The Curious Maid
If you had been to Shastri Nagar vegetable market last month, you would not have missed her.
Clad in a simple saree and sitting at the end of a long row of vegetable and fruit sellers, she looked tired and emaciated as she called out to passersby, “Bananas, 40 rupees a dozen!!” Her shaky voice gave away the fact that she was new to the trade, but little else.
Till one day, her fortunes changed.
Looking at the female customer in front of her, she asked, “Madam, do you know anyone who needs a maid?”
She responded to the customer’s raised eyebrows. “Madam, my name is Manda. My husband has left me for another woman. He used to torture me.” She moved her saree away from her midriff, revealing scars all around her waist.
The woman gasped. Manda continued, “I have nowhere to go, so I started selling bananas for a living. But it doesn’t pay much.”
“I need a maid. Can you come every morning for two hours? Cooking, cleaning, washing clothes and utensils. Rs.3000/- a month.”
Manda was overjoyed at the generous offer.
“You can start tomorrow.”
The next morning, Manda arrived at the woman’s 1 BHK flat in Shastri Nagar. She didn’t notice a man hiding behind a parked car and silently watching her.
Over the next few days, Manda observed that the woman and her husband were into business of some sort. She saw sealed cardboard cartons stacked in a corner of the living room. The stack would increase or diminish everyday.
Overcome by curiosity, Manda asked her mistress one day, “What business do you do?”
The woman replied curtly, “We are authorised distributors for L**** beauty soaps. Can’t you see on the cartons?”
“Madam, I can’t read.”
“Ok, do your work.”
But Manda’s curiosity wasn’t satisfied. While sweeping the floor, she sometimes found the cartons too heavy to move and at other times, not so heavy. And they were the same size, with similar lettering. So the contents had to be similar. She longed to find out.
One morning, when she was going about her chores, she heard the woman’s husband tell her, “I’m going out. I’ll be back in an hour.“
Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. It was the building watchman.
“Madam, there’s a leakage from your bathroom into the house below. That house owner is very angry. Please come and see immediately.”
Madam had no choice but to step out for a few minutes, leaving Manda alone.
This was Manda’s chance. Without thinking much, she quickly picked up a kitchen knife and cut a big hole on one side of a carton. She put her hand inside and fished out a packet of bullets.
Her eyes widened. Her hands went cold. She quickly inserted her hand again – and pulled out a weapon that made her shudder.
She was still staring at the AK-47 when the woman returned.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Manda put the gun down and said in a quivering voice, “Madam, you said the cartons contained soap.”
“None of your business.”
“Are you a terrorist, Madam?”
The woman was now directly in front of her. She caught Manda by the throat, pulled out the kitchen knife from her hand and held it to her neck.
Manda was beginning to choke. Time was running out. She had found the evidence she’d come for. She reached into a little bag at her hip – and quietly pressed a button on a gadget.
Outside the building, a man who was sitting inside a parked car felt a similar gadget buzzing in his pocket.
Within seconds, Manda heard loud banging on the door. The momentary distraction made the woman loosen her grip on Manda’s throat.
Manda freed herself, even as the front door broke open. The man stood there, aiming his gun at the woman. Manda peeled away the fake scars on her waist and flashed her police ID.
Another terrorist plot was busted.
Author’s Note:
This was first published as an fb post on Artoonsinn Writers Room on 28.08.2020.
Photo courtesy: Firenstein, Shutterstock
