Neel Dervin and the Dark Angel (32 page)

“And while you‟re
dealing with it,” Premi added, his voice intensely earnest. “If you ever
feel that you need our help, if you ever call for us,I promise you we will come. Don‟t for a
second think that you are alone in dealing with this.”

Neel nodded, his smile less shaky. Arjun had placed a hand on his shoulder, and the
gentle pressure was comforting. “Thanks.I know I‟m not alone.” he said quietly. “And I
promise I‟ll beat this thing.” he was filled with a fresh new determination, and resolved to
work harder than ever with Doctor Fahim.

“That‟s the spirit.” Premi said, stepping back. “Then goodbye for now, Mr. Dervin. Until
we meet again.”

 

“Yeah, kid. See you again soon.” Negi added as well, giving him a quick hug before
swinging his bag lightly over a shoulder.

 

“Goodbye.” Neel said. He watched as the two men opened the door to the shed and it
swung shut behind them, Arjun‟s hand still gripping his shoulder.

 

* * *

Therapy continued. There had been a time when it seemed to be getting worse. But Neel
persevered. He remembered his promise to Negi and Premi, and worked harder than ever on
his sessions. And then, more than two months after therapy had begun, he finally felt some
improvement. His nightmares became less frequent. He was able to fall asleep more easily
now. The sudden, irrational fear he had felt in the proximity of cars and traffic was almost
gone. The accident that had caused the PTSD seemed so far away. He had not experienced
any return of the flashbacks for some time, even when he had crossed that road on his cycle.
Neel was becoming more and more convinced that he was getting very close to being cured.
He did not tell Doctor Fahim this. The doctor had told him that recovery would take a long
time, and he could not claim to have magically gotten better after barely more than two
months without proof.

It was a Sunday. Priyanka had gone to the house of the Sharma
‟s and Aryan and Neel
had seized the chance to go to the mall.Priyanka‟s birthday was in six days and they were
trying to select presents for her. A task that Neel was finding considerably harder than
learning precision jumps.

“What‟s this thing supposed to be?” Aryan asked, holding up a shapeless piece of cloth
that could have been anything from a skirt to a scarf.

 

“It kind of looks likea belt.” Neel said doubtfully. “Mom said Priyanka might like a
stole.I think it‟s supposed to be like a shawl or something.”

 

“If you‟d just let me buy her the box of chocolates.”

 

“Dude, she‟s on a diet again.”

“Exactly! That‟s why it would be hilarious.” Aryan sighed, pointing to a ladies boutique
nearby. “Let‟s check there.” They entered the shop, trying hard to look like they knew what
they were doing

A salesgirl with a lofty expression strolled towards them, looking supremely bored
with all of mankind, and especially the specimen around her.

 

“Can I help you?” she asked, her tone indicating that„No‟ was a perfectly acceptable
answer.

 

“Yes, please. Do you have a stole?” Aryan asked her, resisting the urge to add „Ma‟am‟.

 

The girl‟s lip curled. That one line seemed to tell her everything she needed to know
about them.

“
This is a boutique.We don‟t sell that here.” She spoke with just the right amount of
scorn and condescension to make them feel like unusually dim witted worms. She turned and
walked broodingly back to her original position, apparently to contemplate again the great
philosophical questions that their arrival had interrupted.

“Aryan! Neel!” A voice hissed from outside, and they turned to see Nitin waving to
them through the shop window. The two exited the shop gladly and walked up to him.
“Hey, dude. What are you doing here?” Aryan asked him.

 

“I came to see a movie. But then I saw her in a shop.” Nitin glanced around them, then
lowered his voice. “
She’s
here.” He nodded to Neel significantly.

 

Neel felt nonplussed. “Who?”

 

“The girl I told you about.” Nitin said urgently. “The girl from Sarik tuitions.”

 

“Oh, yeah.” Neel remembered then. He turned to Aryan. “He‟d told me about”

 

“I see Nitin, I hear girl, I can connect the dots.” Aryan assured him. “So what are you
doing here with us? Haven‟t you talkedto her?”

“I don‟t
evenknow her name.” Nitin led them to the balcony and pointed to the shop
opposite. A pretty girl with a fringe cut hairstyle was standing there trying on jackets with
another girl.

“Nice.” Aryan commented appreciatively.

 

“More than nice.” Nitin said, breathing emotionally. “Looking at her is like-”

 

“Yeah, so how‟ll you talk to her?” Aryan cut in quickly.

 

“Looking into her eyes is”

 

“You need to find some way to introduce yourself.” Neel added.

 

“Her eyes,” Nitin continued doggedly. “Are like twin black diamonds sparkling in the
sunlight.”

 

“No, they‟re brown.” Neel said, looking over at her critically.

 

“I tried writing some poetry, and I couldn‟t find anything good to rhyme with brown. Her
hair”

 

“How long have you been watching her?” Aryan asked him.

 

“Almost a year now.” Nitin sighed moodily.

 

“Man, you really need to get a move on!” Aryan said. “And how do you know she
doesn‟t already have a boyfriend?”

 

“I‟ll find it all out if I can just get a chanceto talk to her.” Nitin stared around at the shops
distractedly. “I just need to find a way for her to notice me first.”

 

“You‟re pretty much set there.” Neel said, leaning on the railing.

 

“What?”
“She‟s staring at you right now.”

“What!” Nitin whipped around to see the girl looking at him curiously. Her friend was
staring at them as well, and giggled as she whispered something to the girl with the fringe
hair cut.

“Better do something.” Aryan advised him.

 

“Like what?”

 

“Smile at her.” Neel supplied helpfully. “And hope she‟s not looking at Aryan.”

 

“Aryan, go stand somewhere else.” Nitin hissed at him.

 

“What did I do?”

 

“You‟re wearing that jacket. She‟ll know you‟re rich.”

 

“So?”

 

“Dude, come on! I really like her.”

The girl and her friend walked over to the food court. Nitin beckoned to Neel and Aryan,
and began to walk towards the court as well. Neel and Aryan glanced at each other. The
desire to continue trying to find a gift for Priyanka warred briefly and weakly against the
desire to see Nitin make a fool of himself in public. They followed.

Nitin was watching the two girls carefully. He sped up and sat at the table next to the
one the two girls were going towards. The food court was largely empty, and there was only a
lone boy sitting behind Nitin‟s table wearing earphones and listening to his mp4. Aryan went
to the counter to get them some soft drinks, while Neel and Nitin tried to look surprised and
politely indifferent when the girls sat at the next table. The girl with the fringe cut went to
place their orders, and her friend looked at Nitin appraisingly.

“You‟re the boy who stands outside her tuitions all the time, aren‟t you?” she said
suddenly.

 

“What?” Nitin blushed, but then came back with a strong alibi. “Oh yeah, I wait for a
friend there.”

 

“Parul says you‟re always staring at her.”

 

“I stare at the gate of the tuitions building.” Nitin corrected her, even as he made a
mental note of her name.“I can‟t help it if she passes out of there.”

 

Aryan came back with their drinks as the girl came back with a hamburger and fries for
her friend.

The three boys sat in silence at their table. The girls were talking quietly between
themselves, and Neel heard Parul tell her friend about Nitin‟s frequent trips to Sarik tuitions.
Nitin sipped slowly on his bottle of Pepsi, absent mindedly playing with the cap. Normally,
he had no trouble speakingto girls, but talking to Parul‟s friend had taken the wind out of his
sails to a considerable extent. The mood at the boys table was considerably more awkward
then at the girl‟s table. Neel found himself almost wishing they were back in the boutique
with the snooty salesgirl instead.

The girls finished their food, and went to wash.Aryan turned to Nitin. “Fun.” he
remarked.

 

“What was I supposed to do?” Nitin said defensively.

 

“You can‟t do anything.” Neel said quietly. “I really don‟t think she‟s interested, man.”

 

“And she knows you‟ve been watching her.” Aryan added. “She can call the police on
you.What you‟re doing is basically stalking.”

“I just
-” Nitin was struggling to come up with reasons why this was a good idea. “I really
like her, man. And I get the really strong feeling she likes me too, honest!I just don‟t want to
give up until I‟m sure I don‟t have a shot.”

“Dude, this
was
your shot.” Aryan said.“You were sitting next to her. If she‟d been
interested you would‟ve known. But she was acting like you weren‟t even there.”

 

“Maybe she‟s shy.” Nitin muttered.

 

“She knows why you were sitting here.” Neel pointed out. “But nothing happened. She
didn‟t even look at you. Move on, man. There will be others.”

 

The girls came back from the washroom and picked up the bags from their table.

Nitin had half risen, trying to decide on one last way to talk to Parul. He hesitated,
looking at Aryan and Neel, then sighed. He sat down again and the three boys watched the
girls head towards the exit doors at the end of the food court.

And as they watched, just before reaching the gate, the girl turned back, and smiled at
Nitin. Then she was gone. But Neel had seen it. Aryan had seen it. And Nitin had definitely
seen it.

He was on his feet in an instant. “Let‟s go.” he said abruptly as he strode towards the
gate after the two girls. Aryan and Neel were right behind him.

They came out of the mall and stood in the blinding sunlight. The two girls had
disappeared, and Nitin craned his neck, trying to locatethem. “You think they have a
scooty?”

“No.” Neel said, pointing into the distance. “They‟re in that tempo.”

The three took off. They walked as quickly as possible to the taxi stand, only to see the
tempo leaving. Nitin gestured quickly to another tempo that was preparing to leave as well.
Aryan and Neel glanced questioningly at each other for a moment. But then they climbed into
the tempo behind Nitin. An elderly man got on after them and squeezed in next to Neel.

The beaten down vehicle came to life, and pulled out of the curb and onto the road. There
was a lot of traffic, and they snaked slowly through the mass of smoke belching cars and
trucks.

“I can see theirtempo.” Nitin shouted, hanging dangerously out of the side of the
vehicle. The elderly passenger glared at him disapprovingly.

 

“Now what?” Aryan asked.

“We follow it.” Ni
tin said firmly. “Come on, man, she‟d smiled! You know she did. She
likes me.I don‟t want to go back to hanging around outside the coaching. We follow her to
her house, and then I catchup to her and start talking.” That was the one department where he
felt confident in his skills.

Aryan and Neel glanced at each other again, but then shrugged and settled back in their
seats.

The chase continued for a while, their tempo neither gaining nor falling behind the other
one. Finally they stopped at a traffic stop. The other tempo had stopped as well. Nitin stared
impatiently at the light. The color changed, and the mass of cars moved slowly forward.

“This is the most boring car chase ever.” Aryan remarked
over the sound of horns and
engines around them. Neel grinned.“Don‟t complain. Nitin‟s the hero in this scene. We‟re
just the comedian sidekicks.”

“The tempo‟s going towards Ashoka road.” Nitin called out. “They must be headed for
Pallika Bazaar.”

“C
ould be that or Gole market.” Neel said, casting his mind back on the map he had
memorized months ago. “But they all pass through Jai Singh Marg. I know a short cut.” He
paid the driver and jumped neatly out of the crawling vehicle. Aryan and Nitin hesitated,
looking at him.

“Look, we won‟t catch up with them in the traffic if we stay in the tempo.” Neel told
them. “I know a shortcut. Trust me.”

Nitin and Aryan clambered out of the tempo, to muttered grumblings from the elderly
passenger. They paid the driver and Neel took off down a side street, the other two following
closely. They were all knee deep in the situation now, and Neel felt a burst of exhilaration at
finally doing something active again after so many days of forced inactivity. They zigzagged
through the alleys, avoiding bikes and cars and cows.

“How do you know these roads?” Aryan panted beside him.

 

“I‟ve been around this place a lot.” Neel said. “For exercise. I‟ve gotten to know this area
pretty well.”

They finally arrived on Jai Singh Marg
. Neel pointed to the taxi stand. “They should be
arriving there.” Nitin took off again, the other two following, all three of them scanning the
roads.

“The two girls?” the tempo driver said when at last they tracked him down, fifteen
minutes later. “Yeah, they got off at the jeweler shop two streetsback.”

And they were off again. The gift hunting expedition had taken a turn for the bizarre, but
after the long chase, Aryan and Neel were beginning to feel as though getting Nitin to meet
Parul was a sacred task they had been entrusted with. The weather was unusually good, with
light sunshine and a strong fresh breeze blowing as they ran down the middle of the highway,
vehicles zooming all around them. Finally they saw the jeweler shop, and managed to catch a
glimpse of the two girls exiting the shop and getting into a nearby tempo. This time there was
no other tempo to take, and the one thegirl‟s were in was too far away to reach in time.

“There!” Aryan called out, pointing to a bus that was letting out passengers nearby.
They got to it before it began moving again and jumped inside.