The First Fall

Chapter 7

I will never forget what happened that day. J T called me and asked me to come down. He wanted to talk to me about something. Since the last class of the day was still going,  I decided to wait for her downstairs.

I told J T about what happened with her earlier and he was a bit concerned. He had a feeling that Jerry won’t give up that easily. So he decided to wait and soon we saw the girls exiting the building.

Rhea waved at me and indicated that they were leaving for the station and I waved back. As usual my girl send a shy smile and we watched them walking away.

I was about to follow them when I saw Jerry blocking their way and he started teasing her. I was about to interfere when J T restrained me and asked me to wait for a while before interfering. He wanted to see her reation to a difficult situation.

“You know very well that she is going to freak out, and I don’t trust him at all. I have a feeling that he is going to hurt her. Let me go.” I almost spat at him.

“Look Roy you are not going to be there for her always. You always says that you want her to be strong, want to see her standing up for herself and all that stuff. In order for her to do so, she needs to face difficult situations by herself. We can interfere if things get out of hand. Believe me.”

As if he knew I was not going to stop myself for long he caught hold of my forearm in a solid grip.

When I saw him grabbing her wrist all my sanity vanished. I saw red and if it was not for J T’s hold on me I would have launched myself at that creature. How dare he touch my girl like that and that too out in the road for all to see?

But what came next surprised me enough to make me immobile for a while. When he started insulting me, she hit him  first and then punched him. After that she went totally out of control.

My God! what a marvelous sight she was! That day she was wearing a maroon full length skirt with a white blouse which had some floral designs on it. Her waist long silky black hair was bound at her nape with a hair clip which came loose when she hit him. She was  a very angry, beautiful young woman. Even J T was stunned and that was a very rare feat.

Somehow Rhea started dragging her away and till then she was trying to kick him. I was completely lost in her beauty and didn’t hear what made her react so strongly. I felt so proud of her that words won’t be enough to describe my feelings.

It was then I heard that swine saying  “Crazy bitch has gone mad. I will make her pay for this”.

All my restraint flew out of me and I was near him in record time. I took hold of his collar and punched him on his face. I couldn’t control my fury and was not aware of my flying fists connecting with him.

J T intervened and separated us. He pushed me away forcefully and took hold of that idiot. I heard him warning Jerry and an angry J T was not a person to reason with. He was also quivering with anger. Suddenly we heard sirens approaching and a Police vehicle came into view.

Thank God J T was with me then and there that day because I don’t know what might have happened if he was not there. He was friends with the officer who came to investigate the incident. Someone who saw Jerry grabbing Nina called the police.

J T explained everything and the officer asked us whether we were willing to lodge a complaint against the boy. Then only I realized that he was under eighteen and J T suddenly asked for my phone. He scrolled through the contact details and dialled Rhea’s number. Nina hated mobiles and didn’t had one.

I asked him to put it in speaker. As I listened to their conversation I started to feel respect for Nina. What a girl she was. I could also feel J T’s approval of my choice for the first time. When the call ended, the officer also said that Nina was right and that the situation could be a very uncomfortable one for both of them.