movement. I had limited time. I couldn't analyse, I had to do first and think later. The exact opposite of when I slept with Vidya. There, I should have thought first and done later. Mama ran towards Ali. I knew I had to get out of the captor's grip, grab Ali and pull him to my side. I got ready to move. However, I looked at Mama. The sight of his huge frame and a sharp weapon sent a fear inside me. And I wasted precious time thinking when I should have acted. Ish and I exchanged another glance and he saw my fear mixed with self-interest. What if the trishul ends in my stomach? The what-ifs made me hesitant, but I snapped myself out of it and made a dive to my left. I grabbed Ali and pulled him towards me. Mama struck, but missed Ali's torso. One blade of the trishul jabbed Ali's wrist. Ali would have been completely unhurt only if I had dived a second earlier. And here it was, something I didn't realise then, the one second delay being the third big mistake of my life. Of course, I didn't know I had made a mistake then. Ish did exactly as I thought, and banged his head against the captor's to set himself free. It would have hurt Ish, but I think Ish was beyond pain right now. Ish took his captor's trishul and struck it into the man's heart. The man screamed once and turned silent. Ish ran to us. 'He's ok, he is ok,' I said turning to Ish. I held Ali tight within me in an embryo position. ★
There were two captors left and Mama. We did not want to kill anyone. 'We just want to go away,' Ish said as he held his trishul, facing Mama. Mama had a trishul too. Their eyes met. Mama's men watched the impending duel. I ran with Ali to the other end of the room. The men came running after us. 'Stop you bastards,' the men said as we reached the end of the room. One of the men went and bolted the door. Ali lifted a bat from the floor. I picked one too, though not sure if I could really fight right now, Ali winced as his right wrist hurt when he lifted the bat. 'Heh? Want to fight?' the two captors said. Mama and Ish were still in their face off. Each had a stern gaze. Mama rotated his trishul in his hand. One of the men turned to go back to Mama. 'I'll take care of him, you finish the boy Mama,' he said. 'Sure,' Mama said as he moved away. As he left, Mama struck his trishul at Ish's toes. Ish didn't expect it. He lost his balance and fell down next to the manager's desk. 'You are fucking weak, you know that,' Ish said. 'I can finish you now. Thank your stars you were born in a Hindu house,' Mama said as he spat on Ish's face. Mama came to Ali. 'Oh, you want to play eh? You want to play bat ball with me,' Mama said and laughed as Ali held up his bat. 'Move away,' Mama said to his men, 'the boy wants to play. Yeah, you son of a whore, play with me,' Mama said as he danced around Ali, just out of the striking distance of Ali's bat. Ali pranced around as he stumbled on two cricket balls kept on the floor. Mama picked one up.