A Friendly Kidnap

It had been around two years since I had relocated from Pune to Mumbai for work. It was difficult to catch up with my engineering friends in Pune after the transfer. Nonetheless, I made every effort to visit Pune at least once every two months.

On one such occasion, I was in Pune, or more precisely, Hinjawadi, on the outskirts of the city. It was 9:00 p.m. on Saturday. I got a call from my friend.

"Hello."

"There's no time for hi, hello. Where are you right now, Mumbai or Pune?", my friend asked.

"Pune."

"Great. Where in Pune?"

"Hinjawadi."

"I'll call you in an hour. Bye."

At 10:15 p.m., I received his phone call again. I had a feeling he was on his way to see me. I didn't say "hello" this time.

"Phase three. Mega...".

"Ok. Bye."

He wouldn't let me finish telling him the name of the housing building.

In the next 15 minutes.

"Apartment at Megapolis Sunway..."

"Ok. Meet me at the gate in 5 mins. Bye."

It appeared to be an emergency, so I went downstairs and waited for him at the entrance. I could see a motorcycle coming towards me. He was the one. We were meeting after around 2 years. He was accompanied by someone, maybe his friend. To be honest, he appeared to be quite scary.

The scary guy got down and my friend asked me to sit on his motorcycle. The scary guy then sat behind me.

"Where are we going?", I asked quietly.

"You'll know.", replied my friend.

My friend was searching for something as we were wandering around the neighbourhood. He finally came to a halt in front of an ATM. The scary guy got off the motorcycle and so did I.

"Go and get 25,000. It's urgent.", said my friend.

"But, what's going on?", I made an attempt to ask.

"Just go and do as I say."

I walked in. I got the money. I passed it on to my friend. He didn't count it and kept it in his pocket. We both sat on his motorcycle (this time I was behind the scary guy). I was dropped off at the same gate. And then he was gone.

I received his message after around 5 or 6 months.

"Share your account information."

And within the next 10 minutes, I received a message stating that my account had been credited of 25,000.

True friends don't ask for anything. Rather, take.