It was very cold that night. At midnight my mother took out another blanket from the cupboard and wrapped it around my body. Getting two blankets on his body made him feel like he was playing boxing. I tried to sleep and then I remembered Rafu.
I'm sleeping wrapped in two blankets and Rafu is probably groaning in this cold winter. I fell asleep thinking about all this. I woke up in the morning at the call of my mother. I got up, took off my college dress and immediately ran to fill my bag with the money I had deposited in the bank. Mom is calling from behind and shouting,
Won't you take a bath and go to college today?
I shouted louder, mom, mind bath is a big bath. You don't have to take a bath every day in winter. The younger brother stopped his mother with a smile and said, "Hey, mother, why are you shouting? Look, maybe Abanti Apu has called, so your son has been deceived in a hurry." Who doesn't know that brother loves Avanti Apu.
I came to the market and took out the money including Shubh. I separated the five, ten, twenty, one hundred taka notes, then the two of them went to the shop and bought a blanket and stood in front of the college gate. Rafu laughed when he saw us from a distance. We gave him the blanket. I got a blanket and saw Eid happy in Rafu's eyes.
The boy's name was Rafi and we used to call him Rafu. A little boy will probably be ten or eleven years old. Our college used to sell nuts and boots.
My acquaintance with Rafu was during my first year of college. My private was at 6 in the morning so I had to go at 8. One day sir it was getting late so I was walking around the campus. I haven't seen much of Anache Kanach in college since I was admitted. I went and sat on the steps of the Shaheed Minar. After a while a boy stood in front of me with a basket of nuts and said,
Brother, will you eat nuts? Give me nuts. Or wear boots? I will give boots for five rupees. I put the bag on the right side and said,
Yes. Boot this. Rafu wrapped it in paper and extended his five taka boot towards me. When I paid for the boots, Rafu left. Rafu raises his head, straightens his stomach and walks slowly. I'm looking at him from behind. After a while Rafu was walking in front of me again from the other side of the campus and I called Rafu. - Come here once in a while. As soon as Rafu came forward in front of me, Rafu gave a simple smile. I said, - What's your name? The boy smiled and said,
My name is Rafi ......
- Do you study?
- No, brother.
- At this age you are supposed to go to primary school. Carry a school bag on your shoulder. But, why are you burdened with almond boots at this age.
- Brother, when Ritika was one year old, her father died, mother said. Mother can't run the family just by sewing. Nowadays mother's body is not going well. So now I have to run the family.
I couldn't find anything else to say after listening to Rafu's words so I asked him to give me ten more rupees worth of boots and nuts. Wrapped in paper again, Rafu gave me boot-nuts. I took these from Rafu's hand and told him to sit next to me. Once he said that, Rafu came and sat next to him. I put the nuts and boots in Rafu's hand and said,
I see you eat these for you. And listen, your name is Rafi, from today I will call you Rafu. Rafu didn't say anything when he heard me, he just started laughing. The reason for this laughter is who doesn't love to get a new name. Or this kind of talk of mine. Whatever it was, I liked Rafu's smile.
From that day onwards, I used to go to eat nuts from Rafu every day. Whenever he saw me, Rafu would say, "Brother Badam Khan, you don't have to pay." I used to jigsaw in college one day, why didn't you come tomorrow, brother.
- Gradually the intensity of our relationship continues to grow.
My friends are growing day by day in college. My friends also started getting acquainted with Rafu. One by one, Rafu became the jewel in everyone's eye. Most of the time we would go out of college and go to the hotel for breakfast with Rafu. The rest of my friends also loved Rafu a lot.
There is another reason why they love Rafu so much. I still vividly remember one day when I went to pay for a good nut, a note of Rs. Shubh kept the money to register the scout's t-shirt. Rafu keeps the money to himself and at the end of the class when I and Shuvo sit on the edge of the pond, Rafu comes and gives the money. Shubh was happy and gave him one hundred rupees. When Rafu leaves, he says to keep the good money in his pocket,
- Dude, you see, at this age, boys like him are stealing and robbing, but look at him, he is working hard and honestly taking care of the family.
Every year during the winter, we see other friends also give him one winter dress. Some flower sleeves genji some sweater. That's what I would do.
Thus two years passed. Whether we wanted to or not, we used to take nuts every day so that Rafu would not have to return home empty handed. So many times Rafu didn't want to take money from us, we would give it even if we were forced to. If I could not see Rafu in college one day, I would feel empty. Everything seemed to be fine but there was something missing.
To be continued.
Thank you.
