tales of Suchita

It was after school (because what the students of class VII-B were about to do would never be possible with the teachers and the prefects and Ameen miss and all those people who insist on disciplining thirteen year olds).

Five boys and six girls stood outside the gate whispering to one another. It had seemed like a grand idea to goad each other into entering the derelict house that was adjacent to their school compound and a source of many pranks, stories and dares. But standing in front of it, with a huge sign that screamed private property, and the very real possibility of being chosen to enter it looming over their heads menacingly, everyone was praying hard that they wouldn’t be chosen.

“How do we choose who gets to go in?” asked one of the boys.

“We could toss a coin,” said Radha confidently. He wasn’t afraid…not really. Sure he hadn’t approved of this hare-brained idea of entering a house that could potentially fall on their heads but when he had heard that the “Double Ds” had bowed out of the challenge, he had jumped at the opportunity to prove his mettle.

The assembled boys and girls looked at each other, then at Radha’s set face and had a collective ‘we are in deep shit’ moment of realization. Without having to discuss it, the boy who had asked the question said, “We don’t need a coin toss. You can go. No one will mind.”

Radha snorted and turned to look at the girls, challenging them to back down. One of them rose to the occasion. There was no way she could allow fucking Radha (pardon the French) to one up her. “I’ll go,” she said. As expected, no one tried to stop her either.

When everyone left, after giving their sage warnings, ‘all the bests’ and ‘you are stupid,’ Priyanka said, “We can leave too you know. No one will know if we went inside or not. We can always make up some story. You and I are good at that.”

Radha tilted his head to one side, squinting because of the sun. “Tell me why you are stealing pencils and maybe I’ll think about it.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“It’s either that or we go in; your choice.”

Priyanka looked at the boy in front of her like he was no bigger than a fly. “What will you do if I just walk away?”

Radha shrugged. He opened his bag and took a swig from his water bottle. He removed a torch, closed his bag and pushed at the gate. The rusted hinges made a satisfying creak. Pushing with all his strength though, he realized the gates wouldn’t budge. He needed her help. “Are you coming or what?”

Priyanka sighed and helped Radha push. Even with their combined force, they were sweating by the time the gate budged far enough for the two of them to squeeze past, their clothes staining with the rusty red and black of gate gunk.

As soon as they entered the grounds, it felt like they had been transported to another world. Both of them instinctively turned around to ensure that the road and the roadside thellas were where they had left them. Feeling reassured seeing and hearing the traffic, they turned back.

The grounds that once must have been sprawling with velvety soft grass were now full of gravel and dust. There was no discernible walkway leading to the house so the two children walked straight, unconsciously moving closer to each other.

Though usually of the curious kind (being a detective and all) Radha could have spent hours in the grounds trying to tease out its secrets but he didn’t. Today, it was the house that beckoned him. Another one of those instincts really that he had learnt to listen to a long time ago.

When they were just a step away from the short flight of stairs leading to the house proper, Radha stopped.

“There is nothing to detect here,” said Priyanka. She would have said more but she realized she was whispering and she didn’t like the idea of showing fear.

“I’m trying to listen,” he whispered as he closed his eyes and cocked his head to one side. The house his grandparents used to live in before they had moved in with him had been a similarly old house. And as old houses go, they had personalities of their own. Radha was simply trying to hear what this house was telling him.

“You are a psycho, you know that right?”

“And you are a thief.”

“You have no proof,” she said triumphantly. “Don’t the likes of you need evidence?”

“You don’t have proof either,” muttered Radha, miffed that his thief accusations had brought no confessions from his culprit. Whenever Mr. Holmes said those words, the culprit would either run or breakdown and confess to all their sins. Why wasn’t Priyanka doing the same?

“Anyways let’s go inside. I can’t hear anything because you won’t shut up.”

He climbed the stairs and was pleased when she followed him. He may not be scared but he wasn’t stupid. Though he didn’t believe the house was haunted, there was safety in crowd. Besides, didn’t Mr. Holmes always take his trusted sidekick wherever he went?

He also now had time to work on her guilt and get a confession. All in all it was a wonderful situation to be trapped in.

…to be continued.

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This is the seventh post in the series. To know more about Radha, click here.