Kismet's Odyssey

-TEN-

Tuhin's parents had left for the dinner.  His brother Sahil was asleep and Tuhin decided to explore the garden that bordered their resort. He traipsed through the lawns very happily, to the landscaped area where the water fountain muffled all other sounds. He lost track of time and when he returned to the room, his brother was missing. He searched the entire hotel but he could not find Sahil anywhere. Panicked and frightened, he called his father’s mobile and informed him. During the next twenty-four hours, the staff at the hotel, his parents and other guests searched for Sahil but to no avail. Everyone scolded him, his father even slapped him but he had no idea where his brother had disappeared. A day later, the police was informed. FIR for missing child was lodged. Tuhin never forgot the next ten days at the resort.

They had lost Sahil and no one till date knew how he had gone missing. Initially, his parents blamed him, then his mother forgave him but his father never forgot the incident. At every given chance, he would taunt him. Tuhin blamed himself and the guilt went so deep that he began to develop major psychological  issues about it. In the previous town they stayed, Tuhin started seeing a therapist.

Subsequent to the incident, whenever he saw young boys, he would gravitate towards the child, assuming him to be his brother. It is precisely for this reason that he visited the quarry often.

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The football match could not have been better for Kymore Public School because Arko scored three goals more than the opposite team. It was the last match of the tournament and either Arko’s team would win or lose the championship. When the  team won the match, Arko was hailed as the hero of the tournament although he was the only one who was unhappy. And his friends thought that he was sad because of his break-up with Bani.

Carrying the trophy, the jubilant team returned to Kymore from Katni in their school bus. The team indulged in choruses and folk songs. The coaches did not mind the merry making because they were returning to the school as the champions. 

In a couple of days, the farewell event would be held and one of the boys and the girls would be crowned as the prince and princess of Kymore Public School.

The team had planned a celebration at the club house. They had also invited many other friends from the school. Bani had wished Arko in the morning and in the afternoon, she had appealed to him to see her one last time before they began to prepare for the exams. Bani’s father was very strict with her academics and during exams, he did not allow her to mingle with anyone. Arko was not in a mood to meet her but for their friendship's sake, he agreed to see her. In fact, he invited her to the celebrations so that they wouldn't meet  alone.

In the evening, when Arko reached the club house, the party had already begun and Bani had reached before him. As soon as she saw him, she hurried to embrace him. She did not leave his side. His friends thought that they had made up. Arko did not care what others thought. No one knew what troubled him. Since he was moody often, his friends dismissed his dark mood as normal. Arko was surprised that Tuhin had been invited. He wondered who called him for the party. Not that any of his friends were pally with him but he guessed the coach’s son would have asked him to come. Tuhin was talking to a boy when Arko approached him. Arko had already had a few drinks and it did not help that he was tipsy.

“Hey man, who invited you here?”

Tuhin swung around slowly and to his surprise, he found a drunk Arko. So far, he had not seen Arko under any influence.

“Paras invited me...Any problem?” Tuhin queried.

“Yes, someone who does not know anything about sports should not be here,” Arko retorted

“Oh, so why is Bani here?” Tuhin responded

“Leave her out of this!” Arko thundered

“Why? Because she is your girlfriend?”

“No, she is not my girlfriend. And where is yours?” Arko demanded.

“That is none of your business,” Tuhin hated it when Arko mentioned Miloni.

“Exactly, it is none of your business…”

“Fine! You go your way and I go mine…” Tuhin replied, turning back to his friend.

“You know something? You don’t deserve Miloni. She is too good for you…” Arko muttered aloud and everyone in the room froze. Their thoughts were that the confrontation was turning out to be interesting and they should not miss it.

Tuhin had enough. His temper got the better of him. He punched a fist on Arko’s face. Arko staggered back. Every activity in the large room braked to a sudden halt.

Arko’s face turned red. He punched back and Tuhin fell backwards on the counter. Holding his bloodied jaw, Tuhin glared at Arko. Like two boxers circling a ring, they moved in an arc, furiously sizing each other up. Every one in the room had heard the argument and they sighed wistfully. After all it was only right that the two boys fought over the best girl in the school. They did not notice Bani rushing to the washroom and crying her heart out. Nor did they see her hurrying out of the club house and crossing the road without checking either side. The guards saw a girl rushing out and hit by a speeding car.

Fifteen minutes later, there was mayhem in the club. The police had arrived, the ambulance had arrived and Arko and Tuhin had been hand cuffed.

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When Miloni and the girls heard the story next morning, they didn’t know who to believe. Bani was critically injured and she was fighting for life in the hospital. Arko and Tuhin were in police custody for getting into a fist fight at the club house. And the rumour mills were busy in guessing if the boys fought over Bani or Miloni. Thankfully Miloni was not present at the venue so she was excused by all. But she could not forgive Tuhin. How could he get into a brawl once again with Arko? The day flew in a daze with no classes, all the lecturers having gone to the hospital to visit Bani. There was talk that Arko and Tuhin would be expelled from school for misconduct. The real picture emerged only after the coach who had been invited to the party gave a statement to the police. He said that even though Arko and Tuhin had been involved in a brawl, they had nothing to do with Bani’s accident. She had rushed out of the club house urgently and a speeding car had hit her.

At home, her parents quizzed her about the incident and her brothers got various interpretations of the story. Although Tuhin and Arko had been released after twenty-four hours, they had been suspended from school for a week. Tuhin tried to call Miloni many times but she refused to take his calls. Finally, a week later, they came to know that Bani was out of danger and she was recovering well.

Tuhin and Arko returned to school amid curious glares and Miloni made it a point to ignore both of them. She didn’t know that her dismissive attitude was infuriating Tuhin.

On the third day after his return, He waylaid Miloni while she was going back home.

“Miloni, you can’t ignore me like that,” he cried

“Why can’t I Tuhin? This is the second time you are fighting with Arko over a girl.”

“Agreed, we fought over a girl and it had nothing to do with Bani,” Tuhin’s mysterious statement caught Miloni’s attention.

“So, who were you fighting over?”

“No one! Arko started hassling me over my presence at the club and I lost my temper,” Tuhin was unwilling to reveal to Miloni that Arko had a secret crush on her. He didn’t want to lose her to Arko.

Shaking her head, Miloni said, “I am done with you Tuhin, just leave me alone.”

“Even if I happen to be the biker you are so interested in?” Tuhin’s question startled Miloni and she stared at him.

Had she been right in her guess that Tuhin was the biker?

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