“Three, two, one, crack!” shouted the commentator and a thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd. The roars of the vehicles as they spurted into life and their sudden pickup shook the spectators.

James, one of the best racers and a champion for many years, was also taking part in this race and other competitors were worried that they would lose. The first lap ended safely, but suddenly, after a movement of panic, there was a car crash and in no time others cars were crashing and colliding into each other.

James somehow managed to race through the side of the track, just missing the pile up of cars, but the right side on the front of the car rubbed against the wall. He was in the lead, but suddenly his tyre burst after hitting a wall.

Ben, the person who changes the car tyres after every race and his best friend changed his car tyres, when James finally reached the recovery station.

A few cars swerved by but James continued to race and managed to finish at the third position. He was confused about the tyre bursting as the tyres used in his car were especially designed for races and do not burst easily.

James could not understand what had happened, so he started investigating. He focused on who bought the tyre, the tyre company and who changed the tyre. It turned out that the tyre was a fake copy of an original international brand.

James got to know the number of the shop from where the tyre was ordered. James called the number from a local call station and the person who answered the call was no other than Ben, James’ best friend.

James was astonished and speechless. James quickly disconnected the call.

A day later James met Ben at a café and James asked him to explain what was going on. At first, Ben simply refused to have anything to do with the tyre bursting. But when James showed him the proof that went against him, Ben broke down and confessed.

“I am the one behind all this, I got jealous of your success. Seeing you win all the races while I just changed your car tyres,” he said.

James fired him and told him that he never wanted to see him again. James had learnt his lesson that not everyone can be trusted blindly.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 4th, 2020