Tarak was pacing the sidewalk waiting for a cop to arrive. A car had collided with his car because the guy had run a red light. He wanted to settle it between themselves, but the guy had insisted on calling the cops.
So, now they were waiting for a cop to show up and it was obvious that whoever it was took his sweet time. He checked his watch and growled, it has been an hour since the other guy had called them.
He was about to walk over to the other guy to ask him again if they couldn't solve it between them, when finally a police car stopped. "It's about time." He mumbled. He walked towards the car as the officer excited, with his back towards him. āNice ass,ā he mumbled. āStop it Tarak.ā He reprimanded himself. "Officer!" He called out. The man turned around and Tarak stopped dead in his tracks, he was hot.
"Yes?" The officer walked towards him.
Tarak kept looking at him with his mouth slightly opened. "Sir are you okay?" The officer asked.
Tarak shook his head, keep it together man, he thought. "Uhm, yeah sorry."
"Okay, what happened here?" The officer asked.
āIt is nothing major, I didn't even want to call you but the other guy insisted." Tarak explained.
The other guy had joined them and started to rant. "He wasn't looking and hit me!"
"You ran a stoplight, it was red." Tarak retorted calmly.
"No, I didn't, it was orange!" The other man stated.
Tarak sighed and looked at the officer, he read his name tag, Ram Charan. "I had green, so you had red. It is obviously your fault."Ā
"No, it was your fault!" The other man got angry.
"Okay, what exactly happened?" Ram asked, pulling out a notebook.
"He," The other man pointed at Tarak. "Hit me."
"Gadida guddenkaadu." Tarak mumbled.
Ram looked at him. "Telugu?" He asked him.
"Yes!" Tarak grinned. "Where are you from?"
"Chennai?" Ram answered. "You?"
"Hyderabad. Small world." Tarak extended his hand. "Taraka Ramo Rao, but friends call me Tarak."
Ram shook it.Ā "Ram Charan Teja, friends call me Cherry."
"Hey!" The other man called out angrily.
"Sorry, sir." Ram looked at him. He looked around and spotted the camera. He pointed at it and smiled. "We have it on camera." He took his phone and was about to dial the police station when the man interrupted him.
"Uhm, sir he was right." He stated.
Ram looked at him, raising his eyebrows. "AreĀ you sure?"
"Yes, yes." The man nodded and handed his papers to Ram.
Ram looked at Tarak and smiled. "Can I have your papers too?"
"Of course." Tarak handed him his papers.
Ram took them and wrote down his details, he gave back the papers to Tarak and their hands touched. "Uhm, here you go." He cleared his throat and he turned to face the other man. "Here are your papers." He gave the man his papers. He wrote a ticket and handed it over to him.
"What?" The man got angry. "This much? Are you crazy? I am not paying this!"
"What do you think you have to pay him for the damages?" Ram deadpanned, pointing at Tarak. He looked at him. "You are not going to give him any trouble? I know where you live."
"I am not going to pay that either!" The man yelled.
"Well, technically your insurance company will pay." Tarak sighedĀ he hoped that he wasn't going to be too difficult about it all, he had just bought the car.
"How can you even afford a car like that, drugs?" The man asked him.
"Yeah, what else." Tarak retorted. "I have brown skin, so I must be a drug dealer. How about him?" Tarak pointed at Ram. "He must be corrupt, right?"
The man looked at Ram. āHow much?ā
āHow much what?ā Ram knew exactly what he meant, but he wanted to hear him say it.
āHow much to make this go away?ā The man held up the ticket. ā1000, 2000?ā
Ram raised an eyebrow and smirked. āYou just didnāt offer me money, did you?ā
ā3000?ā The man walked closer to Ram. āCome on man, thatās a fair offer, right?ā
Ram waited until the man was close enough and grabbed him by the shoulder. āTurn around, youāre under arrest.ā He pulled out his handcuffs and cuffed the man.
āThis is all your fault.ā The man looked at Tarak.
āOh,shut up.ā Ram growled and led the man to his police car. After putting him on the backseat, he turned to Tarak. āThe gas company is coming this afternoon. You handle that?ā He asked Tarak.
Tarak nodded. āDonāt forget to come to Pujaās school this evening. Mom will watch Raju.ā
āI already told the boss that I will be leaving earlier.ā Ram winked at him.
āWhat the hell.ā The man cursed in the backseat. āYou two know each other?"
Ram held up his hand with the ring. āWe are actually married.ā