At this moment, the man Binoba sent arrived outside Fishal's office. "Is the District Representative in?" A man led him in. Fishal heard the news and gave the man a written order to be given to the Chief of Police, void of the knowledge that Netratav was already there.
Before the man left, Fishal asked, "Do you know where Asha Das right now?"
fter an hour of walk, Asha, who was still wearing a Panjabi, found her way to Mukti's restaurant. What she saw stopped her from moving. It was closed, stone marks on the walls, windows smashed to pieces, and dripping paint writing on the wall saying, “Poisonous food, stay away.”Asha’s temple throbbed with rage and planned to wash out the words, but patrons started coming. She knew these people well. That meant it was almost lunchtime. She crossed the street in a hurry and hid behind a tree with her head down. The incoming couple froze when their eyes laid on the written words. "I don't believe this. We've been eating here for years, but we've never been poisoned. Who did this?" the wife said."Maybe jealous people did it. This restaurant had wonderful food, so they got a better income compared to other eating places," the husband replied. He touched the paint and left a mark on his finger. “Don’t… What are you doing?” His wife took a hanky and wiped clean the red paint from the husb
Chapter 18As Fishal came out, he saw the police car and wondered why the Chief of Police was there. As timely as it could be, Netratav came out smiling and talked with him.
She stealthily hurried ahead to the kitchen. How to save Ronjon? She paced around. Her eyes went to a knife. Kill them? Her stomach knotted with the thought. What to do?Her eyes caught the tray used earlier. Yes, the delicacies that were thrown. She picked them up, chose the clean ones, and arranged it on the most conspicuous section of the table. To complete the bait
Asha exerted all the strength she had to move the loaded curtain inch by inch, afraid it would become pitch dark and had no way to find her way to her hideout on time. As time went on, she noticed the sandy path was still clear to her eyes. She looked heavenward and saw a full moon. And said a brief prayer, thankful for providing her light. It solved half of her trouble. However, she carefully checked the surroundings from time to time to see if there was anyone following or who saw her.
On the next day, she bought a veil, covered her face, and went to a doctor. She asked for medicine to wake a person."Let me be clear, the man is sleeping for a long time like in a coma?" The doctor said, sitting behind his wide glass desk, confused with her request.
The old lady gave her directions up to a small empty sandy lot at the end of Panibon, where the salt water and river water met."Find a purple flower with long stems and thorny leaves," Thakurma said, eyes looking vacantly at the swirling river water.
Ronjon thought of filing a case against the District Chief of Police and Arup. Asha went in their hiding place with a bunch of Bapa Pitha laid on a flat stone covered with a wide banana leaf. She handed one to him. "You don't know Mister Arup's connections. It's not worth your life. Let it be." She said those words, thinking of her father’s death where justice w
She placed the powder in a clay bowl, mixed it with water, and applied it on his face. The result, his face looked like the cracking mud on a dried river. Asha let him wash his face, feeling bad with the money she spent. While Ronjon scrubbed his face well at the river, reddening it as he rubbed. He heaved a deep breath, feeling refreshed after taking that random paste off his face.Asha tried mixing ashes with water, giving Ronjon goosebumps. Although resisted, Asha had her way. The result, he looked like a paled face dead man in a coffin. "You want me to look like a dead man walking? People will stone me to death for scaring them." He washed his face again.Asha held her belly as she laughed her heart out."It's not funny.” Asha clumped her mouth. Ronjon dried his face with her shawl. She let him, knowing it was her fault."Sorry, what are we going to do with that face?" She pointed to his face."I have an idea," Ronjon spoke his mind this time, and Asha could not resist because she