Part 2 (1/2)
”No. It's way too dangerous to do something like that right now. As it is I don't have a good name on the street now.”
It was very hard to get him to agree to it. He was upset about the last time when I asked him for help, and both of us got into trouble for a stupid thing I did. ”I've grown up now! It won't happen again. Trust me one more time man!”
”Okay. But it will never ever surface that I am doing this for you. We keep distance. I'll get you the information you need, but you'll have to just shut up and keep it to yourself. Do whatever you want to do with it, but do not get traced back to me. If you're caught doing something fishy, handle it yourself.”
”Thanks a lot! I owe you one!”
”Oh, you owe me a lot more than one. What do you want to know about?”
”Well, there's this girl, used to live in Panskura, and recently got married to a guy who lives in Burrabazar. The girl's father claims that the guy is a jerk, and that he messes with her at home. I went to the guy's home, but couldn't see the girl. She's a stay at home 'housewife', from what I know till now. She was married to him in her childhood, and hasn't yet become an adult. She's allowed to come back to her home for a few days every few months, and it was during one of these visits that I met her, in the train.
The guy is not a good man. He looks like the average villain in a B-Grade movie. When I went to his house yesterday, he didn't mention about her at all. When I asked him about her, he threw me out of the house. Something is seriously fishy with this guy, and I really need to find out about this.”
”What's the name of the girl?”
”I don't know.”
”Why didn't you ask her father?”
”I didn't because I was stupid enough not to ask him.”
”Okay. Do you know the guy's name?”
”No, I don't. I've told you everything I know.”
”You do realize that you're making me work very hard for this, even though I'm getting nothing out of it? I really don't want to do this.”
”Please man. This is someone's life we are talking about. I need to figure this out, and I have to do it soon!”
”Okay. Give me some time to do it.”
”How much time do you need?”
”A couple of days should be fine. Most of my relations with the people on the street are a bit rusty. I will have to revive some of them, pull some strings, but yes, it can be done.”
”Thanks a lot! I'll wait till then.”
Two days. That wasn't a long time for me to wait, but was it so for her? Every single moment of delay was causing her more and more pain. I was so sure now that he was treating her pathetically, and yet there was nothing I could do about it. I needed to act on the information as soon as I would get it. All I was hoping for now was that he'd get what I needed.
The two days pa.s.sed pretty quickly, with a messed up cla.s.s test and quite a lot of catching up with work. The work was being done smoothly, except that I didn't want to do it. I finally got a call from him in the evening.
”What information did you get?”
”Dude. I don't think you should pursue this guy anymore. Leave him and move on. This s.h.i.+t keeps happening with people. It is not your responsibility to make sure that everyone gets what they deserve.”
”What's with the lecture? What did you find out? I know he's a rich guy, and has a pretty large textile business, but why do you sound so serious about him? What information do you have about him?”
”This guy goes by the name Gujjar on the streets. People don't know his real name. He is one of the richest people in the city, but maintains an extremely low profile. Most people wouldn't even know that he is that rich.
He is quite literally a hotshot when it comes to the textile business. Owns a couple of the biggest shops in the area, and the money flow is decent. He's also a loan shark, and primarily targets the poorer sections of the society, who often are not able to pay him back.
But all of this is supplementary. That's not what he's primarily doing. This guy is a b.l.o.o.d.y pimp. He picks up girls from these families, by striking deals with their fathers. When the father is unable to pay him back, he agrees to let go of the loan, and sometimes even incentivizes the father with money, in exchange for 'marrying' the daughter. He then brings the girl to the city, and hands them over to the madams. He controls a majority of the prost.i.tution networks being run in the city. Most people don't know about him because he hardly ever talks to anyone. Since his textile business does well, and he maintains good relations with the cops, n.o.body raises a finger at him.
This girl you're talking about, is actually lucky to be able to come back home. After a while, these girls start calling their centres home. They never go out, remaining locked inside the place forever. There is no escape for them, and prost.i.tution becomes the only option, since their skills at other jobs are almost always zero.
This guy is very well connected. He knows way too many people to be able to be hurt by any of your attacks. Do not try any stunts with him. He will crush you like an insect, and you'll be invisible even before you'd make any impact. I really think you should just stay out of this. There is too much dirt in this, and you shouldn't get your hands dirty.”
”Do you know the locations for his centres?”
”If she's new, she'll be located in one of the three low profile centres in the city. From the looks of it, she seems to be new to this, given that she hasn't been drafter in completely, and is still being allowed to visit her parents. I'll send you the list on hangouts.”
”That'd be great. Thanks a lot for your help. Give me a call whenever you need any help from me. I will always be ready to help.”
”For your own safety's sake, Ansh, stay out of this. You don't know what you're getting yourself into. There is too much trouble in this, too many issues. You shouldn't get into this. Stay away from Gujjar. He can destroy you.”
”Thanks for the advice. I will keep it in mind. Take care. Hope you do well ahead.”
”Hope you do well too. Good luck in IIT. Bye.”
It was back to the contemplation. Gujjar was strong, and powerful. I was nowhere. There was no way I could match up to this guy. I did try, but there were better things to do for me. Trying this hard for something that could potentially kill me was stupid. She was suffering, but that didn't mean that I had to go ahead and save her. I was not the saviour for every person on the planet. I had my own things to do.
Fighting these powerful goons had never been my specialty, and this matter was best closed here. I had my studies to get back to, the exams would be here in no time, and then I'd complain about how tough things are. I had to study, work, and play. I had my own life too. This was too tough for a teenager to take charge of. It was best for me to leave this matter as it was, and pretend that nothing had ever happened.
I was back on the study table, with the fluid mechanics text book in front of me. Her eyes kept flowing in my mind. They were sad, desperate eyes that were hoping for a day when she would be free again, yet knowing that it was impossible. Why couldn't she tell her parents the truth? I was convinced that they would be able to do something about it. There was nothing I could do here. This was not my responsibility. I couldn't take charge of the situation. I was just another silent spectator, standing in the crowd and seeing the situation from far away. There was no way that I could take such people head on, and win the battle against them.
One must accept that there are some things in life that one can't change irrespective of how strongly they want to change them. I was sure that this was one such thing. I couldn't have done anything for her or anything to him. There was no point trying. It would be a matter of time before I would forget about all this, and move on with my life. My dreams were more important than hers, and easier to achieve. It was time to start focusing on them again.
CHAPTER 8.
It is said that when one sleeps peacefully, his subconscious rests too, and hence, one doesn't have dreams. I've had dreams since I was a child. Sometimes I would dream that I was flying around my house, while there were times when I was attacked by swarms of insects in my dreams. Often, the movies I watched and the books I read spilled over to my mind, and I would often see myself fighting basilisks with the sword of G.o.dric Gryffindor, or travelling to Narnia through a cupboard. This was also a probable reason for my inherent fear of the dark, and of horror movies and novels. I haven't watched a single horror movie or read a scary novel till date.
I was back to college before my leave period had ended, which meant that I had a few days to spend just chilling, since the authorities wouldn't really care. Unfortunately, the people of my society did care, and soon I had scores of missed calls on my phone, and my friends', if mine was switched off(I'd often put my phone on air plane mode just to avoid them.) After a busy week, I thought that I'd finally manage to get some sleep on Friday. Or so I thought. My dreams almost always ended with me being the hero of the entire scenario. The one I had on Friday was one of the few in which I was not.
It was probably three in the night, at least that's what the clock read, when I sat up. The dream that I had just had shook me out of my sleep.
”Ansh?” A familiar voice said. The voice I had not heard for years. It was the voice of a little child.
”Aliya?” It had to be her. Her voice was one I could never forget. I could see her, that little girl, right in front of me. She was the same little playful girl, who was once my best friend.
”I have missed talking to you. Life back then was so much fun.”
”I have missed you too. You were my best friend!”