The Theft

Deepak was clear, very clear, the theft has to be done, he needed it badly, very badly, and the question which remained was “how” he was going to do it.

It was a bright afternoon; he couldn’t make a perfect plan. If not this afternoon he will lose track of it, perhaps never see it again! The thought made him shudder; he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He practiced this for long but reality was much bigger on him. He took deep breath again and turned to the guy next to him; “George”, his voice croaked: “I need your help, I am not sure how to tell you about this but I am planning for a robbery…!”  George just laughed thinking it was a joke, but seeing Deepak’s expression, the look on his face changed dramatically from a smile to frown.
George: “what is it you are planning to steal?” Deepak’s reply brought a change in his look again, stiff and nervous, his eyes were just a gash now.

Deepak: “So are you in…?”

George, deep in thought: “hmmm… yes I am in… what is your plan?”

Deepak: “Yeah… about that, I don’t have plan but this has to be done today afternoon!”

George: “You are INSANE! You could have told me this before and why today? Can’t we work out a plan and do it later”

Deepak: “No it has to be today, I have been tracking it for almost a month, it comes back today, and if we don’t get it today it will be lost, perhaps forever!”

George: “What time are you planning?”

Deepak: “12:00 PM, I have double checked that’s when he comes with it”

George his voice hesitant: “Let’s do this!”

George, short and stout, stood up adjusted his belt and straightened his shirt. Deepak, lanky and smart, pushed his spectacles deeper into his pointed nose and checked his watch it was 11:50; “Nothing is going to stop us”

But right then they heard a rumbling voice, which sends shivers across the spine: “Deepak and George, if you both open your mouth again I am going to throw you out of the class! Do you have any shame? Act matured, you are in Tenth now!” They both sneered hearing that, she had no idea what they were about to do! Ten more minutes they will have their “Lunch Break”.

The bell rang; noise erupted unanimously from all the classes, kids ran out of classes like Wild River! Deepak and George walked cautiously making sure that they attracted no attention upon themselves. They reached the third floor corridor and lurked in the corner, George: “are you sure about this?”

Deepak: “I held them in my hands and the feel is too addictive; you have no idea how much I want it, I was stupid enough to let it go, and I got to have it back! I am not changing my …!” before he could finish his sentence he saw the person whom they were waiting for! He remembered him well, for he has been tracking him for more than one month, he was a ninth standard boy, too short and thin for his age, they could easily knock him down and get it but that would draw attention. He went past them, Deepak and George followed the boy, as expected he entered the last door in the floor, they followed him. Room was filled with students of all ages, some of them searching the shelf, few reading magazine, few chatting in corner, the “LIBRARY” was a big room. They saw the boy carrying “THE BOOK” and produce it before the librarian; the librarian scribbled something and threw the book into a box.

Deepak: “You kept wondering what I was doing in lunch time, I’ll show you what I was doing… wait here, don’t come until I signal you”. Saying this Deepak went in the direction of the librarian, raised his hand in a saluting posture and said “hello sir…!” he struck up a nice conversation with him, slowly he gestured towards the box and asked him if he could help him with it, librarian nodded in agreement, Deepak collected few books and started placing them in respective book shelves. He came for the second round and collected few more books, this time he signaled George to join him. They met in a corner, Deepak was clutching “THE BOOK” as if his life depended on it, and he spoke in a whisper: “do you see the window on the left; it faces backside of the school, it is a over grown waste land, I want you go there and stand, I’ll throw the book out of the window when no one is watching, collect the book and lets meet in class!” George could hardly breathe, what if they were caught, he had no idea what would be the punishment. He nodded and ran as fast his leg could carry him, he jumped over the cycle stand and came exactly below the library window and waited. It felt like he was waiting for years together, the staff room window also faced in the same direction, what staff would think if they saw a school boy standing outside school compound and gawking into the sky! Just then he saw, no hand appeared in window, it was as if someone aimed and threw the book out of window, it came down faster than he anticipated, but still he managed to grab it before it hit the ground. He didn’t wait to take breaths, he ran, like his life depended on it, he made it to his class on in record time! He pushed the book into Deepak’s bag and sat down, still and unmoved, his gaze fixed on something far far away!

He waited and waited but Deepak never came, bell rang again, lunch break was over, yet Deepak never came, was he caught? Was he in trouble? He started to take in sharp breaths, just then Deepak walked in pushing glasses deep into his nose and with a triumphant smile!

Deepak: “did you get it?”

George couldn’t even nod his head, but made an eye gesture towards Deepak’s bag.

 Deepak sat down next to George: “we are in luck you know! The next book comes in tomorrow! I need this more than the one we got!”

George almost screamed in fear, again and that too tomorrow, he needed more time “how do you know?”

Deepak: “Just like last time, I checked the library register and checked the due date of the book, and I know who took it too, she comes in my school bus. She must have finished reading it; records show that she has been extending the due date for many weeks now. We will follow what we did today, it will be fine, no one will know”

George gulped down a lump which kept forming in his throat, “yeah sure!”

Next day, things went way wrong, it was raining cats and dogs throughout the day, and backside of the school had formed a puddle. George felt a big knot in his stomach; Deepak seemed to be more focused.  George in a meek voice: “can’t we do this another day?”

Deepak: “NO! We will find a way!”

The lunch bell rang, the sound seemed to be too loud for George, he felt weak, he tried to stand up but his body wouldn’t budge. Deepak was already walking out of class, somehow George caught up to him. They checked the girl’s class, she was not there; panicking they ran to library. They arrived just in time to see her returning “THE BOOK”. Again Deepak volunteered to return books to the shelves. This time he signaled George to join him sooner, Deepak shoved the book into George’s hand and said: “put the book inside your shirt, tuck it in with your pants near your belly” George’s eyes were wide in horror, he fumbled with the book, Deepak pushed him into the corner of the library, George tucked the book inside his shirt and turned around. Deepak’s face turned pale, the book was protruding out of his big belly; one could see the shape of book even a mile away! Deepak asked George to remove the book and put it in the shelf near him, Deepak continued placing the book in the respective shelves. George just stood in corner, breathless; Deepak returned with last set of books, he grabbed “THE BOOK” out of the shelf and tucked it inside his shirt this time. He held his lungful of air; the small bulge because of the book seems to have disappeared now. Now it all depended on how long he could hold his breath. He continued placing the last set of books in shelf, after placing them he took a magazine and sat down in the last row of the reading section. He waited until the lunch break bell, he stood up and walked in heart of the crowd, everyone was hurrying to get back to the class. He increased his pace but also making sure that he didn’t draw attention. Deepak reached the class and smoothed “THE BOOK” into his back and crashed into the seat taking deep breath.

Just then the boy sitting behind him patted him on his shoulder, Wordsy: “Did you just pull a book out of your shirt?”

Deepak was shocked, his heart skipped a beat, and how could he be so careless at the last moment. George was by his side now, the look on George’s face was even worse. Before George or Deepak could react, Wordsy took the book out of the bag; it had school library seal over it. He turned to the duo and asked: “did you guys steal this from library?” neither of them spoke, but from the look on their face Wordsy understood from where they got it. Wordsy smiled, “Cool! Neat!!!” George and Deepak looked at each other and then looked back to Wordsy, “Stop worrying, I am not going to turn you guys in but what is so special about this book that you had to steal it from the library?”

Deepak sounded thankful: “you have to read it to know it!”

Wordsy: “so do you mind if I borrowed it to read?”

Deepak knew he was in no position to refuse: “Yeah sure, but please do return it to me!”

Wordsy nodded and smiled, he turned the book to see its name and it read:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone