It was raining hard that night. In my hurry to get into the house, I didn't notice the black car parked across the road. I realized something was wrong when I could see someone hovering around the car. I wasn't sure if it was safe to go to the car to investigate but my instincts dragged me from the gate of my building to across the road and next to the car. What happened in that half an hour is what I call my most unforgettable memory.
I could see a man pacing up and down, drenched and injured. At first when I saw him, he looked inebriated as he was losing his balance now and then. But as I went near him, I was sure it was the injury and not any substance that was causing him to tip.
Excuse me Sir! Can I help you? I asked him. He seemed to be in a state of shock. I tried calling out to him but he continued going round and round his car. I was not comfortable reaching out to him physically and I thought he might attack me in his condition. But there was no one I could call as my phone had switched off after getting wet in the rain. Also, if I went home, which was just across the street, my over-protective mother would panic and wouldn't let me help him. So there I was, feeling helpless and angry, because I decided to help someone without knowing what to do.
I remember standing in the rain for quite some time, staring at the man hovering around his car, feeling absolutely worthless. Then in a flash of a moment, I found myself walking towards him and reaching out to his shoulder. I must have been really stupid to do that!
Sir! I shouted as I grabbed his shoulder, Can you tell me your name? Do you live around here?The man seemed to have lost his ability to hear or see or feel as he continued to walk around his car, only that now he was crying and shivering .because of the rain.
I grabbed both his shoulders and tried to talk again.
I will help you! Tell me what I you want! Is this your car?
I repeatedly asked him the above questions for at least five minutes before his finally looked at me and broke down. At that point, to be honest, I was scared to death, because he wouldn't stop screaming and trembling. After a while, he began to come back to his senses and began to calm down. Finally, when he stopped crying, he looked at me and told me that he was a second-year DU student who was out for a school reunion party at one of the schoolmates farmhouse on the outskirts of the city. He had happily agreed to go for the party because obviously we are always excited to meet our school buddies and relive the happy school memories. When he entered the farmhouse, he told me that everything was fine for a couple of hours. HE then said that they began playing a game which turned into an unpleasant episode of bullying him. He was majorly bullied by a school group when in school and at the party too, the group started bullying him. When he retaliated, they faked an apology and offered him a drink.
I was foolish to assume that they were truly sorry and that they had grown up, he told me, now smiling as if recollecting what happened at the party. He told me that he doesn't remember what happened after he took that drink. He only remembers me screaming at him.
When I regained consciousness, my head hurt and I was lying on the street, drenched, outside my car. I don't even know what part of the city I am in. They must have put me in the car and brought me here. And they must have thrown me out of my own car and thrown away the keys after locking it so that I cant go home.
The man, whose name was Kabir, thanked me for being there. He asked me which place he had been abandoned, and asked the way to the nearest police station. I took him with me and told our complex watchman to guard his car for the night. My mother calmed down as she heard the whole story and nursed his wounds. Kabir slept at my place that night. The next morning, mom and I accompanied him to the police station and lodged an FIR. Kabir said he wanted to get a blood test done as he thought he had been made to take drugs through the drink. He was right. He gave the details of the farmhouse and of his friends. The police sealed the farmhouse and arrested the friends.
Kabir and I became good friends forever after the incident. He taught me to be cautious of people, because some people can never be trusted no matter how much time has passed. He also taught me that it is okay to have a moment of fear. If you have a helping hand around, you can overcome fear and get back on your feet again.
