Lalitha Balasubramanian

Drama Crime

2.5  

Lalitha Balasubramanian

Drama Crime

The Shoeshine Boy

The Shoeshine Boy

5 mins
3.0K


Hari, a shoeshine boy, sitting outside the railway station happened to notice something strange. A man was pushing a reluctant child into the arms of a woman in a car. Hari saw that the child’s mouth was covered with a cloth.

‘If the man and woman were the parents of the child, why should they cover his mouth with a cloth?’ he thought.

On an impulse, he took down the number of the car. It was 2968. He wanted to take a snap with his mobile, but the car sped away. The tall, well built man turned. Immediately Hari put his mobile and the paper in which he had written the car number into his pocket. The man came towards him. He kept his foot on the stand to get his shoe polished. Though Hari’s thoughts were in turmoil, he did not let any of that show on his face. He polished the shoes and made a mental note of the man’s face and his distinct beard.

Just then, the cell phone buzzed. It was the man’s phone. He grimaced as he saw the number. Nevertheless, he answered the call.

“I am outside VT station. Are you coming here or should I meet you at Bandra?” he asked the caller.

“Okay, Hina will bring the parcel to Bandra near the Talao, and I will meet you there,” he continued talking after hearing the answer of the unknown caller.

Apparently, the other person had called him to Bandra.

Hari had not finished polishing the man’s second shoe, but he handed him a twenty rupee note and without waiting for the change, rushed away into the station.

Hari was sure that there was something odd about the man’s behavior.

‘And who was Hina? Was she the woman in the car to whom he had given the child?’

Hari was in a dilemma. Should he report this to the police? What if they did not believe him? And what if the whole incident had been an absolutely normal family routine? He would be reprimanded for wasting the Cop’s time.

But somehow the incident was playing on his mind. He had a gut feeling that something was not right. He decided to report the matter and if proved wrong, face the consequences. Not wanting to waste time in answering inconsequential questions on the phone, he went personally to the police station which was just a few meters away.

The Police Inspector did not give credence to his report, just as he had feared. He even shouted at him for coming with ridiculous complaints. He knew that Hari was a shoe-shine boy, as he got his shoes polished often enough without paying for it. Hari realized that it was futile to explain to him his gut feeling, and he left.

When he sat once again at his place outside the VT station, there were two people waiting for him. He got engrossed in his work, reminding himself that only by working through the day could he pay his fees for the evening college in which he had enrolled himself.

Within a few minutes though, a police van drew up in front of him. The police inspector got out from the van and rushed towards him. His hands were trembling. He was distraught.

“Boy,” he called. “You said that you had seen a child being forcefully pushed into the arms of a woman in a car.”

“Yes Sir,” answered Hari. “But you didn’t believe me.”

“Sorry, boy,” said the cop apologetically. “I made a mistake. You said that you noted the car’s number?”

“Yes Sir. It is 2968,” replied Hari. “What happened, Sir?”

“My son is missing since today afternoon,” the Inspector was almost in tears. “Do you have any further information?”

“Sir,” replied Hari. “The man said that someone called Hina would deliver the parcel at Bandra talao. Could the parcel mean the child, by any chance?”

“It could be,” said the Inspector. The other cops who were with him tried to pacify the Inspector.

 Hari willingly agreed to accompany them as he could recognize the man. He also cautioned them that if the police van was seen, the culprits would not hang around. They would vanish into thin air and escape.

The inspector agreed with him. He and another plain clothes officer went along with Hari in an ordinary car. When they reached Bandra talao, Hari’s eyes were searching for the bearded man. He found him standing near a café on the opposite side of the talao. He pointed him out to the officer. The officer got down from the car and walked nonchalantly to the café without giving a glance to the man.

The inspector and Hari were still sitting in the car waiting for the woman or the other caller to arrive. Within a few minutes, a couple approached the man. They were talking animatedly for a few seconds, before a black car drew up. A woman got down. There was a child sleeping on her shoulder. Hari looked at the Inspector. The relief on seeing his child alive was written on his face. The officer in plain clothes came over and caught hold of the woman. He grabbed the child from her arms. The Inspector who had got down from the car by then ran to catch hold of the bearded man. The couple, who were stunned by the enfolding situation, suddenly came to their senses and ran away. But Hari had caught them on his mobile phone camera. By then the police van which had been parked out of sight in a by-lane arrived. The bearded man and the woman were bundled into the van and taken to the police station.

Hari was happy to see that the child was fully awake and in his father’s arms. Excited, relieved and thankful that he had been part of the rescue of the child, Hari went to catch the train to VT from Bandra station and reached his shoe-shine stand.

Before evening, the Inspector along with his wife and child came over to his stand and thanked him profusely for his help in rescuing the child. The Inspector further offered to pay for his entire education, and asked Hari to apply for a job in the police force. 


Rate this content
Log in

Similar english story from Drama