A Sacrifice To The Beast - Joysi G. (new reading .TXT) 📗

contempt and tears.

"Mr. Jha remember you are not alone. Your son may be dead but we are here. You can call us your sons", said Junaid warmly.

"Thank you lads", replied Mr. Jha.

"You know ", said Sameer, "I always wanted to celebrate Diwali with my dad. But he is such a busy man. Sometimes we don't see each others for days.I always wanted my dad by my side. Look at my fate. My dad is still not with me but I have got such great friends beside me and look one of them looks like my grand pa."

"I'm not that old ", said Mr. Jha jokingly.

"You are a good man Mr. Jha. Why would anybody want to hurt you?", asked Junaid.

"People who harm others are scared. Truth scares them. I may live or die but know this still, truth will prevail", replied Mr. Jha.

Sameer got up went near the fire at the center of the lawn, placed his right hand on top of it and said, "With fire as my witness I put a curse on the man who wants the life of Mr. Jha, may he yearn for his son as Mr. Jha yearns for his dead son."

 

The night was bright with the crackers and light which lit the sky. Entire city was celebrating but the local office of the The Red party was going through some dark times. The Boss knew about the attack on Mr. Jha and he was disappointed in his coworkers Singh and Kumar. There was silence in the office. Singh and Kumar have to take responsibility for their action.

"How old was Jha's Boy?", inquired the Boss.

"Twenty two sir.", said Kumar.

"I DON'T KNOW WHY HAVE I KEPT FOOLS LIKE YOU IN MY OFFICE", shouted the Boss, "you were supposed to threatened him. NOT KILL HIM.........You, Kumar go out now!".

"Sir please try to understand. If it wasn't that kid, we could have succeeded", said the Kumar.

"Don't blame kid for your fault Kumar! Leave now!", ranted the Boss then he said to Singh in a grave tone, "You wanted his life, didn't you? .........You know I see a leader in you. You have such a zeal for the party. I like it".

"I am sorry for Jha's boy, your anger is valid." asked Singh.

"I am not angry for the boy's death bur because you failed. You know Singh, politics is like war. The only difference is that we fight with words. And there is no war without any death. You see sometimes things must be done differently. We have failed. I have taken loan from the private banks on behalf of our party to give the bonus to the steel workers, this will shut their demanding mouths for now. We may have lost now.......but I want you to do anything, just anything, to get back the people's trust. And you have my permission for this. Don't tell anyone. Understand?"

 

Later that night Singh was anxious. He cannot believe how can his plan fail because of a high school kid. He stayed in the office to prepare for his next move. The office lights get switched off, one by one except the Singh's desk. He sat looking at his blank computer screen, contemplating.

"Don't worry Singh. Things will get better. Just take some rest.", said Kumar.

"I won't rest until I secure The Red. This party is my life.", said Singh calmly.

“Go home, celebrate with your kid and wife. Have some drink. You will feel better”, adviced Kumar.

“Thank you my friend. I just want some solitude. Good night and Happy Diwali.”, replied Singh. Kumar left.

Singh was left alone in the office. As he was contemplating, he got a call from his wife. He wanted to go home, to spend the festival with his wife and son but he cannot sit still until he finds a way out of this situation. He opened the files on his desk and was skipping pages until he found a record of a criminal of hate crimes named Guru. Singh contacted him hoping to get his job done.

 

Chapter 7: Guru's Prey

Guru is a 38 year man with a huge criminal record. His real name is Rajesh He got his name as a title for his proficiency in kidnapping, forgery, attempt to murder and the like. Working for The Red will not only give him more power in the city but he was also promised that cases against him shall be dissolved.

Singh narrated him all the incident especially the accidental killing of Jha's son, which became the fall for the party.

Guru goes to The Fresh Street, to see what the people think about the accident and do they relate it to The Red.

He sat in the cafe' and ordered coffee.

“Here is your black coffee Sir.”, said the waitress.

“Did something happened here recently, I heard some crazy man drove through the pedestrian?”, inquired Guru.

“Yeah. A crazy driver who got away. What has happened to the City's law?”, replied a concerned citizen.

“You are right. That day if the driver had not been able to escape, I would had made him suffer to death.”, said another.

“God bless the soul of people who died.”, said Guru deceptively.

“Thanks to that kid who saved the old man. What was his name..... ”said another guy.

“Its Junaid Khan. People were talking about him that day. I haven't seen him but I've heard he comes here with his friend Anna”, replied the waitress.

“Junaid Khan? This must be easy”, thought Guru to himself.

 

The next day Guru went to Singh's desk informing him about his findings.

“Let's say there is a way where your party can win maximum votes and the kid who failed your plan can be punished at the same time. What do you think about that?”, asked Guru.

“I know you were able to save us from being defeated. So what's the plan? ”, replied Singh.

“Not yet! Give me a weeks time. I have set my 'eyes' on my prey and your work will be done. Just remember your promise.”, said Guru and went away.

Kumar overheard this conversation and he confronted Singh saying, “Are you insane, Singh? Are you going to hurt a kid because of votes?....This is unbelievable!”

“You mind your tongue Kumar! Whatever I am doing, it is for The Red and its every worker. I am NOT doing it for myself.”, replied Singh.

“Look what you have become. This is a crime.”, explained Kumar.

“Crime? Is this what concerns you? When we are the law, every crime we commit is a necessary action. This is no place for human rights and sanity. This is politics. I am just using a small worm to catch a bigger fish and I don't see any crime here.”, said Singh.

“I'll make sure the headquarters knows about your black deeds.”, threatened Kumar.

“Try your best”, replied Singh.

 

Later that night Boss called Singh and was very pleased by the assurance of votes for The Red. Boss said to Singh, “No wonder why people call you The Red Lion. The moment you do this task you will be promoted to my position and I will guide you from the capital.”

 

Singh was very happy to hear this. His dream to see his party win was coming true. As he rose the ladder to success, he cared little for the people who give their votes to him. To Singh people were only a number of votes. It was not his insanity but it was the lust of power that made him this monster. Guru is mistaking Sameer for Junaid. Sameer's lie had set up a danger for himself.

 

Chapter 8: Confrontations

It was Friday. Sameer was travelling with Anna to her farmhouse. They took a public transport. Sameer had made up to tell Anna the truth that he is not Junaid, but He thought it would be better if he told her later. They laughed and talked and had fun. They were so happy to go to the party as couple. A passenger was staring Sameer intently.

“Junaid what time is it?”, asked a suspicious passenger.

“It's 11:45 pm”, replied Sameer and continued, ”How do you know my name?”

“I overheard it.”, replied the passenger.

At the next stop the passenger got a call on his mobile. He got up, talking to the caller he turned around to see Sameer's face one last time and went out from the bus at the next stop.

 

“Something is not right. That guy had mobile why was he asking about time.”, said Sameer to Anna.

“Yeah he was weird.”, replied Anna.

 

They reached the farmhouse. Anna was so excited to introduce her boyfriend to her family. Before she could do so, Sameer told her that he would like to talk to her in private.

 

So he took Anna near the lake and took a deep breath before confession.

“Anna. I love you and I cannot lie to you anymore.”, said Sameer.

“What lie? Please tell me it is not one of your silly excuses for not dancing at the party. ”, said Anna.

“No. Anna this is serious. I'm not Junaid”, confessed Sameer.

“What are you saying? You know I don't like these jokes ”, she said.

With courage he said, “Since the day we first met I liked you and I did not want to lose you. I thought if I introduce myself as Junaid, you would take interest in me. But reality is that I am just Sameer. Just a normal guy.”

Anna was broken heartened.

“How can you play with my emotions? HOW DARE YOU?”, she replied with tears in her eyes and went away.

 

Sameer was not less worried about their relationship. He decided it would be best to let Anna choose whether she forgives him or not. He was returning home he heard someone taking his name, “Sameer!”. It was Anna. She said, “Don't you dare to leave me you liar. I love you as you are”. She was crying. Sameer wiped her tears from her face and they kissed.

 

Party was over and Sameer couldn't be more happier. It was pretty late and he had to return. Sameer bid farewell and said playfully “Good bye Anna. Don't worry I'll come tomorrow to learn dancing from you”, and went to the bus stop.

 

Sameer waited and finally the bus arrived. He sat near the window lost in the thoughts of Anna. He saw outside window, feeling a huge burden laid off from his shoulders. Now he does not have to lie anymore about his identity.

 

The bus was moving steadily until it stopped. A truck was blocking the road. The truck driver told Sameer that his truck is not starting and he needed help. Sameer apologized saying that he does not know much about trucks. But the truck driver insisted. No one from the bus was willing to help him. Sameer agreed to help .

 

He gave the bus fares and went out. He sat in the driver's seat trying to start the truck. The truck started effortlessly. The bus had gone far by now. So they travelled some distance and the driver stopped.

“What's the matter?”, asked Sameer.

“Nature's Call!”, replied the driver and went away.

 

Sameer waited and it took too long for any such natural business. Sameer went out to stretch as he was bored. He moved around the truck to looking for the driver but the driver was no where to be found.

 

A foul stench was in the air. Sameer searched and found it was coming from the back of the truck. He removed the door to see what was in there. And to his surprise he saw big chunks of beef hanging in the truck.

 

Something was wrong. Something very bad was about to happen in this lone area. He did something what any person in this situation would do. He ran away. Not very far from here he saw men with canes and swords coming towards him.

 

He hid behind the bushes distant from the road.

 

“There he is! He is hiding in the bushes”, yelled the man who was in the bus asking time from Sameer.

 

There were about fifteen men standing around Sameer.

 

“What is in your truck, boy?”, asked a man who had covered his face.

“It