Beehive in the Balcony

Today was Pepee’s eleventh birthday but his father had refused to accept his wish.

“We can’t keep a dog in this house,” his father had replied when Pepee had said that he would like to have a dog as his birthday gift.

“But my all friends are keeping dogs in their homes,” Pepee had argued.

“Your friends live in big houses. No one lives in a small flat as we do.”

“We can keep the dog in the balcony,” Pepee insisted.

“There is hardly any space in the balcony; so many things are stored there; even our steel wardrobe is kept there,” father tried to reason with him.

“But I love dogs,” Pepee felt like crying.

“You can have a dog when we move to a bigger house. That is a promise. Now don’t look glum. We are going to have exciting party in the evening,” his father tried to cheer him up.

 But Pepee still felt unhappy. Today was his birthday but he was not getting a dog as his birthday present.  All through the year he had been dreaming of his pet dog.

His parents had arranged a fantastic birthday party. All his friends were invited. It was a memorable evening. Everyone was happy at the end of the day.

A few days later Pepee saw that honey bees had built a small hive in the balcony.

“Mama, there is beehive in the balcony,” Pepee was excited

His mother rushed to the balcony and she was scared when she saw a small beehive.

“Leave the balcony, right now,” she shouted at Pepee.

But Pepee would not leave, he was not afraid of the bees.

“Don’t you worry, Mama. Bees will attack only if we disturb their hive.”

“I don’t want any trouble. You better go to the bedroom. I will call the gardener and have this hive removed.”  

“No please, don’t remove the hive. Let the bees be here for few days.”

“We can’t do that. In a few days it will become a big swarm of bees. We won’t be able to come to the balcony. We won’t be able to open the wardrobe. It would be difficult to remove a big hive.”

His mother immediately called the gardener who looked after the trees and plants of their housing complex. But he was not available. He had gone to his village to attend a marriage ceremony and was expected to come back after one week.

“Don’t you open the wardrobe kept in the balcony. The hive is very near the wardrobe. Its door would hit the hive if you open it. You should rather not go to the balcony till I have the hive removed.”

In a few days both the hive and the colony of bees had considerably expanded. Pepee loved to watch the bees. He could not enter the balcony as his mother had asked him not to go there. But he would gaze at the bees and the hive through the glass door.

One day Pepee’s father did not come back from his office till late in the evening. Pepee and his mother were anxiously waiting for him. At about nine, the doorbell rang. Pepee opened the door and almost shouted, “Why are you so late today?”

But it was not his father who had rung the bell. Two strangers were standing at the door. They quickly intruded into the house when the door opened. One stranger grabbed Pepee by neck. He was holding a large knife in his right hand.

At that moment Pepee’s mother came out of the bedroom. She was dumb struck when she saw the strangers. The stranger who was holding Pepee said to her in low menacing voice, “Hand over all the cash and jewellery that you are keeping in the house.”

“You are robbers?” Pepee asked.

“Just keep quiet,” other robber said.

“There is very little cash and our jewellery is in the locker,” Pepee’s mother said.  She was almost in tears.

“Don’t you love your son? He is such a handsome boy. Should I remove one of his eyes? Or cut his nose?” robber almost touched Pepee’s right eye with his knife.

His mother screamed, “Please don’t hurt him; trust me we don’t keep valuables in our home.”

“Ma’am, he is Ranga and I am Billa. My partner is a cruel person. He loves torturing young boys. Even I am afraid of him. You are a sensible lady. Please give him what he wants and he will not hurt your child,” said other robber who was paring his nails with a large sharp knife.  

Pepee’s mother was scared and she was silently praying for God’s help. Pepee too was scared but he knew that he would have to do something to get out of the ugly situation.

Suddenly he said to his mother, “Why don’t you give them the diamond necklace that Papa brought from Dubai?”

“What are you saying? Papa never went to Dubai. And I don’t have any diamond necklace.”

“Mama, I have seen that necklace; it is kept in the steel wardrobe.”

“Are you a fool? I said I don’t have any diamond necklace.”

Pepee said to Ranga, “If you let me go I will get the key of the wardrobe. You can take the diamond necklace but please don’t hurt us.”

“He is a sensible child,” said Ranga. He released Pepee. His partner, Billa, grabbed Pepee’s mother by the neck.

“Quickly get the wardrobe key or I will kill your mother,” Billa shouted at Pepee.

Pepee brought the key and gave it to Ranga. The robbers pushed Pepee and his mother into the bedroom and bolted the door from outside. They went into the balcony.

“Be careful and don’t switch on the light,” Billa said to Ranga.

“I know what I have to do,” Ranga hissed at Billa.

Ranga had with him a tiny torch. He switched on the torch and tried the key. It worked and wardrobe was unlocked. He smiled at his partner.
“Let us see what is in there,” he said to Billa.

He opened the door and all hell broke loose.

The robbers had not noticed that there was a big beehive in the balcony near the wardrobe. When Ranga opened the door it slashed through the hive. It was enough to enrage the bees and they attacked the robbers. For a moment they were too stunned to react. And then they began to scream and shout.

They rushed out of the balcony and dashed for the bedroom. But Pepee had bolted the bedroom door from inside. They ran for the main door. But it took quite some time before they could open it and run out of the flat.  By then they had been badly stung by the angry bees.

The security guards of the complex had heard the commotion and were waiting for them. They caught the robbers and handed them over to police who had been alerted. But the robbers were in a pathetic condition. Police could not take them to police station. They were taken to a hospital for treatment.

By the time Pepee’s father came back from office, the bees had gone back to their mutilated hive.  He opened the bedroom door.

“Have the robbers been caught?” Pepee asked in excitement.

“Yes.”

“Ha ha, my trick worked. I told them that there was a diamond necklace in the wardrobe kept in the balcony. I knew that in their greed they will not notice the beehive. They will open the door and bang it into the hive. The angry bees will then take care of them.”

“That was very clever of you. You must get a decent reward for your cleverness.”

“Get me a dog.”

“I did make a promise. Well, next week we are shifting to our new and bigger house. The day we shift you will get your dog.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Pepee hugged his father and mother as his joy knew no bounds.

©i b arora