Robbery Begins at Home

“Sattar rupaiya.” The bearded cab driver called out as the taxi grinded to a halt in front of Karan’s building.

It was two am and Karan was exhausted from all his partying. He pulled out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans, only to find it empty. He had started the night with a thousand, but had spent it all on entry into the club and then drinks. He looked around for the watchman on duty to see if he could borrow the money. But there was no one in sight.

The cab driver stared at Karan with unblinking eyes, underneath thick eyebrows. Karan shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Ghar se lata hoon.” He addressed the cabbie, gesturing towards his house.

The driver scowled at him, unconvinced. He maintained his glare for a moment longer and then grunted his agreement, turning off the engine of his beat-up old Fiat.

Karan entered the room that he shared with his brother, who was snoring away in his bed at that time. Not wanting to wake his brother by turning on the lights, he fumbled around his desk drawer in the darkness looking for his spare money. But there was nothing left from his monthly allowance. He slid quietly across to his brother’s desk, hoping to find some money there. Much to Karan’s disappointment, his brother was broke too.

Karan stood in the lighted passageway outside the room, with his hands on his hips, considering what options he had. He certainly couldn’t leave that sullen cab driver waiting for too long.

Reaching a decision, Karan walked towards his parents’ room. As silently as he could, he tiptoed into the room. He went for the drawer next to his mom’s bed where her keys to the cupboard were kept. The only sound that could be heard was that of his breathing. Slowly and deliberately, he groped for the keys inside the drawer. On finding his mom’s key set, he picked them up and wrapped his fist around the keys to cushion them so that there would be no jingling sound.

He went to his mom’s cupboard, trying to figure out which key to use from the set that he held. He couldn’t afford to make many trials as that would surely wake his parents. He made a guess of which was the right key, based on what he could recollect. Trying his best to keep the sound down to a minimum, he turned the chosen key in the lock. The key refused to turn. Karan took it out and tried it again, but with no luck. He let out a long, deep breath.

Suddenly, in the pin-drop silence, Karan heard a soft, shuffling sound behind him. He turned around cautiously, and saw a figure approaching him. Just as Karan turned, the person rushed straight at him. He appeared to be holding something in his right hand.

In the next instant, there was a man towering over Karan with a shoe in his hand, ready to strike him down. In a flash, Karan recognized his father.

“No, Papa. It’s me.” Karan shouted.

“It is Karan, papa. Don’t hit.” He pleaded.

His father stopped himself just as he was about to strike Karan. He had a determined look in his expression. It took a moment more for him to relax and put the shoe down.

“What the hell were you doing, beta? I heard someone opening the cupboard and I thought it was a thief.”

His mother, awakened by all the commotion, had turned on the lights in the room.

“I needed some money to pay for my cab.” Karan mumbled sheepishly. “I didn’t want to wake you’ll.”

He turned to look at his mother, who had a grin on her face. It must have been a comical sight for her to wake up in the middle of the night to find her son stealthily opening the cupboard and her husband standing over him with a shoe in hand.

The doorbell rang loudly, interrupting them. Karan saw a flicker in his father’s eyes as his expression changed back to what it had been moments earlier. His father instinctively reached for the shoe as the doorbell rang for the second time. Karan just stood there, frozen stiff, not sure how to react. Who could be ringing the bell so late?

“Oh, relax. It is probably just your cabbie, demanding his money. How much do you need?” It was his mother, calm as ever.

Sure enough, it was the cabbie, who was not pleased at being kept waiting. Karan apologized and paid him a bit extra to pacify him. Then, he went back to his parents’ room.

“This was hilarious.” His mom still saw the funny side. She looked at Karan.

“Next time, wake us and ask for the money. Don’t go sneaking around like a robber.”

She turned to Karan’s father, smiling.

“And next time, you may want to choose a better weapon than that old shoe.”

Karan said good-night and walked towards his room, with a smile, reflecting on what had been an unusual ending to his Saturday night.