It was a dark room. A normal person could barely live in it. No one ever heard the noise of television nor did the rattling of utensils; only God knew what Rex did in that room. Rex was the one who felt normal in that room. He lived alone in that black hole with one lamp on the study table which he barely lit. He had no family, not a member he knew about; just a friend, Hawkin. He met Hawkin once in a blue moon because he lived in Poland but they shared a close bond. Rex lived in New York.
Rex did not seem like a normal guy, he had fierce eyes, looks and expressions. He always wore a long black coat and a black cap, his keen eyes and sharp ears could catch the slightest of movement and hear a drop of a pin. He always carried a knife with him, only God knew why he carried that. He used to smoke a lot, every time you would find a cigar in his mouth. Everyone in the apartment he lived in was scared of him because of his lifestyle and stern behavior. He never allowed anyone to come inside his room. Everyone thought he was a criminal as he went to work early in the morning and would come back very late at night, and sometimes he would not come either. His neighbors always used to do back bitching of him, but he did not even care. They would say, “He looks like a criminal who always smokes and God knows what work he does.”
On 3rd August 2011, a new guy named Steve shifted to that apartment. The owner of the apartment, Mr James, introduced him to everyone in person except Rex. Steve was an easy-going and funny guy. He was always in his shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt with headphones hanging around his neck; and a cap on his head which was always colourful like his clothes. Such a lovely and cheerful guy he was! Everyone started to love him. After he came, the environment turned jovial. Everyone talked about him and seemed to have forgotten about the villain in the apartment. They grew close to him for every day he used to make a new dish and give it to his new neighbors to try. He loved to cook food a lot and play cards and basketball. He became very close to everyone so he used to go inside anyone’s room without knocking.
He did this with everyone and thought to do the same with Rex. One day, without knocking he went inside his room, Rex could not tolerate this and fumed, “You filthy Monkey!”
“Don’t you have the manners to knock and come inside someone’s room!”
Everyone came outside their room to see what happened and then Rex became so furious that he was going to hit him but then Mr James stepped in.
“Stop it! You two.”
And then he turned to Steve, “We should not face these kinds of people.” He took him inside his house. He asked Steve, “What really happened? Tell me right now!”
He said, “Nothing I just made a new dish, I thought of giving it to him, so I went inside his house without knocking.”
“Oh dear boy!” sighed Mr James, “It’s okay, but never face him or talk to him.”
“He is a criminal and do you know he also carries a knife,” he whispered to Steve.
“Okay, okay — let’s talk about something else and forget who the hell he is.” Steve tried to change the subject.
The next day, four people from the apartment planned to play cards at Mr James’ house as his wife was away at her parent’s place. Steve was also present. It was more or less like a party. There were food and beer cans all around. They were enjoying so much that they didn’t even feel that it was one in the night. Everyone was drunk and sleepy. They left the house to sleep or else they would not be able to wake up in the morning. The owner was alone in his house so he asked Steve to stay with him. The owner was so drunk that he slept on the floor but Steve did not sleep. He took out the key from the owner’s pocket unlocked the locker and stole money. He locked the locker and slipped the key in its place but he could not resist the temptation to own the gold chain around James. The next day the owner was shocked when he saw the locker open and the gold chain on his neck missing. He went to Steve and asked him, “Did you steal my chain and the money?”
“No, but I know who did,” said Steve who had already planned it all.
The owner was shocked and asked, “Who?”
“Rex!”
Yesterday night after you and I slept, he came to steal money from you as he knew you were drunk. I saw him and I went towards him to stop him. He hit me with a wooden bat on my head and I fainted and then he showed the mark. The owner believed him and was furious at Rex. He complained to the police about this thing. Steve was happy and relaxed after putting all the blame on Rex.
Within fifteen minutes, the police came and investigated the matter. Steve told what happened last night and also showed the marks on his head. James also told the police about Rex’s behavior and about the knife he always carried. Rex was arrested. Though he tried defending himself, no one listened to him. After all, he was not social nor did he have cordial relations with anyone. The police also found his room suspicious—bare minimum things, no normal person could survive there. When they reached the police station, they dragged Rex into the jail. Rex was so angry and confused; that he called the head police and exposed himself. He showed his detective card to the police. They were so shocked; they immediately took him out of jail and apologized for their rude behavior.
Rex told the police to not tell James or anyone about him because he was on a secret mission and that’s why he was underground. He then called Hawkin and talked about all that happened to him. Hawkin knew everything about Rex as he was also on a mission. That’s why he went to Poland. When Rex mentioned Steve’s name, Hawkin said, “Oh! The guy who is 5 foot 4 inches tall and is beardless.” Rex confirmed the physical appearance.
“Oh God! I know him!” and added, “He is a thief, who lived in Poland, he stole a Necklace from a royal family here and no one knows where he went.”
“He is hiding in New York,” Rex murmured and immediately took out a laptop and researched about Steve. Whatever Hawkin said was true.
“This filthy monkey is a thief,” Rex said to himself.
Rex showed his findings to the police department. They believed Rex and went with Rex to arrest Steve. When they reached the apartment, they told everyone what the truth was and arrested Steve.
James said to Steve, “We trusted you and you did this to us. Shame on you man!”
He further added, “I am very sorry Rex for what I did and believed him without hearing your side of the story.”
The department took Steve with them. They also recovered money and the gold chain of James.
Rex did not want publicity so he did not tell anyone who he was and did not change. He remained the same but one thing changed about him—he became social and started talking to people.
Read about the young author:
Hey! My name is Dikshaan. I am a grade eight student of The Assam Valley School which is in Assam. I am a thirteen-year-old boy. I have a very big family. Ten years back we used to live in Imphal, Manipur but now we live in Guwahati—the city of traffic. I really love playing guitar a lot, I have also taken the ABRSM exam on guitar. I also love drawing and reading. My favourite book is Atomic Habits by James Clear and Who Will Cry When You Die by Robin Sharma. When I first read the newspaper “Planet Young”, I was inspired to read and write stories. I love to play on my PS5 and watch TV. I love playing badminton and cricket. When I grow up I want to become a pilot and make a lot of money just to keep my family happy. It’s my dream that whenever my mom or dad or anyone in my family asks me anything, I can give them.