Hues Of Dusk

Chapter 25. Rejection

3 months later

Clutch, start, accelerate. One more time. Clutch, start, accelerate. One more time. Clutch....

"Move already! We have been sitting here since ages," Nikhil complained and I glared at him.

"It's my first time okay. Shut up or I will ram your girlfriend into a tree."

"You won't dare! Come on. Be confident. I am sitting at the back. If anything happens, I will handel it. Just start, will ya?"

"Okay. I am starting now."

I held on the clutch and pressed the start button. The dashboard lighted up and I took a deep breath. I accelerated a little while leaving the clutch gradually and the bike jerked forward.

"Easy there!" Nikhil shouted.

"Keep quiet!"

"If anything happened to my baby, I will kill you Sandhya."

"If you won't shut up, then something will happen definitely."

I accelerated a lot in my anger and we zoomed forward. I quickly applied brakes before I crashed into a woman. She shrieked and ran away. Oops.

"I am telling you to control the acceleration for the last time. If you don't do it this time properly, I am going to quit teaching you," Nikhil threatened and I pursed my lips.

I won't be getting this chance again. After months of pestering him, I had finally gotten him to teach me a motorcycle. I had to do this.

"Okay. Just give me some time," I said and he told me to do it by myself this time.

I took a deep breath and started again. He stood a few metres away, afraid that I would run him over. Scaredy cat.

"Okay, buddy. Let's do this. Don't betray me, alright?" I patted the bike's fuel tank and said a small prayer.

I started the bike and zoomed off. Yay! I did it. See. It was Nikhil who was disturbing me. I could do this. I rode it around the block and returned.

I searched for Nikhil but he wasn't where I left him. Was he that afraid that he went in search of me? I looked around and saw him with some guys. They were quite far away. Who were they? I saw one boy giving him something like a white packet. Huh?

After few minutes they left and Nikhil ran towards me and checked if his bike was okay.

"How was the ride? You didn't crush someone right?"

"I killed two men, four women and almost drove your bike into the Arabic ocean. Happy?"

He rolled his eyes and got on the pillion seat. I took him for a ride and he nodded his head in approval. It wasn't much different than riding dad's scooter. I just had to remember about the gears. I was worrying over nothing.

I took the bike to my home and called my parents. They came out and I waved at them. My dad raised his eyebrows and told me to show him if I really learned driving it or was just faking it.

After taking my dad for a round, he patted my back proudly. He thanked Nikhil and asked him to join us for dinner. Over the past months, our families had grown closer and the visits to each other's house had increased.

"How's your brother beta? He is posted in Kashmir right?" Dad asked as we all ate dinner.

"He is doing good."

"When is he returning?"

"Maybe after four months. You know how it is. They don't get much holidays in Army."