Mercenary for hire.
That’s what everyone called him, except for maybe the man
himself.
Checking the address before he entered the building,
Sugreeva smoothed out his pinstriped suit to make himself look more
presentable.
When he entered, a large man sitting behind a counter looked
up to meet his gaze from beneath a fine black fedora. He was intimidating.
“I am looking for a man named Rama.” Sugreeva explained as
he approached the man behind the desk.
The man stood and Sugreeva wanted to cringe back at seeing
just how large and built this man was. “Who’s asking?”
“I am, my name is Sugreeva and I am of Kiskinda Trading. I
have been severely wronged, and I need Rama’s help.” Everyone who spoke of this
Rama only spoke highly of him as if he were some god reincarnate. They also
said that he believed in justice and doing what was right above all else.
Sugreeva was prepared to pay any amount to have this man help him.
Watching him wearily, the man behind the desk simply pointed
his chin in a direction as if telling him to follow, before he walked away.
Sugreeva did just that and was led through the back of what was set up as a
normal bookstore. He knew that there were probably distilleries hidden in here
as well. The prohibition was in full swing, and anyone who conducted any sort
of shady business was in the business of hooch as well.
The man knocked on a heavy door, and a voice answered behind
it. “Yes, Lakshmana?”
The large man, known as Lakshmana opened the door, “You have
a guest.” And with that he ushered Sugreeva in before closing the door and
leaving.
The infamous Rama stood to greet him, dressed in a simple
black waistcoat with a golden pocket watch chain hanging out. He was not what Sugreeva had imagined, not as
tall and broad as images of a dangerous man may represent. But something within
him was frightening all in itself. “Yes, yes. Come in and tell me your
problems.”
Rama seemed very to the point, and Sugreeva was glad for that.
“I am here because I need your help. I am Sugreeva of Kiskinda Trading and I
need help in taking my brother Vali out of the head position.”
One of Rama’s eyebrows rose, “Oh, and why is that? I am not
in the business of putting myself into the family affairs. In what way have you
been so wrong to want me to help you take care of your brother?”
Sugreeva was afraid of rejection, but he figured that since
he was here he had nothing to lose. “I have been wronged in many ways. Two
years ago, my brother Vali was caught up in an external deal that went wrong
and was sent to the slammer. It was my job to have been there on lookout that
day, but the members of our board made me stay because they didn’t feel right
about the situation. As a result, my brother thought that I was the one who set
him up in order to take over the company. So when he was released, he came
after me. Vali told me that if he ever saw my face again that he would kill me
on the spot. But while he has been in power and I have been away, our company
had begun to crumble. He is getting bolder and bolder in his under the table
deals, and I am afraid that he will get caught again and our business will go
up in flames.”
Listening patiently, Rama sat back in his chair. “And how
can I help you? It sounds to me like it is nothing but a family spat and you
are the only one who has been wronged.”
This was it; this was Rama about to reject him. “He took my
wife,” Sugreeva muttered sadly. “I believe he is keeping her against her will.
And I don’t believe that she is the only one in such a situation. His deals are
very underhanded and he could be taking more hostages than just her.”
Rama is very
softhearted when it comes to women. Someone had told Sugreeva when he had
asked around for advice. He had been told that if he mentioned that helpless
women were involved in the ordeal, then Rama would cave and pledge his loyalty
to your side. And from the look on Rama’s face, the information seemed to be
correct.
“I cannot believe that such a scumbag would take advantage
of women like that. Women should be cherished and remain pure from such evil. I
will help your cause in order to make sure that he does not taint any women,
that beast.” Rama stood from the chair and grabbed a pencil and notepad.
“Please, write down all of the details and I will join your fight against this
Vali.”
Sugreeva remembered what someone else had told him. This mercenary can be played like a fiddle.
He relies too much on what he believes is right and wrong, and will always seek
justice. If you can make him purr, then he will be yours. And Sugreeva had
definitely made him purr.
Author's Note:
In The Ramayana, Rama and his
crew travel to Kishkinda in their journey to find Sita. One of the monkeys,
Hanuman, sees him and knows that he is a supreme individual and after talking
to them, tells his king Sugreeva. Rama is told the story of Sugreeva and his
fight with his brother Vali, with Sugreeva relating to Rama in the fact that
his wife was stolen from him. He and his brother had been fighting because Vali
believed that Sugreeva had turned against him and locked him in a cave, so he
gets angry and beats him. Sugreeva requests Rama and Lakshmana’s aid in his
fight against Vali so that he can have his life back to normal.
I wanted to tell the story of Rama taking Sugreeva's side against Vali
in a new fashion. I saw the deal between the two of them to be the kind you
would make with a mercenary, and for some reason I also got a mob-like feeling
from the deal.
I made a few changes, such as the fact that Sugreeva is the one who
tells his story and seeks out Rama. And of course I changed the setting of the
story to be set in 1920s America. The Sugreeva in my story appealed to Rama’s
soft spots in an attempt to receive help more so than he did in the story.
Bibliography:
The image is what I imagine as a standard mobster mugshot, it was found at Wikimedia Commons.
Story retold from pages 90-95:
Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.
