Hearing name of Victor the mistress felt fear, “he won’t spare you?”
“You know him?” Archana surprised.
“Yes, for the last ten years he is making people fear with his name and not allowing any evidence against him. he has killed four CBI officers, too. You have to die.”
“What?”
“Yes, you have to die if you want to survive.” She said, “you must kill Archana before he kills her.”
“I don’t have an interest in life after what had happened with Shyam but I want to give birth to our child.” Tears in her eyes.
“That’s why Archana should die.” said mistress and moved closer to Archana and explained her whole plan.
***
To be continue...
