Shashi looked at Shani's young face smiling as he urged him to spend the evening with 'The Nikambes'. He was able to look at the pain the young face carried beneath his facade of calmness. The others in the group also looked earnest. He was gratified to be given such importance even though they were aware of his insignificance.
"Then, I will comply with your request. It won't sit well with me to see kids unhappy because of me."
'The Nikambes' were happy and expressed it they walked back to the Lokandwala Food Stall Street lifting Shashi on their shoulders. Having some weight on their shoulders was good exercise while walking.
By 6:30 pm the streets were filled with food stalls. Over 30 stalls were present selling a variety of food.
This was the speciality of Indai, at night the streets were filled with food stalls, and throngs of people came to eat tasty dishes. There was Pani-Puri, Bhel, Chaat, Dabeli, Chicken Kebab, Chicken Tangdi, and many other scrumptious varieties. The Nikambes had their fill while making fun of Sashi who bought every dish only after getting Shani's permission. The poor man was getting to eat so many dishes for the first time in his life. He was deeply grateful and scared of what could come out of it. After all, his whole life had been about one debt after another. If someone gave him something then they always took it back 2 fold.
However, by the end of the meal, his deceptive view of 'The Nikambes' disappeared. They were just a bunch of lads wanting to enjoy their time and by luck, he met them spending an unforgettable night.
The celebration took a weird turn when all of them began drinking booze on the grounds of Lokandwala Outdoor Gym. They all got drunk and started spouting nonsense and the truth, of course, none of them would remember when they woke up.
Jhansi slurred, " Shaaaani, you moron. Why are you so clueless about me? About what I want from you?"
Shani replied sleepily, "I don't care about you. Stop being so needy?"
"You rude bastard. I will kill you 100 times to make my point clear."
"How will I understand if I am dead, stupid."
Jhansi pointed her finger indigently at him, " I care so much about you. I know the pain you are feeling. Just share it with me, that's all I ask for."
Shani rushed to Jhansi holding her hand," I am not in pain and I never told you to care about me. Just leave me alone."
"I can't, you think I haven't tried? It's just impossible for me to leave you."
Shani cried laying down on Jhansi's lap "I am sorry, please don't leave me. I still can't forget my brother's loss. How could he be dead when he was supposed to achieve greatness? The best archaeologist in the country died while exploring the caves. Preposterous, my brother would never lose his way in the caves. He must have been betrayed or conspired against, I am sure of it. When I find out the truth, I will exact revenge for my brother. I will hunt them to the depths of hell if I must."
"When you go to hell don't forget to take me with you."
"Why? Do you want to be my lackey?"
From their side, Shashi shrilled, "I am an unlucky man. The life I lived was so unsatisfying and filled with misery. I wish another fate had waited for me. Oh, how I wish my life was different."
Ananya and Charan ended up kissing in their drunkenness still unaware of what they were doing. The others were also in a similar state, booze all over them.
—----------------------------------------------
An intense vibration of the watch made Shani wake up with a start slowly opening his eyes. He expected to see the usual hard walls that confined his room but instead, there was a large expanse of grass and the blue sky overhead.
A shock coursed through him as he tried to get up looking closer at his surroundings. People slept on grass without a care in the world. These people were non-other than 'The Nikambes' and Sashi. He tried to extricate his hands but found resistance. Looking beside him, Jhansi slept hugging him tightly. He was embarrassed wondering what had happened last night. He remembered buying many bottles of booze and sitting on the lawn of Lokandwala Outdoor Gym, however, it was a blank sheet after that. He imagined which made him even more embarrassed.
His watch vibrated again so he picked up the call, " Hello, who is it?"
"I am from the Detective Agency, 'Run Mile' I have a gift from your late brother. "
Shani's eyes dilated in surprise, " Who are you?"
"The right question is, 'Where are you?'. The answer is, 'Come out of the ground and hide in the trees, we will meet there."
Shani's sleepiness was blown away by the detective's call. He treaded through the lawn taking each step carefully to come out of the maze created by the sleeping bodies. There were a lot of trees outside the Lokandwala Outdoor Gym. Following the instruction, he found a spot in the trees.
A slight tapping on his shoulders made him turn backwards, but there was no one. Again a tap on the shoulder made him annoyed as he turned to give a piece of his mind to the perpetrator.
A funny-looking man wearing old fashion clothes stood with his hands raised high in surrender, Shani guessed as the fashion was as old as the 1950s when the noir detective characters were popular.
"Easy tiger, no need to be ferocious. I am Mr Black, the head of 'Run Mile', the head of the best detective agency in Mumba."
Shani took a deep breath to calm himself down, but that was impossible. Mr Black had information related to his late brother, just this piece of information was enough to make him excited.
Mr Black, the name fits him perfectly with the black suit, black pants, black tie, black shoes, and even the rest in black colour. The guy seemed to love the black colour too much.
"Your brother was truly an amazing person. Within the tender age of youth, he had already solved mysteries no one before could ever solve. With the rate at which he found the mysteries, it won't have been long before he made an achievement that would have shaken the whole world. "
Shani was stunned, "Were you close to Brother Vignesh?"
"Close? We were practically inseparable. I informed him about which caves and archaeological sites to check. His progress would have been very slow if not for me."
Shani's eyes gained a murderous glare, "Did you suggest the cave brother died??!"
Mr Black showed no change of expression, "No, he went to the cave without discussing it with me. If he had then he wouldn't have been dead."
"It's been a year since Brother Vignesh's death, why come so late?"
"I am just following his instructions. A few days before his death he came to me handing this letter" He held out a sealed envelope with a heart-shaped design. "Saying, if I ever die then please hand this over to my younger brother only after a year has passed from my death."
Shani took the letter inspecting its exterior, trying to search for the meaning of his brother's last words to Mr Black.
"We had an argument and I tried to knock some sense into him. In the end, he left this letter with me. "Mr Black looked at Shani's distant expression knowing where his thoughts were at the moment.
"Well, I have completed the task I had set out for. Call me if you need any kind of help, I charge a high price but my skills are just that versatile. If you need an escape ride I am your man or maybe a simple investigation, you can call me and I will have the work done. Best of luck with whatever lies ahead of you." He rummaged through his pocket taking out a card, "Contact me using this number."
Shani inspected the card closely and raised an eye at the number of odd jobs Mr Black was capable of. When he raised his head to ask more about his brother, Mr Black had already disappeared.