Chapter 11
Shlok gazed at the man who was playing with his four year old child, trying to catch the toddler as he ran away from him, both laughing and enjoying each other. When did his father ever played with him like that, he asked himself.
"Dad! Dad!" Seven year old Shlok came running towards his father.
"What happened Shlok?" Niranjan asked without sparing a glance at him.
"Look, I've got a trophy, I won the race today." He said in jubilant tone.
Niranjan looked up and smiled at his son, he replied "Ain't that good! Congratulations!"
A wide grin spread on his face as he replied "Thanks dad."
"Now why don't you put the trophy on the shelf, go on." He said and went back to the file he was holding.
Shlok ran towards the shelf and put the trophy on the shelf then came back to where his father was.
He tucked his hands in his pocket as he hesitantly spoke "Dad, I was thinking if we could play for a while."
"Shlok, you know I have work to do, why don't you go out with your friends and play." He replied with his eyes on the file.
Shlok sighed then replied "Ok, dad."
"But dad, I want to stay here. I don't want to study in boarding school. I want to stay with you." Shlok pleaded.
"You can stay with me, Shlok when you will have vacations. It is for your better future." Niranjan replied as he caressed his chubby cheeks.
"But---"
"No arguments, Shlok." He said now sternly.
He shoved his hand away as he shouted with tears "You don't care about me, dad! I hate you!" then ran away from there.
"Why can't you understand? You can't stay here!" Niranjan shouted angrily.
Thirteen years old Shlok shuddered at his father's loud voice, he bit his lower lip to control his tears.
"But why?" He asked in a low voice.
"Because it is my decision and you have to follow it. You are going to finish your further studies in boarding school whether you like it or not." He said and went out of the room.
Shlok stopped going home even in vacations for three years but then he felt guilty for what he was doing, his father only want his better future, didn't he want to stay home because he want to spend time with his father. He is sixteen now, old enough to make his decisions, maybe he can convince him again, he is his father after all.
Shlok fell on his bed halfheartedly and closed his eyes, his father didn't even came to pick him up. He thought he would be excited to see him after years of seperation, he had so much to tell him but he is off to his work. Does he never care for him, he does that's why he work hard for him, he works day and night for the security of his future.
"Be careful, see what you've done. Here stand up. Aren't you the brave son of your Dad?" The man said as he lifted his son from the ground.
The child peeked from his teary eyes and mumbled in his sob "I am..blave..son.."
"Brave son don't cry and you're crying, are you really brave?" The man replied teasingly.
Shlok chuckled when the child made a face then pouted his lips as he brushed his tears away.
"See I'm..not..clying.." the child replied cutely.
"Let's go in, brave son. Mom must have finished cooking." The man said and carried him in his arms then disappeared in his house.
"Coffee?" Shlok heard someone from his side.
He looked up to find Jyoti with a smile on her bruised jaw and cut lips.
"What the hell happened to your face?" Shlok asked shockingly.
She chuckled but then winced from the sudden pain on her jaw.
"Just a scratch nothing else but that is not answer of my question, do you want some coffee?"
"I would like some."
She ordered the coffee to the girl beside her then sat beside him on the stairs of the porch.
"What are you doing here? Didn't you join them?"
"They say I need rest even though I don't. Come on, it's just two or three punches I've recieved."
"What happened and who did it?"
"I was caught by police last night." She said after moments silence.
"And then? Astha bailed you out?"
"That wasn't necessary, they rescued me then and there."
"Oh, good for you or you would've been included in the wanted list. What were you guys doing, anyway?"
"I know you are curious soul but ain't gonna reveal anything. Master's order." Jyoti replied with a teasing smile.
Shlok pursed his lips in annoyance, why am I not surprised, i'm gonna kill that girl someday!
"Why do you guys follow her? I mean what purpose do you guys have? Her purpose is to---I know what her purpose is but how about you? Why did you join the group?"
"I don't exactly know about others but I know one thing, every member of us has our own purpose on why we joined her."
"What is yours? I was very surprised when I saw you in the gang. All I know is you girls were to be sold, why did you join the gang?"
"You are really a curious soul." She replied with a chuckle then fell silent and dowcasted her eyes, kept staring at the ground but not exactly looking at it, he kept silent and waited for her.
"Father where are we going?" Jyoti asked.
Her father smiled at her tenderly and replied "We are going somewhere special."
"Is it a party?"
"Not exactly but I'm sure you'll have fun there."
"Why are you not going to stay?"
"No baby, I can't stay there but you can."
"What am I going to do there alone? You should've told me before, I could've asked my friends to come."
"That is not necessary you can make friends there."
"Yes but my friends are friends."
"Don't worry, you will find good friends. Here we are."
Jyoti looked at the house, it was a beautiful house not very big nor small, painted in pure white, a wide porch embellished with greenery.
"Who's house is this?"
"You will know once we're inside, let's go." He said and took her small hand in his large ones.
She roamed her eyes on the surroundings of the inside of the house, it was clean and well furnished but not a single photo was there.
"This is her?" She jerked at the deep voice and looked at the man, he was a dangerous looking man, like he is a criminal.
"Yes." She heard her father say.
The man came closer to her, she backed away in fear then looked at her father, he wasn't facing her instead was looking somewhere else.
He stepped forward, she spoke in nervous tone "Father?"
"You should be gone, we'll bring the money to you." The man said from his shoulder.
Money? What money? What is happening here? Where am I? Who is he? How can father leave me with this dangerous looking man?
She saw her father turning and leaving, she shrieked "Dad, don't leave me!"
He didn't stop, she started to run towards him but the man took hold of her in tight grip against her waist.
"Where are you going, bitch? We paid your father for you." The man said.
She gasped and went still in shock as his words ringed in her ears, flinching pain like thousand knives stabbing her, her father wouldn't do it, he loves her.
"You're lying! Dad! Tell him to leave me!" She shouted in agony, tears coming from her eyes.
Her father didn't look back but he replied, his last words to her, words of betrayal, words that killed her very soul, her pride, her belief.
"He is telling the truth." He said and faded away.
She was too stunned to say anything, too numb to feel anything, she was a body without life and soul. Even when she was brought in the basement of the house, she didn't feel the coldness of the basement, the darkness of the basement, how could she feel them when she has become cold, when her life has become dark.
She couldn't remember how many hours or how many days had passed, the only thing she remember is her sheer anger, the volcano building inside her heart, she care not about her life, she wish death for her and anyone else.
The other girls in the basement were scared and crying buckets but she is not, she not once shed a tear, her anger hardened her heart, controlled her brain and stopped her emotions.
"My father was the one who sold me." She said plainly, without an ounce of emotion.
Shlok choked and looked at her in shock,he couldn't express what he was feeling, how can a father do this to his daughter, how can your own parent be merciless?
She chuckled and spoke "Isn't it funny, usually the father is the first person to protect his daughter from men, protect her from hell but my great father threw me to those wolfs, dragged me into the hell."
Shlok doesn't know what to say, what could he say? Can his words give her comfort? Can his words make her accept the bitter truth of her life? Can his words soothe the pain she must be feeling for the betrayel of her father?
He kept silent and just listened to her because he know anything he say wouldn't make a difference, neither it will comfort her nor it will help her.
She looked up and changed the subject "The coffee is here."
"By the way, where did you recieve such sweet gift?" She asked, pointing her finger on his jaw.
Shlok touched the bruised area on his jaw and winced from the flinching pain.
"I wouldn't call it sweet. Who else has the gal to mess with me, of course it is your master."
She laughed and replied "I should've known the way she punched the inspector last night---"
"She punched the inspector!"
"Who did this to you?" Astha asked as she looked at the blood seeping from Jyoti's lower lip.
Jyoti had just removed her balaclava cap as the throbbing pain in her jaw was getting worse.
"It doesn't matter, it was my foolishness. If I had been careful---"
"You know doll, you wouldn't be here if you were foolish, that makes me foolish. You think I'm stupid? Because if you did, I'm gonna do more damage to that pretty face of yours."
She clucked her tongue and replied "It was Inspector Karan, he tried to pull off my cap but I fought so he punched me. Thanks to your arrival, he shifted his attention on you or my face would've been in the news tomorrow."
Astha grinned and asked "Don't you want to be famous?"
She thought for a second, grinned and replied "I'll pass up this opportunity."
"I see. Just stay right here. I'll be back."
"Where you going?"
"For payback, darling. No one mess with blackhawk member without retribution and that stupid jerk knows that yet he play with our members." She replied.
"But we just out of there, it's dangerous!"
"And so?" Astha asked with a raised brow.
Jyoti couldn't believe it, she has no hesitation, no fear at all, how can a person like that exist, is it bravery or mere foolishness. But then isn't she just like her, a woman victimized by men, a woman who went through hell before she became a fighter, who fought her fears and survived.
"Not only punched him, beat him a little too.I was surprised myself when she went all the way back into that dangerous place just to beat the inspector who did this to me. I got one hell of reckless master but that's why she is our master."
"You admire her a lot."
"You! You're a girl!" Jyoti said astonishingly.
"Doesn't sound like nah?" The woman said. She is very beautiful, black raven hair, shiny gold eyes, sharp like a hawk, oval face with pert nose and full red lips.
She is a woman yet she sell woman!
"How disgusting you are! You sell woman when you are woman!" Jyoti shouted furiously.
"Just what I needed, doll."
Jyoti gave her a baffled look, what is she saying? Doll?
"I'm not a doll! Don't call me that."
"But you are doll, doll of anger, controlled by rage and I want to know why. Mostly I've seen girls are afraid in this circumstances yet I see no fear in you."
"Why do you care? It's none of your business! I am telling y---"
"Let's play."
Jyoti frowned, is she insane?
"Let's play a game. I will reveal my past and you will reveal yours. I'll go first."
She was told everything, there was disbelief in her face, such horrible past yet the woman in front of her survived all, compared to her past, her own past is nothing.
"Now your turn, doll."
Jyoti told her everything, how her father sold her, how the anger build inside her, how she wish only death for her.
"Just a little advice, my father used to say these words to me, if you live good things will happen to you. Don't waste life, Fight and you'll survive."
"You're right. I admire her a lot, that's why I follow her. When I joined the gang there was uncertainity, a doubt whether it was the right decision but now I know it is the right decision. I never knew I would find a home in criminal world. I'm just glad that my father sold me, instead of living in a fake world with my great father, I would live in the world filled with crimes."
"Are..are they really..criminals?" Shlok asked hesitantly.
"It is for you to decide."
"I didn't quite understand."
She chuckled and replied "You're not good in riddles, you better be or you wouldn't get the truth you're looking for. See ya later." then walked away.
Shlok took a sip as he remembered their conversation, even though it was brief he understood something very valuable, something many don't understand or wouldn't want to understand, the reality of life.
"You..will talk..to Master Niranjan? I..I don't want..it here!..Take me..away Master Shlok, please..Master Niranjan..will listen..to you..he would, right?..Ask..him..to not..kill father..Please, take me..away.." She stammered in her sobs then buried her herself in his arms, seeking comfort and protection.
Ankush solemnly replied "My father was burned alive, I was there to help him but he end up helping me instead."
"Burned alive? That's too---"
"Cruel, isn't it? But that wasn't the only cruelty me and my family suffered, there are more to count than that. I can't even tell them without feeling the pain and regret, if only I was strong enough to protect my father, to protect my sister but I wasn't, Sid wasn't strong. Sid died in the fire along with his father, it is Ankush who was born from the ashes. Ankush is strong enough to protect his loved ones and he will until the day he die."
"I'll kill him. He'll die. I'll make you realize the pain of losing some one dear."
Did my father played a hand in their suffering or was he the master player? Do I know my father? Who was he, a fake personality? Who he really is, the person he knows or the person Astha think he is?
"My father was the one who sold me." She said glumly.
Is this what the human had become? A pathetic person? Doesn't any relationship matters to him? Is money and power and status are more important to him than relationships?
Why did I never noticed it? Maybe I did but ignored it or never gave it a thought, the truth of life, that life is all about survival, every living being tries to survive in this world, he may crush down others or he may use others in order survive in this cruel world, as simple as it is, that is nature.
***
"Wanna talk about it?" Aditi asked as she rode alongside her.
"I'm a jerk." Astha replied while shifting the reins in her hands.
She grinned and replied "Cannot disagree with you."
She looked at her with a scowl but then sighed "You're right."
"What had happened that made you punch him?"
"I didn't mean to punch him. He tried to kiss me and it triggered my horrible memories and I lost control. I was having a PTSD attack and he was comforting me, he was surprised himself, and you know what I said to him? I said please ask his bas***d father to not kill father, he still comforted me, didn't accuse me and I, a big fool punched him, I punched him!"
Aditi laughed and teasingly asked "was his mouth tasty?"
Astha gave her a look and spoke "Go away!"
"I'm sorry. But you can apologize from him."
"She must." Ankush said as he brought his horse on her other side.
"Here comes the meddler ass. I don't need your opinion." Astha said dryly.
"What did I do?"
"Ah! Devil plays angel. You are the one who encourage him."
"Come on, I was just helping you guys---"
"We don't need it!"
"I don't care!"
"Of course, why do you care, be a brat like always, it is what you're good at. But sorry to burst your bubble, what you're dreaming won't be real."
"Because you're stubborn but my dear sister I'm much stubborn than you."
"Shlok is much stubborn than both of you." Aditi added.
"Exactly. He loves you a lot. He didn't even said anything when you accused that old bas***d---"
"How did you feel when father was burning in front of you?" Astha interrupted him.
Ankush stopped then gave her a long look and asked "What kind of question is that?"
"Astha, you shouldn---" Aditi started but stopped when Astha spoke again.
"Answer the question."
"I don't understand---"
"That is not the answer."
"Of course damn it! I felt horrible!"
"How will Shlok feel when I'll tell him what we are going to do to his father?"
"He would understand. He deserve it." Ankush replied stubbornly.
"I'm not talking about understanding the situation, I'm talking about his feelings."
"He would feel bad, hurt more specifically, is that what you want me to say."
"Exactly, now let me ask you, will you and I be happy seeing him hurt?"
"You don't see the point, he---"
"It is you who don't see the point. If I start being with him, my heart will soften towards him and I will lose the focus on my mission and I won't let it happen. I have waited years, I tolerated everything just to destroy him." She said darkly.
"Let's just pause this love talk for a while because he's here." Aditi said as she looked at the man in his late twenties, casually dressed in red shirt and black jeans.
"You are one reckless girl, Astha. What were you thinking?" Vikram scolded as he saw their horses approach.
"Don't say I was wrong Vicky, that Inspector of yours deserved it. How is he anyway?"
Vikram replied "Pride more bruised than his face. He's in black mood since morning, he is more obsessed with you now."
"I don't understand his obsession to me, there are many others---"
"There are no other who barges in his house just to change the structure of his face. Whenever you are involved he is there, for him you're a challenge because not once he is able to capture you."
"He wouldn't either."
"You can't be lucky everytime. You have to be careful now because he won't stop until he gets you, I know him."
"Don't worry. I have so many people to help me, nah guys?" Astha said as she looked at her gang.
"Selfish as always!" Veer commented.
"Doesn't care about us!" Swati said.
"It is her second nature, you know." Ansh said too.
"It is her bleeding nature. Pain in the ass is her recklessness." Abhay added.
"Only I know how I tolerate her tantrums!" Ankush said.
"You see? They love me a lot." Astha said with a grin.
"Like hell!" Everyone said at the same time except Arjun.
"Ah, stop you guys, I will go to the depths of hell for you, darling." Arjun said with a wide smile as he brushed his arm on her shoulder.
"No need I'm fine alone." Astha replied with a serious face, throwing his arm away but then burst into laughter when his smile faded.
"Ok now let's stick to the work."
"Like I said Karan is obsessed now, he is using every possible way to capture you. The prisoners didn't reveal anything about Sushant, too loyal they are. By the way, how is Sushant, is that bas***d---"
"We'll get to that later. What about Jyoti's father?"
"Already in jail."
"Good. Here you go." Astha said as she took out a cd from her satchel.
Vikram took it with a frown and asked "What is this?"
"You wanted to know what happened to Sushant, you will find out in here."
"I hope he paid for what he did to us."
"It depends on how you view it. I'm satisfied."
Vikram put the cd in his satchel with a smirk.
"Make sure to share it with old bas***d, Niranjan Agnihotri."
"Ok boss. Will drop it in his house."
"You be careful too. I don't want Karan to know you are involved with me. I don't want you to lose your job."
"This job is not worth in front of you but will be careful too. And you too be careful, you guys ask her---"
"As if she listen to us." Abhay said.
"Why did I even suggest." Vickram said.
"Come on guys, I'm not that stubborn!"
More than one cough was heard while Astha gave a sheepish smile.
Cricket
