"Bhim, let us leave now," Nakku pleaded. He watched the other boys circle them threateningly. "It is getting dark. I can't even see my hands."

"Be quiet," Bhim answered. He bent over a circle in the mud. It was drawn in white chalk.

There were three green marbles in the center of the circle and two near the edges. In Bhim's pockets were ten more, prizes he had won from other players.

His right hand was ready to flick a marble into the chalk ring. He aimed to win.

Sunder, a boy with flat, greasy hair, was watching Bhim with a smug look on his face. He gave his worried friends a smile and a nod.

Bhim made his move. In the blink of an eye, all that was left in the circle was one measly marble. He laughed. He quickly began pocketing the ones he had struck out.

The other boys turned with confused faces to the boy with the greasy head.

"Two of those were mine! Two! Sunder, you promised, you promised!" one of them called out in a high-pitched voice.

Sunder's smile faded now, but only for a moment. He looked around and picked up a stone near his feet. Holding it with frightening casualness, he gave the others a look.

Nakku's eyes darted from Sunder to the other boys. He was worried. They were all following Sunder, picking up little stones from around them.

Bhim was still bent down, collecting the little glass marbles he had won. Nakku panicked. He had no time to wait for Bhim.

Nakku ran out of the playground alone, just as the boys began to throw the stones. He dashed away. He stepped on a pile of cow dung he had been careful to avoid earlier. But he paid no attention to it.

He gasped and ran until he reached Bhim's slum of a house.

Before long, Bhim came home. He had stepped in the cow dung, too. It was worse for him because he did not wear slippers.

He was breathing heavily. He looked behind himself to check if someone had followed them.

Finding the coast clear, he slapped Nakku hard across the head.

"Fool! Wretched idiot! Why did you run?" he asked angrily.

"I'm sorry, Bhim. A thousand apologies to you. They would have stoned me to death, Bhim!" Nakku said.

"You are a coward," Bhim said. "A milk-toothed weakling! I would have stayed to beat them all, but I had to catch up with you instead!"

Nakku squirmed. “Did you... get them?" he asked.

"Did you get them?" Bhim mocked him. "Yes, I have them, no thanks to you."

"Won't you let me see them?" Nakku asked.

"No, not yet. Later," Bhim said. "First, I need to wash up. See what I stepped in?"

Nakku nodded. He followed Bhim into his bare-brick, one-roomed house.

Bhim dug out a plastic bag. "I'm going to put these in here, see," he whispered. "They will be safe. After we get back, we can look at them and divide them between us."

"Half each, as we decided?" Nakku asked happily.

Bhim became angry again. "Evil one! Dirty dog! Darkener of my doorstep! You deserve nothing but a good whipping for leaving me back there," he said. "I should wipe the dung off my feet and throw it at you, you numbskull! But I am in a giving mood today. I'll give you one fourth, no more. What do you say?"

"Oh, yes, yes, Bhim," Nakku replied quickly. "Thank you. You are very kind."

Bhim smiled and slapped him on the back. Together they walked toward the toilet used by Bhim's entire neighborhood.

Bhim went inside a small cubicle that had a faucet and a sink.

He said, "The door hinges don't work. You'll have to hold it shut for me."

Nakku held the handle tight. He heard the water running.

"That Sunder had better be careful," Bhim said. His voice echoed above the sound of water. "When I see him again, I'll break his bones."

"You mustn't," Nakku said. "His father is a policeman. You will end up in jail."

"Scared, are you?" Bhim sneered. "Well, I'm not. Let his father send as many people as he wants to arrest me." There was a pause. "Let go of the handle."

Nakku did.

Bhim came out. He wiped his hands dry on his loose shirt and looked up at the sky.

"It is too dark now for you to come back to my house. Come over tomorrow if you want the marbles," he said.

Nakku was disappointed. But he did not want to make Bhim angry again.

He said his goodbyes.

The next day, Nakku went to Bhim's house. He saw Bhim talking outside with Asim.

"Hello, Bhim. Hello, Asim," he said.

Asim smiled pleasantly. "Hello, Nakku," he said. "Come to my house! My mother has made Sheer Khurma for Eid."

Nakku paused. "My mother told me not to go to your house... after she found out I did last month." He looked down, uncomfortable.

Asim laughed. "Why, because I am a Muslim and you are a Hindu?" he asked.

Nakku nodded awkwardly.

But Bhim was not laughing. He pulled Nakku's ear.

"Is your mother around here, now? Is she spying on you with a pair of binoculars? No. So be quiet and come with us. Food is food, you idiot," he said.

Nakku managed to release his ear. He nodded.

The three of them walked out of the crowded street, dodging cows and cycles. Nakku and Bhim told Asim what had happened the day before. He listened closely.

"Who is Sunder, anyway?" he asked.

"His father is an important police officer," Nakku answered. "I tell you, Asim, he is a rich boy. He has toy trains, a cricket kit, and he even—"

"Oh, oh, listen to the criminal talk!" Bhim teased. "Why don't you go wander around with him then, Nakku? Better yet, why don't you go marry him?" He laughed mercilessly.

"Go on, Nakku," Asim said kindly as they walked near his house. "What were you saying?"

"Oh yes, I was saying, he even lived with his aunt in England for a year," Nakku said. He put his hands in his pockets.

"So what if he lived there for a year?" Bhim said. "Does it give the fool the right to act all high and mighty?"

Nakku stopped. He gasped. His older brother was coming toward them, reading a book as he walked.

"My brother must be coming home from college! If I get caught around Asim's house, I will get it at home," he said.

"Oh, stop whining like a baby," Bhim scolded. He looked around. Then he pointed toward a bunch of government buildings on the other side of the road. "Over there. Let's go."

They ran inside a gate and hid. Nakku's older brother hadn't noticed anything. He was still reading his book.

He was so busy ignoring the rest of the world that he crashed into a rickshaw cart. They watched as he apologized to the cart puller, who yelled back curse after curse.

Nakku and Bhim laughed. Then Asim tapped their shoulders. He pointed at a boy in the nearby garden who was playing with a toy train.

“Look, someone’s there," he said.

Nakku took a quick breath. It was Sunder!

"That's the policeman's house! Bhim, we must leave at once!" Nakku moaned.

While they watched, Sunder went inside his house. Bhim looked at the toy train Sunder had left behind.

Bhim warned the other two to be quiet with a finger on his lips. He ran over, grabbed the train, and ran back. Then he grabbed their hands and led them out of the gate.

Nakku turned around for a last look. He saw the house door open and close.

Sunder came outside and saw them running away. He didn't seem to notice what Bhim held under his arm, but he did look confused and suspicious.

When they were safely out of reach, they stopped for a breath.

"You stole the train!" Nakku said.

Bhim smiled. "Yes, so I did. Let the fool find out what's missing. This is my revenge for yesterday. People like him don't deserve things like this anyway," he said. He tapped the train cheerfully.

"No, Bhim, you did not take it for revenge," Asim said quietly. "You know as well as I do, you took it because you wanted it."

"And if I did? What if I did?" Bhim snapped. "I have a soul too, haven't I? I have my wishes and wants too! Or are people like Sunder the only ones allowed to have them?"

Asim turned away. "If you truly have a soul, you will return that. It's theft, that's what it is," he said.

He walked away, leaving Nakku and Bhim standing there.

"You don't think I'm a thief, do you, Nakku?" Bhim asked.

"I... No, no, I don't," Nakku stuttered. Then he remembered something. "But Bhim, he saw us. He saw us when we were running out! When he finds his train is missing, he'll know it was us!"

"Nonsense," Bhim said. "The boy didn't see a thing. I was very sneaky."

"He did, Bhim, he did!" Nakku said. "I saw him, with my own two eyes! He'll tell his policeman father!"

"You're seeing things," Bhim said, but his smile had faded.