New Year's Night (Part II)

Kritvik Bhatt

I stood behind the backs of Sooraj and Aaryan as they faced Vikram. The guys around me whispered around as they looked at the situation unfolding. I stood silently, worriedly looking at the two of them.

The sunlight had completely gone away, and the sky was completely dark. The clouds floated over, covering some part of the glittering moon. There were no stars all over the sky around it. The buildings stood silently on the three edges of the park, looking proudly toward the sky. They had some windows and stuff, which threw out faint yellow lights.

Vikram’s narrowed eyes looked a little skyward at Aaryan.

Aaryan, in reply, was looking at him with confidence and determination.

Sooraj had his hands inside his pockets, and he had his head turned to his right, watching the others around him.

“Alright, this shit is getting intense,” Aaryan told himself in his head.

Vikram turned his head down, moved his butt up, and stood up, looking frontward angrily into his eyes. “Move back, everyone.”

Everyone walked a couple of steps backward. Unconsciously, with my eyes staring at his devilish anger, I stepped back too.

“It was taking a turn for the worse. I obviously knew what was gonna happen… and it was not something positive, man.”

“Can’t we solve this matter like legit—”

POW!

Sooraj had tried to speak, but what he met was a punch on his left cheek. He instantly fell to the ground rightward, his eyes tightly closed.

Vikram looked at his defeated figure and said, “Who fucker asked? Motherfucker, ya know the rules here change for no fucking one.”

Sooraj moved his back up on his left elbow and tried to push down with his left hand, moving his head up and looking at Vikram.

“Imma not even go all-out on yer fucking dicks, by the way.”

Sooraj moved his left hand up and rubbed his left cheek slowly and smoothly. “That legit hurts, man…” He thought.

All the whispers suddenly stopped. Everyone was silent as they looked at the two—sympathizing at them, maybe.

Vikram then turned his head to the front at Aaryan. His narrowed eyes said that he was annoyed, no doubt.

As those eyes looked frontward at Aaryan, I gulped in. “V-Vikram, please, stop it. For some reason, it’s not the right thing to do…” I thought to say, but my lips refused to open. My lips suddenly opened then, for some reason, but all I could manage to say was, “A… Aa…” I closed them again.

“Why the fuck am I being legit embarrassed here, man?!” Sooraj thought as he moved his body up. But, for some reason, his hands slipped and he thumped down on the ground again.

All the eyes were on him, and on the angry eyes of Vikram which stared at Aaryan, for some reason.

Vikram then stepped forward at Aaryan, moved his fist up, and then punched him hard on his left cheek.

Aaryan bent down rightward due to the impact, and was about to lose balance. But, he stood on his feet, for some reason.

Then, Vikram’s left foot moved up and hit him on his chest.

Aaryan’s back moved backward and he fell back on the ground, his arms flung open. His right knee was standing up. He took breaths in and out repetitively, his eyes wide open. He moved his right hand and pressed his chest a little.

Clomp. Clomp Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.

“Now, d’ya know the fucking difference between us, eh?” Vikram said as he looked into his eyes.

“Ya see, I thought this rule of getting beaten before leaving the gang was for the ones who joined because they had lost a fight against us. I… never thought that… I would be fucking beaten like this to be able to leave this gang.”

“Yeah, right?”

Vikram turned his head backward.

Sooraj was trying to stand up on his feet. He was on his knees, his back bent forward, and his hands on the ground. He moved one knee up, moving his foot on the ground. Then, he tried to move his body up, moving his other foot on the ground. He, for some reason, smoothly stood up that time.

Aaryan too moved his back up, pushed down on the ground with both his hands, and then stood up on his legs.

Vikram looked into Sooraj’s eyes. They were frowning, determined for their cause.

Vikram’s narrowed eyes then turned to the front at Aaryan, who was frowning too.

“I see confidence in yer eyes, by the way.”

“Thanks, Vikram.”

“I’ve just noticed them. And… And it’s fucking hard to admit, but… I don’t feel like I can fucking control ya two now.”

Aaryan took breaths in and out through his mouth as he heard his words.

“All of this shit… this torture and shit—it won’t be enough. And, I can’t go beyond it. I can’t fucking control ya two now.”

I stared at Vikram, puzzled.

“And, I don’t even fucking want to, motherfucker.”

Aaryan slowly nodded a couple of times, and then turned his head down.

“And so, I let ya go, motherfuckers.”

Thump! A hand patted on my back. From my left, a figure of a guy appeared. “Well, what the fuck’s happening here, motherfucker?” Rohit asked in a low voice.

I turned to my left at him for a second, and then turned to the front again. “Aaryan and Sooraj wanted to leave the gang, and… and uh, Vikram started to beat them, but, for some reason, now…”

Rohit nodded. “Okay.”

“Go, ya two,” Vikram announced as he turned backward to his seat.

Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.

FZRRRRRRRR! BANG!

A firecracker rose up in the air and exploded.

All of us turned our heads up.

“There’s still time for New Year’s, right?” Aaryan asked.

“Must be some party or some stuff, man,” I commented as I turned to the front again.

“Yeah, man,” Aaryan turned his head to the top.

“New Year, new us,” Sooraj said.

Aaryan smiled. “We did it, asshole.”

Sooraj turned his head to Aaryan. “Legit we did, man.”

Aaryan walked to him and hugged him tightly. Sooraj hugged him back.

I smiled as I stood half a dozen steps away from them, looking at them from a distance.

Everyone’s smiles came back as they all started to talk and chat with each other.

“Attention, motherfuckers,” Vikram announced.

Everyone was silent again and turned to him. Sooraj and Aaryan stood beside each other, moving their arms away from each other’s backs, as they turned to him.

“I wanna tell you all some shit. Listen carefully, motherfuckers.”

Everyone had turned serious. Aaryan and Sooraj’s smiles faded away as they looked at him.

“I know that no new developments have taken place recently, but, I don’t want y’all to forget that… we’re in a fucking war with Sons of Satan right now.”

“Y-Yeah,” Aaryan murmured. “I-I completely forgot about that shit.”

“Yeah, that’s why I was reminding y’all,” Vikram told him. He then turned to the front again. “I just got the news that those motherfuckers have teamed up with Akshay and his gang members. What this fucking means is that all of the details of our business—the schools we operate in, who is operating where, and all that shit—are with them. And, not just that, those guys also have all our fucking secrets.”

Aaryan and Sooraj stood just beside each other, glaring at him as they stood to his right.

“And that means that everyone here is in fucking danger, by the way.” Vikram then stood up. “Because if a brawl comes up between the two, they know with whom of us should their each member fight. And… that means a total fucking one-way slaughter.” He then turned his head to his right. “And that’s just if they decide to have a fucking brawl. We… We don’t even know how they’re gonna use all of that shit.”

“That… means we’re in some real fucking danger?” Aaryan asked.

“Yeah. We might cease to exist… That’s how much information those three guys had. They’ve been with me for a fucking year, and that’s enough.”

“But, why did they… legit take a fucking year to…?”

“We won them over after a fight. And… they seemed loyal… until…”

“They’ve broken all contacts with us,” Rohit announced. Everyone then turned to me and Rohit. “Well, those motherfuckers know a lot about us, but… they’ve never revealed a lot to us.”

“And that’s what puts us at a fucking disadvantage,” Vikram said. “They waited, gathered information, got to know about our strongest opponent, contacted them, and fucking joined hands with them.”

“We’re nine now, and we used to be a dozen the last time we had met them. And, it was a fucking close call, to be honest. Two more are leaving, and they have increased in size too. There’s no fucking odds that we’re gonna win against them.”

When it was over, everyone was silent. Obviously, the atmosphere was tense.

“What used to be a happy atmosphere… had just been invaded by dark clouds. No doubt, it was some serious stuff.”

Rohit then smiled. “Well, now that it’s over, let’s enjoy tonight’s party with vapes and shit!”

“YOOOO!” Everyone shouted at once.

I smiled too.

“The atmosphere suddenly changed again.”

“Damn, man…”

Rohit stepped to the front and, while walking to Vikram, asked, “Everyone brought money?!”

“YOOOO!”

“These motherfuckers are ever-ready to party, eh?” Vikram commented with a smile as Rohit sat beside it, pulling out a phone from his pants.

“Yeah. Let’s order food then.”

“And a cake!” Someone said in between.

“This dickhead always wants a fucking cake!”

“Bruh, it’s New Year’s! We got to cut a cake!”

“Yeah, motherfuckers, a cake is a must,” Rohit announced.

I suddenly noticed Sooraj and Aaryan walking toward me. They both grabbed me by moving their arms around my shoulders and continued walking. I twisted back so I could walk in the same direction. “What?”

“It’s not for ya, asshole,” Aaryan said with a smile. He was on my right.

“And, dickhead, we’re not a part of the gang either.”

“Yeah, pal. I’m gonna miss this shit.”

“Legit we will.”

I smiled. “We can party tomorrow too, man.”

“I’m never partying with a dickhead like ya, man,” Sooraj gave a slight smile.

“Me too. This asshole is boring.”

“Damn, man! I’m not boring!”

Rohit had his head to the front, staring at the back of the three of us walking away. He also had a slight smile on his face, which didn’t suit him, for some reason.

“So, we got seven fuckers, including the two of us, each of whom got four hundred. How much is that money?” Vikram said.

Rohit then turned from our faint laughs to his phone again. “Yeah, lemme calculate.”

“And… that’s how my year ended. Nothing much happened, no doubt. My father too had bought a cake after office, so we cut it at midnight, and it’s done. And then, we watched a movie, and halfway through, my dad and I were sleeping, so my mom decided it was better for us to sleep rather than watch stuff on television. And… that’s how I ended twenty-twenty-one.”