Page 148 - Musings 2020

He stormed off, frustrated about everything that had been happening till the date. He could
not piece together anything that was happening. He was in a state of real confusion. Jabaar
knew that finding the Hards was crucial to finding young Rakunde. Flustered, he decided to
go eat something and get back to work on finding him.

The blistering heat was not helping Jabaar’s already bothered state. As he walked inside the
deli to grab a sandwich, he heard the names ‘Mr. Hard for your three sandwiches, please!”
His ears perked up, and his eyes fastened on Mr. Hard. He saw where he was sitting, but saw
only another lady sitting there, who he assumed to be Mrs. Hard. Jabaar hurried over to the
table. The couple saw him hurrying towards them and got up in a rush and tried to run. They
made it quite far, but eventually, Jabaar stopped them, and sat them down, and tried to get
them to confess to kidnapping Rakunde. The couple confessed to using fake names, but they
claimed it was only because they were actually from Finland, and their visas had expired and
so were being sought out by the government to get deported. They also claimed that Rakunde
had come over to play with them a lot because they were so anxious to be around children
since they had been trying for a long time but were unable to conceive. At this moment,
Jabaar was pretty convinced that he’d be able to get a confession out of them. However, they
denied having seen Rakunde the day before. After having confessed to everything, including
their illegal stay in the country, Jabaar thought it was a bit strange that they were claiming to
not have seen Rakunde. Perplexed, he took off. It was evening time, and Jabaar was tired.
Phew! He hadn’t worked like this in… well, forever. He grudgingly decided to walk back to
the police station. As he was turning into a lane, he saw a small young boy being pulled
across the road by some man. The face of the boy seemed familiar to Jabaar. Then he
realised. He took out his phone to see the photo of Rakunde that Vidya had sent, and turned
once again to look at the small boy. It was him! Jabaar went chasing after him and started to
shout for the man and the boy. Rakunde turned around, and the man with him turned as well.
And believe it or not, the man was Rakunde’s father.

“Sir, did you take Rakunde from his home without informing your ex-wife?” Jabaar asked. “I
had to. I had to! The evil woman, she hurts my son so. She has anger issues. She does not
hold back on hurting my little Rakunde. See his scars. See the bruise marks on his chest,
hands, his legs. My poor son!” Rakunde’s father cried. Jabaar recalled the broken plates he
had seen in Vidya’s home and the worried look in Rakunde’s father’s eyes.

Rakunde’s father told Jabaar that he had sneaked inside the house with a spare key he had to
the house, and since Rakunde was fast asleep, all he had to do was quietly carry him and take
him out. After hearing this, Jabaar was confused for a moment, deciding what was to be done
next. Until Rakunde said “Policeman, please don’t make me go back to my mother. She hurts
me so much, and every part of my body hurts all the time. Please let me stay with my dad.”

Jabaar knew at that point that it was not Rakunde’s father who should be punished, but his
mother should be. Jabaar immediately called up his subordinates and sent them to that white
bungalow to arrest Vidya. After the long day, tired from the stress, Jabaar lay down on his
bed. “What a day. Pacifia has not seen one like it. These things only happen once in a blue
moon though. I’m sure tomorrow will be a normal day,” Jabaar thought to himself, as he
closed his eyes for the night.

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