054 Troubles (2)

I have to escape with Priya. I started calculating.

"Cover their mouth before they make any noise." The tall villain, who was sitting in the front seat ordered.

"It's alright. I won't make any disturbance." I assured the villains.

"He is a good boy. He will behave." The fat villain who was sitting at the back seat with us agreed with me. He was gentle with us.

It's good. Usually, good people can be easily deceived. So I was sure that I could use the fat villain to escape.

"So good uncles... Why are you kidnapping us?" I decided to get some more information out of the villains.

"Huh? Umm... No. Don't worry. We are just taking you for a picnic. We will return you safe and sound this evening itself. It's not a kidnapping." The tall villain answered in a softer voice.

"Aren't you going to ask our parents for money?" I asked again.

"No. Definitely not." Tall villain replied.

"But our father has a lot of money," Priya added.

'This dumb girl!'

"Shut up. Can't you see elders are speaking?" I hit the back of her head and scolded her. She grew up just like Anuchi. She was a walking disaster.

"Child, money is not everything in life. Don't assume everyone lives with the aim of making money." The fat villain kindly advised Priya.

I admired the attitude of the villains. It was pretty rare to see villains with such good morals.

"Then why are you all wearing masks?" I finally asked the important question.

"Oh... that we are coming from a bank robbery." The fat villain replied right away.

"..." I was dumbfounded. Is this what they meant by money is not everything in life?

"Keep your mouth shut. Don't tell everything to everyone." The tall villain scolded the fat villain.

"What's there to tell? Police probably found the truth already. My mom is going to kill me when I get back." The fat villain started sulking.

"What happened?" I asked curiously. I wanted more information.

The villains were a bit sad. So it took a bit of nagging from my side to know the truth.

"We wanted to start a business. But they didn't give us a loan. So we decided to steal from the bank."

"And?"

Apparently, they decided to steal from a bank. They wanted to do it after the bank closes on Friday. That way, the bank will know about the crime only Monday morning. To make this work, they entered the bank Friday evening. Then they hid in the bathroom. Once the banking hours were over and everyone was gone, they came out of hiding.

"That's a good idea. Did you get a lot of money?" I asked the villains.

"That... Those crazy bank people kept all their money in the safe locker. We didn't have anything to break it. So... We didn't get any money." The fat villain replied embarrassed.

"Still there is an issue. Today is Monday. What were you doing for the last two days?"

There was silence in the car for a few minutes.

"Those good for nothing bank people locked the bank from outside." Finally, the tall villain explained.

"So?"

"Well... Our plan was to steal and then escape from the bank by breaking the lock." The fat villain explained.

"That's not a bad idea. So what's the issue?" I was confused.

"There was no lock to break! Those... They locked the bank from outside. We could break the lock if we can reach the lock. But we were locked inside and the lock was outside."

I was speechless. I don't know whether they were dumb or simply unlucky.

In the end, the unfortunate and dumb thieves spent the entire weekend locked inside the bank. They survived by drinking water from the pipe. But they had nothing to eat.

On Monday morning, when the bank opened, they again hid in the bathroom and once the bank was filled with customers, they left naturally.

"Then why are you wearing masks and running away?" I asked my doubt. Since no one noticed them in the bank, there was no need to run away.

"That... we were too hungry and stole food from a restaurant. When they chased us, we stole a car and escaped. Now the police are looking for us."

"So... To escape from the crime of stealing some food, you stole a car and kidnapped two kids?"

"..." I got only silence as a reply.

They were really dumb. Well... If they were intelligent, they wouldn't have gone to steal from a bank in the first place.

"You know, if you drive around wearing a mask, it will be suspicious and they will catch you soon," I informed the dumb thieves.

"I don't want to take advice from a bed-wetting kid. We are professional criminals." The tall villain replied arrogantly.

"Really? Do you have prior experience in the kidnapping area?"

"... You are talking as if you are experienced." The tall villain was a bit embarrassed to admit that he didn't have any experience in this field.

"I have experience in getting kidnapped. It's still better than you uncles without any experience." I replied confidently.

In the end, the tall villain took off his mask. The other villains also followed the suit.

I was shocked to see their faces.

Those people were someone I knew from my previous life.

They were my friends towards the end of my previous life. I knew they spent some time in jail. I didn't know what crime they did. When I met them in my previous life, they were running a small restaurant that was frequented by criminals and police.

In my previous life, the restaurant they ran was a place for police to contact certain criminals and do things they couldn't do directly. For example, whenever police wanted to pay ransom money or buy back something that was stolen, the restaurant was the place. Later, I also joined them and after a series of events, it lead to my death.

They were used by both the police and criminals. They were good people. But not now. Now, they are just dumb petty criminals making one mistake after another.

"I think that car is following us." Tall villain said.

I turned around and looked.

It was indeed a familiar car. It belonged to the police uncle who was dad's friend.

Then that car stopped by the roadside.

"Ohh.. They are not following us." The villains were relieved.

But they were wrong.

I looked around.

There were two cars and one bike which were clearly surrounding our car. They were carefully keeping their distance and acting naturally. I was sure that they were keeping an eye on the kidnappers and looking for an opportunity.

"Hey... Do you know how to wash my butt after I poop?" I asked the villains.

"..." The villains were speechless. They all turned towards the third villain.

"Don't look at me. I won't do it." he rejected right away. Compared to others, he was silent throughout the journey.

"But you have taken care of your sister's kids. You always showed us the photos of your nephew."

"I just clicked their photos. I don't wash their butt."

"You... kid, just don't poop." He turned towards me and ordered.

"But I want to."

"Not now. We will return you home by evening. Then you can poop as much as you can."

I was enjoying the plight of the villains. Who told them to kidnap some kids if they cannot take care of the kids.

"No... I want to poop right now." I decided to throw a tantrum.

Priya was looking at me with judgy eyes. She was probably wondering what was wrong with her elder brother today.

"Calm down. I will give you some sweets if you behave. Go buy some sweets or ice cream for the kids." The tall villain stopped the car and asked the third villain to buy something for us.

I saw an opportunity.

"Listen, kid. We won't hurt you in any way. Just think like we are playing a hide and seek." The tall guy continued consoling me.

"Uncle, when you leave the jail, please come and meet me. Promise?" I asked.

"You... are you cursing us to get caught?" The fat guy joked.

I didn't answer.

"Are you prepared to stay in hiding? If you don't buy enough food and water, you won't be able to buy them later. If police publish your photo, then you won't be even able to go out for a few days." I warned the villains.

"..." There was a silence in the car for a few seconds.

"Take care of the kids. I will buy something." The tall villain told the fat villain and got out of the car.

I grabbed Priya's arm and slowly moved her to my lap.

"Uncle, don't forget what I said. Come and meet me. Also, if you meet my dad or his friends, be friendly and humble. Else they might beat you up." I repeated to the fatty.

"Kid... Please stop saying that. I don't want to go to jail. We will just run away and live a silent life somewhere." The fatty was on the verge of crying.

"It's too late. That uncle leaning on that electric post has brown socks." I pointed out of the car.

Brown sock is a part of the police uniform. Some policemen, when in civilian dress, use the same socks.

I wasn't lying.

The person indeed had brown socks. He wasn't the only one.

There were many people around who were neatly shaved and wearing shoes. Clearly, we were surrounded by the police and they were waiting for an opportunity.

"It... It's police..." The fatty murmured. His face turned pale.

I used that moment of distraction.

I opened the door and got out with Priya. Then I flicked the child lock and closed the door.

"Wait... stop.." The fatty cried and tried to open it.

But he couldn't open it from inside because of the child lock.

I grabbed Priya's hand and ran to the car that had stopped behind us.

Before I could take ten steps, my way was blocked by an adult.

It was the silent villain who had gone to buy sweets and ice cream for us. He looked at us emotionlessly.

I thought everything will be fine if I manage to reach the police before they could catch us. But I forgot to account for the third guy who had gone out earlier.

He sighed and went to their car as if he didn't see us.

I didn't know what happened. He simply walked away instead of trying to catch us.

Then, everything was quick.

Two policemen came and took us away safely. The villains surrendered to the police without any resistance.

After a few minutes, the police uncle, who was dad's friend took us both to meet the villains.

"Hahaha... Alex, did you like the game?" The fatty asked.

"You are pretty brave. Huh? Here... Have these sweets." The tall villain passed the sweets to us.

I had nothing to say. I was left with a sour feeling.

"You... But police caught you." I somehow managed to say a few words.

"This? This is nothing. I am glad that it ended before we did something really stupid. We should be thanking you. You are a hero." The fat villain continued praising me.

"Don't forget what I said," I added.

Everything was over within an hour.

The police tried to make it look like it was just a fun game. On the way back, I sat on the backseat of the car with Priya and police uncle. Priya was clinging to my arm and looking at me with her big eyes.

"Isn't your elder brother cool?" I asked.

She nodded like a woodpecker. There was clear admiration in her eyes.

"Don't worry. No one can hurt you when I'm here." I assured her.

Was that too cringy? Doesn't matter.

I suddenly had a realization.

When Anuchi grew up, dad was her hero. I was just a poopy boy in her eyes. But that might not be the case with Priya and Prince. I realized that I could be the hero in the eyes of my little brother and sister.

And I will do everything to make that a reality.

We were soon returned to our playschool by three masked guys.

Those were three policemen who dressed up as the kidnappers. The police didn't want the kids to have any trauma from the incident and decided to make it look like some game they were playing.

Trust me.

They were horrible at acting.

Those three looked and acted like Santa Claus having a bad day.

Still, thanks to them, the event came to an end without any trouble.

As for what happens to the three guys, I will have to talk to dad.

____________________

Thanks for reading.

Sorry for the delay. I was busy preparing for the exam.