The Girl Who Joined Infantry

CHAPTER- 6

My dad would love to tell about Mom's great victory at the court battle ( I do not call it that). But I will give you long story in short:- We went to the court, me and Oli gave the story, the judge had a few words with mom about the dead guy, mom insisted that I did it for self-defence, mom then gave proof, the judge regarded it to be original, he sentenced punishment. And. . . . . . . What else??

After that life went pretty rapidly. Oh, I forgot to mention that story on me and Oli published on news, giving us a headache. How can I forget that Anik sir's a reporter too? So anyway eventually everyone forgot the incident except me and Oli who will have the memory in a dark corner of mind forever.

So whatever, as I was telling you life went rapidly. Tests came, I passed. Then came the big brawny exam of Higher Secondary. With my luck, I passed that too. well not that nicely but with enough marks to please my parents and teachers and to take psychology for B.Sc. However Oli with her brilliance scored a position in top 150 of the state. Did I mention Oli was the Topper in our school?

My first year in college was somewhat uneventful - and that's a lie. Most of the year was okay.... eventless. But in the end of the year I had an experience you never would want to have, if you are a good person, ofcourse!

Let me tell you what happened. It was a cool autumn night. Twinkling stars looked like distant flames flickering in the blowing wind. I was returning from my tuition classes, exhausted. For some reason that day, the streets were nearly empty. I was driving my scooter( mom's scooter) slowly, letting the autumn wind to gust at my face and blow away my exhaustion. There was silence except for the sound of wind and scooter. I rounded an alley. It was narrow, and the only street lamp was flickering. After driving a few yards, a dark human silhouette stepped out of the corner, blocking my way. I screeched to a halt, just a few inches before hitting the man.

-" Whoa! What do you want, get hit by my scooter or send me behind the bars?" I snapped. The men stayed silent, developing a crooked grin I had a bad feeling about. In the dim light of the often flickering Street lamp I examined the man closely. He was dressed like a businessman. Black coat and pants, leather boots and a pork Pie hat. The hat was lowered in front of the face, so I couldn't see his eyes. His angular features were more prominent because of his neatly shaved face.

-" Can you step away from my way?" I tried a calmer tone. Again silence. Urgh! This is frustrating. " Are you deaf? Step out of the front of my scooter." No response. I felt like yelling my words into his ears. But I doubted that would be useful. So I got out of my scooter to face him.

-" What do you want?" I demanded, without hoping to get an answer, but I got one. The answer came in a deep voice and the street light went out dramatically.

-" You."

-" Sorry?" I blinked several times, more to process what he said than to adjust my eyes to the dark.

-" You are Tanisha Saha?"

How does he know my name! And why he wants me? I wanted to ask so many questions, but went with a simple " Yes. "

His smile grew wider and more irritating. Did I mention that I don't have much problem in seeing in the dark. My mom calls me Owl for that, not owl exactly, the hindi word for owl,' Ulloo', but let's not get into that.

-" How do you know me?" I asked in a calm tone. He chuckled. A low rumbling sound that made the hair stand at the back of my neck.

-" Well, well, miss Tanisha Saha, for people of my line, it's not very hard to know people like you." He said.

-" What do you mean by 'people like me'?"

Much to my annoyance and irritation, he chuckled again, then clicked his tongue, then said, " such innocence, where will it go when offered money?"