BRAVADO

Like most of the people, I also liked Sundays because I got off from my work. However, many of my Sundays got busy as often I postponed many of my personal works until Sunday.

Once upon a time I was a family-man. After my wife deserted me two years ago after one year of marriage I had been single.

I had married a daughter of my football coach and she kicked me like a football. I must be the only footballer, who behaved like a football after marriage. I won’t move for anything without a kick and I would go in the direction of the kick and travelled the distance proportional to the force of the kick given to me. In short, I was an utterly lazy fellow as far as household and family matters were concerned. Hence my wife deserted me and returned to her parents

That Sunday when I woke up I unusually missed my wife or rather I missed my morning bed- coffee, which she provided me every morning till we lived together. I had learned to do many household things in her absence. I got up and went to the kitchen to make a coffee for me. Suddenly I recollected that the coffee powder was exhausted the previous night when I made a cup of coffee with the residue stuck in the coffee container. It was too early so I waited for some time for the local market to open.

At about 9 am I walked to the nearest grocery shop. I was happy to see a number of customers there in the morning itself and a few familiar faces. I went inside the shop, picked up a Nescafe half kg pack and joined the queue at the payment counter.

When I reached the counter, the cashier, a beautiful young woman gave me a sweet smile and started preparing my bill a youth jumped the queue from my back and pulled out a pistol. The first he threatened the customers and asked them not to move. Then he pointed his gun at the cashier lady demanding to hand over all the cash to him. The young lady jumped off her seat raising her hands.

“Please don’t shoot. Take whatever you want.” She begged of the armed man.

Meanwhile she glanced at me as if to find some solace.

Let me confess I would have preferred to avoid the trouble than to confront it but I had a weakness, which was my strength. I could not see a woman and specially a young beautiful woman in trouble.

By the body language of the robber I guessed him to be novice but a desperate fellow. I thought which seasoned robber would come to rob a grocery shop in the morning to rob the meagre collection of cash.

Suddenly the robber moved to the cashier and pushed her hard aside to take the cash from the drawer. The lady fell to ground hitting her head against a corner of a wooden shelf.

Seeing her plight my chivalry arose and adrenalin shot high. The robber bent down for a few second to take out the cash from the drawer. I pounced upon him hitting his head with the coffee bottle. Before he could react I grabbed and twisted his hand holding the gun. He lost the grip on the gun and I delivered a long free hit at his hip. He dropped the gun and felled to the ground. Rest was taken care by the other customers. The cashier had got up. She called the police. Soon the police came and arrested the robber.

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