5 rupees due

5 Rupees Due - final chapter

Ananya and Ishant had just been talking about the paper caterpillar they made with Siddharth when they were younger as a symbol of their friendship. But just then their eyes caught sight of the men walking in. They shouted at all the people to give them all the money they had, and scared them with their terrifying guns. Many people were too panicked to move, and kept standing with their hands up. Some tried to hide behind the benches or behind the big, round counter table, and so did Ananya and Ishant. But people's hiding was of no use.

The men in black noticed and pulled out the ones who hid even more furiously and thrashed them like an animal. One of those men, probably the most fierce- faced, noticed Ananya and Ishant behind the bench. Ishant looked into the man's eyes, which seemed to be highly terrifying and his face like a beast. The man looked at them, and they both knew their future was no less than a nightmare. The man marched towards them, extending the hand in which he held his pistol, and then walked towards them. He came closer, closer, right in front of their eyes, but suddenly turned back. He went away. How could that happen? The two of them were sure that the man had seen them, but why'd he turn away? Then those men were out of scene. They took all the others in the café outside with themselves. Whoa... What a close encounter. They were about to get up and quickly contact the police from their phone, which was kept on the table. But just then, they saw those men coming back in again. They quickly hid where they were.

But this time, behind those men they saw a couple of security guards of the café. They slowly rose up. All the people whom they caught also came from behind. The guards explained that they had just gone to a nearby place for some other important work, and that was when those people got in. But the guards also assured them all that they were all safe then; and that those robbers would be given severe punishment.

The guards said that they would take those people to the nearby police station with the CCTV recording, and with a couple of witnesses too. They called Ananya and Ishant with them. As they sat in the jeep, heading towards the police station, one of the guards said to Ishant and Ananya, "It won't take more than 5 minutes. There are just a couple of formalities to be performed, and then the CCTV footage is good enough. I hope you cooperate with us and the police." They both nodded. The jeep finally stopped outside a big house, painted with red and pale yellow color. "Why have we stopped here?"asked Ananya. The security guard replied, "Because it is the home of the café manager. We need him to be a witness too." Ishant spoke up, "But he must be in the café itself. Mustn't he?" The guard, marching up the stairs alongside the robbers and the two of them, replied, "We've already talked to him. He must be arriving soon."

They all went inside. All sat quietly. Just then, Ananya said, "Why do we wait for him here? Why can't we call him directly to the police station?" The guard stayed quiet for a while, and then said, "It's our wish wherever we want to meet him. You need not object." Ananya and Ishant gave him a weird look. The guard didn't look back at all. The guard then said, "You don't care about what we are doing. You tell us exactly what you saw." Siddharth told them the whole story. The guard then looked at the robbers and said, "Any explanation?"

One of the robbers spoke up, "Yes, sir. Why not? There is a big objection. See, who am I? A robber. And what's my work? Robbery. That's what I've done. And who are these two people? Responsible citizens. And what's their work? To call the police as soon as they saw us. Then there would not be so much of work for you. The police would come and arrest us. Simple. But what did they do? They just hid. And then you guards had to toil so hard." Siddharth said, "What a silly point is that? I mean, you are the robber and we are the culprit? A joke is not very suitable at the moment." He then looked at the guard, who said, "Well, if I consider what you just said, I guess, Mr. Siddharth, you are the culprit. See, the thieves just did their job, but you didn't. It's your fault." Ananya said, "What? Are you kidding too, sir? Well, that's not a very good joke. Not a sensible one, actually. If it was the public's fault, you'd never call only the two of us." The guard's expression suggested that he had been caught, but he spoke something contradictory, "I know that very well, ma'am. The entire public was the culprit. But we caught you two as you are young people, and all the others in the café were aged people. You are responsible. Siddharth spoke up, "Here your joke is caught perfectly well in the trap, sir. There were many other young boys and girls in the café, too. The CCTV recording can show that. And if you've caught these people already, why would we need to call the police? They were in your hands. And just when I was about to pick my phone up to call, you came in and then I knew you'd do it yourself. What's my fault in this?" The guard said, "Your fault? You talk about your fault? There's no fault of yours at all. There's no fault at all, it's a big crime!" Ananya said, "The first joke was caught, so you started another. This is not a very good way to pass time. But ok, if you say that we've committed a crime, please tell us what it is." The guard spoke up, "Remember my words, both of you, you'll both die after hearing what I say. So, here we go, crime number 1: Ms. Ananya, you were the one who named one of your friends 'ant' in childhood. That's an embarrassing crime. Crime number 2: Mr. Siddharth, you often show off a lot, which can irritate some of your old, childhood friends. Crime number 3: Ms. Ananya, you are a very rude and short- tempered girl, your friends don't like this attitude. Crime number 4: Mr. Siddharth, one of your childhood friends had to listen to a teacher's scolding one day because you take too much of time to tie your laces. And the biggest one of them all, crime no. 5: Mr. siddharth again, you once broke your childhood friend's Red fort, though it was a model, but it hurt him a lot." The guard himself giggled as he listed the crimes.

Ananya and Siddharth now had a fair idea of what was happening. They had to accept, though, that those people in the form of thieves and the guards had done a fair piece of acting. And they knew pretty well, who was the mastermind. In came the manager of the restaurant, the so called 'ant', with a paper caterpillar resting on his palm, laughing and saying, "Who else could it ever be?" Ishant giggled and said, "Ananya, I guess you had borrowed 5 rupees from me too". Ananya and Siddharth could not control their laughter and just then the guard added, "See, I told you, you will die...die of laughter!"