The next evening, I took a bus from close to where I dwell to the ferry wharf where I had been called to meet Arshad and his boss. The weight of the bag that I carried was less physically but it was heavy mentally. I held on tightly to the bag throughout the journey to avoid getting robbed. On hindsight, my fidgety body language would have attracted more attention from crooks.

On reaching the ferry wharf intact, with the bag safe, I heaved a sigh of relief. I saw bright lights on the ships and barges inside the water while everything else was dark all around. The calming sound of the sea water ebbing and surging was misleading. The smell of the salty sea spray mingled with the rancid odour of drying fish and rotting sea weed filled the air. I sensed some movement behind me. Before I could turn around someone grabbed me from behind and covered my face with a jute bag. Someone snatched the duffel bag from my hands as I struggled. I heard a few voices, one of them was familiar, it was Arshad's. I stopped fighting back when I heard his voice.

"Calm down, we are just taking you to the Don," said Arshad.

One of them held my forearm and led me through the sparsely grown mangrove. Within a minute or so of walking I heard an engine stuttering, and could smell the diesel spiked with kerosene. I heard the sound of a few foot falls on some type of metal.

"Ouch!" I yelped as I banged my shin bone on the edge of some cold metal. They pulled me upwards and I complied. They made me sit on some damp cold surface and I kept hearing people shuffling around me. I felt my seat swaying, coupled with the sound of water sloshing under my feet. I realised I was on a motor boat. I heard the throttle increase and felt the moist breeze against my hands. There was no talking on the boat as we kept moving in the water. After about 20 minutes (but felt like a lot longer) I heard Arshad's voice, "Take your mask off, we have arrived."

On opening my eyes, I saw that I was near the coast, but surrounded by tall mangroves, and the boat had been tied to one of the three huge salt crusted logs of wood upon which a platform was built. A rope ladder was swaying back and forth in the sea breeze. The bamboo crossbars creaked against the wet rope on the ladders as Arshad's men climbed up one by one. I kept my hands inside my pockets to avoid the cold damp winds.   

It was my turn next to climb the rope ladder; Arshad was to climb after me to prevent me from escaping. I had to hold on to the thick log of wood momentarily to support myself as I climbed up. Pulling myself upon the platform I stood up and looked around, we were surrounded by a thick growth of mangroves all around. At a distance I could see Sewri fort, I couldn't help but smile. On the centre of the platform was a shabbily built cabin made from plywood and tarpaulin sheets. There was a door in the centre of the cabin and two metal barrels beside it. The three guys who manhandled me, walked into the cabin through the door.

Arshad placed his hands on my back and pushed me forward and said, "Let's go inside, and watch your words, the Don has a short temper."

I said nothing, looked forward and kept walking. I tripped on something and fell down upon the barrels. My hands hitting the barrels made a loud clanking sound. I regained my composure and stood up once again. Then I walked through the doorway with Arshad urging me to hurry.

When I entered, what I saw was a complete contrast to what the exterior looked like. Six well-dressed men stood with their heads bowed on either side of the cabin. Four cardboard boxes were lying on one side of the cabin. One of the boxes was open and I could distinctly see it was filled with some type of contraband.

Therewas a power table in the centre of the cabin and a man sitting behind it. Theman was in his 60s and pale looking with brown dyed hair, the grey roots of which had scarcely begun to show. The man was of alarge stature, possibly 6'5" and wide as a billboard. He was wearing ablazer over a shirt. He sat on an expensive leather swivel chair, on which herocked back and forth. The table had a plastic pouch lying on it which waspierced in the centre with a stabbing knife. White crystalline powderoverflowed out of it and shimmered under the yellow lights hanging from theroof.    

All the men were standing with their heads bowed. Even when they addressed him, they did not make eye contact. It seemed like this man commanded authority and ruled with an iron fist. Arshad led me to the table and then he went and stood on the sides.

The old man smiled and said, "So you came to see me? What will it be? Work for me and enjoy the finer things in life? Or will you refuse and die a dog's death?"

I smiled back and said, "I always imagined my work place to be an air-conditioned cabin with a great view of the city. Not a stinky cabin in the middle of the mangroves, surrounded by mosquitoes."

"I understand," he replied calmly, "Arshad, take him to that place, and make it painful."

Arshad came towards me and dragged me out by my collar. We went out of the door, followed by the other two men. Arshad climbed down from the rope bridge waited for me. One of the other two men pulled me by my shoulders and punched me in my stomach with brass knuckles. The wind was knocked out of me. I regained composure and didn't try to fight back. The two of them snickered at my cowardice and I silently continued to get down from the stairs. I got onto the boat and fell down on its floor holding my stomach. The pain refused to go away.

Arshad said nothing as he piloted the boat. Occasionally he looked towards me lying on the floor. About 15 minutes had passed when the boat came to a stop. He came towards me and said, "Get off, its time."

Knowing well what fate was about to befall me, I got down from the boat onto the wet mud at the edge of the mangroves. I turned around and saw Arshad standing with a gun in his hand.

Before I could react, he knocked me on my head with the butt of the gun and I fell down. I was injured and I felt the warm blood trickling down my forehead. He kicked me on my stomach and this time I screamed in pain. The pain from his kick was not much in itself but he kicked me at the same spot where I had been punched with the brass knuckles. I tried hard to stand up, but before I could, he kicked me again.

Never in my life had I experienced such pain. I was finding it hard to breathe. He kicked me a few times above my hips, which might have hurt me on my liver and caused me to vomit. I had to tolerate and silently wait for a chance. Eventually he stopped kicking me and took a step back. I heard the metallic click of him corking his gun.

He shouted, "Stand up!"

I stood up slowly and nonchalantly put my hands in my pocket, stood straight with my chest out. I faced him boldly as the blood trickled down my brow and blinded me in one eye. He pointed the gun at me and said, "I'm just following orders, don't take it personally kid."

I replied, "Same to you," and smiled.

Just then a loud explosion echoed throughout. Boom! My ears were ringing from the sudden and loud sound. There was a giant cloud of smoke bellowing from the direction where we came from and the fire that created the smoke lit the night sky up. Arshad seemed altogether startled.

He turned around and looked in the direction of the sound. This was the opportunity that I had been waiting patiently for. I took that chance and ran towards him. I covered his eyes from behind with my hands and kneed him on his spine. He shouted in pain and we both fell down together. He dropped the gun and tried to use his hands to pry open my grip on his face.

I loosened my grip as I had already finished what I wanted to do and scrambled towards the gun. I picked it up and ran towards the side, away from Arshad, who held his face with both his hands and screaming and cursing loudly.

I pointed the gun at him and said, "Don't take it personally; I'm just trying to live."

I corked the gun and fired at him three times. From that distance, even my lack-lustre marksmanship was enough to finish the job. Two bullets hit his shoulder while the third hit him in the chest and he stopped moving. I held the gun tightly with both my hands for one last time and threw it away. I bent to the water and rinsed my hands. I splashed water on my face to clear the blood out of my eyes.

Then I pushed the boat into the water and climbed onto it. Its engine was kept running all this while. I steered it out of the corner and took one last look at Arshad before I took the boat into open waters. I could still see the lights near Sewri fort which was close to my current position. So I went straight towards it. The need to escape and get away overpowered my fear of killing someone. Still, every few minutes I dipped my palms in the water and scrubbed it frantically to get the blood off. As I stared at the blood dripping into the ocean, disappearing into nothingness the realization that I had just killed someone hit me hard. But in the back of my mind I knew I did it to survive and protect the ones I love. If I had to, I'd do it again and this time I might even enjoy it.