Yes, it was strange. I understood from the broken sentences spoken by both of them that this soldier had met her two to three hours ago, spent time with her, and then gone further towards the village. When he was on his way back and met her on the way, he caught hold of her. once again.
Now he thought she was his woman, so he didn't want to pay her.
Major Atan stopped at this point.
'I prompted him, 'What happened after that? Did you ever punish him at a later point?"
Major Atan remained silent for a while. Then he said, "No, Major, I never punished him, even if I caught him a couple more times. " I don't know whether it was my fault or not, but I left him every time after talking and warning him."
I couldn't stop myself from asking, "Wow, did you forget the army rules? Then, thinking I was a bit rude, I said again, "There must be some special reason—"
''Reason? Yes, the reason was probably human weakness; maybe he was missing someone. I must tell you that I let him go, but not before reprimanding him.
I waited for Major to continue.
Major kept saying, "Last time when I caught him, I brought him to my Jeep. I pointed the light of my torch at his face so he would be a little scared. I asked him, "Aren't you ashamed to tarnish the name of your army? The day before yesterday, I caught you and forgave you. My voice had some effect on his alcohol consumption.
He spoke a little cautiously: "Sir, I didn't want to do anything bad."
I scolded again, "You catch a woman on the road and say you didn't want to do bad?"
His answer surprised me when he said, "Sir, I pay her money; I come to her every day for three days, but today I had no money, so I asked her if I could pay her tomorrow.
I thought, What can one do if there is so much indecency? I said, "And you must consider yourself a good man, don't you, just a fallen angel from heaven?"
He continued, "No, sir, but-but..."
I said, "But what? You have given a bad name to your platoon and yourself, nothing else.' Then I remembered the woman's words that he had been with her a few hours ago, and my anger flared up again. I said to him, "You were with her a while back; didn't you feel satisfied with that? Once was not enough! Where did you go in the village next?"
By now, he had calmed down a bit. He said, Sir, I have made a mistake. But—but I want to be equal to my peers."
Surprised, I said, "What do you mean?"
He said, "Our division was at the front for one and a half years, where there are no women, but that area was full of mosquitoes, mud, and dysentery. From there, my platoon returned six weeks ago, but I was left behind with a "Breakdown detachment."
"Then?" I asked.
He said, "My platoon in the division was the first to come here; the rest of the platoon followed later. Our platoon has been here for six weeks, and in ten days we will go back.
I reprimanded, "What do you mean? He then slowly, as if explaining to me, said, "One of my mates has visited all the villages and native settlements. I have only visited here for three days and have been caught by you every time. Actually, I did not want to be behind anyone.
Major Atan became silent.
I, too, kept silent for a while. Then I said, "What an argument! How could he make such a perverted argument? It must have been the effect of alcohol on him. What did you do then?''
Major Atan stopped for a moment and then said in a whispering tone, "I did nothing, in fact, I was myself passing through the same mental condition. I was in the same division and at the same time on the front."
Major Atan's reply was a surprise for me, but I kept mum.
To be continued...
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