Point Blank

Getting up from the couch, I looked outside. It was dead dark. It was time, I realized.

I rubbed my hands together, for it was a cold night. I then picked up the .45 from the table and thrust it over onto my head, ready to shoot myself. I had nothing left to live for. Point blank.


Five hours ago :

The Evening Sun shined through the blue sky. It was a pleasant day, apparently. Not for me and Ravi. Well, if you call being kidnapped and handing over everything we ever earned pleasant, that's really your call.

Our blindfolds were removed and I saw that we were in the middle of an old construction site. Masked robbers around us, everywhere, with guns in their hands. We were at least clever enough to understand that they didn't get us here to recite a poem. Sweat dripped from my forehead as I looked at Ravi. He was just becoming conscious and tried to open his eyes. We heard laughter and abuses everywhere around us as we looked around in confusion. This was it, I realized. We were being played.

One of them removed their masks and began speaking, "You sons of whores .... Enough you have earned with your gun-running business. It's time to die." I looked up to see a man probably in his early thirties. With a bushy mustache and a bald head, he looked like a villain from the 70s. Wow, I did wish this was a movie set and I did wish we weren't brought to die like prisoners.

"Start talking, you fools. From the past 10 years, you have carefully injected all your guns and all your bombs into our land and made killing people very convenient. Why the sad-ass faces now ? Start talking," he said as he walked toward us. We struggled in our chairs to set free, but in vain. Nothing was breaking the ropes. Nothing. He slowly came and stood in our faces. With a baseball bat, he swung it across my face. It hit the spot. Fuck, that hurt. My jaw went numb as I spat blood out.

"Won't work if your mouth is closed, fat boy. Start blabbering. You either give us the money and your business or we beat the pulp out of you. Hey, lard ass, talk ! Or no more burgers and pizzas for you." He said and laughed, along with the others who gnawed and laughed with such loud voices, my ear began to pain. Was it them or was it the bat ? I will never know. Spit and blood flowed into my mouth and I kept throwing it out. With a weak voice, I began talking.

"W .... We ..... No moneeeeee..... No mon ....," Damn, that bat did it's job. I felt pain like I had never felt it before. The skull began to ache too while the neck strained to hold up. Hot lava burst inside as it became harder to breathe. Eyes started to close down while I tried to open them and still talk. At least my sense organs were working, I realized, for I heard Ravi whisper.

"6788. Beat it to the end. They will kill me. I will take the blame. Just walk away. Just. Walk."

"What ? I didn't get that, Ravi. Another fucked-up joke of yours ?" I whispered slightly as the bald guy told another joke and laughter continued.

"Shut up and listen, Shiv. 6788. Remember that. And remember to beat it to the end. The end."

I was pretty sure he had gone delirious. 6788 ? Really ? That meant nothing. I and Ravi had been together for 10 years. We were gun merchants. Yes, gun merchants. We always shared our love for guns and weapons and women equally. To heck with engineering, we thought. Let's do something with life. We traveled, we met people, we bought guns, we sold them .... Well, that was 10 years ago. Now, we were here, tied to chairs in some godforsaken place in our city Mumbai. The city we had decided to conquer had conquered us at last. Irony, I thought, as I took a slap from another masked robber.

"This balloon won't crack. He is acting too smart for his own good. Let me cut him into pieces ....", he shouted and pulled a clean, silver knife out of his back. "Abbe o ! Don't do it. We still need the money and we don't know if he has the goods or not. We can do it later, if necessary," said the bald guy as he pulled the masked man and the knife away from me.

"But, Akbar Sahab ...." Ah, that was his name. Very funny, for a guy who shares a name with a peaceful Emperor. I decided we had come too far to talk ourselves out of this. Still, a try never hurts anyone, I knew. So, I wiped my mouth on my shoulder and stretched my eyes. Felt good. The BURGERS and the PIZZAS did something good. At least they kept me alive.

"We are not telling you assholes anything." I barked, unmindful of the consequences. Another sweep, through the left part of the jaw.

"Grrrrrrrrraaww!", I shouted, as it all came back. The pain came screaming back.

"Let Shiv go and you will get what you want, Akbar. This is between us, not him." Us ? I wondered. He never told me anything about the bald guy or the knives flying around .... Or the wonderful pain x 2 I was having right now. Amazing.


"No ! You don't start acting now, Ravi. 10 years ago, you escaped. Not again. Not today. You will give me everything and you will give it NOW, if you want to live while you still can. You and your damn guns. And your damn lazy friend. Nothing. Nothing more ! I will take it all, Ravi. I hope you are honest about the information. No stupid games, you ass. I shall have it all !", Akbar declared, and smiled while landing a punch to drive the lights out of Ravi's neck as it went up and fell again.

"Ravi ! What the hell is this ? We are partners and .... Who is this gu-?", I looked at him and slightly whispered.

"Shut up, Shiv. This is none of your business. You just sit there and think about the food being served to you tonight. If you live, that is. Kya bolte ho, yaar? Haan ya nahi? (What do you say, friends? Yes or no?)", he laughed again, this time with a snort. Laughter followed. Ah, this is how it ends, I thought.

"Let Shiv go. I will tell you everything. I promise." Ravi said, much to my surprise.

"No way. No way in Hell, Ravi. Don't start messing with me again !" Akbar said and loaded the shotgun in his hand. "Tell me everything now or I will shoot you dead ! Do it!"

"Shoot me, you get nothing. Let Shiv go, I will tell you. Everything. Here is the account number ..... 6788."

"R A V I ! What happened to our plan ? What happened to me .... -", he cut me again. "Akbar, call the bank to confirm, they will tell you."

I felt worthless now. Money had tricked me all my life, it was leaving me again. Selling guns was bad, but we were the best. For 10 years, we were unbeatable. All that we had earned today was going to some guy who met Ravi a long time ago. He was giving up the money for this ? After all we had gone through ? I decided to give up thinking. I felt a shiver again. The pain was growing more and more horrible. Tears began falling from my eyes as my jaw went sore. We were dying. After 10 years, we were dying. This was ridiculous. After what felt like forever, I heard Akbar saying.

"Yes. They confirmed it, Ravi. Now spit out the password, you clever oaf. You know we can't crack it without the password."

"Let Shiv go. You will get what you want." Ravi said, coldly, while hanging out from the chair.

"No ! That's not going to -", Akbar started, when one of his men swooped in. "Boss. It's a win-win. We will let him go and find him later if we don't get the money. We still don't get the password, we will kill Ravi."

"Good idea. Men, let the fatso go.", he said, as two other men came running. One pushed me back to the chair while one removed the ropes from my hands and legs. I suddenly felt a rush of veins into my fingers as I tried to stand up. I fell down first. Dusting myself, I stood up to see it had begun to rain.

Water struck everyone's faces as I looked at Ravi. He was still there taunting Akbar. "What now, Ravi ? I can't leave you here." I said, removing the handkerchief from my coat pocket to clean my face.

"Shut up. Leave. We will talk later." Ravi said in a hurry.

"Okay, we let the Panda alone. Now give us the password." Akbar said, as his men came closer at his signal.

"Shiv. Run.", he stared into my eyes and said. "Password ? Your balls !", Ravi growled into the rain. It was his turn to laugh.

I began to run. I turned back and took to the road. I didn't look back. I didn't wait to hear anything. I didn't know why I was running also; I had lost everything I ever had. Through the muddy sand and the wet bricks and the empty trucks, I ran. The site was abandoned, which made it easier for me to get out. I kept running and running until I slipped and fell. It was then that I heard a shot. I should know, I have lived with them. It was a shotgun. Akbar's shotgun.

Bruised, bleeding, weak in the knees, I hopped. The fall had sprained the knee. I couldn't stop. Not now. Not after all this. I finally reached the road and saw people. I fell on the ground. I remembered someone going into my purse and shouting my address. The world was still kind to a gun merchant.

Present :


They were just minor wounds, the doctor told me. Now, I sat at home and looked around. There was nothing I had left. They had broken into the house and searched everything. Taken all that we had. What would I do now ? There was nothing left for me here. I decided I would go back home and do something with my new life. Without Ravi. I then, remembered. Ravi. He had given up trying to save me.

I sat wondering what was it that I could do now when I received a message. It was an unknown number. It was my death's number.

"We killed Ravi. We know where you are. We are coming for you. Akbar" the message read. I realized I was falling. Into an abyss. I was going to die. I was going to burn in Hell.

Getting up from the couch, I looked outside. It was dead dark. It was time, I realized.

I rubbed my hands together, for it was a cold night. I then picked up the .45 from the table and thrust it over onto my head, ready to shoot myself. I had nothing left to live for. Point blank.

It was then that I remembered. 6788. Ah, they didn't get the money, otherwise I wouldn't be hunted. BEAT IT TO THE END ? Why did Ravi keep repeating that ? Why did he tell it to me before he told it to them ? Ravi loved puzzles and codes. I remembered all the simple tricks he had always told me. There was only one with numbers. I thought it was useless, until IT came back to save my life.

6+7+8+8=29. 2+9= 11. 1+1=2.

An ancient numbered cipher, this method was used by Greeks to convey a single digit security code. One digit in four.


An hour later, I was at the bank, dressed in my favorite color. Black. I looked at the beautiful receptionist who walked back to me carrying a closed envelope. She wore a short top and a blood-red skirt. Blood kept meeting me today. Again and again.

"What happened to your jaw, sir?", she asked sweetly as she examined the envelope. She sat in her desk as I stood outside with both my hands in my pocket.

"Oh. I fell off the stairs." Yes, and they were Akbar and his baseball bat.

"Sir, what is the password ?", she questioned as she placed the envelope in my hand.

"2. The number two."

"Correct. Let me get the account details," she said and went back inside. I ripped open the grey envelope on which my name was written. SHIV. There was a letter inside.

"Shiv, if you have received this, it means I am dead. I knew you would crack the code. I sent my half to my family. Your half will be yours. Spend it wisely.

Ravi."

I smiled and put the envelope in my breast pocket as the receptionist came back. "The total amount in the account is Rs. 10 crores. How much do you want to withdraw ?"

I don't know if I am going to live after this. Akbar might find me. Or shall anyone. I decided guns where good, only as long as Ravi was by my side.

"All of it."

"Okay sir."

"Do you have the airport's number, Miss ? Can you get me a flight tonight to Germany?", I said, adjusting my hair.

"Sure sir." She smiled.