Aaryan Khanna

“They fight other gangs, pal! How cool it’ll be if we become a part of them! We’ll be respected by the whole school!”

The younger versions of both Sooraj and I were walking down the street in the evening around five or six. The sun had set and the sky had started to turn darker. The wide street had apartments on both the sides—all painted white or brown. Sooraj, the dark-skinned guy who wore a red sweatshirt and brown pants, had his eyes turned at me.

Sooraj narrowed his eyes. “Man, I don’t think that it’s that cool.”

“It is, pal!” I said. I turned my head to the front. I wore a black sweatshirt with a dark blue denim pair of capris.

Sooraj turned his eyes to the front. “I wanna meet them too, but it’s not that cool.”

“Okay, man. Just befriend them like me. Then, we’ll have fun together!”

Sooraj smiled. “Yeah.”

The sky was turning darker and darker, and in about fifteen or twenty minutes, the sky was mixed with the shades of black. We both turned to our right and entered inside. It was the usual park where the gang still meets, with the giant tree on our left as we stepped in. He walked on my left as I started to see here and there, looking for the gang. Then, I noticed them at the right corner, and I smiled. I pointed with my right forefinger at them. “Them! They’re the Black Reapers.”

Sooraj turned a little to his right at the far corner. There was a gang of people in shades of white shirts and black pair of pants. Some were sitting on the ground, some were sitting on the edges of the footpath, and some were just standing.

I started to walk toward them, and he followed me.

He was one step behind me, defensively perhaps, as I walked and stood in front of them.

All of them were discussing something, and their indistinct chatter stopped just as I arrived. All eyes were on me now. My grin turned into a smile, and that too an awkward one.

“What?” Someone from the gang rudely asked.

A man, who had his arms crossed in front of his chest and stood with his back facing me, turned to his back at me. “Who are ya, huh? And what business d’ya have with us?”

“I-I-I was called by someone named Rohit for-for…”

“Rohit Sharma?” That guy asked.

“Yeah, perhaps,” I suddenly nodded.

He nodded his head and turned his head to the front. From the two people who sat in the middle of the gang at the edge of the park, one stood up. That asshole was in a blue shirt and black pair of pants—completely different from the rest of others.

“Ya want vapes?”

“We-We wanted to join the gang…”

“Ya can only join the gang once you show us your loyalty, motherfucker. Get to Park Town, tomorrow at nine. We’ll see ya there. Go home for now.”

“O-Okay,” The innocent me fucking turned back and started to walk away. Sooraj glared at Rohit for an extra second as he turned back and looked at him sitting down. Sooraj then turned to his back and started to follow me.

Just as we were leaving the park, he jumped a step or two and stepped beside me. Then, he asked me, “Hey, what was up with these guys?”

“Dunno.”

“They don’t seem fine. They are legit bad,” Sooraj looked at me, and I had my head to the front.

I then turned to my left at him. “What do you mean?”

“These guys… They were so rude and… and didn’t seem like good guys.”

“Yeah, they are just like that, perhaps.”

“And, you wanna be a part of those guys?”

“Y-Yeah.” I turned my head frontward. “They were so cool, pal.” My lips spread into a smile.

“They… were… but…”

I turned at him again, all excited and shit. “Alright. But if we join them, we’d be respected by everyone in the school! No one, not even those toppers will ever dare saying anything shit to us!”

“Perhaps… it was the first time… that I used the word ‘shit’.”

“But… why do you only focus on the good things?”

“And why do you only focus on the bad ones?” I dejectedly replied. I then turned to the front.

Just talking like that, we both stepped out of the park and turned to the left from where we came from and started to go back.

***

“I… still don’t think that they’re legit fine, man.”

It was a chilly night. The sun had gone down already, and it was a night filled with stars in the sky. Both of us were standing at the entrance of the wide ground. There was just grass and soil on the ground, with some bushes and trees at the edge, along with the cemented footpath. The park must have been about half a football ground. Behind it was a thick cemented wall, which was coming off, and on the other side was a building which was still under construction. However, there was no one inside at that time, and only the framework had been cemented. That shit seemed three to four stories high, with a stairway inside. On our back were apartments. The street was lit with brown streetlights, one on our right flickering continuously. The windows and the balconies of the apartments too were lit.

Both of us had our gaze fixed at the empty park. Sooraj asked, “Are you sure they will come here?”

“Y-Yeah, pal. They should.”

“They legit should. But… will they?”

I gulped in. “Shit! What if… they don’t?” I thought inside my mind as I patiently waited, standing there still.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

TICK.

Suddenly, I turned my head rightward. I noticed a group of boys—all in shades of red shirts and black pants—walking in from the entrance on the other end of the park. The silent park suddenly rose up in indistinct chatter. Those fuckers all talked and laughed as they walked to the inside of the park. Defensively, I narrowed my eyes and started to walk backward. Sooraj, who stood on my left, started to walk back too. Both of us stood right at the edge of the entrance, our careful eyes glaring at them. Sooraj turned his eyes at me. “Who are they?”

“Must be some other gang, pal,” I replied, suspiciously looking at them.

Sooraj turned at them again. “We should leave, or els—!”

“Hey!” Someone startled Sooraj by patting behind his back. Both of us turned backward. Rohit stood in the same dark blue shirt and black pair of pants along with white sneakers as he stood behind us, his hands on our shoulders, as he looked at the other gang’s members. “Those motherfuckers are here.” He then turned at us. “Well, what ya two gotta do is fight for us. Imma judge ya. If y’are truly loyal, ya will be selected. Got it?” He turned to me. “Got it?” I nodded. He turned to his left. “Got it?” Sooraj nodded too. He then turned to the front. “‘Kay, then. Go.”

“We gotta fight them?! Alone?!” Sooraj resisted his push and maintained his spot.

“Oh, fuck no! The others are walking in too, motherfucker!”

It was at that moment that both of us turned to our right and looked at the gang in shades of white shirts—all tucked out of their black pants—walking in from the entrance opposite from where the first gang had walked in. In the front was Vikram, all muscular and shit, like he always is. His eyes were filled with rage and he was frowning as he walked to the members of the other gang. They all turned at him, frowning and furious, and one of them walked in the front with his hands inside the pockets of his pants. Both of them stood at just an inch’s distance from each other.

“The fight will commence anytime soon, motherfuckers,” Rohit pushed both of us. “Walk in.”