"You'll drive?" Ankita glanced at her brother skeptically.
Tanmoy, who was about to get on the driver's seat, crossed his hands,"Why don't you then? Let's see how good of a driver you are."
"As if me driving instead of you will make much of a difference in the result, anyway? If anything, we might just die sooner if I'm driving ; or hospitalized sooner." Ankita said as a matter of fact.
Tanmoy's lips twitched.
"Hmph. Let's bet. If I manage to bring you back safe and sound you'll have to fulfill one of my wish. I can ask anything any time and you can't refuse." He lifted an eyebrow and looked at her arrogantly.
Ankita rolled her eyes at his lousy attempts to save his pride and shrugged.
Just as Tanmoy's watch was scanned and the car began vibrating with the start of the engine, Ankita clutched the seatbelt for dear life. Seeing her knuckles turn white, Tanmoy gritted his teeth and clenched the stirring wheel with a huff. It was the most humiliating day of his life. His sister did not have an ounce of trust in his driving skills! Determined to prove her wrong, he stepped on the accelerator energetically.
The car jerked forward.
Ankita sucked in a breath of cold air and started muttering a prayer, "Hey Maa Kali, please let me return home alive. I'll offer you ten of my favourite chocolates."
Tanmoy coughed to hide his embarassment, "I... I haven't drove this car for a long time. So... it's a bit... rusty."
Now even he started to doubt his driving skills. But that seemed to be rookie mistake as he started driving fairly well once the car was on the main road.
However, Ankita apparently got PTSD from his brakes. Everytime he stepped on the brakes, she would clutch the seatbelt with all her might and sink into the seat. Seeing her act like that, Tanmoy vowed to win the bet and focused on the road even more. As such, none of them uttered a single word the whole way.
To reach Jui, the mall, they had to cross two bridges. After crossing the first one, they came to a sudden stop. A large crowd was gathered in the middle of the road along with a few haphazardly parked cars. It was such a jam that there was no space to go around the crowd.
"What's going on?" Ankita asked.
She craned her neck out of the window to gauge the reason behind the strange traffic.
"Wait here. I'll go and check what's the matter." Tanmoy said, getting out of the car.
"I'll come with you. I don't want to stay in the car alone."
He took a moment to consider her request and nodded.
As they went nearer, Tanmoy saw that people were gathered around a very expensive looking car. Some were also yelling at the driver and passenger for almost running over someone. Ankita with her tiny figure, started hopping to get a look at what was happening but the flock of onlookers blocked her view completely.
Tired from the exercise she shook Tanmoy's hand, "Dada,let's go to the front. I can't see a thing from here."
He nodded, "I also can't hear anything due to all this noisy people."
Tanmoy tried to pass through with Ankita on his tail but she almost lost sight of him amidst the pandemonium.
"Hold me tightly." He took her hand and squeezed into the crowd forcefully.
After a lot of pushing and tumbling, he reached the main stage of the incident.
An old man was sprawled on the ground with a cycle beside him. He was covered in dirt and there were blood spots on his arm and knee. Tanmoy felt sympathetic seeing him cry in pain. He then followed the line of sight of people who were shouting and pointing fingers. They passed various types of comment — sympathetic, criticising, and so on.
"You rich people think that you own the world! Disregarding human lives! Disgusting."
"Poor man. He must be so hurt. A serious injury at such an old age, it'll take long to heal."
"Hey, you! Compensate him!"
"Yes, yes. You hurt him so you must compensate."
"Let us first take her to the police station. Hit and run is a serious offence."
"Yes, drag her to the police station."
Opposite the old man stood the offenders. A girl about 5'10" in height, and an equally tall but slightly older woman. The former looked quite bored, leaning against the hood of the car in a relaxed manner, like she was watching a drama unfold before her eyes. But the later, although silent, keenly observed the situation and glanced at the younger woman from time to time as if expecting an order.
"Does she not understand the gravity of the situation? Why's she not saying anything?She seems to be about the same age as Anu. Getting tangled with the police at this age is really the worst option for your reputation as well as future careers." Tanmoy muttered.
So far, he had only heard the public speak, but the person who should be concerned the most looked unfazed. Her sole focus was the supposed victim whom she regarded with a cunning smile on her face. Like there was a barrier that blocked off all the insults and accusations thrown at her. For some reason, Tanmoy felt that it was not what they thought.
He looked at the old man closely. There were deep cuts on his left elbow and knee. His shirt and trousers showed signs of repeated stitching in multiple places. His haggard appearance evoked pity. However, trusting his gut feeling, Tanmoy asked around and from what he learnt, he gathered that some passers-by saw the car hit the man and came running to help but the old man was too shocked to speak and had been quite since. The car owner was also silent. So the only information they got was from those who first came to help and not the parties involved.
Just as he was contemplating about the possible cause behind the accident, a quivering voice spoke up, "Please... don't blame the young lady. I...it was my fault. I wanted to... cross the road seeing the red light... and... did not notice... the speeding car."