The 3 Mistakes Of My Life (28 page)

I said.

'Ali woke up,' Omi said. 'Where is he?' I said.

'I locked him in the manager's room. How many people?' Ish said.

'Thirty,' I said. 'Let's fight,' Ish said.

Twenty

Ish, I want to talk to you,' I said. 'We don't have time,' Ish said. 'Omi!' Mama's

scream came through the main door. 'Coming Mama. Give us five minutes,' Omi

screamed back. 'Get him fast,' Mama said.

I made Ish sit on the sofa that blocked the main door.

'Ish, can I offer a bit of logic in the current chaos,' I said.

'What? We have no time,' Ish said.

'I know. But I also know what will happen if we fight thirty people. We will all

die. They will get Ali and kill him too,' I said.

'So what are you trying to say,' Ish said and stood up.

'Giving up three lives to possibly save one. Can you show me the maths in

this?'

'Fuck your maths. This isn't about business.'

'Then what is it about? Why should we all die? Only because you love the kid?'

'No,' he said and turned his back to me.

'Then what?'

'Because he is a national treasure,' Ish said.

'Oh, and we are national filth? So maybe one day the kid will hit a few sixes

and Indians will waste the day watching TV and get thrills out of it. So fucking

what? What about my mother? What about Omi's parents? What about...,' I said

and turned quiet. I almost said Vidya.

'I'm not giving him up. You want to run away. Open the door and run. Omi,

you are welcome to go too,' Ish said.

'I am not going. But how do we fight them Ish?' Omi said.

Ish told us to follow him. He led us to the kitchen. He told us to lift a kerosene

canister each. He also picked up three buckets that we used to chill beer. We fell

in step behind him as we took the steps to the roof.

'It's heavy,' I said.

'Twenty litres each. That's heavy for sure,' Ish said as we reached the roof.

Fires dotted the neighbourhood skyline. The weather didn't feel as cold as a

February night should be.

'We are coming!' Mama said as his group pushed the rusted metal gate of the

bank open. They came to the porch and banged on the main entrance door.

'Stop shouting Mama,' Ish said.

Mama looked up to the roof.

'Where are you hiding sister-fuckers,' Mama said. The crowd hurled fire torches

at us. We stood two stories high. Nothing reached us. One fire torch fell on a

rioter and he yelped in pain. A mob maybe passionate, but it can also be quite

stupid. They stopped throwing torches after that.

Ish kept Mama engaged.

'Mama, I was born without fear. See,' Ish said and climbed on the roof ledge.

The crowd became distracted. If they weren't, they'd attack the main door.

Despite three bolts and a sofa in front, they would break it in ten minutes flat.

After that, they'd have to break the first floor entrance door and then the flimsy

one at the roof. In fifteen minutes, we would be roasted in blowtorches. Ish's plan

better be good.

'Say Jai Sri Ram,' Ish shouted. It worked perfectly, the crowd had to

participate. Most of the crowd did not know whether we supported them or not.

At least not yet.

Meanwhile, Omi and I poured the kerosene out of the canisters into the

buckets. The canisters had a narrow neck and the kerosene wouldn't flow out

fast. We needed a big strike.

Ish struck Siva's poses on the ledge. A few drunk members of the mob even

bowed to him. Perhaps Siva had come down tonight to bless the rioters.

'One, two, three and go,' I whispered as Omi and I upturned the buckets. We

threw the oil forward to keep it away from the bank building.

The blowtorches in the rioters' hands acted as the ignition. A river of fire fell on

the bank's porch. Panic spread in the mob. They took a few moments to realise

we had attacked them. Ish stepped off the ledge. We hid ourselves under the

parapet. I raised my head high enough to watch the happenings below. A few

mobsters ran out of the bank gate as their clothes caught fire. I suppose it is

much more fun to burn people, than get burnt yourself.

'How many ran away?' Ish said.

'Quite a few. There's panic downstairs.' The remaining people started jabbing

trishuls on the main door. I popped my body up to count the people. I estimated

more than ten, but less than twenty.

'We have to go down,' Ish said.

'Are you mad?' I said.

'No. Let's reduce the people further,' Ish said.

'Ish, we are hurting people. Some of them may die. We threw a lot of kerosene,'

I said.

'I don't care,' Ish said, 'we have to hurt some more.'

We came down to the first floor. Ish unlocked the branch manager's office door

with the bunch of keys in his pocket. Ali awaited him inside and ran to hug him.

'I am scared,' Ali said and broke into tears.

'Don't worry, it's going to be fine,' Ish said.

'I want to go home to abba.'

I ran my fingers through Ali's hair. Home was no longer an option.

'Ali, you will be fine if you listen to me. Will you listen to me?' Ish said. Ali

nodded.

'Some horrible people want to get you. I need to lock you up in the vault. They

will never get you there,' Ish said. He pointed to the claustrophobic six by six

room.

'There? It's so dark?' Ali said.

'Here, take my phone. Keep the light on. I will be back soon,' Ish said and gave

him his cell-phone.

Ish put Ali in the safe. He gave him a few pillows. Ali switched on the phone

light. Ish shut the door and locked it. He kept the keys inside his sock.

'You ok?' Ish screamed.

'It's dark,' Ali said.

'Hold on ok?' Ish said.

'Ok, we have to cook one more dish in the kitchen. Come fast,' Ish said.

We left Ali in the vault and ran to the kitchen. The jabs at the main door

continued. I estimated we had five more minutes before the door gave away.

Ish unplugged the LPG cylinder. 'Carry this to the main door,' Ish said.

Omi and I carried the LPG cylinder. We kept it under the sofa blocking the

main door.

'Omi where do we keep the fireworks?" Ish said.

'Top shelf,' Omi said.

Ish came back with boxes of leftover Diwali crackers. We usually burst them

when India won a match. Ish emptied a box of bombs on the cylinder.

He took two bombs and opened the fuse to make it last longer. The crowd

banged at the door. One main door bolt became loose.

'I open, you light and all run up. Clear?' Ish said to Omi.

Omi nodded. Ish climbed on the sofa and tried to get hold of the bolt. It

vibrated under the impact of the mob's jabs.

Omi lit a matchstick and took it to the fuse. As the fuse tip turned orange, Ish

opened the bolt. The sofa would keep the door in place for a few more seconds,

the time we had to save our lives.

'Run,' Ish said as he jumped off the sofa.

We ran up the stairs. I was four steps away from the top when the door came

loose.

'Mother fuckers we won't leave you. Killing your own people,' the mini-leader I

had tried to bribe opened the door. Him and three more men entered the room.

'Hey stop,' they shouted at me as I continued to climb. I looked behind, eight

men had entered the bank.

I was one step from the top when my ears hurt. The explosion rocked the

cupboards on the ground floor as the main door blew away. I think the mini-

leader took the worst hit from the cylinder. The other eight men couldn't have

been much better off.

I didn't know what we were doing. Preventing someone from taking revenge by

attacking them ourselves. I had never seen body parts fly in the air. I didn't know

if any of the rioters remained. I used the two way switch at the top to switch on

the ground floor tube light. Smoke and bits of paper from the old files filled the

room. Ish and Omi came behind me.

'All gone?' Ish said.

The smoke cleared in thirty seconds. A few men lay around the room. I could

not tell if they were injured or dead. The erstwhile main door was now an empty

gap. Mama entered the room with five other people. Maybe he was lucky, or

maybe he had the foresight to send others to open the door first. The five people

ran to the injured in the room. Mama looked up. His eyes met us.

Twenty One

Traitors, you bastards,' Mama screamed. I noticed his left hand. It bled and the

kerosene had burnt part of his kurta's left sleeve.

'Catch them,' Mama shouted. He and five other men ran up the stairs. Ish, Omi

and I ran into the branch manager's office and shut the door.

'Hold these,' Ish said. His hands trembled as he shuffled through the cricket

equipment we kept in the manager's office. Ish picked up a bat. Mama and his

group had reached the branch manager's office door.

'Open or we will break it,' Mama said, even though they didn't bang the door.

They continued to threaten us but didn't act. Perhaps they were afraid of what we

would blow up this time.

My heartbeat sounded almost as loud as their screams.

'I don't have my phone. Give me yours, I'll call the police,' Ish said to me.

'We will not leave,' Mama's voice reverberated through the door.

I passed my phone to Ish. He dialled the police number.

'Fuck, no one is picking up,' Ish said and tried again. Nobody answered.

Ish hung up the phone and shook it in frustration. Beep Beep, my phone said

as a message arrived. 'It's an SMS,' Ish said as he opened it.

Hey, stay safe tonight.

By the way, just got my period!!

Yippee!! Relieved no?

C U soon my hot teacher.

Love - me.

The message came from supplier Vidyanath. Ish gave me a puzzled look. I

shrugged my shoulders and reached to take my phone. Ish moved the phone

away from me. He looked at me in shock. He turned to the message and went into

details. He saw the number. He dialled it.

I came close to a cardiac arrest.

'Hey, cool no? I never thought I'd be celebrating a period,' Vidya rattled off on

the other side as she saw my number. I could hear her cheerful voice even though

Ish held the phone. 'Vidya?' Ish said as his brows became tense. 'Ish bhaiya?' she

said.

Ish looked at me. He cut the line and kept the phone in his pocket.

For a moment we forgot that we had murderers at our door. Ish stepped

forward towards me as I backtracked until I reached the wall.

'Ish I can explain...,' I said even though I
couldn't. Ish dropped the bat on the

ground. He lifted his hand and then - slap! slap! He deposited two of them on my

face. Then he made his hand into a fist and punched me hard in the stomach.

I fell on the ground. I felt intense pain, but I felt I had lost the right to say

anything, including screaming in agony. I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes.

I deserved this. I had to pay for the second mistake of my life.

'What the hell are you doing?' Omi said even though he understood the

situation well.

'Nothing, selfish bastard. He is a snake. He'll sell us if he could, Fucking

businessman,' Ish said and kicked me in the shins.

'Hey Ish, you want to get killed?' Omi said.

'Fuck you Mama, come in if you have the guts,' Ish shouted and walked up to

the door.

Omi lent me a hand. I stood up and leaned on him. I wondered if my intestines

had burst.

'I told you. Protocol,' Omi said.

'I didn't do anything wrong,' I said. I don't know why I said that. I had

unprotected sex with a barely legal student and my best friend's sister. It must be

up there in the top ten morally wrong things one could possibly do.

Mama's patience ran out after five minutes. He ordered his minions to break

the door. They pressed their trishuls against the door, but kept their distance.

'Right now, aim is to survive, not to settle scores,' Omi said.

Omi handed Ish the bat again. I held my wicket tight. We monitored the door. A

few more jabs and it would open.

'I'll let them in anyway,' Omi said and released the bolt.

'You want to kill me? Mama, go on, kill me. Why wait,' Omi said and opened

the door.

'Move aside Omi. Just tell me, where is the boy,' Mama said.

'You won't get any boy here,' Ish growled.

Mama's five men held up their trishuls. We lifted our cricket weapons. One

man attacked Ish. Ish blocked him with his bat. Ish struck the bat on the man's

arm, leg, thigh and groin. The man fell on the floor.

My hands shivered as I tackled another fat man. My wicket got stuck in his

trishul's blades. Our conjoined weapons hurled in the air as we tried to extract

them apart. He kicked me in my right knee and I lost my balance. He came

forward and pinned me to the wall.

The third man hit Ish on the neck with the blunt end of the trishul. Ish fell