The Transaction#DigitalAMAwithRheea

The Transaction

She picked up her bag, which had been sitting by her feet. Her trembling hands unzipped the zipper.

I peered at her with interest. After a lot of fumbling around the bag, she took out a small package wrapped in paper and tied up with thread. She just stared at it for a while, her lips twitching. Her eyes were piercing a hole through the package.

Suddenly, in the silence of the evening, I heard the rustling of leaves and tried to hide myself as well as I could. This kind of a situation intrigued me. I was always a curious person and loved to poke my nose in business that shouldn't matter to me but somehow sparked my interest.

The source of the sound stepped out of the bushes and approached the woman. I saw the woman nervously adjust her dupatta and rise up from her seat. The man gave her a look of judgement and nodded at the package. She looked at it and then back at him. Then with her hands still trembling she walked over to him. He snatched the package out of her hands and she flinched. He had a creepy smirk on his face. I could tell by the look of him, that he was bad news.

The whole while the woman was nervously staring at the ground, her body still had a slight tremble to it. He looked at her and said something and she replied. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I was dying to find out. I could see that there was an argument forming, though it was obvious who would win it.

She suddenly tried to run but the man was fast. He grabbed her hand and didn't let go. She shrieked. Her voice rang through the park. The man snarled and said something that kept her silent. The confidence she had mustered before had now vanished and I could see that she was scared, with tears brimming her eyes.

I didn't know what to do. I wanted to help out but what if I made it worse? All these thoughts were running through my head. But before I could do anything, another man-a smart looking one- in a suit came out of nowhere. I didn't even hear him. He gave the man a sharp look. The man immediately let her go. He signalled the man to go and the man did so.

The man looked at the woman with a blank look. He said something to her that sounded like a warning. She replied with her head down and the man disappeared as quietly as he had appeared.

The woman then plopped herself down on the bench, looking like the whole episode had drained her of her energy. She took her bag in her lap and cried aloud. I slowly retreated, knowing she needed to do this alone and that I would probably never see her again in this park.

What had just happened?