Father of Curly Hair

Ilyas, the "Father of curly hair," was a very interesting person. Curly hair, clothes made with thin threads, and wearing preternatural Paragon slippers—this was the first image that came to mind when I remembered him. Although he had a powerful body, he gave the impression of someone who had no hesitation in doing anything. 

"Thief and Policeman" was a favorite game of the boys in the LP classes. Game makers decided who would be the thief and who would be the police. The healthy ones were thieves, and the unhealthy ones were police. It was a game rule that started in the past. So you can guess where I would join—none other than the group of police. The match started, and Ilyas was selected as a thief. I was physically a bit weak but a little better in the race. As the best runner, I was trying to catch him. While running, the distance between us narrowed. I tried to catch him by his collar, but the seizure fell off the back of his shirt. Krrrrrrr... Half of his shirt was torn in my hand. I was afraid because he was strong enough to beat me for this. But what happened was different. He started to cry like a little baby. Although I tried hard to stop his crying, he did not stop. He insisted that he would tell the Headmaster. Being beaten by the Headmaster's cane was a nightmare for everyone. Often, noisy classes would fall silent suddenly, meaning the Headmaster was passing by. My friends also joined in and went to complain to the Headmaster. I could only watch with fear. All the teachers who saw his torn shirt made comments against me.

"Need to find a way to escape," I thought.

Being beaten by the Headmaster's hands was a terrifying event. The Headmaster was the only person who handled the "biggest crimes." It was like taking prisoners to the police station—friends would take the victims to the Headmaster's room for caning. I realized that the spies of the principal were watching me.

I ran.

There was a ghost pond near the school. It was silent, and nobody would go there under any circumstances. With no other option, I hid there in the corner of the pond.

Cricket was also played during noon rest time. To make a ball, dried latex from rubber trees was the main component, wrapped in spherical paper. For this reason, rubber bands were stolen from the trees. Moreover, someone would steal the latex by crushing the roots of the rubber trees with a stone. Everything was done just to make a ball for the day. There had been many complaints about this. Nobody had been caught yet for stealing rubber bands or latex. Unfortunately, the pond I chose to hide near was in the center of the same rubber tree plantation.

Time passed quickly... I heard the first bell at noon and then came out of the pond slowly. When I realized nobody saw me, I looked around with relief and walked slowly to school.

Suddenly, a hand fell on my shoulder. I turned with fear and looked back...

A man with a colossal appearance looked at me with anger. He grasped my hands strongly. With fear and sorrow, I cried out loudly. For a moment, I didn't remember anything. I thought it was a ghost. But then I slowly realized that his clothes were dirty from rubber latex, and he had tapping tools hanging on his shoulder. At that moment, I realized he was not a ghost but a rubber tapper. I breathed a sigh of relief. But unfortunately, he blamed me for all the rubber thefts that had happened. I told him I didn't come to steal rubber but for another reason. He didn't listen. He dragged me to the Headmaster's room.

As soon as we entered the schoolyard, I ran from his grasp without looking back. At that moment, the final school bell rang, and everyone was hurrying to enter their classes. Everyone was in school uniform, so he couldn't find me.

He then went to the Headmaster's room. I overheard what was happening. But some people were watching my every move. The CID caught me.

"Who came with you to the Headmaster's room?" one of them asked.

"He is my distant relative who came to solve the problem with Ilyas, and he’ll surely buy a new shirt for him," I said as a strategy to escape.

They and Ilyas believed my confident answer. The joy on Ilyas's face was clear. The problem was resolved with the assurance that I would go with him to my relative's house and get a new shirt for him.

When I left school that evening, I escaped from him secretly. Poor Ilyas didn't know I was playing with him, and he would have asked for a new shirt. I laughed inside and lied each time to escape the situation. "Very cold gruel is just old gruel," one of the proverbs came to my mind. I knew the CID couldn't do anything to me now. When Ilyas sat near me and asked about the shirt, my answer still makes me laugh!