Page 8 of Wicked Trap

“You are still blocking their way and interrupting the regular operations of the company.”

“Then ask a representative of Prism Corporation to speak with us. Ask them to ensure they won’t go ahead with destroying the City Central Park. I’m sure most of your families have visited the park too. How can you allow its destruction?”

The cops looked uncomfortable.

One of them spoke to her. “We have to follow orders and clear out the protest.”

“I’m sorry, sir. But we can’t just walk away without trying to save the trees and fighting for our future health. You are welcome to do what you have to do.”

She knew the police were helpless in such situations. They were forced to do their jobs. But at the same time, she couldn’t give in.

“Save City Central Park!”

“Save our lungs!”

“Save our future!”

“Stop Prism Corporation!”

The protest continued while the police watched from the sidelines. The crowd was a decent size but not too big. A protester shouted when something hit him on his shoulder.

Tanvi frowned. The protester was standing next to a policeman, and a stone seemed to have hit him.

She turned around quickly to see who had thrown the stone. Most people held placards or were senior citizens. Her eyes fell on a huge man who looked out of place from the protesting crowd. He was maintaining eye contact with a few other men at a distance who appeared huge like him.

They looked more like hired goons she often saw at her father’s house. She noticed that those men weren’t chanting slogans either. They were watching silently. One of those men raised his hand, and she could see a big stone.

“Hey, stop!” she shouted.

But it was too late. The man threw the stone at someone.

There was a cry of pain. But this time, the stone hit a policeman’s head. And it hit hard enough to make him bleed profusely.

Immediately, chaos ensued.

“Charge!”

The silently watching police personnel now became aggressive when one of their own was hurt.

“Wait! It wasn’t a protester who threw the stone!” she shouted. “It was those men!” she pointed.

The cops didn’t listen. But the men who sabotaged the protest must have heard her and seen her. A huge man charged towards her with a menacing look and with something hidden in his hand behind him.

Is he one of them?

Her heart thudded. Although she wanted to get away towards safety, she couldn’t leave the protesters behind.

The man continued to charge towards her. Just as he neared and was about to deliberately crash into her, another tall man came into the path. Tanvi couldn’t see who it was. She could only notice the dark blue checkered shirt on a broad back and a somewhat familiar whiff of cologne. Before she could register anything, she was dragged away by a group of policewomen. Her hands were cuffed behind her.

She was then pushed towards a police van where other protesters were being similarly arrested.

***

“You wrongfully arrested us all!” Tanvi stated.

She was held in the nearby police station along with other protesters. The protesters were thankfully placed in separate jail cells that didn’t contain any real criminals. And since there were too many, the cops didn’t separate them by the sexes and pushed them randomly into two jail cells.

Tanvi didn’t get to speak to her jail mates yet. She was still arguing with the police.

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