How Not to Kidnap a Guy

11. 𝘽𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨

Previously... (pls I'm so sorry for not updating in an eternity 😭)

Jacky and Saritha arrive in time to save Sharav and Harsh. Unfortunately, they give the pendrive to the Raza gang members after they hold a knife against Saritha's neck. Jacky and Saritha engage in a disagreement after this, including mentions of a particular 'revenge'. Sharav stops them and questions Jacky about the 'revenge' they were talking about earlier. Jacky, with a lot of hesitation, begins telling them about it.

➽───────────────❥

HARSH

"Yes, the Jaguar gang were the ones who killed our parents, Saddu," Mr. Jacky says. It feels like he's fighting off the tears harder with every word he speaks.

"Nineteen years ago, around 2005," Mr. Jacky continues, "the KRH gang and the Jaguar gang weren't allies like they are now. They had a massive feud to attain the throne as Vadhampura's most notorious gang. Our dad, my biological parents, and yours were Jaguar's members. Dad looked up to them a lot. Haha, even now, if I ask about them, he gets all starry-eyed and talks about them very highly. They—argh..."

He pulls his knees towards him and buries his face on them. It must be a painful memory. I wish I could tell him to stop, but Sharu deserves to know this. Saritha rubs his back as she wipes off his tears. Her eyes dart occasionally to cross-check that everything is alright around us.

She takes a deep breath and continues to say Jacky's words.

"Y'know, Saddu, your parents and Jacky's parents were very loyal to the Jaguar gang, at least initially. And when the elections were about to begin, the fight between Jaguar and KRH escalated like shit. At one point, they stooped so low that they'd do anything to win this fight. And the Jaguar gang was deprived of money to support its political party—"

Jacky stops Saritha and says, "It's okay. I'm okay. I'll tell him." He strengthens himself and starts again. But Sharu? He looks like his whole world just collapsed. When he heard that this entire 'revenge' plot was about his parents, he started avoiding eye contact with anything alive. I move closer to him and try to pat his head but refrain from doing so.

Jacky says, "The Jaguar gang shitasses were dirt poor at that time. They needed money. Their plan? Human trafficking." Human what? I know gangsters can be heartless, but this is too much and too horrifying.

Jacky continues, "Listen to their 'pretty' plot. Burn a school." Burn a what? BURN? The word 'burn' does something to Saritha too. Her face contorts strangely and she walks away from us, taking our plates to wash them.

I get up to follow her, but Sharu pulls me back without even looking at me. The idiot's grip is firm, but his face... broken. His other hand is rolled up to a clenched fist and his eyes waver on the ground, probably to avoid eye contact with Jacky.

Something's very wrong with him.

"The fire would force the children out. Catch them. Sell them all over the world. And then say that the children died because of the fire."

He leans on his hands behind him and starts staring at the sky. "You see, our parents were loyal members of the Jaguar gang. But it's children we're talking about. Our town's children. Fucking children. So of course, they did not agree. But these 'top' gangs, right," he pauses. In this flickering light, his shadowed face is scarier than any gangster I've met.

"They don't tolerate noncompliance. At all. Jaguar didn't just want loyalty—they demanded blind obedience. Your parents' compassion made them expendable." My breath catches. This isn't just a power struggle; this is a blood sport. "So, they burned a school and your parents went to extinguish the fire. They put out most of it and saved most children, but... fifteen children were still taken away by those filthy gang members. Jaguar covered it saying that it was an arson. And d'ya know who they blamed it upon?"