BALI 100 KM (Book 1) ✔

Chapter 19

"What is this?" Partho asked, taking the paper. After reading its contents began to glance at the overalls and returned it unconcerned, "It makes no sense to me, maybe not intended for you," he shrugged his shoulder.

"But what does it say?"

"Well, it says, 'I am back...will see you soon...I want the papers'. It appears a child had written it, such bad writing," Partho dismissed it,

"I am back, will see you soon, I want the papers," Bandu repeated the sentences and took a gulp. Then with a straight face looked at Partho.

"Where did you get it, and why is it crumpled?"

Bandu gave a gist of the story to Partho, who again appeared not keen to take the matter seriously.

"Throw it away. It's nothing," Partho said, "Come, let's have lunch together,"

"Just had my lunch and was lying down before you came,"

"Ok, then let's meet up in the evening," both men shook hands and returned to their respective rooms

Back in his room, he took out the paper and stared at it intently. He had perfectly understood the message from Balwant. Things moved fast now, and that meant an encounter Balwant anytime soon, how, and when was the question.

Last time, when attacked, he had nothing but his life to lose, but he had Nand's responsibility now. Just then, the bed creaked, and he quickly shoved the note back to his pocket, sensing Nand stirring. The boy had rubbed his eyes awake and was happy to see the person in front of him. He was up and beside Bandu, in an instant, looking excited.

Wasting no time, Nand began to mimic a story in series of actions that depicted the case of the unusual disappearance of Dr. Sanga, their local village physician couple of days back. Except for his medicine bag, everything was intact in his room, and there was no sign of burglary. But what followed next had a hilarious twist to it.

According to Nand, his friend had seen an alien ship above Dr. Sanga's clinic, and they seemed to have kidnapped the doctor. Having believed his friend outright, Nand wanted to confirm from Bandu if he had at any time spotted aliens and did they exist. Nand had such a grim expression on his face while narrating the tale that Bandu couldn't resist laughing out at the question posed. Nand still had that serious and now puzzled look on his face, which changed into a frown, when Bandu still had not stopped laughing.

Observing his frown getting deeper, Bandu tried to suppress his amusement and headed into the kitchen to prepare tea for Nand, who followed him there and scolded him for laughing at him, insisting that his story was true. Bandu managed to convince Nand that there were no aliens and reasoned that the doctor might have gone to visit a patient to some faraway place and would return soon.

Nand was not convinced but let the matter rest and had his tea with some snacks, which Bandu had prepared.

Returning to the shop brought his thoughts back to the piece of paper. He looked around, just in case another one may have been dropped, but found none. Becoming more alert to his surroundings, he began to scan the area from where he stood. There was scanty traffic during that time, and one couldn't suspect every person who passed by. Bandu opened his shop and got to work, occasionally coming out of his shop to look around whenever a state transport bus passed.

He had to contact Inspector Sarathi soon to inform him about the note. With that, he realized the absence of the patrol jeep and wondered about it. He decided to call inspector Sarathi once he reached home.

It must have been around 6 in the evening while serving his customers; a familiar honking far away falls on his ears, and as his body freezes, his heart does a double-take. Gritting his teeth, he braces himself for a confrontation. Surely Balwant would not come out in broad daylight when the police are looking for him. The screech of tires indicated that the bus had come to a halt.

He heard passengers alighting and soon found a crowd in front of his shop ordering tea and snacks. Bandu took down everyone's request and got to work.

"A tea for me please, Bandu,"

Bandu's hand was still for a moment, and he looked up to locate the distinctly familiar voice but could not place a face on it; until like a moon that comes out from behind the clouds, that face emerged clear from the bevy of faces in front of him.

"Das!" the surprise was a little too loud.

"Hello, Bandu." Das greeted with a smirk.

"You are still on the bus as a conductor?"

"Yes, I am. You don't seem too happy to see me. Did I remind you of someone?" Das asked, again a grin spreading on his face, which angered Bandu.

"It's nothing, just surprised to see you in broad daylight and wanting tea." Bandu said, handing him his tea and seeing the grin disappear, "Do you often ply in this route?" Bandu asked.

"No, I am acting as a replacement for a sick buddy. I do feel sorry for what Balwant did to you. I had no idea about it or would have alerted you. He has escaped from prison, did you know that?"

"Yes, I was informed about it," Bandu said, sounding uninterested, and moved to attend to his customers, serving them tea and snacks.

"It is sad to hear his family suffer for his deeds" this statement caught on Bandu attention, and he glanced at Das, who fell silent and continued to drink his tea.

"Why what happened to them?" curious, Bandu finally prodded him.

"His wife is constantly ill, and they have two children, a boy, around 10 or 11 years, and a girl, around 4or 5 years. After Balwant's arrest, the office suspended him from his post, and his family now receives no income. His wife has taken up the jobs of cooking and cleaning in households to support the family. I think her aged mother also stays with her."

"Are there no other relatives?"

"Don't know, Bandu, Balwant, never talked about his family much."

"What about Rana? Did he have any family?"

"Hmm...once when he was drunk too much, Balwant, did mention about a little boy, that's all. I don't remember clearly. I had too much to drink," He said, shrugging his shoulders, "Well, he is dead for good...who cares. Bye Bandu." he said, and turned away.

Das walked towards the bus, along with the passengers who had alighted. As a final call, the bus honked, and Bandu watched the bus leaving. He felt sorry for Balwant's family and their anguish. He didn't know why. It is righty said that crime never pays, either for the one committing or for his family. He thought about what the family must have gone through when they heard about Balwant and Rana.

The children must be suffering too, and suddenly Bandu went still. His eyes trailed the bus that just drove away and wished that Das would come back and answer the one and most significant question, which was now deeply embedded in his brain. It was just a thought but a grave one that his heart wanted answers for once.