A Better Rogue

Balca Eryilmaz '20

Students fulfilled a creative assignment in conjunction with R.K. Narayan's short story "Trail of the Green Blazer," set in a marketplace in India. Narayan writes the story in third person from the point-of-view of Raju, a pickpocket, who targets an arrogant, wealthy-looking tourist identified as "The Green Blazer." After stealing The Green Blazer's wallet, Raju develops guilt over his act and tries to return the wallet to The Green Blazer's pocket -- at which point The Green Blazer catches Raju, beats him, and ensures that he is sent to jail. Students composed a narrative from the POV of the Green Blazer in order to reveal his imagined backstory.

I wake up to little Abhay tugging at my linen trousers, his sky blue eyes eager to see me. His guffaws surround me, creating a prosaic bubble in the bleak room in which I sleep. I run my hand across my scraggly beard, in desperate need of a shave. The room is blanketed in radiant, thin stripes generated by the wooden blinds. The smell of dhondas wafts into the room, coaxing my frail legs to carry my empty stomach to the kitchen. Abhay takes my hand and his sweet, cherry lips curl at each end, forming a smile. He leads me to the marble stairs, each step accompanied with an abrupt cold sensation at the tips of my feet. His chubby fingers cling closely to mine, warm, soft and familiar. We get to the kitchen and I pull Abhay onto my lap and he begins to nibble on a piece of dhonda, licking his delicate fingers with each bite.

“Jahaan maan (where mom)?” he exclaims in broken Hindi, giggling while putting his hands in his mouth.

I can see his two baby teeth shyly peeking out of his gums as he says this. I run my callused fingers through his greasy, curly hair, reminding me to give him a bath later that day, a job his mother has left for me to do now. I distinctly remember the day she left. Tears racing down the blushed apples of her cheeks to her rounded chin. Her eyes, oh her glossy eyes were the most beautiful I had ever seen, like the color of my polished green blazer. She said she had found someone else, someone “better.”

“Raju reciprocates the love I have for him. The spark you and me once had was just a spark. It never had any hope of turning into a lustful fire.”

I’ll tell you, those words hurt like fire, burning me with each flicker. Little did she know she married a rogue, a pickpocket! That damn fool tried to steal my purse and the balloon I wanted to buy for Abhay just the other day. That damn fool…