A pool of congratulations were showered on Barrister Anirudh Roy Chowdhury, the lobby outside the courtroom filled with mesmerized eyes and praising tongues. Anirudh, however, was silent, his mind contemplating the next course of action that would lead the case towards the desired destination.
The evidence was of primary importance!

He smiled cordially as one from the crowd approached with a garland, it's color a little dull, probably from the long wait since morning... the long wait to witness that very moment, the first step of a collective triumph.
Anirudh smiled and hugged the man with the garland.
"I'm... I'm Ramakanto's elder brother, Babu..." His eyes had tears in them.

Anirudh smiled.
"I had promised justice. Remember?"

"Babu... That's what kept us going... My mother... She... She has sent her blessings to you... May you live a thousand years Barrister Babu... A thousand years."

The man fell down at Anirudh's feet, as he jumped back a few steps.

"Please get up Dada... Please..."
He tried to bend down as his leather suitcase bag slid from his shoulder.

"Sir, here... Let me hold it."
A junior lawyer from his team approached as Anirudh accepted his help happily.

"Thank you Prabir." He nodded at him and stooped down to pick up the crying man from the ground.

The night was overwhelming... Tears in eyes and pride in heart... But, what everyone missed was the soft click noise, as Prabir opened the Barrister's bag, breaking his trust, and hopes of those odd fifty men who stood there in unison that night.

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"Bahu... Come inside Bahu... It's cold out there... Batuk is long asleep... You too, should sleep now." Zamindar Trilochan Roy Chowdhury walked slowly, out of the threshold of the main door of the Roy Chowdhury haveli with his walking stick in hand, hoping to coax his little nine years old daughter-in-law to sleep.

"No, KakaSasurji, I won't sleep until he comes home." Little Bondita sat on the porch, her leg crossed and her arms folded to her small chest.
"I'm worried." She puffed her cheeks and spoke like a grown up making the old man smile.

"I understand you are worried Bahu... But Anirudh already told me that he would be late tonight... He had gone to Calcutta... Far from here..." He paused and looked at the little girl.
"You should sleep... He won't like it if he sees you waiting."

"And, I'm not liking it too... He being late!"
Bondita continued to pout her lips, her eyes fixated at the darkness of the night, outside the main gate, in hope of a honk from Anirudh's car.

Trilochan sighed.
"When I'm not worried, why are you worried so much?" He asked her in a little grave tone, hoping to make her obey his wishes this time, but to his surprise he saw the little munchkin turn around and roll her large eyes at him.

"Whose husband is he? Yours or mine?" She widened her eyes at him.
"Mine right... So who should be worried more? You or me?"

Her words had stupified Trilochan for a moment, as his face curved into a happy smile.
"Suit yourself Bahu... And, ask your husband not to come home late from now on. I don't like to baby sit."
He turned around to leave.

"That I will." Bondita murmured.
"But what is baby sit KakaSasurji?"

"Ask your husband." Trilochan walked back inside the mansion, a little faster than he had came. Her questions had always scared him, and what was scarier were the rebuttals that she would give after he had answered her.

"Durga Durga...let the husband wife deal with themselves."
He called Bihari and asked him to keep a watch on the little girl before walking back to the study once again.
He too, won't sleep until his precious comes back home!

"What are you doing here?"
Anirudh Roy Chowdhury had got down from his car at the entrance, walking inside a bit unsteadily as he gestured the driver to park the car for the night.
His head felt heavy and his heart felt light as he whistled a tune unmindfuly.
And, it was then that he heard her sweet voice asking him a question...another question!
"What song is that?" She had asked as Anirudh turned around and narrowed his eyes at her.

"What are you doing here?" He rubbed his eyes and raised his left hand to check the time in the watch.
2:39am.
"Bondita... Why are you awake?"
He walked towards her.

"Because I was worried." She replied plainly, as he noticed her soft puffy cheeks had puffed up even more.

"But, why were you worried?"

"How can I not be worried when my husband is late, and isn't home and I don't know where he is?"

Anirudh was dumbfounded for a moment, before be burst out into a loud fit of laughter.

"Damn my baby wife is waiting for me... Oh my destiny... Hey Maa Durga... Give me strength..." He had blurted out as his eyes fell on Bondita's pure calm face.
"I'm sorry Bondu... I won't be late again."

"Don't call me Bondu... It's Bondita."

"Alright... Bondita... I'm sorry."

"No... Don't call me Bondita either." She rolled her eyes at him.
"Do I call you by your name? Then why are you calling me by mine?"

Anirudh heard her point and scratched his head for a minute, before he too sank down on the porch before her.

"You have a point... So... What was I supposed to call you again? Shona, right?"

Bondita nodded her head.

"So, Shona... Amar Shonamoni... I won't be late again. But, even if I am, you won't wait up. Promise?"

"Not promise." Bondita quickly held his thumb with both her hand and shook him gently.
"I will always wait... Always..."

It was futile to argue with her. And, argument was the last thing on Anirudh's mind that night.
He was tired, he was enibriated, and all he wanted was to crash in his bed, and ofcourse, as per their small routine, tell a story to this little doll before that.

"Are you awake for the story, Shona?" He pinched her nose and lowered his head to her level.

"No... I'm awake because I'm your wife... And I will sleep only when you do."

Her words had touched his heart. The irony doesn't seem to pinch him anymore. He simply held her hands and brought them to his lips, planting a soft kiss on her tiny knuckles.
"Thank you for waiting up... Now I know I'll have to come home early every night."

"Why?"
She had asked innocently.

"Because, now I know my little wife will be waiting for me... "

He stood up and pulled her up as well. But, as he saw a tiny yawn escape her lips, he stooped down and scooped her little frame in his arms, sheathing her close to his chest.

"I'm so so sorry my baby wife... Let's sleep fast."

"What is baby sit?
Bondita had stretched her arms, holding Anirudh's neck for support.

"Umm... Sitting with a baby... I guess." He climbed up the stairs to reach to his room.

"KakaSasurji said he can't baby sit... But, we don't have a baby in our house... So..."

Anirudh sighed and pressed his lips in a smile at the same time.
"No Shona... We definitely don't have any babies in the house... Only a tiny grandma, with all the worries in the world inside her tiny head."

"Really?" Bondita had crawled inside the comforter as Anirudh pulled out his tie to free his neck a little.

"Really... Now close your eyes and I'll tell you a story about a crocodile and a fox."

"Bondita had yawned again, her eyes were already closed.
"But, I want to hear more about the grandma... the one who worries... And waits up at night... For all her grandchildren..."
She smiled naughtily... As her contagious smile infected the eighteen years old Barrister, filling his heart with a platonic pristine happiness.
"My wife..." He murmured.

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The car was speeding along the street of Central Calcutta as Anirudh smiled at the thought of his little wife waiting for him at home.
She was his 'Home'... his 'Solace'... Her lap being the only place where he found peace!
It had been an eventful day for him, tiring... And at that deadly hour of night, all Anirudh wished for was to rush home, eat and sleep in his wife's cosy arms.
He held the steering in one hand and checked his wristwatch, 2:39 am, he smiled, as a quick memory of the past flashed upon his mind's eye.

"Bondita..." He grinned on his own.
"My crazy little Bondita!"

The street lamps were flickering at intervals, giving the lifeless deserted road a sinister appearance and as his car took a sharp bent leaving the posh area of Camac Street,
But, suddenly, something changed... Alert, awake... Anirudh's jaw muscles tightened in an intuitive anticipation.
Two motorcycles had started to follow him, or were they there since he had left the court?
Four men were seated, with long sticks in hand.
Bamboo sticks?
Anirudh tightened his grip on the steering wheel and drove faster, and so did the motorcyclists.
But, it was right before the Park Street crossing that he noticed through the rear window that one of the men sitting behind on of the motorcycle rider had pulled a pistol at him, ready to fire.

Not a moment to lose, Anirudh inhaled sharply. Closing his eyes once before his steering wheel took a clear right turn towards the allies of the dark city, and just then, a loud thud noise, a screech and the car turned 180 degrees around, taking Anirudh on a swirl along with it.

A sharp pain on his leg made him clench his teeth. The car had turned to its side, the bullet had hit a wheel, as Anirudh, with his left leg stuck under the gear, closed his eyes in excruciating pain. But, it was only for a moment, as the Barrister exhaled his pain, picturing his next course of action.

Every virtue exists on a spectrum with vice at either end, bravery sits between cowardice and foolhardy. And, in danger one who reassess, takes time, and makes no first moves at all, probably takes the bravest choice.
It was the right choice... To let those goons pass by... Avoid confrontation, and now, it was too late, and Anirudh knew that the only two options he was left with were extremes.

He pulled his leg out of the gear box, a grunt escaping his throat as his hands grabbed his leather suitcase toppled at the backseat.
But, what? Where was it?
His weapon! His licensed revolver!

The picture cleared in his mind instantly, Prabir and his enthusiastic face, and then he saw Bondita's eager eyes... waiting for him.
"Bondita..." He groaned softly.

Going outside would mean death, they had pistols and staying inside the crumpled car wasn't as option.
And, Anirudh made his decision!

He kicked the door open and dragged his body out, blood dripping from the wound in his left leg.

"Fight like a man... Your cowards!" He growled.

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