Chapter 18As Fishal came out, he saw the police car and wondered why the Chief of Police was there. As timely as it could be, Netratav came out smiling and talked with him.
She stealthily hurried ahead to the kitchen. How to save Ronjon? She paced around. Her eyes went to a knife. Kill them? Her stomach knotted with the thought. What to do?Her eyes caught the tray used earlier. Yes, the delicacies that were thrown. She picked them up, chose the clean ones, and arranged it on the most conspicuous section of the table. To complete the bait
Asha exerted all the strength she had to move the loaded curtain inch by inch, afraid it would become pitch dark and had no way to find her way to her hideout on time. As time went on, she noticed the sandy path was still clear to her eyes. She looked heavenward and saw a full moon. And said a brief prayer, thankful for providing her light. It solved half of her trouble. However, she carefully checked the surroundings from time to time to see if there was anyone following or who saw her.
On the next day, she bought a veil, covered her face, and went to a doctor. She asked for medicine to wake a person."Let me be clear, the man is sleeping for a long time like in a coma?" The doctor said, sitting behind his wide glass desk, confused with her request.
The old lady gave her directions up to a small empty sandy lot at the end of Panibon, where the salt water and river water met."Find a purple flower with long stems and thorny leaves," Thakurma said, eyes looking vacantly at the swirling river water.
Ronjon thought of filing a case against the District Chief of Police and Arup. Asha went in their hiding place with a bunch of Bapa Pitha laid on a flat stone covered with a wide banana leaf. She handed one to him. "You don't know Mister Arup's connections. It's not worth your life. Let it be." She said those words, thinking of her father’s death where justice w
She placed the powder in a clay bowl, mixed it with water, and applied it on his face. The result, his face looked like the cracking mud on a dried river. Asha let him wash his face, feeling bad with the money she spent. While Ronjon scrubbed his face well at the river, reddening it as he rubbed. He heaved a deep breath, feeling refreshed after taking that random paste off his face.Asha tried mixing ashes with water, giving Ronjon goosebumps. Although resisted, Asha had her way. The result, he looked like a paled face dead man in a coffin. "You want me to look like a dead man walking? People will stone me to death for scaring them." He washed his face again.Asha held her belly as she laughed her heart out."It's not funny.” Asha clumped her mouth. Ronjon dried his face with her shawl. She let him, knowing it was her fault."Sorry, what are we going to do with that face?" She pointed to his face."I have an idea," Ronjon spoke his mind this time, and Asha could not resist because she
Asha and Ronjon arrived at the bus station of Paak City two hours after. It was an exhausting and inconvenient ride for Ronjon. He sat between Asha and an old man while his long legs cramped in a small space. Somehow, Asha took the seat by the window, enjoying the passing view.They chose an excellent restaurant to rest in. Asha thought of wearing her Sharee. Ronjon settled to change to a cotton white Panjabi, more relaxing to him.Ronjon finished first and waited for her inside the diner while she was still in the bathroom changing. Out of nowhere, "Ronjon Bhai, long time no see?" The owner of the voice took the opposite chair.Ronjon’s eyes darted up and an enormous smile broke on his face. "Monojit Bhai? Haha never expected to see you here. Why are you here?" Ronjon's mind wondered back in his high school years. Though he was poor, he got a scholarship in a Christian school while juggling with his odd jobs to feed the family. Monojit and he fought for almost every subject for acade
Asha blew air in exasperation. "Okay, Chef Ronjon Munshi.""Why is the chef title being inserted in this conversation?" Ronjon asked as one of his brows raised.
Both Asha and Ronjon went back in later. An hour more and the doctor came out from the operating room. All of them stood right away, aside from Asha, who slept, exhausted from crying."Who are the relatives of Shaheb Arup Mukherjee?"
Noontime came. The scenery was mesmerizing, but Rimas mind was not on it because the scorching heat of the sun was like burning coals roasting them alive. He tried lessening the soreness of the sunburns by covering his head with his shawl but held the cloth in his firm grasp, keeping the strong wind from blowing it away. Suddenly, someone yelled at his back. Everyone looked to where the shout came from and saw a woman pointing at a man who fell from the train. All the passengers on top of the roof were frightened to death. They might be next if they would not be careful.
Unknown to them, Rimas silently sat at a corner at the airport in the capital city. He tried to buy a ticket to flee the country but as Ronjon and Harry had predicted, all flights were sold out a long time ago and no more tickets were provided for the following months. Every family decided to find the best place suited for them to live. Somehow, the British Raj had not yet submitted any clear boundaries of the two countries, and there were only four months left before the set independence day.
Tarapati went back in and wakened Ninu and Arup."Ninu Bhai, your daughter is here. You better get up or something ugly will happen," Tarapati said while shaking Ninu.
Tarapati came out smiling to greet Asha, who stood in between Ronjon and Harry, but halted his steps when he saw the police cars escorting behind. He looked back at the two men sleeping in the living room, Arup and Ninu, and thought of waking them to clear up the situation to the unfriendly visitors.That night, when Ninu, Tarapati, and the rest arrived in the mansion,
Instead of being happy, Tarapati's mind boiled in rage against Ninu."Who are you playing with? Me? How dare you impersonate my late good friend?" Tarapati hollered right up to his lungs as he clenched his fist to strike Ninu on the face, but the latter calmly moved his head and shifted his hair to show Tarapati his hairy mole behind his left ear. Tarapati's hand tempo
While Tarapati was at it, he asked Ninu to allow him to talk with Sovhona alone. However, Sovhona was not at ease with the idea. She insisted on Ninu to stay with them. Hence, Tarapati had no choice but to ask Ninu for an oath of secrecy because he perceived him to be an outsider. He absolutely did not recognize this Ayoush's real identity even though they were close before.
Tarapati went to visit and talked with each of Rimas wives, aside from Sovhona, who he had no inkling of her where to find. The wives were in outrage after learning Rimas sold the house and their properties in secret. They couldn't even accept that he had the nerve to keep all the money to himself. With the fact that most of his acquired lands and business establishments were from their dowries, most of them wailed in agony and a few wished to sue him but with no power and money to do so.