Read Online Cross Roads: Pick a Path by Janaath Vijayaseelan - Free Book Online Page A

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and it would make sense for me
to actually learn more about Remone. Maybe I could even get an idea
of what to expect when we get there.

    “Fine man you win, I’ll stay up for the next
few hours,” I said in a displeased tone.

    “So tell me Remone, how’d you get involved
in all this?” I asked, curiously.
    “Oh man that’s a long story,” he said.

    “Bro, don’t you think we have the time, just
tell me,” I urged.

    “Okay, I was going to tell you. You’re the
one that cut me off,” he said, as he prepared to share his
story.

    “ I’ve been around this stuff for about
ten years now. I was born in Chennai; I’ve never even seen my
mother, apparently she split when I was born. My dad was an asshole
bro; the dude beat me almost everyday. I’m not even surprised that
my mother left us, I mean who would want to live with someone like
him. I’d say I was about sixteen when I decided to leave home too.
There was this one-day when I was trying to find food; I decided to
rob one of these big scary dudes. Obviously my luck, he caught me
trying to steal and beat the shit out of me. Verone Duranji,
Marona’s eldest son was the one who saved me. He helped me stick
around and find small jobs to pay for necessities; and now they
allow me to be involved in some of the more serious situations. I
became a man watching the business. I think you’d like Verone, but
Miran is going to be kind of hard getting used to.”

    “Is Miran Marona’s second son,” I queried; I
was beginning to get curious.

    “ Yeah he is, and trust me bro, you do not
want to get on that guys bad side. He’s only a few years older than
us, but the guy is scarier than the devil himself. Marona loves
him; it’s probably because Miran is literally the youthful version
of himself. The guy doesn’t give a damn about what happens after
his actions. If you get in his way, you’ll probably end up
dead.”

    “So basically he’s a psycho, who gets to
roam free,” I commented.

    “Quiet bro! Marona is going to hear you,”
whispered Remone.

    “ Alright, don’t worry I’ll be quiet. So
tell me, what kind of shit did I get myself into?”
    “ I know you were an engineer and all
before, but you need to know that your new job is far from that. In
case you don’t know, you’re lawless now. Just as much of dirt bag
as any person you’ll be meeting in the next few hours. Society
never liked us, but they don’t understand that we need to be
criminals to survive. If we don’t resort to this we’d probably be a
panhandler, roaming the streets asking stuck up rich people for
coin. With this job we’re able to earn more money than the average
man. You’re going to be involved in drug trafficking, extortion,
kidnapping, assassinations, and the business world politics. You
may not like it, but I think you’ll get the hang of it.”

    “Sounds pretty serious, but I’m not doing it
for the money,” I replied.

    “Why would you want to be a criminal then,”
asked Remone.

    “ I don’t know; as of late life just feels
really empty, I need a thrill. That’s what I used to enjoy about
life, the rush feeling. It made me feel alive; I want it again, I
don’t want to wake up every morning and feel death dragging me
down.”

    “ I can’t nail a character assessment on
you bro. At first I thought you were some depressed dude, and then
you come save the day, after that you topped it off with a murder,
and now this. I think this can be the beginning of a great
friendship.”

    Remone was right, this could be the start of
a great friendship. Maybe I was just quick on the trigger, judging
him. He is actually a really cool guy; he had to be a criminal to
survive, because life did not allow him to go in any other
direction.

    We continued to trade stories of our lives
over the last few hours of travel. I still refrained from speaking
about Hasini, even though she did come up in the conversation here
and there.

    It took a days