The Dragon by Nadeem Alam

Part - 1
It was past midnight. The basement parking area of the mall was huge and it looked gloomy. It was lit poorly and there were no guards inside. The security cameras were installed at the entrance and exit only. I had to make sure that I remain undetected during the whole operation. This was the main reason of my survival in the underworld so far. I worked alone, discrete and I never left any clues. Coming down from the stairs into the basement parking or using elevator was not safe. I did the complete reconnaissance and found out that the best way in and out of the parking was through the garbage truck. The truck would come to clean the huge bin in basement every eight hours. The midnight shift truck was on its way when I stopped my bike in front of it. I had stolen this bike last night from other end of the city. The truck driver had to apply brakes. While still wearing the helmet, I walked up to him. He was annoyed but seemed curious. I pulled out my gun and now he was frightened too. All his expressions got mixed up and he started begging me for his life. He extended his mobile phone towards me but I told him to get down from the truck. He obliged instantly. I had stopped the truck on a link road and there was hardly any traffic there. A couple of cars and few motorcycle riders passed by us but they did not pay heed to what was happening around there. They were probably used to seeing these scenes and might have been a victim of such crimes themselves. So, they chose to look the other way.

I did not waste much time. It only took me less than two minutes to remove the orange overall of the driver, tie him up, put a tape on his mouth and throw him in the back container. I did not forget to hit his head with my Glock’s butt, hard enough for him to remain motionless for few hours. I then removed my face helmet and wore the orange overall. I pushed the stolen motorbike in the bushes and was now driving the garbage truck to the mall basement with a surgical mask on my face. I drove past the entrance guard who seeing the usual truck opened the barrier. I stopped the truck near the bin and sneaked close to the V8 of Seth Ramzan. Suddenly the elevator door opened and I saw the Seth’s driver coming out and walking towards the land cruiser. I was on other side of the jeep in complete darkness. He was not able to see me. I only had few seconds to finish my work so I immediately lied down. I stuck the magnetic explosive device underneath belly of the jeep and without producing any sound I slipped under the adjacent vehicle. A second later, Seth’s driver walked in the aisle, opened the door and drove out the Jeep. Five minutes later, I took out the garbage truck from the basement parking exit. The guard waved at me and I waved back.

I was now waiting outside standing at a place from where I could observe the mall. The jeep was parked in porch area. I had a binocular with me and I could clearly see main entrance of the mall. I had watched Seth Ramzan from here at multiple times. It was sharp 1 am when Seth Ramzan walked out with a bodyguard and sat in the jeep. The guard after closing the rear door sat on front seat and the jeep started moving slowly. There were other vehicles also getting out of the mall. I did not want anybody else to get hurt. I allowed the Seth’s jeep to come towards me. It was now racing fast and so was my heart. Seth Ramzan was owner of the mall and someone wanted him dead. I was paid my usual fee and I never asked why. He was my one hundredth target.  I still felt like the same as twenty years ago when I shot the first human being. The concept of hardening of heart seemed a lie to me. 

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I came to Karachi in the March of 1998. I had big dreams. I wanted to become a billionaire overnight. I was like a small child trying to grapple the moon. Shortest route was of course the hardest. I cannot forget my first day in the city when I was robbed of all my valuables at gun point in the broad day light. I had just disembarked from the bus. I had to change three buses to reach Karachi. I left the bus station and came on main road. Suddenly two persons riding a motorcycle stopped near me. They both were wearing helmets. I thought they were lost and wanted to ask the way. I was myself new here so I looked at them puzzlingly. However sensing the danger, I secured my bag with both my hands. The person sitting at the rear of the bike took out a gun and put it on my head. He grabbed my bag and shouted at me to leave it. I was traumatized and could not hold my bag. I slacked the grip and he pulled it to his lap. All my savings were in that bag. Seeing my future vaporize, my heart sank. In an instant, I decided to do something. Adrenaline kicked in me and all my senses got heightened. I could now hear my heartbeat with my own ears. My respiration became heavy. All my body muscles were tightened. My pupils got dilated and I was ready to react. The moment bike started moving I picked up a stone and threw it at them with my utmost force. It went past the rear person and hit the robber who was steering the bike. He was already very panicky and the stone hitting his head made him loose his nerves. He started going in zigzag motion and ended up slamming in an incoming truck.  With the screeching sound, the bike got flattened and both the robbers were smashed under the 18-wheeler. The truck did not stop. People started gathering there. I walked up to them. My handbag was still clutched in the hands of a robber whose body was divided into two portions. I pulled up my blood covered bag. Just few feet from them I saw the pistol lying on the road. I picked it up. Then I took a last look at their crushed bodies and I calmly walked away. The crowd was stunned. No one uttered a word. My heart was broken but my soul was intact. It was my day one in the city and already two persons were down. I do not even place them in my count of 99.

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Land Cruiser of Seth Ramzan was approaching fast. Range of my remote control was much wider. It even reached up to the mall entrance but I still had not pressed the button. I was thinking of all my crimes and I asked myself do I deserve redemption? I had killed ninety nine people and was about to make a century. Where will it end? I was getting lost in my thoughts. Seth Ramzan’s jeep was now stopped at the red traffic signal near the building on whose rooftop I was standing. It was a 72 seconds stop and there was enough time for me to make a decision. I looked up towards the cloud riddled sky for some clue to my question of redemption. Suddenly the clouds scattered and full moon appeared. I had never seen such a bright moon especially on the Karachi sky. I looked at it for a while and recalled the promise I made to Resham. I knew she would still be sitting on rooftop of her mud house and watching the moon. Just a thought of her made my heart ache. I could now see her face in the moon. She glittered and shined but her eyes were sad. The moon somehow connected our hearts. I had her mobile phone number. Someone from my village met me once and gave it to me. He told me that she sits all day at the canal bridge looking at the mud track leading to the main road. He also told me that she asks everyone going to Karachi to look for you and to tell you that Resham is waiting for you. I had never called her or contacted anyone else from my past. I was on top of the hit list of many dons. Law enforcing agencies were also out there hounding for me. Anyone associated with me can turn out to be my weak link. The traffic signal displayed 28 seconds remaining. I was holding remote control in my left hand and held my mobile phone in my right hand with her number displayed in the quick dial list. I had to press the remote control button and blow up Seth Ramzan or press the dial button on my mobile phone and talk to Resham. Nine seconds were remaining.         

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Life in the big city was hectic. It was even harder than farming. I had sold all my agriculture land which I inherited and had come to Karachi in search of a better life for my future generations. To achieve this purpose, first I had to begin a successful business and then start a family life. New place is always more challenging. I did not know anyone around. I could not trust anybody. I had no prior knowledge or experience of any business. All I had was some money and a will to fight. I was a good wrestler and had won many titles in the sports competitions held during annual festival at the shrine of Sufi Pir Sher Baksh in our district Ghotki. I had left that life behind. I had left Resham behind. I had promised her that I will come back in two to three years and will then take her with me. She had to wait and I was sure she will wait all her life for me. She was my fiancé. We were engaged since our childhood. She did not stop me from going to the city as she did not stop me from selling my share of land. She never stopped me from doing anything. She considered herself to be part of me. In our last meeting, she said, “Faqeer Mohammad, we may have two bodies but we have one soul. I will be with you wherever you go. I will remember you with every beat of my heart and with every bit of my thought. I will remember you with every breath I inhale and with every breath I exhale. You only have to do one thing, my love. At midnight on every full moon night, just glance at the moon for a while and think about me. I will be doing the same. I will do the same till you come and take me away. You should do the same as long as you love me.”            

She had never expressed herself explicitly as she did that night. I had always taken her for granted as you take yourself for granted. I never realized she is a separate entity having emotions of her own. After coming to Karachi, I watched the full moon thinking about her for many months.  For past many years though, I have stopped going out on moonlit nights. I have stopped watching the moon. It reminds me of her. It reminds me of all the promises I made to her. I have done so many bad things in my city life that I do not want even my shadow to fall on her pure love.

Clouds covered the moon. It was dark again. I looked down at the traffic signal which had turned yellow. I closed my eyes and pressed the button of remote control. I knew I had become a dragon, and I was just waiting for my slayer. It was my only redemption.

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Part-2

There was a huge blast at the traffic signal. Jeep of Seth Ramzan was blown into pieces. There was no chance of anybody’s survival in that vehicle. Few nearby cars also got damaged due to flying parts of the jeep but I was sure there would not be any serious causality. I used a device which had a focused and controlled explosion. There is always some collateral damage which I had to accept. My mission was accomplished. I took a last glance at the mayhem from the roof top of a high rise building where I had established my observation post. I then cleaned the remote control of any finger prints before tossing it into a pile of bricks. I picked my backpack which contained all my necessary documents, money and travel accessories, and walked down the stairs. No emergency vehicle had yet arrived at the scene. Some people had gathered there and were still figuring out as to what had happened. I crossed the road and sat in a cab which was standing on other side of the traffic signal. Cab driver was sitting inside but was busy watching the pandemonium across the road. He did not even notice me getting in the back seat of his cab. I touched his shoulder and said, “Airport.” He looked back at me with blank looks and started moving forward. I saw the fear of death in somebody’s eyes for the first time.

Shahrah e Faisal was deserted at that time of the night. I reached airport at 2 am. I was right in time. I was proceeding to Johannesburg in South Africa and my flight was three hours from now. It was a twelve hours flight via Dubai. I did not need to carry any baggage as I had a furnished apartment in Johannesburg and a beach hut in Durban. I landed at Johannesburg airport at 2 pm local time. From the airport I straight went to Mayfair West through Queen’s road where I had a business of car rentals. Ghulam Rasul, manager and caretaker of my business and properties in South Africa was not surprised at all to see me. He got up and gave me a hug. He was my childhood friend and I had literally kidnapped him from my village. As I sat down, he made coffee for me and said, “FM, I knew you will come today. Karachi is shut down. Seth Ramzan owned half of the underworld. You should have not taken this contract. Karachi is now out of bound for you.” He was the only person who called me FM. He loved me like his brother and was always worried about me. I did not say a word and continued to drink my coffee. Seth Ramzan was my biggest hit. I could have easily avoided this contract but I was getting too casual in selection of my targets. I was probably nearing my end. I just smiled at him and asked “how are things going here?” He put his hand on mine and replied, “You need not to worry about here. Just go to your Durban beach hut and relax there for a while. You should not be seen here as well.” He then got up and gave me keys of his car and said, “Go to my apartment and take some rest. First thing you should do in the morning is to drive down to Durban and FM, do not come back here till I give you a clearance signal.” I took keys from him, saluted him with my left hand as I always did in our village school and said, “Ok boss.”

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Ghulam Rasul lived next door to my house in the village. We had a common wall between our homes which was not much of a barrier for us. We both seldom used doors to visit each other. We studied in our only village school till 8^th and then went to the neighboring village for high school education. Me, Resham and Ghulam Rasul proceeded to school together, played together and even ate together. We were welcome in either of our houses at any time of the day. Resham also lived in the same street, just few houses from ours. We were a non-separable trio till our class 8^th. Resham was not allowed to go to High School but we still played together in the evening and ran around in our fields of wheat. It was then that I fell in love with Resham. We were already engaged as both our fathers were close friends. It was mutually decided that we will be married after I give the matric examination. However, I insisted on studying further and took admission in a college in Ghotki. I wanted to do graduation before getting married. Our parents objected to that but Resham was my biggest supporter. She always backed me on my every decision. She even backed me when I completed my graduation and wanted to venture out my luck in Karachi. By now I had lived in a small city and seen Karachi couple of times. I knew the village life had no future. The city of lights was calling me and I answered its call. By then my father had died and I took my share of land from my brothers. Resham supported me in going to the city and establish my life there. I promised her to come back in two to three years and then take her with me. Ghulam Rasul was my only friend who did not support my decision. He knew me perhaps more than myself.

My life in Karachi started with a blood stained bag in my one hand and a pistol in the other. Someone in the crowd had identified my lust for money and followed me to a lonely street. Hearing his footsteps, I turned back. I recognized the man with curly hair who was standing near me when I had thrown the stone at robbers. I immediately took out pistol from my pocket though I did not know even how to hold it right. The man seeing my reaction quickly raised his hands and said, ‘Don’t shoot. I am here to help you.” I remained quiet but kept the gun pointed at him. He sensed some interest from my side and talked again, “You look new in the city. Follow me. I will take you to my boss who will arrange a job for you and will also give you a place to live.” He then started walking in front of me and did not care whether I follow him or not. I tucked the gun in my pocket and started pacing behind him. I had no other place to go. After crossing few streets, the curly haired man entered into an automobile workshop where few mechanics were working on the old vintage cars. He walked through them and went into a room. He signaled me with his hand to stop outside before entering the room. After about two minutes, he came out and took me inside. The room was small but the man half lying on the charpoy was huge. When he rose, he was much taller than I had expected. He looked at me from head to toe and then extended his arm. I shook his hand and thus entered into the surreptitious world of assassination, executions and deception. There was no place for love and affection in my newly found realm.                      

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After spending about three years of my life with Aslam Mota, I had decided to go solo. He had taught me every skill I needed to survive in this field. The first thing I did was to establish a secure base outside the country. Aslam Mota had taken me to South Africa couple of times and I had made few contacts there. I called them and they helped me in starting a new business in Johannesburg. I had enough money to begin a small business but it was not sufficient to lead a luxury life, a life for which I had left everything behind. It was though a good start but I needed continuous flow of money for which I had to return to Karachi. I also needed some trusted partner to look after my interests in South Africa. The first person who came in my mind was Ghulam Rasul. He was in fact the only person who came in my mind and I started planning about getting him here. I knew he would never his village and his old parents to come over here. I therefore needed to be very meticulous and scrupulous.

I was back in Karachi and not working for Aslam Mota anymore. He was angry and looking for me. I had to hit him before he gets to me. He probably did not expect me to walk in his den in the broad day light. He trusted his men and it was his biggest mistake. I knew money can buy anything and I had bought them all. He tried to get up from his favorite charpoy when I walked into the small room behind the workshop. I instructed him to keep lying there and not to move an inch. He looked at the curly haired man who was sitting with him in the room and told him to shoot me. The curly haired man took out his gun and rather pointed it at him. The red faced Aslam Mota turned pale much before the curly haired man shot two bullets in his chest and one in his head, the hallmark of assassinations taught to us by Aslam Mota himself. We then sat there as nothing had happened and started planning about getting Ghulam Rasul out of the village.

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The curly haired man had gone to my village and I was waiting desperately for his call. I was staying in a hotel in Ghokti. We had planned each and every step very carefully. The curly haired man first had to sneak into the house of Ghulam Rasul, steal his axe and then go to Hashim Khan’s house and kill him with that axe. Ghulam Rasul’s family had a long standing land dispute with Hashim Khan and there had been many altercations between them. My plan was to get Ghulam Rasul entangled in the murder of his enemy and then extricate him out of there to avoid the legal repercussions. Everything went as per the plan. Curly haired man reached hotel in the morning and gave me a detailed briefing. We followed up the case till police apprehended Ghulam Rasul since his axe was found as the murder weapon and he had a strong motive too. On the same night when Ghulam Rasul was arrested, I went to my village after five years. The curly haired man dropped me before the canal bridge and I told him to wait for me there. I walked up very discretely to Ghulam Rasul’s house. I entered his house by crossing over the wall and woke up his father who was sleeping in the courtyard. It was full moon night. There was sufficient light to look around. Ghulam Rasul’s father was initially very surprised to see me but then he started crying. He told me that police has arrested his son on suspicion of murder. I acted as I knew nothing. I told him that I came to village only to meet Ghulam Rasul. I also advised him not to let anyone know about my arrival and I will do something to keep his son out of the prison. I told him to come to Ghotki tomorrow and gave him name of the hotel. I then walked out of his house and went straight through the street. It was exact midnight and I could see a shadow on the roof of next house. I knew it was Resham. She was looking at the moon. I stopped there for a moment, staring at her and my heart started racing fast. “It is not the right time. I must go”, I thought and wiped my tear. I had never cried before.     
(To be continued....)          

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Written By: Nadeem Alam

Other stories by same author (click below):
The Dragon : Part 3 and 4
Mount Kaaf (4 x Parts)
My Million Little Pieces
Urdu Afsana - Tere Dar Per Sanam