Gumrah: 11 Short Teen Crime Stories by Ira Trivedi

Author:Ira Trivedi [Trivedi, Ira]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mobilism
ISBN: 9788129139559
Publisher: Rupa Publications
Published: 2015-12-31T18:30:00+00:00

Aryan

Naaz was so unhappy about moving back to Rohtak that I figured I should try to at least appear happy and put up a good front. It was incredibly hard to do so because I hated Rohtak and everything about it. Even though Naaz had created such a ruckus about moving back, now that we were here, she didn’t seem to mind it. I noticed that, in some ways, she was enjoying the attention she was getting. I had heard a few boys whisper about her—she was hot stuff on the campus. After all, the arrival of a new girl from the US wearing short skirts was big news in Rohtak. I had never been the possessive kind of brother, and I figured it was harmless, and in a way maybe it was a good thing: she no longer seemed to be unhappy.

Unfortunately, unlike my sister, there was nothing in the slightest bit glamorous about me; so most of the kids at school tended to ignore me. It didn’t help that they didn’t understand a word of the American-accented English that I spoke, and they just laughed at my Hindi—a language in which I had lost proficiency during the past five years though I was trying very hard to get it back.

Life continued in a bland, monotonous way in Rohtak, and just when I was about to lose all hope and succumb to a lifetime of entertaining myself with computer and video games, I met Ronak.

I had often seen the clique of four hanging out in the hall of our college; they seemed to be a fun though rowdy lot—they played hooky, smoked cigarettes on the football field, and drank beer out of water bottles on the basketball court. They were well liked, these four, and though they often broke the rules, they didn’t cause trouble, or get in anyone’s way; at least it didn’t seem so.

Football tryouts were in a week, and I desperately wanted to make it to the football team. It would give me a way to interact with some people. But it wasn’t going to be as easy as I had thought. The boys in Rohtak were surprisingly good and I had seen them practice. Also, I was totally out of shape—all the dal makhani and butter chicken cooked in cow’s butter (our own cow to be precise) were doing nothing for me. Since I had no friends and Naaz was really no good at football, though she did try, I could only practice by myself.

It was during one evening of solo practice that I saw Ronak and his mates smoking weed on the football field. They were far away from me, and I tried my best to avoid them and instead focused on getting the ball into the goal. But I was rusty; the football had a mind of its own and it rolled over to them.

When I went over to retrieve my football, I was met with a friendly smile, totally unexpected.

‘Dude, want some?’ Ronak asked, offering me a joint.

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