Deal Unto Death – Part II

It was well over 6:30 pm when Ravi was walking through the busy streets of BTM 16th main. The slightly cold breeze enthused him further more as he walked briskly, looking at the note that contained the address from time to time. Ravi had been through this a lot of times. It’s the enthusiasm and the undying spirit which had been instrumental in him solving all the cases ever since he tagged along with Meena when she started her new company.

He was the third son of a rich rice mill owner in one of the rural pockets of Vijayawada. His mom had died when he was very young and he never had close relationship either with his dad or his brothers.He was never into studies right from childhood and spent most of his time playing with his friends and generally roaming about the place. But both his brothers were very studious and had gone on to study masters in US after topping every class they had studied in. So he was often compared with his brothers and was often rebuked for his irresponsibility and laziness. That only made him more averse towards studies. He just made it off the metric and fared only a bit better in his higher secondary. His dad made sure he got into one of those fly-by-night engineering colleges in chennai hoping that somehow he shall catch interest and excel in studies just like his brothers did.

But Ravi hated the engineering college right from the word go. He hated the subjects, he hated the poor infrastructure of the college, he hated the new friends and seniors and most of all he hated the ridiculously strict college authorities. He used to call his dad and literally beg him to take him back from there, but his dad would just ask him to stay on and face it like a man! He would go on for hours explaining how this is a crucial phase in his life and how a bit of hard work and tolerance would go a long way in determining the future. But after 4 and half months he could take more of it. He set off to Bangalore to his aunt’s place vowing never to come back again. His aunt and uncle were shocked and wanted him to go back to Chennai and continue his studies, but he didn’t budge. When his dad was informed of his runaway from college,he was livid and immediately traveled to Bangalore. In the following few days the bitter quarrel,confounded by the immaturity of the son who had just crossed teenage took its toll and the relationship between the father and son got strained more than the point of repair.

Ravi’s dad almost disowned him and went back to Vijayawada broken hearted. After dilly dallying with various small jobs and pursuits Ravi joined the detective agency where Meena was working. He knew he was in the right place the day he joined. The challenge of solving puzzling deadlocks and getting dangerously close to criminals turned him on as he enthusiastically took part in the investigations. Meena was a perfect mentor and Ravi blossomed as a smart and reliable investigator under her able guidance. So when she opened up her own company not one soul was surprised as he left the current job and followed her to the new company.

He had seen the ups and downs of the company along with his boss. He had been with her staring at the corners when the cases were less during the initial days and been with her with impossible cases which needed great analysis and patience. Their relationship was strengthened by mutual admiration and respect. She was more like an elder sister than a boss and had been there all through his good and bad times. she had been his moral and emotional support when he had been down and had given him the love and care which he would have got from his mother, had she not died.

She used to counsel him and motivate him when he had a love failure during the days of his older company. He had loved a girl with all his heart and the girl had too had shown interest in him but in the end she left the company and the city as she got married to somebody else. He was totally down and out and it was Meena who had nursed him back to his mental health. He never told about his love to anybody else.



After walking for some ten fifteen minutes in the main road he took a turn taking him to side street with markedly lesser crowd and traffic. He reached the house number mentioned in the address and looked up to see a 2 storied house. It looked like the house was separated into portions that were rented out to various parties. He climbed up the stairs to reach the first floor where the guys were staying. He could hear some loud voices even as he neared the door.

After making sure that he had reached the right house he knocked on the door. The voices stopped inside and after a brief silence which lasted more than he had anticipated the door opened. A bespectacled and frail guy who stood on the other side of the half opened door and with a nervous look enquired,

“yes..??”

“Hi I am Ravi , investigator from Meena detective agency. Am here for a crime investigation. Um…….mind if I come in??”

“Uh…Oh sure! Please come in” the guy replied and opened the door wider.

Ravi entered into a fairly huge hall cluttered with haphazardly strewn foot wear near the door. There was a small TV in one corner with shabbily connected cable wires and there were newspapers randomly lying around on the floor. There was a shelf which contained some papers and some other daily use articles. As he entered he could see two other people in the room . One guy was just wearing a baniyan and was getting up as he saw Ravi coming in. The other guy was sitting on the floor and turned at the door as he heard him enter.

“Hi……mmm ..Iam Ajay…. Please don’t bother the house..it needs cleaning up…you know…….bachelors place” the frail looking guy exclaimed with a broken smile.

“I understand…..My place aint so better than this….I got to admit” Ravi smiled.

“By the way,this is kishore and this is Venu…”Ajay pointed to the two other guys who were in the room.”there are Rajesh and santosh.. But they haven’t come back from office yet.” He continued.

Ravi smiled at them and let out a friendly Hi at them. They reciprocated with a confused look.

“Guys this is …uh..Ravi”he looked at Ravi for approval as he said that and continued “he is from some detective agency…. For …uh….investigating a case” Ajay said.

“Hi guys…how are you doing” Ravi wanted to break some ice before he can start with the questions, but the guys knew the purpose of his visit as can be seen from the uncomfortable expression on their faces.

Particularly there was an almost hostile expression in Kishore’s face. Ravi knew he had his job cut out.

.....to be continued

· Deal Unto Death – Part III