Scenes from the past kept roaming in his mind. He couldn't fall asleep. He turned to his right then to his left but decided to get off from bed and took some air in his balcony.

He stared at the stars from the sky as he remembered how his life has completely changed since the death of that little girl. He lost his friends, his work and ended up as a priest but wasn't happy about his duty. Confused. Unable to decide what he should do in his life. The old man visited him today but he'd refused to see him. Why? Because he's too afraid and guilty to face him. The case of eight years back had shaken him so much that he's turned like an escapist. But was that his true face? Is it how he'd turned from a fearless officer into such a stupid run-away man? No. It was time for him to face the reality. How long will he kept running away? Someday he need to face it. He got back to bed after drinking a glass of water when he whispered to himself:

"I'm going to meet John tomorrow"

•••

The next morning, he puts on his clothes and left on his black motorcycle. Martin Gas or father Martin as they say, was a man around his late thirties with a dark mustache of brown eyes. He was a well-mannered guy and always carry a sarcastic attitude along with a frowning face wherever he goes. He used to work with Sandra eight years back but turned out to the Priesthood in the end.

When he reached there, he parked his vehicle and pressed the ring button of the door. He waited for a few seconds when someone called out :

"Who is it?"

"Martin",he replied with a high voice.

A bag attached with a long rope was thrown through the window. He noticed it and took the key inside of the bag then opened the door. He frantically climbed up the stairs when he entered the appartment and asked:

"How are you?"

Nancy came from the balcony with her wheelchair when she replied with a smile:

"I'm fine"

"I hope John is giving you the medicines on time?,asked Martin.

"What brings you here today?",asked the old woman.

"Where is that crazy guy? I don't see him here",he asked while scanning the place quickly.

"He's gone to the market"

•••

He held the fish in his hand and examined it quickly when he said to the seller:

"Listen, Do I look like a fool? Last week I bought the same fish from you, how can it suddenly become so expensive?",asked John.

"Sir, the elections are around the cornor. That's why the party-workers are distributing fish amongst the people to encash votes. So, the price has soared",exclaimed the seller.

John made a frowning face when he said:

"Last week you had said the ''prawns'' have become expensive due to the earthquake in Japan"

"What can I do? I didn't cause the earthquake",said the guy.

"Rubbish!" replied John by throwing the fish to it's place and turned around towards the other sellers.

"Listen uncle, how many kilograms do you want!?", screamed the man.

"I don't want any. Now I will eat fish after the elections are over!",replied back the old man while he was walking away.

He was walking slowly when suddenly he noticed a little girl from afar and stopped on the spot. He stared at her from a distance as he realised she was wearing the same grey beanie his little angela wore the day she dissapeared.

He couldn't believe his eyes as he watched little the girl walking past him.
•••

"Last evening your husband had come to meet me at the church", he explained while pouring some tea in the two cups.

"And he left behind half a kilogram of guilt",he said while placing the other cup of tea on the table for Nancy. He took a sip of his own when he continued:

"Couldn't sleep all night, kept thinking about it so I came here",he exclaimed.

"So you managed to dodge him again?",asked the wife dressed in her nighty before taking a sip of the hot tea

"I had to literally sneak away",defended Martin before he gulped a little of his tea.

"What happen?",he asked as he noticed the old woman staring at him.

"Even John makes better tea than this",declared Nancy.

"Yes..but..something must be wrong with the milk" he defended.

"Who bought it?John?",he asked.

"-Yes", replied the wife.

"No wonder", he said with a naughty smile.
•••

He searched for the girl and began walking behind her, hoping to talk to her when he got the chance to.

•••
"Martin....John needs your help",she finally said.

Martin made a tsk sound and shook his head in disbelief.

"He kept listening to the same tape every night, over and over again. He thinks I'm asleep and I don't know anything",continued the wife.

Martin looked away and gulped his tea when he listened.

"Please",Nancy pleaded.

Martin stopped drinking and stared at the woman. He thought for a while when he made up his mind of listening to the tape.

•••

He choosed the right tape and pressed the playing button of the cassette and was listening carefully:

"No...no...Angela, you didn't make any mistake"
"You will be fine.., you will be fine dear!, Don't worry!" said the voice of John.

"Grandpa! Grandpa!"

Martin bent his head near the playing cassette to listen carefully to the next few words:

"Are you satisfied now?"
"I will tell you where to bring the money",said an unknown voice.

"I will tell you-"
"I will tell you-"
"I will tell you-"

The same words were playing back again. It was blocking. Martin pressed the stop button repeatedly but the loud voice was filled in the air. He applied his fingers on any other buttons but it was not stopping. He then quickly removed the wire connected to the cassette and turned that radio off for like forever.

At the same moment, Nancy came on her wheelchair and was looking at Martin. The latter stretched his body and put his two hands on his pocket and hesitantly said while looking straight:

" I will...I will talk to him", he said then he made his exit. Nancy let him go without saying a word.

•••
He approached to the little child and touched her shoulder when he asked with a smirk face:

"Dear, where did you get this cap from?"

The little girl said nothing. Unsatisfied he asked again:

"This..this cap?", he asked in a desperate tone by gesturing his finger towards the cap.

The little girl still said no word but instead, she handed him a piece of paper in his hand. A little stunned, he read:

This is to certify that Anna wilson age of eight years of Little.Flower.292 APC Road is suffering from a permanent disability of the following category:

• The girl is deaf and mute

She quickly took back the certificate from his hand and trudged away. John looked at her in great surprise with a disappointing look.
•••
He was riding his blue scooter when suddenly the engine turned off and was jolting. John frowingly got off and was kicking up the stand when luckily he noticed the same little girl walking on the pavement.

He quickly tried kicking the stand again to turn on the engine but as he saw it was of no use he decided to park it right here itself and left behind the girl.

He was walking in a rate of knots keeping his eyes on the little girl when he reached to an unknown place where there were other children surrounding him.

The place was filled with childrens working and as he was scanning the place, he noticed a bald-headed man, in a white shit with a notebook in his hand taking notes from another man.

He hesitantly went towards him and politely asked:

"Excuse me sir, I don't want to disturb you. I just want to know where this girl got this cap from?"

"It belongs to her",replied coldly the bald-headed man and left arrogantly. As John was too desperate about the cap, he asked again:

"But...sir...sir, that's not her cap", he explained but the man was clearly not paying attention to him.

"My wife made that cap for...this cap-", he stopped when he realised that the man was talking to another person. He looked around for a while when he asked louder:

"Isn't it illegal to make them work like this??"

To this, the man looked at him when he answered:

"This cap was donated"

"Who..? Who donated it?", he asked again following the man while talking.

"I don't know"

"But, you must have some records"

"Maybe but I don't have time for all that", he said by closing his notebook.

"Please, it's very important, it's really very important", he pleaded.

"Please leave, I've other things to do!"

"Please, if you want, I can make a donation to the orphanage", he suggested.

The moment the man heard about the donation, he stopped and stared at him.
•••

The little girl was watching him by hiding behind the wall. The bald-headed man brought some documents and were showing those to John when he said:

"Here you go, we got it from Imambara"

"Huh?"

"Imambara, Imambara", he said again then rapidly took away the documents from John's hand without even letting him read it.

"The one in hooghly?",asked a confused John.

The man stared at him when he asked:

"How much are you going to donate?"

John travelled his eyes up and down, trying to think of a good price but shook his head in disagreement as he had no penny in his pocket.