Srinivas Cv

Drama Tragedy

4.5  

Srinivas Cv

Drama Tragedy

Two thousand rupee note

Two thousand rupee note

14 mins
385


Orphan got lucky

"Last week was good, Jon. Will we be lucky again this week?" asked Peter to Jon. 

"Do you think you have parents to talk about luck and god? We are orphans, and we should make our own luck." declared Jon.

"How can that be possible?"

"Like, how I made it possible last week."

"What? Did you not find that toy in the garbage? Don't tell me you stole the toy we sold." asked Peter with scare filled eyes.

"It is found in the garbage only. But not by me. That Ramu found it."

"You stole from him?"

"He did not buy it for me to steal from him. He found it in the garbage, too. I found a way to convince him to give it to me."


Peter had not dared to ask any further questions. Everyone in the orphanage knew very well about Jon. You don't cross paths with Jon. He tells you to give him something you had no other options. Being the biggest kid in the orphanage, he had the power and brains to handle the smaller kids. That was why Peter decided to follow Jon. The crumbs from Jon meant he had lesser work to do than the other kids in the orphanage. It was not an easy job. Whenever Jon got caught making stupid things, Peter was the cover for Jon, which meant taking the cane on the back from the warden for him. It felt like a lesser cost compared to working hard all day collecting garbage and bottles.


Peter followed Jon all around the city, gazing around the movie shootings, without collecting any garbage. Peter was preparing himself to get the beatings. But what Peter did not know was Jon had a plan ready that day. He exactly noted down where Ramu was going to get the best bottles. The garbage pile behind the five-star hotel. The hotel was bonkers and threw the best quality bottles after only one use. The only problem was there was no planned schedule. Ramu waited hours there to collect the bottles. Jon heard the plans of Ramu when he told that to his friend Maruti. All Jon had to do was wait for Ramu to show up and take the bottles from him. 


Jon and Peter were waiting in the corner close to the orphanage. Peter, on his part, was begging Jon to change his mind. 

"Let us go and try near the bachelor's apartments. They will have some beer bottles to throw away. We can manage with them for today."

Jon, as usual, was not giving any attention to Peter's words. Peter did not stop, however, like any other day. After a few minutes, Peter said, "Enough is enough. I cannot go empty-handed today. I will go get the bottles for myself." and was about to walk away when he saw Jon's evil smile emerging in the corner of his lips. Peter turned to see Ramu and Maruti walking towards them. Peter realised he was not stupid to follow Jon all day. 


Ramu and Maruti saw Jon very late. Maruti started to get too worried. As Jon was getting closer to them, Maruti stopped. He asked Ramu to stop, too. 

Ramu said, "Don't worry, I collected a lot of bottles. I will give half to him."

"He is not fair. He will take your bottles and mine. I cannot risk.", Maruti said and started to run away. 

Ramu was worried about Maruti, and he too ran behind him to convince him to come back. 


Jon, could not let them get away. He started to chase them. Maruti was running helter-skelter without noticing where he was going. He ran into a busy street with many cars and autos. Ramu was catching up to him. He saw Maruti almost coming under an auto-rickshaw. With a panic-stricken voice, he was shouting for Maruti to stop. But Maruti was not going to lose his day's work. Jon, too, was not far behind. 


Maruti, trying to keep safe from traffic, decided to take a small street. The street was new to them. But, he ran with a purpose. Before running a few hundred meters, a big wall was all Maruti saw. There was nowhere to go to the left or right. Turning back and surrendering to Jon was not an option. With the energy left, he jumped and caught the wall. Ramu gave him a lift to help him climb up the wall. Maruti turned around to give a hand and pull Ramu up on the wall. As Ramu was almost on top of the wall, Jon reached them. Ramu's bag of bottles was hanging behind him. He got hold of that and tried to pull it out of his hands. Ramu used all his force to hold on to the bag. But, against Jon's power, Ramu knew he was fighting a losing battle. When Jon pulled it hard the next time, Ramu gave a final pull from his side to hold back the bag. The bag slipped away from his hands. The force made him fall backwards off the wall. Maruti tried to stop Ramu's fall, but it was late. Ramu fell off into what looked like a big hole. 


Jon turned to Peter and said. Peter did not take time, dragged the bag out of Maruti's hand and pushed him off the wall.


 "The orphan got lucky," declared Jon, laughing hysterically.


Bag solves problems


Peter, even with the bag in hand, was full of worry.

"Stupid Maruti. We ran this far because of him. No warden will kill us." said Peter to Jon.

"Don't worry. Do you even know what is in the bag? This bag full of bottles will solve all our problems", replied Jon.


Elsewhere, Maruti was all tears after falling into the hole. Not from the pain of the fall and scratches but for missing the time to reach the orphanage. 

"You don't show up in time one more time, don't ever come back", Maruti remembered the warning of the warden.


Ramu was not panicking. From the fall, he learnt the hole was not too deep. But due to the darkness outside, he could not gauge exactly how big it was. He was searching for something to get them out of the hole. He found a big bag. He tried to pull it, but he could not. He left it and started searching for something else. He found some bricks and stones. He immediately got what hole they were stuck in. It was a new building foundation work. From his earlier experience, he remembered it was not too long for them to be stuck in there. He dragged Maruti and asked him to pick the bricks there. They started piling them to one corner. Slowly the pile got big enough for them to climb and get out of there. 


Maruti thanked Ramu and said sorry for running like a stupid. 

"Let us not worry about it. Let us get out of here first," replied Ramu, and they were about to leave. Ramu did not walk behind Maruti to go to the orphanage. Instead, he jumped back into the hole. Maruti did not understand and started shouting. Ramu did not answer for a while. After a few minutes and the sky getting darker, Maruti was ready to cry again when he heard Ramu.

"Please jump in with me", came Ramu's voice.

"I am not stupid like you?" replied Maruti.

"There is a bag here with something. I think some garbage. The bag feels good on hand. Let us take this with us."

Maruti wanted something in hand before heading back to the orphanage. He jumped, and they both dragged the heavy bag out of the hole.


They dragged the bag close to the wall. The street light outside threw some light on the bag. The bag looked very expensive. Maruti hugged Ramu for taking them back to the hole. They tried to pick it up and put it on the wall, but it was too heavy for their young hands. 


"Let us drop everything in the bag and take the bag with us. That will be enough", said Maruti.

Ramu was reluctant but agreed.

As they started opening the zipper, they saw it was full of something which looked like paper. Paper garbage was useless, and they decided to throw that away. They tried to pick the bag again and turn it around to drop it all out at once. But they could not pick it up. Maruti picked one bundle of papers and threw it away, and Ramu followed Maruti's action. After throwing a few away, Ramu noticed something. The bundles were not paper but money. Maruti was busy throwing out the paper and did not notice Ramu running to get the bundles back.


With money in hand, he stopped Maruti and dragged his attention. Maruti could not believe his eyes. Seeing the money got him strength, and he picked that heavy bag and carried it under the light. The bag was full of money. 


"We will be rich with this money", announced Maruti.

"But, we cannot use it", said Ramu.

"Finders, keepers. I am not giving this back."

"We have to give back. Someone will be searching for it."

"Yes, you are right."

"Thank you."

"No, not like that. If someone knows we have this much money, it will be risky. They will kill us for the money. We should be careful with this."

"Don't be stupid. We will give this to the nearest police station and go back to our orphanage."

"I am not going to give this to anyone."

"I don't agree", replied Ramu.


"Okay, let us not jump to any rash decisions. We cannot trust the police too."

Ramu starts thinking.

"We will save this in our safe place. Come back tomorrow here and hand it to its owner. Then, we will request them for some gift or ask them to pay for our stay in the orphanage", said Maruti.

"Do you really think they will pay?" asked Ramu.

"With the money in this bag, they can pay for the next generations of you and my family."


Ramu, too, thought that was a chance to take. They took the money to their secret hiding place near the municipal garbage disposal. After hiding the bag, they both decided there was no going back to the orphanage that night. They thought they were to find a way to sleep in the garbage dump, away from the treasure. As they were walking away, Maruti's stomach started making sounds. Those sounds were not new to both, it was their old friend hunger.


"If you don't get angry, I want to say something", requested Maruti.

"What?" asked Ramu.

"We will take only one note and try to eat something. I promise I will not use all of it. I will only have a little food", begged Maruti.

Ramu was hungry too, and he nodded okay.

Maruti ran back and took a single note from the bag, and they both headed to the town.


No Change


They head to the costliest hotel they know. It was the Dhaba hotel not far from the garbage dump. They always liked the smell coming out of it. As they got closer to the hotel, they started to shiver. It was due to anticipation of eating something they never tasted or fear of getting caught they could not figure out yet. 


They almost reached the hotel but did not step as fear took them over. As they looked back, Ramu felt all eyes in the hotel on them. But, in reality, none in the hotel gave a second look at the kids. 


Maruti was watching all the food on various plates. He gathered all the courage and dragged Ramu with him, and they finally, walk into the hotel.


They were surprised by what they saw on the table. The waiter brought them a plate full of cucumbers and papads. Before they even ordered anything. The same papads took hours of waiting at the orphanage. 


Maruti was quick to bite into the papads before him. Ramu stopped him as he saw the waiter walking towards them. 


"Cash, Card, or UPI?" asked the waiter.

"What?" asked Ramu.

"The card is not working, and we cannot take cash as the owner left for the day. Only UPI payment." 

"But, we have only cash", said Maruti taking the two thousand rupee note.

"Sorry, kids. We cannot take cash. Especially, I don't have change for that much money."

"I am hungry", Maruti turned to sever with a sad face.

"Don't worry. A few roads away, there is a big hotel. You go and eat there."

"For this?" asked Ramu, pointing the papads. 

"No cost for them."

They started walking out, and Maruti picked the last papad on the table before exiting.



They walked towards the next hotel. They could not believe their eyes seeing the hotel lit with colourful lights from all sides. The fear came back, almost stopping them from entering the hotel. 


However, Maruti was not ready to leave yet. 

"Free Papads are so tasty. How tasty will be the food we pay for, wondered Maruti."

 He gathered all the courage and dragged Ramu towards the door.


As they came closer, they noticed something, a man guarding the tinted glass door. Maruti's courage started to fade away. He stepped forward some more, trying hard not to look at the man waiting at the door. 


What if he stops us? What if he drags us to the police station? What if they find the money and send us to prison. 


The man did not look at them or make any movement. Maruti, however, had many doubts in mind. With a few more steps, they reached the door. The man looked at them the first time, and Maruti looked back at him. The big moustache on him got Maruti more scared. 


One more step and they were to enter the hotel. The man standing there made his first movement. Ramu was ready for whatever was coming. The man opened the door for them to get in. Ramu was finally out of fear and signalled Maruti to come in with him. But there was no one behind him. Maruti ran away in fear as the man was opening the door.



Ramu gracefully left the place and started searching for Maruti. It did not take him long to find him.


"We would have had the best food."

"Sorry, I thought he was going to catch us and send us to the warden for punishment", replied Maruti.

"He was just a doorman."

"I don't know. I am really sorry. I always get punished for everyone's mistakes." Maruti continued to rant about why he has always feared everything.


Ramu did not listen to anything. He was lost in the cool breeze that hit him as the doorman opened the door. Is that what everyone called an A/C, thought Ramu. Why can't Maruti gather a little more courage, we would have had the experience of A/C, and good food, wondered Ramu in his mind?


The running and walking around hotels got Ramu all hungry. He wanted to eat something immediately. He also doesn't want to go to another hotel and come back empty. He knew where to go. He stopped the rant of Maruti and picked him up by hand. They both walked towards the familiar street vendor's cart.


"Today, I have not had enough sales. I cannot give you food.", said the vendor as he saw Ramu.

"I have money. I will pay you." declared Maruti.

"Really?" asked the wondering vendor.

"Why will I lie to you? I have a lot of money."

"Tell me, what do you want?"

"Keep bringing everything you have. I will eat all night", replied Maruti.

The vendor was genuinely happy seeing the kids confident. He kept serving them dosas, chapatis, pav bhajis, samosas etc.


They were there till it was time to close. After taking a break from the eating marathon, Maruti nonchalantly handed the two thousand rupee note to the vendor. 


"Oh! I don't have change for two thousand. Just five minutes ago, I gave away all the change. Do you have a smaller note?"

Suddenly all the confidence of Maruti left his face. 

"But, but I only have this." 

"Please, we ate so much. Take this and don't hurt us," begged Ramu.


"Why will I hurt you two? Do one thing. You keep the money and pay me tomorrow."


Maruti's face changed back to happiness. Ramu, however, felt guilty. 

Ruffling his hair, the vendor said, "Don't worry, son. We should look after each other."


Walking back, Ramu thought having money meant nothing in the end. I could not go to a decent restaurant or pay for my food. It all came down to a "No Change".


Sleep your problems away


Maruti was full and sleeping heartful. Ramu could not sleep. He was wondering what does God had in store for him. 

Is he mocking me? I gave you parents, so they throw you away. I gave you an orphanage, which doesn't care for you. And today, he gave me a bag full of cash. For what? To remind me, I can only live on charity even with a bag full of cash. What a cruel one he was?


Before his anger for God dried out, the sun came up. He woke Maruti up. He told Maruti he was going to give back the bag of money. Maruti nodded to mean okay. 


Ramu went to the site where they fell the day before to search for the owner of the bag. The crowd around there meant it was not going to take them long to find him. 


The money belonged to a man who saved all his life for the dream of a house. Ramu took the man and showed him the bag. He explained how they fell into the pit and took the money to hide and give back to the owner. 


The man could not believe his luck. 

"God sent you to me. Thank you, thanks a lot." said the man.


Hearing the man taking God's name got Ramu angry. He started walking away, and Maruti tried to stop him. He wanted to ask the man to pay for their stay in the orphanage. Ramu does not want anything to do with someone who believes in God. God is the one who made Ramu's fate like this. 


A few days later, the man came to the orphanage in search of Ramu and Maruti.

"We are doing a pooja for the house warming, please come," asked the man.

 "I don't have anything to do with God", replied Ramu. 

"Forget about God come and be my guests. "

"I don't want any of that, Maruti, you go if you want", said Ramu.

"Okay, don't be my guests. Be my sons."

"What?"

"You heard me right. Come permanently to live with me."


P.S: The man had no kids. He adopted them. Ramu wondered what would have happened if he could have changed the two thousand?








Rate this content
Log in

Similar english story from Drama