Chương 23: The One to Bother

"Could you get down? I have to talk to you," Ilyan said, his tone soft and calm as if he had controlled the visibly rising anger inside him just in the few seconds that he took in covering the distance between him and the driver.

Surprisingly, the driver did not argue but stepped out. Perhaps, Ilyan's way of talking gave him the impression that Ilyan was on his side. It turned out that he was a young boy. He did not seem more than eighteen.

"Why are you still standing there? Come here and apologize. You owe me an apology," he yelled, slamming the door of his car.

Irene hated the sight in front of her and as much as she was getting angry at his tone and words, she knew she could not retaliate because she was the one who was being careless on the road. She walked toward them intending to end the scene with her apology but by the time she reached there, Ilyan had taken the matter in his hands.

"She does owe an apology but to herself. She doesn't owe anything to you."

She heard Ilyan.

"Excuse me?" His voice rose as he was not expecting Ilyan to say what he did.

"Wait. I will call the cops. After all, mistakes are bound to get you punishment. How can you escape that?" Ilyan pushed his both hands in his pockets, looking for his phone.

"My mistake? Are you freaking kidding me? She was being blind on the road -"

"And you were being careful?" Sharply cutting him off, Ilyan raised his voice as he berated him.

"Well… I… wa...was." He stammered, suddenly devoid of the confidence that he was carrying all along.

"Ah, really? Can you see that?" Ilyan tilted his head, pointing at the CCTV camera pole right in front of them on the right side.

"It, like me, has also seen how incredibly careful you were being." Ilyan snapped, his face wearing the infuriated expression.

"She has also made a mistake but she needs to apologize to herself while you, whatsoever your name is, need to apologize to her. Do you know what the speed of your car was? Do you not have any responsibility for people walking on the road? She was still walking from the edge. It was you who came out of nowhere with the speed that could have hurt anyone. What if there was a kid on the road instead of her? What if there was an aged one instead of her? Do you think they would have gotten enough time to escape your ridiculous driving?"

The boy went quiet. The mention of CCTV scared him because he was aware of his speed. He could not afford to get arrested. He thought of his father and what he would do to him if he was caught by the cops.

"Help me understand why you would not press the horn. You did not, did you?"

The boy's silence answered Ilyan's question.

"Besides, do you have a license? You aren't even eighteen but at least do you have a learning license?" Ilyan swiftly leaned forward and pulled out his student ID card and flipped it toward him.

"April 22nd, 1998," Ilyan read aloud turning it toward himself. His gaze had caught that when he was asking the boy to get down. "You are not even seventeen. Come on, show me your learning license, or else you can get arrested for two crimes - one for rash driving and another for driving when you don't have a license."

The boy made a nervous move of snatching his ID card from Ilyan and to get into his car as an attempt to run away but Ilyan grabbed his arm, stopping his movement in a moment.

"Oh, where are you going? Wait until the cops come." Ilyan wore the smile that terrified the boy and he immediately joined his hands, shutting his eyes in fear.

"I am sorry. Please let me go. Don't call the cops. Please," he pleaded, begged and said everything he could to protect himself from getting arrested.

"Not to me," Ilyan stepped back and gestured toward Irene, "apologize to her."

The boy turned to Irene who was standing flabbergasted at the way tables were turned or rather the way Ilyan had turned the tables.

How observing could one be! She admired him for noticing from the speed of the car to the CCTV camera to his student ID card. For a fact she knew about the CCTV camera as well since she was incredibly familiar with the surrounding but it could have probably never occurred to her to use that in her benefit.

"Please let me go. Please. I am very sorry."

The boy brought her out of her thoughts. She shifted her gaze from Ilyan to him. She gave him a nod. "It's okay."

Ilyan handed him his ID card. "Don't make us regret letting you go this easy. Be careful while you are driving. You are not only responsible for your own life but also others'. Keep that in mind."

With that, Ilyan moved aside and the boy rushed inside after anxiously mumbling something in the agreement that was barely audible to anyone.

Effie was shaken. She was standing in the same place. Irene could have been seriously injured. She could have died.

Ilyan did not utter a word to Irene but just silently stood there, looking at nothing in particular.

Irene, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at him acting weird. 'Perhaps, he is mad.' She considered the possibility in her mind. It did not make sense to her at first but then she remembered their previous day's conversation.

'Imagine a cat… or a dog or a parrot or a sparrow… lying hurt here. Wouldn't you bother?'

'So he is mad at me because I could have been hurt.' She concluded because apparently, he was the one to bother.

"Ilyan," she mumbled his name but before she could continue, he left the place and sauntered forward. She looked at the direction he walked and realized that he was approaching Effie.

"Shit." Irene forgot about Effie momentarily and it made her feel worse. She followed him.