9:00am
THE day was like any other working day. Walked into the office, greeted everyone and sat at my desk to do my work.
5:00 pm
IN THE car on my way back home. The traffic moving at the speed of a snail, sometimes not moving at all. I spied the car next to mine, a couple chatted away. The rickshaw puller behind the car swore at the one in front of him as he pushed the vehicle forward on its front wheel. I looked at my watch, need to get home, take a shower and head back to a meeting that the chairman had called at his place.
7:30pm
I WAS waiting for the meeting in my chairman’s living room. Kashem Mia, my cook cum cleaner cum guard called me. I answered my phone.
‘What is it Kashem Mia?’
‘There is someone named Shila from Canada who wants to see you.’
‘Well Kashem Mia, I am at the house of my boss, waiting for him and others for a meeting. Tell her I won’t have time today. And Shila..umm I don’t think I know anyone by that name.’
There must have been a bit of annoyance in my voice for Kashem Mia quickly said, ‘Apa... please talk to her, she is standing right beside me.’
I became impatient, ‘Ok! Give the phone to her.’
‘Hello! Assalamualaikum Apa! I have come from Canada yesterday; I believe your family is coming back tomorrow, isn’t it? I was with them till yesterday. Aunty is such a darling! She talked about you so much that I feel as though I know you already. And your nephews Aryan and Arshian talked about you non-stop.’
Now I really was on the verge of losing my cool. What could this lady from Canada want from me? But very few people knew about Amma and the kids returning home, so she must have talked to them or met them. But I had very little time to speak to some stranger as my colleagues were all waiting for me to finish the conversation. All four pairs of eyes were on me.
‘Okay! Now could you tell me how I can help you?’
‘Apa, I have come to your house because I am in great trouble. I could explain everything if I could see you.’
‘But I am in a meeting right now; it will be another hour till I am done here and at least half an hour for me to get back home.’ By now there was irritation in my voice.
‘Can I wait at your apartment?’
I couldn’t figure out if I was more angry or surprised, still I tried to keep my cool.
‘Can you pass the phone to my caretaker?’
When Kashem Mia took the phone, I quickly instructed him to let her in and be right in front of her as I didn’t have a clue who she was or what she wanted from me.
8:00pm
THE meeting was in progress, with all the five members being present. I was taking minutes as the chairman presided over the meeting.
I looked at the phone to check the time, eight missed calls! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I excused myself from everyone present and came out of the room earning a scornful look from my chairman.
It was Kashem Mia again! I redialled.
He answered the phone on the first ring. There were sounds of wind howling over his mobile. He screamed on top of his lungs
‘Apa, this lady had made me get in her jeep and now we are on our way to your boss’s house.’
‘What?’
I was almost speechless.
‘Okay! You know the way to get here. So come!’
All kinds of horrific thoughts came to my mind. I lived alone in a flat since my mother moved to Canada with my brother. Everyone in the neighbourhood knew about it and someone could easily send anyone to rob me or even kill me. I have been very careful not to divulge any secrets to anyone as I lived alone. It’s only been a couple of years since my family moved to Canada. I had a job here and bought a small flat in Uttara with my share of money that I had inherited from my father’s wealth.
I went back to the room. As soon as I entered the room, I realised that the ambience of the meeting room had become informal. I tried to regain my composure and sat down to take notes.
‘Is everything alright?’
One of my colleagues threw the question at me.
‘Yes, everything is fine.’
I tried to smile but my lips formed a tight curve.
Everyone was busy chit-chatting and the main agenda of the meeting was forgotten. The bell rang. A male servant opened the gate, came inside and told me that Kashem Mia had arrived with a lady he didn’t know.
Since the door was open, I could see a lady standing at the door beyond the living room. She was wearing a glittery dress with a flare. Long dangling earrings shone as she moved her head from side to side. I walked towards them with a kind of frustration that was probably visible on my countenance. The girl must have been in her late twenties. She was fair in complexion and had a slender structure. Her big brown eyes with her aquiline nose gave her the look of an intelligent girl. She came running towards me as I walked to the door. She hugged me and kissed my cheek as long lost friends do after seeing each other. I was a bit shocked with her behaviour. I looked back over my shoulder at the room I had just exited; it seemed that the meeting had ended without any vote of thanks. My boss just gave me a nonchalant look before walking out through the other side of the room. My new found friend on the other hand was chatting on as though she had known me for years.
‘You look lovely apa! Aunty kept on talking about you for as long as I was with her. And your nephews? They adore you!’
Well I knew that already and didn’t need an outsider to tell me! Who was she anyway? I interrupted her and said, ‘But who are you? I mean do we know each other?’
‘No, apa. But I am coming from Canada and was a neighbour of your brother. We are almost like a family. And that makes you my family too doesn’t it?’
‘What is your name?’
‘Shila. Apa, I have so much admiration for you, you are a single woman, you live on your own. I mean how many Bangladeshi women are there like you? I think you are great!’
I was getting worried, thinking if she knew so much about me then I could be in trouble. Haven’t I read in the newspapers that random strangers blackmail others? But then she looked quite harmless, even sophisticated to some extent. I took a closer look at her; she had some diamond rings on her fingers and the clothes she wore were quite expensive. May be I was seeing too much into the situation. So I repeated, ‘What is it that you want from me? I mean is there any way I can help you?’
‘Yes, apa, that’s why I came all the way to your boss’s house.’ She tried to whisper. Looking here and there she came close to me and said, ‘I am in a big trouble!’
There she goes, now she will ask for some money, I thought to myself.
‘You see I just came from abroad, and was staying at my in-laws with my kid and husband. But we had a big fight with my in-laws and just stormed out. Now I have twenty six thousand dollars and twenty five bhori gold jewellery in my bag. Its past 8’o clock and I don’t know where to keep them for the night. I was wondering if you could keep them with your jewellery for the night and I will take them from you first thing tomorrow morning.’
‘But I don’t keep any jewellery at my house! It’s not safe.’ I informed.
‘Oh but then what will I do now? It’s getting late ummm…’
The woman looked very worried and tried to fish something out of her huge leather bag. Then she said, ‘You see I don’t have any money on me, if I were to live in a hotel then I need to change the dollars. Could you do me a favour please? I am asking you as a younger sister. I am in deep water, just give me some Bangla taka in exchange for these five thousand dollars.’
‘I don’t carry that kind of cash around you know!’
I noticed she didn’t take any money out even though she verbally offered me to take the money. ‘You could get the money out from the ATM, couldn’t you?’
By now I was starting to have my doubts about her, but I could be wrong I thought. What if she was really very close to Amma and the kids? I would be ashamed of not helping her. So I said, ‘Yes, I could get you some money but not so much, may be equivalent of a thousand dollars?’
‘Ok Let’s go then.’ She sounded relieved.
9:00pm
I SAID goodbye to my colleagues who were still having small chit chat in the living room before heading out. I walked out of the house and saw a big SUV with tinted glass. The windows were rolled down and two very stout men were sitting inside smoking. They straightened themselves as they saw me approach. Something inside me warned me, but I didn’t quite know how to get out of this situation. I looked around for my Toyota Carina which was parked quite far from the house. I asked Kashem Mia to call my chauffeur. Shila screamed, ‘We can go in my car!’
‘No, I will take my car and you can follow me. Where are your kid and husband?’
‘Oh! They were right here a few minutes ago. They must be around somewhere, I will give them a call, let’s finish our work first.’
I felt as though I swallowed something very disgusting to my palate. But what was I to do? I walked to my car with a kind of lethargy one feels after a long day’s labour. I also realised that it was a trap and that I had to get out of it without making too much commotion as those rouges might try to harm me physically. So I instructed my chauffeur to go to the nearby ATM booth. Kashem Mia asked if I knew the lady and if I was planning to give her any money. I asked him to stay quiet.
Finally we reached our destination. As I walked into the ATM booth, the young woman was going to follow me inside so the guard asked her to stay outside. She fished out a one dollar bill from her bag and asked the guard to have tea with it. I noticed that she put on a pair of sunglasses before entering the booth and also wrapped dupatta around her head. I got inside and prayed hard that God gives me a way to get out of this mess.
I asked her, ‘Why don’t you give me the money?’
‘I have it right here in my bag, apa; withdraw some cash and I will give it to you.’
I inserted my card and started pressing the buttons, the wrong ones. And twice it flashed a message that I had entered the wrong pin. I couldn’t take the chance of doing it the third time, so I took it out my card and said, ‘There is something wrong with this machine. Let’s go back to my boss’s house and he can give you the dollar exchange.’
That did it! She quickly stormed out of the booth, got in her SUV and it sped off. Her driver seemed to be ready all the while when we were inside. I came out and stared at the dust left behind by the SUV and thanked my lucky stars a zillion times. published in New Age Eid Special on 4th Aug 2013.
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