I Was Never Yours (Completed)

37) His Past (1)

Arjuns Point Of View

*****

London ( 15 years ago )

Cool breeze sprung in the atmosphere. People wore tight jackets, shoes and gloves to keep themselves warm. The night fell early that day. It was freezing cold.

I met Aadi on such a night, hiding himself behind a large waste bin when police vans passed by.

I resided with my parents in London. Dad was running a business by his own. Our native was Visakhapatnam. Dad and mom shifted to London when I was six. Dad's work wasn't going very well. His buissness was slowly collapsing. Hence he came home drunk everyday. This always irked my mom and it became their hobby to fight every freaking night. It got on my nerves everytime. One such day when their fight worsened, I left the house and started walking through the empty road, eyeing the surroundings

I don't know how long I walked, but I quickly halted when I saw few police vans whizzing by. They stopped when they saw me in the isolated road. A tall white man stepped outside in his uniform and scanned me from top to bottom

"This is not the boy"one of them shouted from behind

"What are you doing here boy?"the tall man asked.

"I-I just came down for a stroll"I said rubbing my hands together

"Are you an Indian?"he asked and I nodded.

"Did you see any other Indian boy who came running this way?"he asked and I shook my head

"Fine. Get back home before it's too late boy. It's not safe to stroll around this time. It's too cold"the man said and got inside the car. Then they drove off. I stood there watching the van until it disappeared from my sight. I turned to walk back to my home.

But suddenly I halted in my steps when I heard someone whimpering slowly. The voice was coming from a large waste bin, besides me. Curiously I took steps ahead and look sideways to see a boy behind it. He was shivering.

I slowly walked ahead and touched his shoulder. He stilled for a second. But suddenly he got up and pushed me by my stomach and started running away.

"Hey stop!"I shouted and started running behind him. He ran as fast as he could. I couldn't match his pace.

"I'm- I won't harm you. Stop there. I can help you"I said and he stopped. I stopped as well and panted heavily holding my hips.

He slowly turned towards me. There were bruises all over his face. His eyes were dark red and teary. His shirt was slightly torn. His fists were clenched and he was panting deeply. He looked like an Indian boy of my age

"Hi...my name is Arjun. Can I help you someway?"I asked. He kept mum, gulping down from his throat.

"Are you the one whom they were searching for? Those cops?"I asked. I saw his face turning rigid. He took few steps back

"No no. Don't run. I'm not here to expose you. I'll help you. I'll take you home"I said

"Go away. Don't come near me. Else they will kill you too. Please go"he said and turned to go away

"I'm also from India. Please trust me. I can help you. My parents can"I said. He stopped and looked at me. I walked to him and unzipped my jacket. I gave it to him.

"I'm already warm. I think you'll need this. Before anyone spots us, let's go"I said. He looked at me for few seconds and then nodded taking the jacket from me. He wrapped it over his shivering body.

On the way he didn't speak anything. I saw fear in his eyes. He kept looking everywhere around him. When we reached back home, I saw dad sleeping in the couch of the living room. Mom had went back to the room. I slowly sneaked in and he walked in behind me