Raoul - 16

Earlier

Waving a quick goodbye to Lyana, Raoul looked at Masud who by now appeared so dejected with his shoulders slumped, shuffling his feet. He seemed to be sulking like a child who had been denied his favourite toy. Raoul's face twisted into a snarl which only caused Masud to lengthen his sulk. Groaning inwards, Raoul, pushed him forward towards the waiting taxi, which he had just managed to flag down.

He asked Masud to give directions to the driver, causing another sigh to escape from his lips and more slumping of shoulders. Raoul never knew that anyone could slump so much; feeling a sudden burst of sympathy, he extended his hand to Masud's shoulder and tapping it gently, told him that things would be okay once his buddies were found and he could sort it out with them.

Masud replied with a mumbled, 'I sure hope you are correct for all our sakes. You have no idea what you are doing and the people you are going to upset.'

Raoul tried to pry some more words out of Masud, but it was as if the effort of speaking those two sentences had drained him of all ability of speech. He lay slumped, his face touching the windowpane, his body willing to escape to another place.

They soon reached the address Masud had told the cab driver. The neighborhood was much better than the one Lyana and Raoul had visited in the morning, trying to locate Masud. It was in the part of the city which was coming up as 'the' place to be living at, with anyone with money willing to buy himself/ herself a place in the higher echelons of the society.

Masud needed some more prodding from Raoul before he started to move or rather muddled his way towards the building. Nearer they were to the building, louder and more was the whimpering sounds escaping Masud. Raoul was afraid that people might think that Masud was in some kind of danger from Raoul and asked Masud to stop with his whining.

The whimpering stopped but the shoulders slumped some more. For a second, Raoul lost his cool, but then he found it comical trying to talk to a person who seemed to have lost of his powers of reasoning. He felt sympathy for Masud, but it was too small in front of the need for Raoul to get to the crux of the matter. He owed it to the story and also to the Museum. More than anything, he knew he had to clear Lyana's name which had been dragged into all the mess due to this stumbling cousin of hers, who seemed to have lost his backbone.

Raoul - 17

Raoul - 15

Earlier

It was Lyana's hand that restricted him to his seat. Lyana told him to leave the questioning till after the restaurant to avoid any other further unsavory moments. Raoul wanted to step out and take a walk, but he really doubted that on his coming back Masud would be sitting with Lyana. He did have a way of slithering away from situations that seemed unfavorable to him.

He sat impatiently, tapping his foot on the floor, waiting for Masud to finish with his regurgitation of food.  He found it difficult with Masud trying to form words while chomping on his food, as if the food choice that Masud had made was not been enough, he had to be a complete oaf about it too.

After what seemed to be agonizing 10 minutes of food - chewing by Masud, who was relishing a meal which he had not dreamed of having till the morning of the day, the food had been gobbled up by him. Raoul motioned for the bill ad paying with a haste he had rarely shown, paid for it and taking Masud from the elbow, dragged him out to the street.

The noise of the street hit them with a violence, drowning out their words, so that Raoul had to speak at a pitch he was not comfortable with. He shouted to Masud to answer as to whom had he lent the car that day.

Masud opened and shut his mouth in rapid succession without any sound escaping his lips. Raoul glared at him, repeating his question and hardening his hold on Masud's elbow, afraid that he would sprint away at the slightest chance. Masud told Raoul that he would take him to meet the 'boys' who had taken the car, but he would need some time to find out about their whereabouts.

Masud said that he would meet Raoul later in the day, all the while wishing that Raoul would agree. The fear was so strong, that Raoul could smell it off him. He knew, if he let Masud go once, it would be very difficult to catch hold of him again. Taking a quick decision, he asked Lyana to return home and told Masud, "Tell you what, I'll accompany you, let's find these 'boys' together. Should save you a lot of trouble. Two heads are always better than one."

Masud's shoulders slumped; he realized there was no escape from Raoul now. He mumbled his agreement and started to shuffle from one foot to the other, wishing he had been some-where else earlier.