THE STORY OF JOSHUA PART-2

                                          THE STORY OF JOSHUA 

                                                       PART-2

“You have deliberately pushed me in the cockpit of infection whirlpool. You want me to die of tuberculosis but you know what I have full scores in my vaccination chart.” Rafter was irritated following him to places with health hazard whereas Joshua didn’t cringe.

Just shutting like a shuttle with Joshua between his monotonous busy life style, took away every spice from Rafter’s life. He hadn’t met his girlfriend, hadn’t gossiped with Yadav and most importantly pumped in the gym. It’s been just two days and Rafter felt like spending an entire lifetime in Jail. Finally on third day, he asked Joshua to assign him some meager duty to pass his day, he couldn’t spend his entire time just staring at him, it felt so gay-ish. And since then, for the next multiple days to come Rafter multitasked under Joshua, sometimes being his compounder dispensing medicine for him, sometimes his receptionist filling in appointment calls and sometimes his assistant jotting down notes for him. But what surprised Joshua was that the hands that only knew, how to press trigger of gun were so efficient in drawing blood samples from the patient by using syringes. He was proficient and a quick learner too. Joshua could foresee a decent future for Rafter from the skills that he just witnessed in him. He even confronted Raftar with a brand new career plan but Raftar laughed it over and was happy with his adventurous goon life.

As the time passed, things started to change between Raftar and Joshua. Raftar too could find uncalled, un-named adoration for him like his master, Bhaiji. And sometimes the idea of working as Doctor’s assistant started to cross his mind but it was still long shot away from virtual reality. The election month was quiet near and so was the date of execution of nefarious plan of Bhaiji that could create ransack in otherwise calm and peaceful environment of the village. But instead of experiencing an anticipatory anxiety, Joshua was at his tranquil best. Since he was out of action he was out of everybody’s memory.

It was the last day of Joshua’s obligation towards Bhaiji. But something unusual happened. Joshua excused himself from the church visit and graveyard attendance, the routine which he had never ever skipped for past twenty years. He reached that Haveli directly with Raftar. Raftar noticed this peculiarity too but he chose to ignore it, thinking it to be a personal choice. There at Haveli, Bhaiji too didn’t look his usual self. He was pretty much under the weather, coughing his lungs out with high grade fever.

Once Joshua was through with his assigned duty and was packing his bags, as a regular formality Bhaiji asked him to join him for the tea. In the regular days, Joshua always declined the offer but today he went affirmative to Bhaiji’s request. For Bhaiji it was a breeze of fresh air, a keyhole opportunity to revive his relationship with his trusted doctor, but for Raftar these subtle omens were getting high on his nerves. For a very short period of time that he had spent with Joshua he was sure enough to bet his entire fortune on the fact that this man would prefer dying rather than compromising his principles. He was certainly upto something. Raftar checked the bullets in his revolver.

“I think Josh, you need to add more shots to my treatment, I haven’t yet recovered from neuralgic pains in my legs. Moreover I got webbed in this season change allergies.” Bhaiji said sipping from his cup.

“Hmm!” was Joshua’s response.

“Come on Josh, let it go. Why are you mixing your work and pleasure? You know I like you and I want you to reciprocate these feelings of friendship of mine. I can’t change that’s the way I am. You need to be more accepting of me and be a little less judgmental.”

“I have been trying to follow that formula with you for a decade now, Bhaiji…”

‘Bhaiji’ was the third bouncer being bowled by Joshua in the same over. The word with has never ever been the part of his vocabulary was slipping out of his tongue smoothly and deliberately. Raftar was now on high alert and there Joshua was using more tongue power than usual, “I swear, I sincerely tried but failed. But as you said men like you can never change therefore monsters like you should be annihilated.”

“Is this a joke, Josh?” Bhaiji’s was taken aback and his muscles got tensed.

“No” came the blunt reply from Joshua. Every living soul in that room had an undivided attention on Joshua’s face, waiting for his revelation. He continued, “You are going to die Bhaiji. I would advice, you start improvising your karmas because very soon you are going to meet your creator.”

“Have you brought AK 47 with you?” Bhaiji humored him.

“Ah! I am a doctor, I don’t need AK47. All I need is a syringe, a poison and your blood vessels. I had access to all. For past couple of days I have been injecting you with viruses of HIV, Hepatitis B and hepatitis C, the most deadly weapon which would slowly and gradually rot your systems within your breathing living body.” Raftar was the only one to join the dotted points here, that’s the reason he accepted spending extra hours in the pathology laboratory, to procure him with these deadly viruses that he used as his weapons against Bhaiji.

There was ten seconds pin drop silence in the room which was broken by the boisterous laughter of Bhaiji, “Ha..Ha. You think I will believe these words in wind. You think generating fear in my heart would make me cave and I will go on my knees pleading you for an antidote. I am no fool, I know you have no balls, man.”

“What do you know about strength Bhaiji….you killed my wife and my toddler son…” for first time in long time, Joshua had emotions painting his phizog. “…twenty years back, when you were just a mere lad, a drop out of school, you headed a riot on orders of your late father. You boasted their brutal murder as your first kill. I witnessed it. You were about to slaughter me too but the distant police siren saved my life. I wish you would have killed me that day; my life has been a living hell since then. Every day I fought the feeling of vengeance against desperately praying to Jesus to give me that endurance. For past twenty five years I have been apologizing to the graves of my son and wife, finding logical reasoning in those books in your library to give you second chance, to forgive you. I thought you were just a boy gone astray from his path. I hoped against hope that one day you will turn up just fine human being but I was wrong. Men like you are like the tail of dog, which even after staying in the cast for years would never change. It’s the time you smell your own death, taste your own medicine, Bhaiji.”

It was lightening outside, it seemed like the precursor to a dangerous thunderstorm. Inside the Haveli, the guns were out and unanimously pointing at one target. After a little sentimental leak, Joshua was back to his mental serenity and grit. He sat there valiantly, patiently waiting for his fate. He knew his time was over and soon enough he would join his wife and kid in the gardens of God. As a surprise, between all that hostility, he was shielded by none other than Raftar.

“Bhaiji don’t kill him…” he pleaded.

“Are you out of your mind, Raftar,” Yadav, one of the Bhaiji’s trusted men and Raftar’s mentor, screamed at his childish behavior.

“Bhaiji think for one second, he knows the cure of your disease. If he dies, you will die too.”

“Irrespective of the fact that whether I live or die, Mr Goswami you are destined to doom. The seventy two hours window period to reverse your pathology have long past. No men in this planet could save you now.” Joshua cleared the air.

“Raftar, are you trying to save this man, who tried to kill your master. Boy, pick a side, because it won’t matter for us to kill you two,” Yadav shrieked the last warning.

Raftar slowly paced towards Bhaiji, “Please listen to me Bhaiji, it’s the election time and we can’t afford a controversy over a dead doctor…” But as soon as he was in Bhaiji breathing Zone, he immediately took Bhaiji at his point blank range and roared, “Let the doctor go…”

“Raftar,” screamed Yadav

“Don’t even think of that Yadav, if you moved a muscle, your master will die sooner than expected.” Raftar then turned towards Joshua and said, “Now do you require a formal invitation to move from that chair.”

Couple of minutes later the duo, were talking to wind on Raftar’s bullet bike. Though they have bolted the main gate of Haveli from outside on their way out but they knew that it was not sufficient to dam those furious Bhaiji men.

“There is no use running?” Joshua commented after a while. Raftar ignored to answer.

Joshua continued, “… Because of me, your life is in danger too. Why are you doing this?” Raftar was still quiet.

“At least you could show little curtsey to answer my questions…”

“I have no answers to it. I don’t know, why?All I know is that I have to take you somewhere safe.”

“Raftar, how old are you?”

“Why? Twenty five.”

“My son would have been a year or two older than you, if he would have been alive….Anyways you still have good left inside you. I have seen you working so earnestly at my clinic and you are good with patients too.”

“Now, you want me to be a doctor.”Raftar humored him.

“I wish but you can still end up good in pharmaceutical line. I had talk to my friend about you and he was ready to help.”

“Okay! After all this gets over, I will do what you say but for now stop worrying about my future.”

“Okay, here, just keep his card in case you need it…” Joshua inserted the business card of his friend in Raftar’s shirt pocket. He continued, “By the way where are you taking me?”

“The safest place of the world, where Bhaiji can’t touch you, the jail. We are going to get a press conference and there you are going to confess everything you did to Bhaiji. Once you become the breaking news you would be out of his reach.You will live, Joshua, you will live.”

“Take me to the church, first.”

“What! Are you crazy?”

“Please, I need to pray and confess. It will just take two seconds.” Joshua pleaded.

Raftar had to cave in and in no time they were standing outside the church. Joshua went inside and Raftar stood there guarding the entrance. It had been 15minutes and Joshua was still not out. Raftar was getting restless at his post, he went in to check. But the church was empty; Joshua was nowhere to be found. At that moment Raftar knew, he had been tricked. Joshua had left from the back door of the church. He knew that wherever in the world he would go, Bhaiji will find him and kill him and if Raftar came along, he would experience the same fate, therefore to save his life he sacrificed his own, deliberately walking in the death trap.

Raftar was almost in tears, fearing the worst. He didn’t want to be orphaned again. Like a mad man he started to run in a random direction. He was just few steps ahead that he heard three gun shots. He froze to the ground. His teacher, guide, mentor, fatherly figure was no more. He has shown him the place to run and selflessly took all the bullets.

“Why are you stopping daddy, then what happened?” a curious child asked.

“It’s been seven years to that incident. No one was able to find Joshua’s remains; Bhaji had hid it from the world to cover up his acts. Raftar couldn’t let Joshua’s sacrifices go in waste, though he went underground but left evidentiary trails for the media and police to Bhaiji sin world. In no time Bhaiji was arrested but because of Joshua’s shot, he had more hospital stay than being behind the bars. Four years back he died in the hospital bed. His loyal army was too fearful to claim his dead remains. Joshua single handedly averted a disaster and saved million lives. He is a forgotten saint, son.”

“What happened to Raftar daddy?”

“No one knows about him. He was never seen thereafter.” The man took a deep breath as he reached the climax to the bed time story to his son.With loving affection he asked his son, “so tell me boy, what’s the moral of the story?”

“We should be a hero and kill bad people like Bhaiji....”

His father laughed, “Oh! Sammy boy, it teaches patience, forgiveness and righteousness. With this note now you go to sleep, before your mother comes marching here and reprimanding both of us.”

 “Did you notice one thing daddy?”

“What boy?” said the dotting father.

“Your name too is Joshua like the protagonist of our story.”

The father just smiled and tugged his boy in the bed, kissed him good night. He was about to switch off the light that his eyes crossed his reflection in the mirror. Though he had taken up his name, his principles, his values and his chosen career for himself and his ideal family life which he never had an opportunity to live but still the face in the mirror reveals the past life of Raftar.

He had no pictures of the man that changed his life forever and better but not a day passes by when he forgets to remember his hero.