"Still, I can't believe you mistook me for a saint," said he, looking up at her once again. She was wearing a black shirt, queerly buttoned up to the collar and an unmatching blue long skirt that was fluttering with the sea breeze.
"Well," said she, tossing another peanut into her mouth, "You did have that white shawl and the funny walking stick. What did you expect me to expect? Moreover, Udhir was a fighter, not a saint."
He touched the wooden pole lying beside him. "This is not a walking stick. This is Silambu, a defense arts native to Gali. You should have atleast heard of the term 'Silambam' if you are residing in Gali."
"I'm from Karandu," said she emptying the remaining peanuts on the ground and the black puppy that was tailing her began to nibble them furiously. "Take it slow, Quiroshi. It'll choke otherwise and you have only the salt water to drink."
Quiroshi slowed down. She was indeed rather dark toned for a Galian. And she didn't appear strikingly beautiful either; just your average beach vendor, selling rope helicopters to spoiled brats. But she possessed an air of freedom and daring which he knew he gravely lacked.
"How long have you had this ability?" asked he. She pushed her feet deep down into the white sand and stared at the moonlit sea.
"How long?" she repeated rhetorically, "Who knows? A few days after my grandma died, a boar attacked our village. There was this puny kid in our village, we called him Salli. He got stuck in an alley along with the boar. I happened to be there and talked with the boar. Somehow I managed to convince the boar to leave us."
"And it obediently wagged it's tail and returned home giving up on it's prey, huh?"
"Well, I did give him the address of Maki aunt's and tipped him about the mutton korma she was making. I wonder if it had anything to do with the devastation of her kitchen an hour later."
He chuckled. "Then?"
"Then, what? I had nowhere to go. The villagers branded me a witch for talking with the boar. There came rumours of plans to sell me to a circus troupe. So, I fled the village. Some weeks later, I ran across a man who had a job to be done. He wanted to transport an orb of some kind across the forest to the neighboring state and was willing to pay handsomely. Traversing forests is a piece of cake for someone like me who could communicate with the wild. I undertook the job and have been shipping such consignments from then."
He now had a half smirk across his face. "In other words, you are an illegal broker operating by trespassing the state boundaries who can talk with animals."
"Illegal? How come?"
"Do you have a license, then?"
She blinked blankly. He sighed. "Don't tell me you don't know that you need a license to take such shipments."
"First tell me, what's a license?"
He facepalmed. "Haven't your dealers asked you to avoid the police as much as you can?"
"Err…They did, only sometimes. But I didn't commit a crime or anything. It's not like I murdered someone. I didn't even steal, right?"
"You might have, indirectly. The goods you sell might have ended up killing someone. You might even be connected to many of the mafia gangs in the country."
She flinched.
"What did you think? That it was perfectly normal for someone to want an orb secretly transported across the states? Have you ever discussed with anyone about your ability?"
"I told you, that's not an ability. But no, I haven't."
"If you had, you would have known that it was indeed an ability. They are called atrial abilities. It's not as strange as you suppose it to be. Many people happen to have such abilities. It is the result of awakening your third eye. We used to jokingly call it the 'hitting of your second puberty', you know."
He looked at her expecting a laugh, but she was sitting with her eyes screwed tight.
"Anyway, I can't be taking SST classes to you now. If you are really an illegal broker, what are you doing here in Rosui beach, selling rope helicopters? Part time job, huh?"
She scanned him from top to bottom. He was wearing a collar less blue T-shirt and blue jeans, typically middle class. Apart from the bristle like moustache that was somehow glued to his face, he seemed perfectly ordinary.
"My last shipment was a failure. I lost the goods that I was supposed to sell here in Gali. It was that baldy freak in the lodge, I swear. He was eyeing me the entire day. In the end, I was left with no money and resorted to selling toys here."
She heaved a deep sigh before letting herself fall freely on the sand.
"Don't you think you should be more careful?" asked he, nudging Quiroshi back who had locked horns with him for the remaining peanuts.
"I guess so. If I had been, I wouldn't be chatting with you now."
"Not that. Are you okay with disclosing all your personal info to some random stranger you just met?"
"Who cares? I just felt like talking to someone. I have nothing to lose and nothing to gain. Even if I had, what could you possibly do? What are you? The police? The military?"
He chuckled again. "You have a knack for hitting the soft spot. Yes, I am indeed a police- an official member of Trixy."
He searched his wallet and produced a small card that had 'TRIXY' printed in orange bold letters at the top and the name column below read 'Maahir Desai'.
She froze for a few seconds before diving into a roll of thunderous laughter. "I can't…..I can't believe it. You? Police? I was sure you were a newspaper boy or something. Or at the most, a waiter. To imagine you as police! This country is doomed."
"You seem to forget that I'm in a comfortable position to arrest you right now and right here, on grounds of trespassing the state borders and partaking illegal business. Shall I?"
A chill shiver went down her spine. Seeming to understand the tension, Quiroshi began to bark.
"Just kidding," said Maahir, returning the card to the wallet, "Be glad it was me. Since I'm a decent guy, I have decided to forgive you. Turn a new leaf and start living an ethical life."
She raised her brows and threw a condescending look at him. "Wait. You don't have the power to arrest me now, do you?"
"No problem. It's never too late to change your ways."
"I knew it."
"There is always a place for good in this world."
"You are a rookie."
"A rookie police is still a police."
"Still a rookie."
"Still a police."
"Still a rookie."
"You are hopeless," said he and sighed. She giggled and the echo rang slowly before dying with the waves.
"What about you?" asked she.
"What about me?"
"I told you nearly everything about me. Don't you think it's my turn to know about you? Tell your story."
"My story? It's damn boring, you know. I wasn't a national fighter rebelling against the west or an almighty philosopher enlightening the poor. I didn't journey to the center of earth or work for the Schwaden Secret Services. I didn't even have boars chatting with me in my childhood. And you can forget about erotic scenes. I haven't had a single girlfriend in this life. All I have to tell is one heck of a drab life."
She smiled. "Be glad, atleast you have one to tell."
He wasn't sure but he suspected melancholy in those seemingly blind words and moisture in those solemn blue eyes. On the spur of the moment, a weird idea struck his mind. An idea which he regarded no more than a jest at that moment became the last line of the first chapter of his newly beginning life.
"Hey, you wanna join Trixy?"