One Last Time

Kritvik Bhatt

“This… is gonna be my first and last fight.”

I buttoned my black shirt up to my collar-bones.

“And obviously, it’s… it’s not gonna be as horrifying, man,” I thought as I tightened the brown belt around my waist and buckled it.

Then, I sat on the bed behind me and turned to my white shoes on the floor. I bent down, took the right shoe, loosened its laces, and then started to stuff my feet inside.

Some seconds later, I walked to the brown dressing table on one side of the bed and looked at my image inside. “Why are we even supposed to look cool during fights even when these clothes are gonna get dirty anyway?” I thought as I looked at my figure with a black pair of shirt and pants on. My eyes were still narrowed, and had dark patches beneath them. My hairs were a little long and covered parts of my forehead. They were also messed up, for some reason, and each strand of hair ran wherever it wanted.

“Damn, man,” I thought as my eyes widened for a second, and then narrowed down again. “I look like I gotta go to a funeral or some stuff like that, man.”

I turned leftward and looked at the door to the balcony—with windows beside it, obviously. I stepped toward the door, twisted the doorknob, and pushed it open.

Creeeak!

Outside was the half-blue and half-dark sky, filled with some layers of orange flames spread all over the sky, for some reason. The apartments in the front stood silently, with their rooms’ lights turned on already, just like mine.

I glared at them with my serious eyes.

“… It’s my life’s first fight. What if I get hurt or something?”

Sana’s chuckling face appeared in front of my eyes, for some reason. But, just beside her face was that of Daksh—smiling damn hard.

I smiled a little. “Yeah, I won’t be able to tell her what cool stuff I’m about to do, man.” That smile then disappeared.

“I… I wanna fuck somebody up damn bad too, man.”

Now what was left of the image was just Daksh’s smiling face.

“I wanna punch him so damn hard that…”

My right hand clenched hard.

“It’s so fucking frustrating, man. I… I was so damn close to her. But… But now… A bastard came in and took her away from me.”

I took in a deep breath, and then exhaled out.

“For some reason, I never end up with the girls that I love, even if we’re so fucking close.”

I remembered Jiya’s laughing face filled with red pimples all over.

“I’m… such a damn loser, no doubt.”

I moved my right hand to the doorknob on the left and started to pull the door closed.

“Maybe it’s my own fault for being so dumb, man. I don’t need girls now. I don’t even want to be with any girl now. I just… want to have a fun and simple life, without any damn confusions and dilemmas. I just want to have fun, and be in the moment that I’m living. I just… want to stay away from toxic people and situations, maybe.”

Click.

I turned back, and started to walk to the open door to the drawing room. “I don’t know if I’ll be okay there. I don’t know if I should even be there. After all, I’m not that kind of a guy, obviously. But, I feel like… I gotta be there, man.”

Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.

I stepped out of the room and turned left on the couch, where Aaryan and Aakash were sitting. They too had such black clothes like me. They then turned to me and stood up, smiling.

“And, I don’t need to worry if I’m with my friends. They’d definitely make it a fun experience for me,” I told myself as I smiled back.

“Man, I’m still afraid of punches, though.”

“Ya see, that phobia waters itself away as soon as you get hit for the first time,” Aaryan said as he turned to the door and started to walk out.

***

We were at the usual hideout of the Black Reapers—the bench at the center of that park, facing the entrance. Everyone was standing around that bench—some had their arms crossed in front of their chest, while some like me had their hands inside their pockets. They all were wearing black shirts and pants, for some reason.

The sky was about to turn completely dark when the three of us stepped into the park and started to walk to the gang at the front.

Our footsteps spread and some guys turned backward to us and glared at us coming at them. We then stopped as we merged the gang and turned to Vikram, who was sitting silently at the bench, his arms crossed and his closed eyes glaring downward.

“Vikram, Aaryan and others are here too,” someone told Vikram.

He opened his eyes and turned to the three of us right in front of him, behind two-three guys, obviously. “Good,” He nodded. Then he turned his head leftward and looked at some of the guys. “Men, we all know why we’ve gathered here tonight.”

“Hmm,” Some nodded.

“Tonight is gonna be the biggest night of our lives. At least, I hope that it’s the biggest, because it’s gonna fucking last.”

Everyone was glaring at him with a dead-serious look in their eyes—including me.

Vikram then turned his head to the front. “This is the place which made us men—it taught us business, it taught us how to fight and stand up, and… it taught us… how to live with our heads held high.”

He then turned his head just a little rightward, as if directly glaring at me.

“It taught us brotherhood, friendships, and betrayals too. It taught us how to deal with all that shit and believe ourselves and our friends when shit goes south.”

“Hmm,” Some nodded again.

“We spent the best part of our lives here. I don’t wanna admit it, but I feel like my life fucking peaked when my gang peaked locally.”

He then turned his head leftward. “But, my men, the last few months really fucked us up.” He then turned his head down to the ground. “They say things—however good or bad… end one day. But I don’t fucking believe it.” He then stood up and tilted his head right to left, making sure everybody heard it. “Great things always come back to a restart.”

Everybody nodded slightly, some with even tears in their eyes.

Glaring right into the eyes of those men on the right, he continued, “Wherever we go after this night, I hope that you great men’s lives restart too, and head toward something even greater than this.”

He then turned to me again.

“Whatever you all do in the future in your lives, men, make sure that you head to greater peaks than being a fucking member of the best gang of the area. Do great deeds, motherfuckers, and head to great heights.”

He then turned his head to the sky.

“Head to such heights that there’s always night, but… sun still never sets.”

I turned my head to the top.

“… To the space, huh?”

“Break the barriers chaining you in.”

“And fucking rise to the top.”

“Y-Y-Yeah…”

“DID Y’ALL FUCKING HEAR ME?!” He shouted.

“YEAH!”

“EH?! DIIIID Y’ALLLL FUCKINGGGGG HEARRRR MEEEE?!”

“YEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!” Everybody screamed on top of their lungs.

“Don’t fucking scream like that!”

We all turned our heads backward, looking at the guy who had just shouted those words.

“Y’all are so fucking dumb!” Rohit said as he walked toward us. He too wore black clothes.

“Ya are gonna fight too tonight?” Aaryan asked, his eyes frowning questioningly.

“Well, whaddya think, motherfucker?”

Aaryan smiled as Rohit stopped in front of him.

“I wore just the right clothes, right?” Rohit asked him.

Aaryan suddenly hugged him and everyone started to cheer. “WHOOOO!” They all started to jump and raise their hands up joyfully.

“Damn, man,” I said with a smile as I just stood and looked at them smiling and laughing.

Vikram too smiled calmly as he sat back on the seat. “That’s all I gotta say.” He turned his head down and crossed his arms again.

Everyone calmed down and turned to Vikram as Rohit started to walk through the guys and sat beside Vikram. He turned to Vikram and said, “So, Co-Leader and Lead Action Commander, whaddya say—should we start with the strategies?”

“I never fucking thought that I’d need to add ya to the strategy too, motherfucker,” Vikram commented with a smile and some people chuckled a little.

I too chuckled as I looked at the two of them.

“To be honest, neither did I, motherfucker.” Rohit turned to the front and added, “But, I gotta say—these motherfuckers are a big part of my life. I don’t even fucking know what shit I’d be doing all day if I ain’t coming here every night, acting like I’m the biggest man here.” He nodded as he turned his head downward. “Well, I don’t fucking know what the fuck life is gonna look like after this night.”

“We should fucking stop with this depressing shit, right?” Aaryan said. “Ya are gonna be fucking fine, man. We all ain’t dying tonight, ya see.”

Rohit smiled. “Yeah, I’d be playing badminton with this motherfucker every night.”

“Ahahahahhaa!” Everyone burst into laughter.

“Aye! I didn’t mean it like that, motherfuckers!” Rohit said with a smile.

Vikram too smiled as he turned frontward at everyone. In between those laughs, he, in a low voice, said, “We’re gonna miss this shit, man.”

I smiled as I looked at him and he looked back at me. In return, I just nodded and bowed my head a little.

He nodded back and stood up, and then turned to everybody. The laughs slowly disappeared and everybody turned to him again. “We got no strategy for tonight—just like every other night. We’re gonna throw our punches there and fuck their asses up.”

He then turned to Aaryan. “Just make sure Kritvik and Aakash are safe, Aaryan.”

He nodded. “Aye.”

Vikram then turned to the front and raised his muscular arm up, his fist on top. “Let’s fucking show them tonight who’s still the boss in this town.”

“AYE!” Everyone shouted and raised their fists up.

Vikram walked through everybody and we stepped back to let him walk. He walked in the front toward the entrance of the park.

Everyone started to walk behind him and the place was filled with the patter of our footsteps marching away from our hideout.

Aaryan turned his head back toward the bench. I turned rightward and looked at him as he emotionally glared at their hideout. “This time… I’m really not gonna return, pal.”

“Everything happens for a reason, man. I know there’s something good in it too.”

Aaryan smiled and nodded. He then turned his head to the front. “This was the fucking type of closure I had always wanted from this gang, not the one I had on New Year’s.”

I too turned my head to the front. “That’s great for you then.”

“Perhaps.”