JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME

I am the son of a vegetable dealer in the market. At 16 I was tall and well-built. A moustache had sprouted over my face rendering me not unhandsome. I was in the final year in school. but very poor in maths. John was the maths teacher’s son who was well-known to me. I wasn’t an LGBTQ+ but he was. I told him “You must get the maths question paper with answers. Otherwise I won’t allow you to unzip my pants.” John was very much after me, got me what I wanted and he had what he wanted! I gave up studies after that.

At 18 my dad forced me to mind his store sprinkling water on greens, polishing large brinjals, packing onions in bags for those who had no time and so on. I did it for a while. That day Mary who had her shop in our row somehow stayed late after all others had closed. She was tall and hefty and was married but had no children. She had difficulty lifting weights and as usual called me to help her close down for the night. As I was doing so it started raining and we had to take shelter in the small space of the shop. She said “I’ve fish curry and rice and can offer you some.” I was fond of those items and ate what was given. The rain didn’t stop and we were seated close together. She didn’t object to my closeness and I soon had her in my arms. I proceeded instinctively on an unfamiliar activity and she not only cooperated but advised the right way. But she was a hard taskmaster and I was worn out by the time it was over! Two months later she confided to me that she was in the family way something she had been hoping would happen but had been denied. I was to become an illegal parent at 18!

I quit the vegetable shop without my dad’s approval and joined a workshop mostly doing welding work. I soon got bored doing it every day. The owner of the welding shop put me on to a biscuit manufacturer who was in need of another salesman. I would carry biscuits to different stores in the area allotted to me. I could sell to a few but most shops turned me down. The kindly owner said “You could go to a bigger place like Reed City and try to sell.”

I said “Reed is far away and I would need transport to move.”

“Hire vehicles. Don’t get disheartened if you can’t make a sale. Approach again and again. That is how I started.”

The owner offered to pay for my moving to Reed and fixed my allowances. I caught a train to Reed and found a place to stay in. I moved around to a few stores with no results. However I padded my claims to survive. That day I was standing outside Ritz theatre looking at the pictures of coming attractions. It was then I saw a man hurriedly reaching into a parked car and seizing a girl child within. I suspected it was a child grab event and asked the man why he was holding the screaming child. He said “Mind your business.”

I ordered “Put the child back in the car.”

The man carrying the child started running.. I went after him and caught hold of him. I said “You’ll go to jail for trying to kidnap a baby.”

I hit the fellow hard and he let go of the child. I held it in my arms and prevented its fall. A crowd had gathered and at my instance the child lifter was caught and held by bystanders. I said “Let us take him to the police.”

On the way I put the baby which was crying back in the car. By that time a cop appeared and took charge of the child lifter. I explained to him about what had happened.

The cop said “I’ll take him to the police station. Whose baby is it?”

I said I didn’t know but pointed to the car. Holding the criminal the cop noted details of the happening and the witnesses.

A woman now came and was about to open the car door when I told her about what had happened. The cop got her details.

She said to me “Many thanks.” She comforted the child and said to me “I’m Lavanya. It is my baby.  Tell me where you live I’ll drop you home.”

 I got into the car and on the way she asked about my job.

I said “I’m a biscuit salesman.”

She said “Come and see me tomorrow at the Ritz store.”

I made enquiries about Lavanya and was told she owned Ritz cinema, Ritz department store and also Ritz bar.

I met her the next day and she gave me orders for several biscuits of our manufacture. The contact which began that way led to my moving closer to her. In a few days I learnt that she had parted from her husband. She had two children and the elder was with her mother elsewhere. Only the second  aged 3 was with her.

Then came her 32nd birthday and I bought her a large cake. I now discovered she fancied liquor. I joined her for drinks. In a few weeks we became very close but she never allowed me to join her in bed. I no longer worried about the biscuit sales and was relieved of the duty. I saw she was a very good manager. I got to know about her finances and started siphoning off cash. I put the money in stocks and share s about which I knew nothing. I lost heavily. Coming to know about my squandering a part of her wealth she cut me off from handling her monies.

She however lent me some money. Living in an outhouse of Lavanya’s property I operated a loan business. Very soon I found that while borrowers easily took loans they had problems repaying. I had to use strong arm methods to get back my advances.

In one case a man who had borrowed money from me disappeared but I located him and demanded refund of the loan. The man refused and we had a fight. In the violence that followed I hit the man with a cudgel and he was killed. Police arrested me and charged me on several counts. My trial was spread over several months. The judge ruled: ‘I find the accused guilty on all counts with which he has been charged. He has killed a man in cold blood and I sentence him to life imprisonment.’

I am writing this in prison. I have gone on a life changing journey which has ended.

END