One Night at the Call Center Read online

  “At least sit down,” I said.

  “I want him to apologize to Esha. The idiot has to watch what he says.”

  Esha continued to cry as Radhika tried to console her.

  “What do you care about a job? You're getting married. Women have it easy,” Vroom said.

  “Don't you start that with me now,” Priyanka said. She had reached her seat but refused to sit down. “You think this is easy?” She pointed a finger at Esha and Radhika.

  Vroom kept quiet and looked down.

  “Radhika has found out her husband is cheating on her when she works for him and his family day and night, and Esha can't get a fair break unless she sleeps with creepy men. But they aren't breaking monitors and yelling curses, Vroom. Just because we don't make a noise doesn't mean it's easy,” she said at the top of her voice.

  “Can we not talk for two minutes. Don't take calls, but at least keep quiet,” I pleaded.

  Radhika gave Esha a glass of water and she stopped crying. Priyanka sat down and opened her handmade calendar. When he saw the shattered pieces of glass on his desk, Vroom went silent.

  The silence gave me a chance to reflect on Bakshi's meeting. If I lost my job, what would I do? Become an agent again? I could probably forget about being a team leader.

  “I'm sorry,” Vroom mumbled.

  “What?” Esha said.

  “I'm sorry, Esha,” Vroom said, clearing his throat. “I said horrible and hurtful things. I was upset about something. Please forgive me.”

  “It's OK, Vroom. It only hurts because there's some truth in it,” Esha said with a wry smile.

  “I meant to say those horrible things to myself. Because,” Vroom said and banged two fists simultaneously on the table, “because the real hooker is me, not you.”

  “What?” I said.

  “Yes, this salary has hooked me. Every night I come here and let people fuck me,” Vroom said and picked up the telephone headset. “The Americans fuck me with this, in my ears hundreds of times a night. Bakshi fucks me with his management theories, backstabbing, and threats to fire us. And the funny thing is, I let them do it. For money, for security, I let it happen. Come fuck me some more,” Vroom said and threw the headset on the table.

  “Do you want some water?” Radhika said and handed him a glass.

  Vroom took it and drank the contents in one gulp. I wondered if he would throw the empty glass on the floor and shatter it to pieces too. Luckily he just banged it on the table.

  “Thanks,” Vroom said. “I needed that. I need a break, otherwise I'll go mad. I can't take this right now.”

  “I need a break, too,” Priyanka said. “It's all right, Vroom. Only a few more hours left and the shift will be over.”

  “No. I want a break now. I want to go for a drive. C'mon people, let's all go for a drive. I'll get the Qualis,” Vroom said and stood up.

  “Now? It's close to 3:00 a.m.,” I said.

  “Yes, now. Who gives a damn about the calls? You may not even have a job soon. Let's go.”

  “Actually, if someone is going, can you please get some pills for me from the 24-hour chemist?” Radhika said.

  “No, all of us are going,” Vroom said. “Get out of your chair, Shyam. If you come, everyone will come.”

  “I'm game,” Esha said.

  “OK, I'll come, too. Just for a bit of fresh air,” Priyanka said.

  I paused for a second. “OK, let's go. But we have to be back soon,” I said.

  “Where are we going?” Esha said, “I heard the new lounge bar Bed is close by.”

  “No way, we're just going for a drive,” I said, but Vroom interrupted me.

  “Great idea. Let's go to Bed; it's a damn cool place.”

  “But I need a real bed,” Radhika said and stretched her arms.

  We all got up from our chairs, deciding to leave individually to prevent suspicion.

  “Come on, Military Uncle,” Vroom said as he went to his desk.

  “Huh?” Uncle said, getting up. Normally he would have scoffed at Vroom, but I guess he was in too much pain over his son's e-mail to give a conscious reaction.

  “We're all going for a drive. The others will tell you everything. I'll get the Qualis,” Vroom said and switched off Uncle's monitor.

  Chapter 26

  3:00 a.m.

  AT 3:00 A.M. SHARP, we were outside the main entrance of Connections when a white Qualis drove up and stopped beside us.

  “Get in,” Vroom said, reaching over to open the doors.

  “It's so cold. What took you so long?” Esha said, getting in the front.

  “You try shifting a sound-asleep driver to another Qualis,” Vroom said.

  Radhika, Priyanka and I took the middle row, while Military Uncle preferred to sit by himself at the back. He looked slightly dazed. Maybe we all did.

  Vroom drove past the executive parking area and we saw Bakshi's white Mitsubishi Lancer.

  “Bakshi's got a flash car,” Esha said.

  Vroom inched the Qualis forward and stopped close to the Lancer. He switched on the Qualis headlights. Bakshi's car shone bright.

  “Can I ask a question? What's the penalty for running someone over?” Vroom said.

  “Excuse me?” I said.

  “What if we ran this Qualis over Bakshi? We could do it when he comes to pick up his car in the morning. How many years in jail are we talking?” Vroom said.

  It was a silly conversation, but Priyanka led him on anyway.

  “It depends on how the court sees it. If they see it as an accident and not as homicide or murder, about two years,” she said.

  Vroom restarted the engine and turned toward the exit gate.

  “Two years is not a lot. Can we divide it among the six of us? Four months each?” Vroom said.

  “I don't know. Ask a lawyer,” Priyanka shrugged.

  “Four months is nothing if it means getting rid of Bakshi.” Esha blew away a strand of hair that had fallen against her lips.

  “Just sixteen weekends of sacrifice. Weekdays are like jail anyway,” Vroom said. “How about it, guys?”

  By now we were on the highway, which was empty apart from a few trucks. India has a billion people, but at night, 99 percent of them are fast asleep. Then this land belongs to a chosen few: truck drivers, late-shift workers, doctors, hotel staff, and call-center agents. We, the nocturnal, temporarily rule the roads and the country. Vroom accelerated the Qualis to eighty kilometers an hour.

  “I doubt you can split the sentence. The driver gets all of it,” Priyanka said, still on the stupid Bakshi-homicide topic. “And if they know it's premeditated, you're talking ten years plus.”

  “Hmmm. Now ten years is a totally different equation. How about it, Shyam, still not too bad to eliminate Bakshi?”

  “OK, enough of this stupidity,” I said. “I thought you were taking us out for a drink.”

  “I'm just…” Vroom said, raising one hand from the steering wheel.

  “Shut up and drive. I need a drink,” I said.

  “Chemist first, please,” Radhika requested, giving herself a head massage.

  We dropped the topic of taking out Bakshi, though if the law allowed me one free murder in my life, I am clear he would have been top of the list. No wait, I'm forgetting my ex-girlfriend's mum. I really wouldn't know who to kill first, that's the truth. Vroom took a sharp right turn onto a road that led to a 24-hour chemist.

  Radhika was quiet as she waited. I guess Payal occupied half her mind, while the other half had a migraine.

  “There it is,” Esha said as we sighted a neon red cross.

  “Trust me. I know this area,” Vroom said and accelerated the Qualis to a hundred kph. “Roads and girls are so much more fun at night.”

  “That's sick,” Priyanka said.

  “Sorry, couldn't help it,” Vroom said and grinned.

  He parked the Qualis near the chemist, where a sleep-deprived boy, no more than seventeen, manned the shop. A few medical entrance exa