Smart Ass

Rahul looked down from the concrete path to the galleries around the Basketball Court. 

"A Smart Ass," he blurted out to himself. 

The guy below was another invigilator called Joseph.Tall, athlete-like, his glasses juxtaposed perfectly against his solid build, adding an aura of reliability to his charming persona. No wonder, not only the girls appearing at the Board Examinations but also the female invigilators, found him irresistible. 

At the time of Rahul venting out his frustration from up the concrete spiralling path around the Basketball court leading to the girls hostel of THS, Joseph was seen sitting on the rounded step being surrounded by a handful of examinees and female invigilators after the day's paper. They had Physics that day and Joseph, though from another school, was a Physics Teacher. 

What started off as something in the nature of discussing the paper, soon turned out to be something else when one of the invigilators, an attractive, married lady in her mid-thirties had asked him if he knew anything about astrology. 

"How do you know, Madam?" Joseph countered her with a sly smile hovering around his mouth. 

And that was that! Next moment, the invigilators were pushing each other in order to have their palms being examined by this 'great palmist'. 

"You've an impending danger, Madam, " Rahul could hear Joseph tell that attractive lady, her hand tightly held in his. As he saw the shadow of sadness cloud her face, he hastened to add, "It's a temporary worry and will pass over gradually."

"Swine! He's playing it safe!" I've seen many such astrologers in my life." Rahul said. What was disturbing Rahul even more was how the ladies down there were leaning over his shoulders stretching out their hands, giving him "the feel" in the process. 

"God! Am I that bad? Why do none of the ladies ever talk to me?" Rahul wondered as he proceeded up to the Girls' Hostel where the two of them were putting up in connection with the invigilation duties. 

**************************************

"Hi, Sir," Joseph greeted Rahul as he entered their room in the evening. "Give me a few minutes. I'll have a bath first before….."

"Take your own time, Sir. The night is still young. Besides, I've no duties in the first half tomorrow." Rahul cut him short without looking up from the book in hand.

Half an hour later, as Joseph was spreading out the chess board on the table near his bed, he called out to Rahul to take his seat on the opposite chair. 

Rahul left the book face down on his bed, got up and took his seat. He had been very upset since he found out on his arrival at THS that Joseph also knew how to play chess. Rahul had always prided on his chess prowess. Was it not last year that he had won the Chess Tournament? 

But he soon found out that Joseph was no novice when it came to chess. Rahul couldn't beat him even once during their stay at THS.

Rahul was secretly hurting. God, he thought to himself, was not fair. While he toiled and rode his ill luck, the handsome young man sitting opposite, seemed to be Dame Luck's favorite child. He had the looks, luck and his share of love as well. 

The first game, in which Joseph literally toyed with him, was over in ten minutes. As they were rearranging the board for the second game, Rahul heard himself asking Joseph :

"How's your day been so far, dear Sir? "

"Boring. I'm looking forward to getting back home as soon as the exams get over." Joseph answered. 

"You are, aren't you?" Rahul queried knowing fully well how the young man was enjoying his stay at Timsina. "By the way, I saw you reading out the palms of a couple of ladies on my way back. Do you know Astrology?" 

"Come on, Sir. You know these girls. Here's a CHECK for your King." Joseph mumbled while placing his Queen diagonally three rows away from Rahul's King. 

Rahul looked down at the Board. It was going to be difficult to save his King again. 

"So, you don't know the ABC of Astrology, right?"

Joseph chuckled while bringing his Rook straight down the line across Rahul's King. 

"Check and Mate, Sir." He uttered as Rahul kept shifting his glance from his King to Joseph's Queen and Rook.

In a rage internally, Rahul picked up the black pieces next time and got ready for a third game. It was during the third game that he couldn't help muttering out something that surprised even himself. 

"I don't know Astrology as well, Sir, but I can read people's foreheads….. "

Joseph, who was looking at his watch, yawned before mumbling : "Can you, Sir? Can you tell me about my future?"

The deriding tone of his voice must have promoted Rahul to say what he did next. 

"I don't know much but I can tell you that you're running away from something you committed some years back."

Joseph, who was in the act of removing Rahul's Pawn and replacing it with his Knight, looked up. His face looked queer. Having noticed the queer expression, Rahul realised that somehow he had hit the jackpot, and hastened to add :

"I can also tell you, Sir, that there was a lady involved. You became a sacrificial goat that day. All your actions were guided by the thought of saving her at any cost… "

Now the queer look in Joseph's eyes was replaced by a look of absolute fear. Holding his Rook mid-air for castling, Joseph cried out :

"I'd struck him from behind the curtain as he'd started blackmailing her lately. Believe you me, Sir… Finding his inert body next, I fled at her insistence. I learnt about his... broken skull much later"

There was a pin drop silence in the room as Joseph broke into a lamentable wail. 

Having taken advantage of innocent girls, Joseph finally got caught by Rahul in a tit-for-tat.