the meet

Day 1

When I reached the hall I saw one man sitting in our sofa. All others – my father, mother and brother were standing. This stranger had a lot of attitude. He wore a white shirt with black jeans. Top two buttons of his shirt was open revealing his upper chest. He had a well-built, muscular, yet lean body with long legs. He would have been fair, but his face was highlytanned matching his shabby, yet smooth chocolate brown hair. His high cheekbones were also noticeable. I would have called him hot and handsome if he wasn’t sitting on our sofa scaring the living matter out of my family. While walking towards my mother who was standing in a corner, I saw two men near our door all dressed in black. ‘May be his bodyguards’ I thought. He looked like a millionaire to me. He can certainly afford two. Whatever the matter was, I didn’t like my father so pale because he cannot answer to something this man has asked before I came. How can this man, who look like 24-25 threaten a man like my father who is certainly more than double his age?

I whispered to my mother, “Who is he?”

“They are really bad men.”

“Oh please! Don’t tell me ‘they are bad men, these are good men’. I am not in kinder garden. I asked ‘who is he?’, ‘what does he want?’, ‘why are you all scared?’, ‘why is father looking so pale?’ and ‘what did he do?’ this doesn’t seem like a smooth relation.”

I was staring at him when I asked these questions. Maybe my voice rose or he must have noticed me staring, he looked towards me. At that moment, I saw something passing his face. I wasn’t sure it was a smirk or smile. He scanned me for a second and talked to my father, “Your daughter, I guess. Never knew you had a pretty one in the family.”

My father didn’t reply. My anger was at the peak. Yet something kept me at place. The same ‘something’ that took me downstairs when I didn’t have to. But now I have started doubting that something. It was my mother’s voice that shook me from my trail of thoughts, she was whispering.

“His name is Jon. Jon Peter. He is a thug. Someone we don’t want to be acquainted with. They are really dangerous guys.”

“Then why is he here?”

“Well…”

Before my mother could continue, he looked towards our side and my mother’s face went pale as the winter moon. “I never thought you will take risk with me when you have this one at home.” He said to my father looking at me. I saw my father eyes go wild and afraid like a child who got in midst of a thick burning forest. He said,

“I will give you the money in 7 days. I promise. A week is all I ask for. Don’t involve my family in this. Don’t involve her in this.”

That is when I actually heard my father talk. The thug replied as if he was reading my mind. “So you still have the power of speech. When hit at the right mark, you know how to talk.”

It was well clear that my father had some debts to pay to him. I wondered whether it was my real father’s debt. With the gambling and such stuffs going on, he could have had relations with thugs. My uncle was never such a man. But my uncle had told me that he had settled all those debts. If he had lied, this was my problem. Not his.

Andwith the direction the conversation was moving, it was certainly coming my way. It was not the way my uncle has intended, and certainly not the way I had wanted. The best way to proceed was to retreat back to my room until everything was over.

“Mother, I think I have no role here. I better go back to my room.”

And as was walking towards it without waiting for a reply, a hand caught my elbow and pulled me towards it.

“How can you just go when you are my trump card” Jon asked me with a smirk.

I was too stunned to reply, stunned even to react. But my father came towards me mouthing the words ‘no’. Jon just replied, “Not a step!”, took a gun from back of his jeans, and held it at my waist. I was too shocked with the turn of unexpected events. This was not how it was supposed to be. I came for a vacation. I was to sleep a good part of the day, then go out with some old friends, do a bit of shopping and a lot of gossip, get updated with the matters around, maybe have dinner with them and then come back at night to bed. The extreme unexpectedness in my list was to have a sleepover night at any of my friend’s home. But now I stand here, at some stranger’s gunpoint, facing threats. I could have wriggled out of his hand. Though he had a strong grip, he was just catching my elbow. But now as the gun was out, I couldn’t find a way to escape.

He tossed my elbow to his other hand, thus dragging me towards him while substituting his free hand with the gun. He did this with so much ease that anyone seeing the scene would only feel like he was just exchanging two balls between his hands. He said,

“I think 7 days is too small a time for me to be with this beauty. I give you two weeks. The sooner you bring the money, the sooner you can take your daughter back. She will be safe with me. There will be no scratch on her for 14 days. But I can’t give you any guarantee after that.”

“You cannot take her. This is not her fight.” My father argued.

“Nothing is fair in war and love.” He said the last word with a smirk at me. He certainly was no good man and now he is going to take me with him. Wait! He is going to kidnap me. The truth hit me. I tried to wriggle out of his hand. He released me only to put his hand on my hips and pull me closer.

“Easy girl, I am not going to hurt you. I promise. And my promise has the same strength as your fathers. Let us see how much intense that is, shall we.”

And with that he led me to his car outside. Unable to move away from his gunpoint, I saw my father objecting. He shoved me into the backseat of his car, and before he get in he said to my father, “I promise, you know how much my promise is worth. I promise your daughter won’t be touched for two weeks. For two weeks.”

With that he got into the car with me. The two ‘blackmen’ entered the front seat. My father ran over to my window and said, “I’ll get the money soon. Don’t worry. Just stay safe.”

I was all panicky until then. But seeing his face, so afraid like a gazelle seeing a lion, I felt it my responsibility to calm him. After all, this is a debt that probably came to him because of my real father. So I hid all my fears and told him, “Its all right. You don’t worry about me. I’ll look after that part. You just get the money as soon as possible.” He simply nodded and the car took off.

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