Chapter 8.
Nalini was surprised to receive the call from Dickey. She agreed to meet him at the school, the following day. She informed Sathish about the call. Sathish was excited. He said , ‘That is good , Nalini. You stay put in your seat at the school. I will make a pitch to the chairman of school, Col.Prabhu at the club. If he agrees to take us as partners in the school holding, we will make some progress. .so go ahead with your date with that Gurkha. They said he was tough. A small issue of a cheap carpet is going to bring him down with a thud. ”he laughed like a hindi film villain.
Next day, Nalini made her way to school straight from the beauty parlour looking fresh and smelling divine. Dressed in a saree and typical indian looks, she looked very charming.
Dickey decided that he would not let Nalini know that he knew about her relationship with Prakash Agarwal and that he would question her as though he was still worried about returning Shanta’s carpet.
Nalini denied point blank that she knew any thing about Shanta’s carpet. She maintained that Stella was not telling the truth. She confessed to the fact that she knew Sathish Agarwal. As a responsible Principal of a well reputed School, it was obligatory on her part to maintain conducive relationship with influential people like Sathish Agarwal. She maintained such relationship with many other business tycoons and such relationships did help the school to gain more recognition, more honour. So it is not right to view her relationship with Sathish with any hint of suspicion.
Dickey heard all this with a straight face.
He said, “Nalini I have heard all that you said about Sathish. I am not interested in sathish. I am interested in knowing about Shanta’s carpet. I have spoken to Aarti and she swears that the carpet was given to you in person, you admired it and said it would make a great exhibit. Are you telling me that the child is also lying. She is sitting in the next room and I will call her in to confront you. ’ Dickey paused a little and Raised his voice ,”Would you like to be called a liar by a fifteen year old?
Nalini was silent.
You received the carpet from Aaarti, did you or not?
She remained silent.
“Nalini, I want you to answer my question.”. Dickey’s tone had changed totally. He was not trying to be nice any more. He walked around the desk and stood very close to her. Nalini distinctly got the impression that he was going to slap her.
Softly she said, ’Yes. Aarti had given her exhibit to me .‘
“Good, you are now talking. Tell me where is it now? “
‘I gave it Sathish Agarwal’
“Why?”
‘In fact , he bought it. He visited my office just after Aarti left . The item was still on my desk .He saw it and was captivated by its beauty and highly skilled craftsmanship. He wanted to have it at any cost. He is a collector of such items. The item was given for exhibition and auction. He wanted to buy it.so I gave it to him.’
“Did he pay for it?”
‘Not yet. He can be trusted to pay.’
“Why did you lie about it in the first place?”
‘Why are you so keen on getting that damned thing back for that old hag?’
“She is not any old hag. She is a friend. She and her late Husband were the original promoters of this school. We owe it to her to get back what belongs to her and what was given away by you with out her knowledge or permission..
Let it be so. You have given it to Sathish. He has not paid for it so for. So please get it back from him .simple , isn’t it?”
“No, not so simple. I can not ask for it”
‘why not?’
“I am afraid. I am afraid for the school. I know he is a dangerous man. I am afraid of what all he can do.’
‘Afraid? What can he possibly do?’
“A lot .”
Like?
“We dare not antagonise him. He can protect us and our school. These days police can not give adequate protection. We need influential people for our own security”
’Bull shit. Tell me what are you afraid of ?’
“Many things.”
Nalini, tell me what all he can do.
“Some body may ram our school bus carrying children.”
And?
“Some one may mix laxative in the drinking water tank to make our students fall ill.”
What else?
“He may cause an explosion in our lab, he may kidnap some of our teachers”.
‘Nalini , are you trying to scare me?
Do you know anything about me?
Do you know that I put Prakash Agarwal away for good?’
“Exactly. That is the reason for my fear. If we do not humour him , he will harm us in more than one way. Giving away a cheap carpet to buy peace is not a sin”.
“It is a sin. It is a sin to be afraid. It is a sin to lie to an elderly soul who did no harm to you.”
“Prakash died in the jail. Somebody put him there. There is a debt to be squared. That is what Sathish is telling”.
“Okay Nalini. I do not wish to continue this talk any more. I give you twenty four hours to get that carpet back here. You seem to know sathish rather well .So you should not find it difficult to contact him and get Shanta’s item, from him. If you fail to do that, I will personally go after Sathish. You can tell him that. Now you can go.
Nalini sat silently for some time. Then she got up and walked away.