Chapter 1: The Paying Guest

Thanks to BarneyR for making this presentable!

Friday, July 7th,2015

Devil's speedometer was showing 100kmph, which is very fast by Indian traffic standards. Amateurs won't be able to ride even at 60kmph on this National Highway. But mine is a totally different story. Nothing can stop me in my full glory. I'm bragging here, but bragging just a little. In reality, I'm quite a good biker. The busy traffic just didn't hold any candle to me.

"Devil" is my ebony black Pulsar 200 NS bike. With his 200cc engine, "Naked Sports" design (hence NS), speed, smooth handling and decent price; he is one of the best deals on the market. He was my first choice, and now he's with me.

He gave a fresh start to my very boring life. I waited for almost two years to get a bike. The waiting was making me very anxious. I was desperately trying to find a way to make it possible. And suddenly, there was a way before my eyes!

I am pretty good at troubleshooting computers. In the previous years, I've helped some of my classmates by solving problems with their machines. They talked about that to others, which created rumors about me being a computer genius (I don't think that about myself). Before long, I was getting contacted by people I've never even met. I was overwhelmed by the feedback.

You see; I've this habit (bad?) of helping anyone. It doesn't matter to me, whether I know them or not. Whenever I find myself stuck in a situation where I can help others, I can't stop myself from helping. But that overwhelming situation with computers was riling me. I wasn't able to get any alone time. Come on man! Give me a break! I've to life to live!

I stopped taking those calls which were intended to helping others with problems regarding computers. And then, Bang Bang! People were offering me money to help them! The moral part of my mind was telling me "we don't help others to gain something from it. It's our duty to help others for being a human. But, then the wicked part sucker punched it and took control.

I started doing it again, but this time it was pure business. By the end of the year, I was able to collect about 60,000 Rs. But unfortunately that much wasn't enough. Sigh!

Obviously, Mom knew everything. Doesn't she always know? Ultimately, Mom provided the rest of the money to buy my 'Devil.' That happened due to my great performance in Higher Secondary Exam in 2015. I'd earned 430 marks in the exam and became the second topper in my subdivision. The topper just got 5 more points than me in English. But, I didn't take pity on me for a second. I knew how much hard work I had to do to get here. So, I was very happy with my result. Doing so well in H.S. (Higher secondary) resulted in double fun for me. More people were noticing me, and there is 'Devil.'

You guys must be wondering, "Why am I riding crazily fast in this heavy afternoon traffic?"

The answer is my friends is "Fucking Summer!"

To me, summer is the most horrible season in West Bengal. That is the state of India where I live and in all the tropical places all over the world. Summer "Blesses" us with extremely hot weather, load shedding, occasional Nor'wester, diseases, and so on. So, I fucking hate summer!

I had to go to the college where I'm doing my bachelor's degree; again and again, I had to go through a very long and boring procedure to officially becoming a college student. Today was the last day of that lengthy, tiring time. And what a hectic day it was!

I had to wait in a very long line of students to submit the necessary documents. None of them was happy to stand in this extensive line of torture! Yeah torture! The crowd was very thick. Add today's temperature in the combination and you'll get the picture. During morning temperature, was 40 degrees centigrade, which now was 42 degrees (104o to 108oF). This was by far the hottest day of summer so far. By the end of the day, you get a very exhausted student. Me, I was feeling very dehydrated, as if I was in "Sahara" desert; walking there the whole day; without drinking any water.

This is the explanation for my answer "fucking summer." My top priorities were now going home, avenging that growing thirst, taking a very thorough shower, eating and then resting. So I was in a hurry to go home as fast as possible. Let's Go!

Everything I passed was blurred. The passing wind was a blessing to my flustered skin, even though it was a very hot wind, it was air moving across my body so it felt good. When I came near the branch of the highway which would eventually take me to my home; I slowed down. It led me to my "galli" (exit) and at last to my house. My fast riding helped me to cover the distance between my college and my home within 10 minutes; which normally would be about 20 minutes. At last, I was home.

The left side of the main gate was open, which wasn't normal. Generally, every member in my family closed it after getting in. However, in my hurry, I didn't give it much thought. After crossing the concrete path, from the main gate to the house; I got off my bike. Then I killed the engine. Without wasting any time, I entered, parked "Devil" on the verandah, locked him, and went inside.

Inside, the hall was empty, neither Mom nor my Sister was there. Maybe, Mom was on the terrace watering the flower plants. I went to the fridge and took a water bottle from it. After drinking half the bottle of water, I started ascending the stairs. On the way, I was about to inquire where Mom was when sounds of an ongoing conversation came to my ears. There were Mom and two other females. I'm good at memorizing people's voices. So, instantly I knew they weren't any of our neighbours or relatives. I started for the terrace, because that's the place where the conversation was coming from.

When I reached the last stair to the terrace, I saw that I just scratched the surface with my guess. I guess that's why we call it a guess. You know; reality is always different than guesses; more or less. Even the freshest state of my mind won't guess correctly about Her.

Yeah, there were two females other than Mom. All right! However, both of my eyes were only on that petite girl. Each and every other thing was blurred from my perspective at that moment. My other senses also got with the program and concentrated on her. Time seemed to stop for a moment; I was that awestruck by her sheer beauty.

She was talking to Mom with a happy expression on her face as she touched the petals of the orchids in front of her. The bright rays of sun were making her long, silky hair glow with an amazing reddish-brown shade; and those almond-shaped blue eyes (Yep, definitely blue.) They're rare among Indians, but they can be found), that cute little nose; those full lips and other little tidbits made me captivated with that beautiful heart-shaped face permanently. Just those blue eyes were worthy enough to charm me. And who won't be charmed. It's not an everyday incident to see a blue-eyed Indian beauty. My eyes also quickly roamed below her face to guess about her vital statistics. All I discovered that she had an hourglass figure. Not much, Ha! Sorry guys! I didn't have any opportunity to inspect her naked female body. So, my guess about her vital statistics won't be correct. Anyway, she was wearing a green Kameez (a long shirt or tunic), blue leggings, and a blue Odhni. The stylish bangles on her right hand, were accesorizing her look; nicely. The view was amazing!

Those few lines above are from Akon's song "Beautiful" and Colby O'Donnis's melodic voice did magic to them. At that time, my thoughts were along the same line of the song. In fact, I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't hear Mom talking to me. As my head got cleared and Mom's voice caught my attention; I felt very embarrassed. I was flushed when my eyes met Mom's. Now all of them were sitting on chairs and drinking milk-tea.

"About time you get down to earth, Archy, because I was thinking that cat got your tongue. Does it have your tongue?"

Now, don't get confused with the name of comic book character "Archie", OK "Archy" is my nickname, pronounced as "Orchee."

My embarrassment increased a notch at that point, and the only words came from me was "Sorry Ma!"

"Any way, as now we have your full attention. Well, do we have your full attention?"

"Yes, Mom."

'Shit! Why is Mom embarrassing me more in front of this babe?' But that trail of thought was short-lived, because Mom was again talking to me.