After the sunset

This is a story of my friend “Curtis”, happened to him in 1975.

.Curtis parents were living in Singapore.His father had a big business of cloth there and Curtis was living in Pakistan,in a very palatial house.His friends circle was very vast and wide,as all the friends call him a “Raja”(prince) in their native language. In those days he was a sophomore and living a very prosperous life .Here a proverb sits perfect for Curtis that”Born with a silver spoon in ones mouth”.

In spite of all the great happiness and great opulence,Curtis was very decent,generous,obedient ,well dressed personale.No body never saw Curtis arguing or imposing his decisions on any body.

He never tried to flirt any girl because He was in love with a beautiful young rich girl” Rimsha". Rimsha's father,Mr Jain , was also a great business man,he was interested to give Rimsha's hand to Curtis but Rimsha's mother Alina was against Curtis and she wanted to give Rimsha's hand to her nephew Robin.So it was a sort of a tussle between Mr and Mrs Jain going on every day.

Robin was a great loafer.He had a bad reputation in the society .Robin used to fight and quarrel with any body,and so many times he was dragged to the police station.He was actually a rude person by nature.He didn’t love Rimsha,He only wanted to fetch the wealth of Rimsha's father,actually Robin was also a bank defaultar and creditors were chasing him.

Robin knew that Curtis’s chances

 of getting married with Rimsha was bright because Rimsha was in love with Curtis and unlike Robin,Curtis reputation was very good among the people.

People considered Curtis as a hero and Robin as a villain.

• Robin was always keen to follow Curtis every where..Wherever and whenever Curtis goes he followed him. Robin used to follow Curtis in every wedding,cinema house,Restaurants etc, he personally followed Curtis Just to catch up some of his bedlam and disgrace him to Rimsha but Curtis was also well alert. He always remember his father’s saying that “don’t give chance to anybody to harm you”.

Many times he gave threats to Curtis to get aside from Rimshas life. Inspite of all these threats Curtis didn’t budge an inch from Rimshas love and also became stubborn to face his tactics and to teach him a lesson,receprocally.

Robin was a great lewd and loafer, as I mentioned earlier,he used to go to meet a notch girl,Linda, and he secretively married her and they had a baby boy.

Robin was not owning that baby boy and clearly and bluntly told Linda that if she tried to come again and met him,he would kill the baby boy.

Linda became scared and she couldn’t afford to fulfill the requirements of the baby boy.She became very disappointed and desperately thinking that how Will she feed the baby boy!

One cold night , friends came to Curtis house and asked him to have a barbecue at his house.Curtis had a beautiful place for barbecue at his house.So they all came , to ful fill the bespoke,when he checked the freezer, it was short of chicken,fish and meat.The servant was away on a leave.So, Curtis decided to go to the store and buy the stock.He went quickly to the store and bought all the stuff for the barbecue.

When he was igniting the car,he saw a white cotton wrapper on the front seat of his car.So he became scared,that it must be a bomb! 

After a while he overcome his nervousness and he unpacked the cotton wrapper.

.He became stunned when he saw a newly born baby boy asleep in the cotton wrapper,.Once he decided to leave that wrapper out side of the store flower beds.If he took the baby along with him all would suspect him and a new gossip for the town would be opened and everyone will put a blame on him,especially Robin would aid spices to this event and parents would also be suffered if they came to know about all this.

For a while he was on a great cross road.

He just picked the baby to keep him in the flower beds but when he saw the cute face of the baby, he dropped his idea.He picked up the baby and kissed him dearly and wept.

Linda was watching the whole scene from the backseat of the car .she was hiding there.She became confident that baby is in the safe hands now but Curtis was deeply thinking that sometimes a man becomes so helpless that he throws his filza on others clemancy. He also started gratitude that we are not in such a condition.we are fortunate but we don’t know how a helpless person live a life.we just see about five percent of the population having bunglows, luxury cars and having more than their need.we would spend lavishly but would not lend a penny to a needy person.This is not the real education ,The real education is to help others,this we don’t have and if have we are not practicing it..  A quotation of Mother Teresa splashed in his mind .”If you can’t feed a hundred people, just feed one”. He also thought that if any animal could harm or kill the baby it would be a great shame for the humanity. 

 It was becoming very cold and he was afraid that the baby boy should not been caught cold or got killed,it’s against humanity but whose baby is this and why they left it in my car! 

He became very upset. He didn’t know what to do next. 

With out a second thought he had started his car .

He drove straight towards his home. Friends were waiting and when they saw a baby boy in a cotton wrapper they also became jittery.They sometimes looks towards him and sometimes to the baby.

He told them the whole situation.

All of a sudden,the baby started crying.All the friends suggested to feed the baby boy,but they didn’t have any arrangements for his feeding.So Curtis went to the super store to bought all the necessities for the baby boy and very strange that Robin was all watching this while Curtis was busy  buying the stuff for new born baby .Robin also heard Curtis saying “ please hurry up and get me some feeding stuff for the new born baby”.

 “Sir,than it’s congratulations, you are blessed with a baby”.The shopkeeper added a pleasentry remark while handing over a stuff to Curtis.

Robin an evil minded person ,had a startling news for Mr Jain and his family.He was fully assured that now the bad days of Curtis are numbered up.

Robin went straight to Rimsha's home and told Mr Jain about Curtis’s buying a stuff for a new born baby boy.

At first Mr Jain disagreed with Robin .He didn’t agree with his words, because he knew that Curtis is a straight forward gentle man and he would never decieve him and Robin is great laier.

Mr Jain got highly perturbed. Robin made him greatly disturbed and confused and on the other side Mrs Jain was blaming Mr Jain for making wrong  and stupid decision about giving the hand of Rimsha in a very notorious and unreliable person.

Rimsha knew that this all misconception is created by Robin .

But Rimsha's mother insisted Mr Jain to go to Curtis house right now and should know the actual story.

Rimshah's father ,Mr Jain, went straight to Curtis home and asked him about the baby boy.He told him the exact happenings.

Mr Jain became impressed greatly and appreciated Curtis and at once said that “Mr Curtis,I’m deeply impressed by th gesture you have shown,you are a genuine person and having a great heart for the entire humanity. I’m agree to give the hand of Rimsha in your hand”.

It was a great moment for both Curtis and Rimsha.They both were delighted and cheered But the decision of Mr Jain poured a cold water on Robin and Rimsha's mother plan.

Robin and Rimsha's mother Alina,became very disappointed,by the decision of Mr Jain in the favor of Curtis. They thought that the work has been done but their plan got negativist turn.

Their whole plan had failed.

It is said that life is un predictable and no one knows what turn is going to be taken by the fate.

some thing happened bad and miserable to the Curtis and his family very next day .

Early in the morning,a very shocking and ominous phone call received from Singapore that the store of Curtis father turn sealed because some of his salesman cought while selling some I’ll legal lethal drugs in the store.

The news spread like a jungle fire in the whole city and Rimshah's father at once broken the relationship with Curtis and suddenly fixed a date of wedding of Robin with Rimsha,which was not far date,it was just after four days.

When Curtis came to know about the wedding of Rimsha with Robin, he phoned to Rimsha but she refused to talk with him and asked him not to call or dare to meet him in life, now his love is Robin.

Curtis became upset,because on the one side his father and his business was on the verge of the collapse and on the other side Rimsha's father had broken the relationship and also the reputation of his family had badly damaged.

 All his friends became disconnected and disappeared from the scene .Now he was all alone. There was always a great crowd of his friends at his home.Every body used to order separately to the cook to make a dish.His friends usually took his car, filled with fuel,on dates.There was always a grand party at his residence.All of his friends were his debtors.

Now ….where are the friends!

.Now he realized that no body is a buddy in misery.

He heard so many times from his friends that Curtis father is a drug dealer in Singapore and they are collecting I’ll gotten wealth.Sometimes his friends straightly refused to meet him. Some friends were saying that Curtis is a pseudo personality one cannot trust him.

curtis was passing through a very hard time.He remembered a verse of a great poet ” some times the fall of the rain of sorrow is good 

To know the friends and foes in the wood”.(jungle)

Curtis was very hurt, that when he was in bloom every body was his friend and Now they all deserted him.

It was a great test period for Curtis.

Thanks God,that after two days, he received a phone call from Singapore that every thing became ok and after Thorow investigation every thing became clear that his father and his business was innocent  only two of the salesman were involved in the deadly business of illegal drugs and the rest of the business was innocent and found not guilty.

It was a great news for him but on the other side he was gravely disappointed that Rimsha was going to be married a very next day.

Curtis was sitting very depressively and looking towards the baby and thinking that how I would manage him and what should I do next, as a male it was impossible to look after the baby and he also cannot trust on any maid servants.There were only one way and that was to hand over the baby to the nursing home.

Curtis was just thinking about this that in the meantime his servant told that a woman wanted to see him.

It was a late night, but he permitted him.

.In a short while a young woman was standing in front of him.

She was the mother of the baby and wife of Robert.She narrated the whole story to him.

He asked her “why she left the baby boy to me”.

She very angrily answered that “Robin had left me and my baby .our life was in danger and I became penniless,there was no other way,I heard of you that you are a kind and a genteel fellow,you will look after my son and he won’t die of starvation".

Hearing this Curtis became emotional and asked her to company him. 

He drove the car to wards Rimsha’s house.When they reached there ,it was a” Henna Night”.The whole building of the house was illuminated.So many cars were parking out side the big house .It was a ceremony of “Henna Night”.It is a ceremony that the bridegroom’s mother put henna a night before the wedding on bride's Palm.

There was a huge crowd of attendants in the ceremony.A great music was echoing,girls were dancing, waiters were serving drinks and the boys were showing fire works.Rimsha was garlanded,Robin was sitting on a heirloom ,fully decorated with festoons and giving a sweet smile. Rimsha and her mother was also sitting next to Robin .It was a great victory for Robin and Rimsha’s mother but Rimsha's father,Mr Jain was sitting very disappointed and looking gloomy.

They both along with the baby boy had reached in the midst of the function.

The music stopped,all were looking towards Curtis,Linda and a baby .

It was a pin drop silence.  

Linda ,after a little pause,looked towards Robin, Robin became nervous and stood up from his chair.

She went straight towards Robin,he was stunned when he saw Linda.She caught her from the lapels of the coat.”Did you recognize me and the baby,this baby is your’s.Folks… this is his baby and I’m his wife but he disowned us”.screamed Linda in front of the great crowd. “Now you for the humanity sake do justice for me and my baby son .Our life is drowning”.She became very emotional and had fallen down on the floor.

Robin stood up and said “she is a black mailer,she is a notch girl,this is her profession to black mail innocent people,I still disown you and this baby and Curtis wants to take a revenge from me,Guards, throw them out of the gate”Yelled Robin.His face became red and in a fit of rage he lift his hand. 

All of a sudden big sound of “Slash”echoed on the Robin's cheek.

It was Rimsha’s slap zoomed on Robin.

All the people were very profoundly looking to each other.

Alina, Rimsha’s mother was lying faint on the chair.

While rubbing his face,Robin admitted that Linda is his wife and he owns both of them.

In the meantime ,Rimsha's father took her hand and gave It in Curtis hand.

They both got married and still they are living a happy life .

      The End.