A Pocketful Of Peace

17. The Unlikely Partnership

Aman was cramped. It was almost nine hours now that he was in the same posture. Even a granite statue would feel cramped sitting idle and doing nothing but count the number of rotations that the hour and the minute hands had completed round the dial... He was, but a mere human! He was bound to feel trapped and claustrophobic, for he was stranded on a bus for almost the whole night. Almost half way through the ride, the bus he was travelling in had broken down. The driver overestimated his own driving skills and drove right over a boulder. The oil sump took the hit and started leaking. As a result, they were stranded in the middle of nowhere at a god forsaken hour. That was five hours ago. It was nearing day break and Aman hoped to reach the nearest town at least for breakfast. He had not eaten anything since the last night and was now practically famished! He had mentally reached a road side dhaba and was already imagining himself reading out the menu at the counter when his phone rang.

Looking at the screen, he hesitated for a moment. Why on earth would he call, that too, at such an early hour? Ultimately, he did receive that call, albeit not very enthusiastically. The conversation went something like this...

"Hello?" Aman said hesitantly.

"Soundarya is missing." The voice from the other end sounded stressed.

"Must be at home..." He said verily.

"She is neither at home nor at the Kitchen. I checked the trail and I am sure she doesn't have friends where she would go at night." Came the frantic reply.

"How can you be..." He could sense his own voice sounding vary of the situation.

"She left our house at midnight and is nowhere to be found now. Her place was locked from outside. I tried to..." came the explanation from the other side.

"Did you check Mayuresh's whereabouts?" He cut in, getting impatient.

"What? Why? I mean..." he could feel the confusion and tension at the other end.

"Get in touch with his father. Talk to him and find out where the hell he is. I am on my way." Aman spoke, willing himself to sound confident. He knew Mayuresh like the back of his own hand and had instantly sensed foul play on the latter's part. Shaking off his idleness in a blink of an eye, Aman got back in action.

Without bothering to get to the front exit, Aman dived out of his window from where he was sitting near the rear end of the bus. As soon as his feet touched solid ground, he broke into a dead sprint. The kids looking out of the window behind his seat were treated to a visual straight out of a superman movie, when Aman dropped down and took to the road running at full speed.

"I... Ok. I'll ask Murali. I don't know... She was upset. She... she walked out on me..." Aman could sense the warning signs of panic setting in.

"Uncle..." He tried to get through to his uncle as his feet tried to minimise the distance between him and his family.

"I shouldn't have let her go. She... I... I am so sorry. I don't know what to do!" The strain of the past few hours and the weight of the current situation was getting the better of his uncle. The last thing Aman wanted was for his uncle to break down now.

"Prasanna uncle..." He tried again, without compromising on his speed. Had Aman taken his career in sports a little more seriously, he would have been a tough competitor for Usain Bolt. But Aman had always been practical. Even in this situation, he knew he couldn't risk exhaustion. And thus, he mentally prepared himself to flag down the next means of transport that presented itself.

"How could I let her go! I should have stopped her. I should have talked to her..." Prasanna was on a ranting spree. Blaming himself for something he had no control over.

"APPA!!" Aman shouted into the phone, frantically searching behind his back to see any incoming traffic that would take him towards his destination. By now, the stranded bus was a blip on the horizon and the area as far as his eyes could see was deserted. Why was it that people preferred to stay away from the roads this early in the morning?

"Huh?" finally, he snapped out of his monologue.

"Focus! Talk to constable Murali. Try to find Mayuresh. Register a complaint if you don't find him. I am coming." Aman tried to chalk out an action plan.

"Case? Against that boy?" Prasanna sounded unsure.

"Yes." Aman said confidently. He rounded a bend and spotted a truck lazily come to life at a short distance ahead and willed himself to catch up with it.

"What am I supposed to complain?" He still felt it was an extreme step.

"That he took Soundarya against her will." Aman reconfirmed for him, summoning all of his reserved energy as he sped off behind the one opportunity that had presented itself in form of the truck picking up speed.

"Against her will?" Prasanna was aghast, at the mere thought.

"Yes. Forcefully." Aman echoed.

"Force..." Prasanna couldn't even bring himself to say it, much less believe it.

"Appa?" Aman stressed, tightening his hold on the phone in a death grip.

"Hmm" Prasanna responded mechanically, lost in his own thoughts.

"Call me when you have talked to him. Okay?" Aman tried to bring him on the same page, at the same time establishing a two-way line of communication.

"Okay..." Prasanna agreed.

Okay. Now Call him." Aman told him.

"yeah... Sorry. Whom?" Prasanna had again tuned off it seemed.

"The constable? Murali uncle?" Aman said, exasperated.

"Yes. Yes, of course. I know. I am on it." Prasanna confirmed.

"Appa..." Aman stressed.

"Yes?" Prasanna asked earnestly.

"We will find her." He hoped he sounded confident for his Appa's sake. His Appa? He would have definitely rolled his eyes if the situation at hand was not this serious.

"Come back. I need you here. I can't..." Prasanna, for the very first time acknowledged how much he was depending on Aman.

"I am on my way. Keep me posted." He assured his Appa once again before disconnecting the line. With a desperate effort, as if his life depended on it, Aman dived forward and caught on to the side rails of the truck carrying onions. The driver heard the loud thud and in his rear view mirror, he saw the human form suspended by the side of his truck. He slowed down to a stop. The driver opened his door to confront the dare devil even as Aman jumped down from his not so comfortable position.

The truck was going in the direction he wanted to and the ever charismatic and persuasive Aman successfully hitched a ride back home. The truck driver gave a sympathetic ear to his sob story and was proud of the fact that he was getting to play a side kick to the hero of a live unfolding action drama. He even suggested Aman to take a few onions along with him. The mischief monger who had kidnapped his new friend's old friend could cut a few quintals of onions as a punishment!

But all Aman could think of was that he was a good four hours away from helping his Sandy and the truck was pretty slow. His Sandy? Well, she was his, in a way. His best friend! And she needed him more than ever.

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