Chunni Chand leaned across the shop counter to grab the hurtling school
bags; the students were running late for the matinee show. They slapped a
twenty rupee bill each on the grimy counter and swung their knapsacks across,
only to hit out at a pace towards the cinema across the road. It was a school
legacy generations had graduated, smiling about. You were not a ‘true blue
Raffanite’ if you had not “CC-ied”.
CC as Chunni Chand was fondly known was in cahoots with the truant. He
provided a range of services to the young of this select school; safe-keeping
their bags during school hours so they could play hooky with less conspicuity
was base one!
Peskiness was not a fault; he was clear on that, it was their teen age.
He hummed nasally now, doing a brisk business of selling paan,
cigarettes, Aquafina, and the odd snack while his young clients sank into their
cinema seats, the titles of the latest Hollywood blockbuster rolling on the big
screen.
“You are my pumpkin pumpkin hello honey bunny,” rang Chunni Chand’s
caller tune, back at the shop. CC gurgled through the betel juice in his mouth,”Guh
gg ghello!” The voice at the other end was frantic, “CC ji! Nitin here!
Trouble, trouble…my father was to meet Padma Ma’am at 10 today, please arrange
a parent, quick. Three hundred? Yes, standard rate. My details are in the
school diary, blue bag, yes. Just take care of this, all right. I have to get
back to the movie.”
CC glanced at the dusty clock on the far wall, subtracting ten minutes
automatically; there was still a half hour to go. Ever since he had attained
adulthood, CC had gotten into the habit of keeping his time telling devices
ahead by ten minutes. His sluggish childhood pace had scarred him somewhat, his
family had arrived late on several occasions while he was growing up. Shaking
his head free of those painful memories, he pulled out his well-thumbed
register now. Running over his stock cast of “parents for hire” he did a mental
match, taking notes from Nitin’s diary particulars. Within minutes, Nitin’s
‘father’ was signing himself through the school security gate, wearing the
deferential look of a parent summoned for chastising.
“Intermission time" CC smiled to himself like a cat with the cream,
popping open lemonade bottles with grand gestures. A hungry horde of students was
pouring in a steady stream from the direction of the school. It was not
considered cool to carry packed tiffin from home. The teens liked to hang out
at the corner shop, munching and socializing. “The sandwiches would hold until
lunch hour”, CC calculated; he had better order some paneer rolls though;
several kids ate on the long commute home. He was kept busy over the next hour.
It was not until the school bus engines began their start up roars that CC next
subtracted ten from the clock face. “Where are these kids?” he began to fret in
his head. “Nitin’s father should have been back with a debrief from Padma Ma’am!”
Just as he made to scan the building across the road, Chunni’s blood
froze at what he saw in his line of vision. A frisson went up his brain
stem. He cast about in fearful futility before turning to the bags in
confusion. Blue bag, Nitin had said? His hair stood up with alarm. There were
two!
Always! Every time! His father’s words drilled his smoking ears, “You
must think things through. Stop racing ahead by your silly ten minutes!”
Chunni Chand Banaras Paanwale was turning the minute hand anticlockwise
when the School Discipline Officer and guards landed in full force.
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