Chapter Text
It had been two weeks since their final exam results came out.
Bibi found himself shuddering as he remembered the thrashing that had followed. Of course, they hadn’t been beaten with real tools, only wooden switches and Shanthan was, indeed, spared. Bibi and Aju still wore bruises, the former more so than the latter.
That evening, he was heading to their favourite chai place upon invitation by Aju, he pondered over that. Had Ambaan really hit him more than Aju, or was he imagining it? It made sense, when he considered that Ranga Chettan was still mad at him.
Now that they could enjoy their summer vacation in peace, (at least for a month until his and Aju’s re-test) they went to Mayuri on a daily basis to drink and hang out with the gang. However, every single time that Bibi had come along, he had been ignored and given the cold shoulder by everyone, and almost death-glares by Ranga and Ambaan. Eventually, he gave up, choosing to stay at the hostel and watch sitcoms instead.
Aju and Shanthan invited him whenever they went, of course, but even they knew it was futile. And could he really blame Ranga Chettan for being mad at him? Bibi had messed up.
Royally.
He cursed himself almost every waking moment for betraying Ranga. The man had trusted him, considered him a friend, and treated him like his own family. And what had he done to repay him? Bibi felt sick.
Truth be told, he had been flat-out miserable, constantly, since the day Ranga had refused to accept his apology. It felt like losing his older brother, even though he never had one. Amma called him weekly, asking about Ranga as often as she asked about Aju and Shanthan, and he lied, telling her he was well and making up some whimsical story about him she’d believe. Bibi shook his head, not wanting to spiral into self-loathing again as he had done the previous night while his friends had a merry time at the bar.
A well-timed notification interrupted his thought process as he pulled out his phone. It was a message from Aju on their group chat. “Bro, how much longer?”
Bibi looked around, upon realising he had been walking blindly, lost in thought, without realising where he was going. And now the sun was setting and he was in some unfamiliar gulley.
“Idk bro, I think I’m lost. I spaced out and now idk where I am.”
“Message failed to deliver.”
There was no way Bibi had just run out of data. He tried calling Aju, but the call wouldn’t go through, confirming his suspicions. “Fuck!” He swore, running a hand through his hair. There was a paan shop nearby, with a few rowdy-looking men playing a game of cards. Most likely gambling. They looked like goons, but they seemed to be the only people in the desolate gulley.
Bibi cleared his throat, approaching the men. “Uh, anna, excuse me-”
One of the men looked up. His forehead was anointed with a tika , and he was wearing sunglasses in the evening in a dark alleyway. “What?” He grunted.
“Uh…where is the way to get to-”
“Oye!” Suddenly, one of the other two men looked up at Bibi, his eyes wide in something that chillingly resembled recognition. “Y-You!” He pointed frantically at Bibi, and then grasped the man in the sunglasses by the arm. “Anna! It’s him!”
“ Him ? Are you sure?” The man replied, acting as though Bibi wasn’t standing in front of them dumbstruck. The shorter man nodded in response, a sense of urgency in his movements.
The hairs on the back of Bibi’s neck stood up. Something was wrong, very wrong, he needed to get out of here, right now.
Listening to his gut, Bibi turned and ran, ran for his life like he had never run before. He didn’t know where he was going, but all he knew was that there were heavy footsteps just behind him and they were getting louder. He found himself screaming, but nobody was around to help him. His legs burned as he made sharp turns in narrow alleyways in an attempt to evade the men.
A sharp stitch in his side made him double over, leaning on a wall that had several ‘missing’ posters on it. Struggling to catch his breath, he looked back, hoping he’d lost them. Shadows closing in on him told him otherwise. He willed himself to start running again, but he couldn’t. His stomach churned and he crashed to his knees, puking bile and spit, watching helplessly as the men closed in on him. Why were they following him? What had he ever done to them? It didn’t matter now.
He was going to die.
His mind flashed to Aju, Shanthan, his school friends Ravi, Sadna and Karthik, he thought of his Amma, his father, his school teachers, all the people that had ever meant anything to him. But most importantly, he thought of Ranga Chettan. Guilt overcame him and tears rolled down his face at the regret of never having been able to make it up to him. And now he’d never have the chance.
He looked up, eyes wide in fear as the three men loomed over him like his impending death, waiting for them to strike and finally kill him.
“Biju!” The man in the sunglasses cried suddenly, and the third man walked up to the kneeling college student. He towered easily over both his allies, and his build reminded Bibi of Ambaan. Ambaan. He would miss having Bibi as an audience for his crazy stories now.
The man known as Biju had a scar all the way down from his forehead to his jaw, and Bibi was slightly disappointed that the last thing he’d see was this man’s ugly face. He strutted over, glaring down at Bibi, and in an almost inhumanly fast motion, grabbed him by the throat, pulling him to his feet.
“L-let me go!” He croaked out, feeling the pressure in his head and behind his eyes. He didn’t want to die, he didn’t want to die, he didn’t want to die, he didn’t want to die, he didn’t-“PLEASE!”
He tried to scream but all that came out was a hoarse gurgle. He tried desperately clawing at the man’s face, but his hands wouldn’t obey his brain. Fuck. Biju raised his fist and brought it towards Bibi’s face as the boy could only watch in horror and pain.
And then everything went black.