CHAPTER: 3
We were
returning after attending a robotic workshop.
“Now that’s
what I call a workshop, it was just awesome, couldn’t have asked for anything
better, what you say Jeet.” said Papun.
He had a
habit of amplify all his adulation for a thing if he liked it and also imposing
on others.
“Ya that was
cool, but I am thinking more about buying a stall at ELLIVE.”
ELLIVE was
the robotic tech-fest of our college. It comprises of different robo-showcase,
variety of competitions like robo racing, robo football etc, and some fun
events like robo spider dance, tag of war between robots and humans.
“Do you have
any plan in mind” asked Omi.
“Yup, I have
thought about a robo-packman game. We will construct the maze with some tiles
and wooden obstacles will be there.”
“That’s
sound like fun, carry on.” Said Papun
“Contestants
will be provided with one robot which they will have to take to the end point.
We will be controlling 2 or 3 robots and try to catch that pacman. Everything
will be same as the one we play on our computer.”
“And what’s
about monetary issues.” asked Omi.
“Each robot
will cost around 2thousand bucks, thousand for the stall and 2thousand for
prizes. We can take 50 or 100rupees as the entry fee. There will be different
slots. Winners of every slots will proceeds to the next round followed by
semifinals and finals. We can do it a 3 day event, the first day slot wise next
day will be semis and the third day finale.”
“Now tell me
who’s in.”
“I am” said
both Omi and Papun.
“What about
both of you, you have any other plan.” I asked Maddy and Shintu.
“Ya, we
planning to take part in the robo-showcase.”
“So showoffs
can you elaborate about your showcase plans.”
“We have two
things in mind, firstly we want to add an audio visual control mechanism to a
robo-car. A human will be its reference from whom it will receive voice
commands and visual commands to move, change directions and stop. The voice
control mechanism is simple we will scan the voice of the person who will
command it and store it in the microprocessor memory. The person will command
in a radiofrequency transmitter and this command will be received by the robot
through RF receiver, it will then match with the voice earlier stored in the
memory and follow its command and only problem is with the visual controlling,
we really need to come up with something out of the blue .”
“ The second
one is an electomechanical arm, we gonna use it as an electromagnet used for
lifting loads, also it will have a power saver technology attached to it so
that the length of the electomagent will vary in accordance with the weight to
be lifted.”
“All trick
lies in the variation of coil turns.” I said
“Yep, we
need to be very specific about the number of turns, so what you think.” said
Maddy
“It’s really
sound amazing, looking forward to it and all my best wishes are with you.”
“Hey dude,
don’t you think it would be better if we have some eyecandy on our stall” said
Omi.
“And who
else better than Sana” added Papun.
“You want me
to talk to her to join your campaign” asked Maddy.
“I can talk
to her on my own, you don’t need to poke your nose in my matters” I replied
The idea of
having Sana aboard wasn’t a bad idea at all, I mean I will get chance to spend
some quality time with her. I ranged Sana
“Sana can we
meet tomorrow, I have some important topic to discuss”
Sorry sir, I have some personal stuffs to take
care of.”
It felt
pretty awkward, she had never refused me anything before.
But somehow
I did found her in the library the next day.
“Sana stop,
do have time, I really need to talk to you.”
“Sir make it
quick, I am supposed to be somewhere else, I needed to return this book that’s
why I am here.”
“Ya it will
take a minute only.”
I described
her the whole Pacman thing.
“So what you
say, wanna be aboard with us??”
“Really
thanks for asking but I have already committed someone”
That was a
real setback, quite frankly I was certain about a sure shot yes, where did that
came from. But it was not over insult after that injury was waiting for me.
“What the
fuck, she said no, what the hell she thinks of herself” Papun looked upset too.
“ Well I did
advised you to let me talk to her, how could any girl would have told no to me,
But you can handle things on your own so tell me how are you handling your ass
after it has been kicked so hard by her.” bragged Maddy
I swear to
god I wanted to knock him down with a big right fist but somehow I controlled
myself. That day wasn’t right nor was the time. But someday I will have my
opportunity.
“Jeet you have been going out with
Sana for quite sometime now, don’t you think it’s time to propose her.”
The above
question of Omi coming out of blues really got me. I never saw that coming from
any dimension.
“Wow where
did that came from, I never really put any thought in it and after she refuse
to be in our team, I didn’t see that picture in near future.” I replied.
“Why don’t
you tell us you are afraid of back to back rejections, how much your tender
heart can hold on to.” Maddy poked me
“You really
wanna try me, fine I will propose her in the fresher’s party.” I told him
“Looks like
Jeet took it to his heart, I can’t ask for anything more if he you got settled”
said Omi
“You care
less about me and Maddy, our fight gonna continue until someone get Sana. You
tell me when you are going to propose your girl, SUHANI”
Suhani was
this girl Omi met during a workshop of GOOGLE hacking in Noida. She was
pursuing her engineering from Modi Institute of Technology, Jaipur. They spent
some quality time together and now were regularly in touch with mobile and
chatting. He made us hear all those stories of her and how one day he is gonna
get her. Once he even planned to go to Jaipur but later had to drop his plan as
no one agreed to accompany him.
But now the time
was right. Valentine’s Day was around the corner and if not now then will
never.
After a lot
of brain washing finally Omi agreed to give it a try.
7th
Feb: Rose Day
Omi wanted
to play it cool. He made a slow start, the message he sent was rather simple
but had its effects
“Happy Rose
Day” he only sent this much. And the one he got in return was
“Happy rose
day!!
May our
friendship last as long as rose fragnanceJJ”
8th
Feb: Propose Day
The above
message from Suhani really boosted his moral. But even though it took all his
strength to type those words.
“As days go
by, my feelings get stronger,
To be in your arms, I can’t wait any longer
Look in to my eyes and you will see it’s true,
Day and Night my thoughts are for you.
Suhani will
you be mine on this propose day.
He sent that
message in the morning and the reply came around midnight. That was the our
longest wait and every instant of it was killing us. Omi’s future was to be
decided but we all were felling like
having a nervous breakdown.It was like not only Omi but each and every one of
us have proposed. The reply was something like
“Happy
propose day
I don’t know what to say, you are such a
sweet guy. I am not sure whether I deserve that proposal or not, I always
thought that you are way out of my league, you can always get someone better
than me. Still I need some time to think about it.”
We were not
sure whether to be happy about it or it’s just a polite way of refusal.
Whatsoever the wait was still not over. We were left in a dilemma that was
killing us from inside.
The rest of
days went like the same. Everytime Omi’s phone beeped that week, we all
literary jump over it to see if it was her.
9th
Feb: Chocolate Day
In spite of
that proposal they keep on exchanging sms that week. Obviously it was Omi who
initiates it but Suhani never failed to reply
“Lovely
chocolate and lovely u,
And lovely are the things you do,
But loveliest
is the friendship of the two,
One is Me
and other is U!
Happy Chocolate Day”
She replied
like
“ U r unique
U r caring and
U r the best.
And I am luckiest to have you in my life
Happy Chocolate Day”
It keeps on
going on teddy day, promise day, kiss day, hug day. Although she didn’t went
for any poetic rhymes in the latter two but she didn’t forgot to mention them.
14th
Feb: Valentine’s Day
Finally came
the day on which Omi’s was to be decided, she was supposed to give the final
answer.
“What you
guys think, I should send a valentine’s day message” Omi asked.
“You have
already proposed her and she is yet to provide her ideology, I think you should
wait for her to express her feelings” I answered.
While we were saying this Omi phoned beeped
and it seemed like he got a mini heart attack. He was practically shivering,
with trembling hands he opened that message which goes as
“I have a heart n that is true,
But now it has
Gone from me to u,
So care for it just like I do,
B’COZ I have no heart n u have two.”
We were
numb. We looked at each other’s face not sure what to say and then we all
shouted together YEESSSS. We hugged each other and for the next 5 minutes we
kept on shouting. Omi had got the sweetest response after a long wait and it
was worth it. He kept on saying for the rest of the day
“I have done
it, I have done it, she is mine now”
For someone
getting a girlfriend was no big deal but for Omi it wasn’t a lesser achievement
than landing on a supernova or discovering a new theory in quantum physics.
That had to
be one of the happiest day we spent in that college. It was the call for a
party and I don’t know what it was, whether it was the excitement or the
happiness or whatever it was, it turned out to be the best party I ever had.
Omi was the first one in our gang to have a girlfriend thought it was a long
distance one but something is always better than nothing.
Later that even the discussion was
still revolving around long distance relationships.
“I don’t
know how long distance thing works, it looked like people are in love of gadget
they are using to communicate instead of the person” said Papun.
“Same do I
feel, I mean you both are living in some other world where every day you
encounter other people for whom you can fall. You may be loyal but you never
know what your partner is doing in their world” said Shintu.
“It’s all
mutual understanding, trust and feeling of love which you will not understand”
commented Omi.
“Look at him,
he is in a relationship for only few hours now but behaving like a Love Guru” I
said
I kept on
adding
“But you
know with all those technological advancement you can fill the void up to a
certain extent like phone sex, you know what I am talking about.
Mischieveness
got conflated in air.
The whole
room got charged up with those words of mine. It’s like they were waiting for
something to happen. Shintu and Maddy went a step further, they started
portraying a melodrama so tighten your seatbelts because believe me you don’t
wanna miss this as they are so good in it. Shintu get in the character of Omi
and Maddy in to that of Suhani.
“ Suppose
Suhani just came out of shower in a bathrobe, her hair wet unaware of the
presence of Omi, omi was stun to look at her in that way but then coming to
normal started enjoying the show” said Shintu.
“Whan she
will realize that Omi is there admiring her physic she will try to cover up and
ask what are you looking at” joined Maddy
“Till now a
masterpiece created by god but also optimistic about up to what extent I can
look”
“You not
gonna get to look at anything more than this”
“But Omi
will not listen, he will start moving forward”
“What are
you doing, don’t come near me, stop right there”
“But nothing’s gonna stop Omi on that day, he
went there and hold her in his arms”
“She started
to repel him halfheartedly when all she wanted him to do is hold her more
tightly, Please leave me would be her words”
“Omi will
neglect her warnings and start playing with her wet hairs”
“She will
not be able to look in his eyes so will start looking downwards”
“Omi will lift
her chin and make her look in to the eyes”
“Then slowly
he will Omi will start kissing her shoulders followed by neck”
“She will
start moaning”
“Then Omi
will take his lips close to her, she will close her eyes and then his lips will
meet with those sweet lips of hers, a spark of fire will generate in their
heart”
“Then he
will do something she didn’t even expected, he slips his hands towards her
bathrobe but she wasn’t in the position to remove his hand, he was a pull away
from….”
“Shut up you
bustards, that’s my girlfriend you are talking about” screamed Omi
“That’s your
distance relationship phone sex girlfriend” said Shintu
“Look I
don’t want to spoil the mood, I have planned a great Valentine evening and I
want you people to leave the room till night” said Omi while taking out his
laptop.
“Have you
guys planned for cybersex, that’s even cooler, you can actually see that bathrobe
coming out” I said
“Get the
fuck out of this room and I don’t want to see those faces till dinner” he
shouted
“Common guys move your ass, we can’t
afford to lose from our juniors, we have to win this at any cost” That’s Vaishu
enhancing the moral of our team.
It was a
Sunday afternoon, B.I.T cricket tournament was on and the match was between
first year and second year. Statistics was in our favor.
Papun was
also playing in that match so our excitement aroused even more. He was in a
fine nick in previous few games and was the key player of our team. Presently
he was on the crease and with every single run he was taking we were bringing
the whole stadium down and for rest it was an opportunity to abuse the juniors
and they were really cashing it.
“Look at the
face of those losers, oh gosh I am just loving it” said Maddy
It can be
clearly seen that all those abuses were getting in to their mind. They were
putting all to win it and all those intensity was making them to appeal
practically at every ball.
“They know
right that all those appeals are not going to let them win the match and if
anything it’s gonna do is piss the umpire” said Shintu.
“That’s
gonna favor us, and it’s fun to see those loser faces getting down with umpire
saying not out after all those appeals” said Maddy
He was right
it was quite a fun to watch that but then something happened we never expected.
It was Papun
on strike, the next ball it was a swing and a miss. Juniors again appealed for
caught behind wickets. We all started abusing them again. But then Ashwin sir
of 3rd year came from the volleyball court and started convincing
the umpire that Papun was bowled. Then we saw that the bell were on the ground.
“Sir those
fell down because of the wind” argued Papun
He was
right, the ball missed the stumps by a couple of inches or so but even thought
Papun was declared out.
That false
dismissal made rage came out of every corner. Now it was more important to win
that match. The celebration of juniors was making us go wild even more.
Somehow the
match proceeded. Now our team was playing it like they had a point to prove.
The gigantic and monstrous hits of Suman was taking us close to victory. He
again hit a for a spectacular cover drive resulting in a boundary. Now runs
less than a ball were required. In 2 overs we were required to score 10 more
runs. We can smell the victory and few even started the celebration.
But that
match wasn’t supposed to die so easily. Another event occurred which changed
the course of that match.
Suman was batting.
The balls hit the pads. Though the ball was way out of leg stumps but juniors
started appealing. Suman came out of his crease waiting for his decision. The
umpire signaled not out. But what next the juniors did was not on the cards.
One of the fielder throw the ball towards the wicketkeeper who take off the
bells and again juniors were appealing and this time it was for stumping.
That was a
heck of a drama we were we were watching and words converted in to action as
soon as umpire declared Suman out.
One of the
juniors started abusing Suman in excitement. As soon as it happened Vaishu and
Papun jumped in to field and ran towards that junior. They started slapping and
kicking him.
“I will
suicide and all of you are going behind the bars” screamed that junior while
crying.
After looking at this 2-3 more juniors came in
the play. One of them carried a bat, he came towards Papun and with a full
swing of that bat he cracked open Papun’s head. Blood started coming out of it
and within couple of seconds he fainted and fall down on ground. I had never
experienced a scene like this. I was stun. But I gathered all my strength, lift
a stump and started running towards the juniors who hit Papun. I swing the
stump with my full strength and hit him on his legs which later I came to know
caused a hairline fracture on his right leg. But then another junior hit me
with his stump over my left eyebrow. Thought I tried to move out of the way but
somehow it scratched my eyebrow and it was enough for blood to come out, Suman
knocked out that junior. By that time boys from both years get in the field and
started to stop the fight. Somene had called the ambulance, Omi and Shintu
lifted Papun and carried him to the ambulance, Maddy helped me to get in the
ambulance.
I got 3 stitches and head of Papun was covered
with bandages.
“Woo, you
looking like a mummy freshly out of you pyramid, can I get an autograph” said
Omi
That son of
a bitch can make fun out of anything but then I guess we needed it more than
anything after all those we went through and all those gonna come the next day.
The next day
we were summoned in Director’s office. There were panels of teachers there some
waiting for a great story other to act as jury to give us detention.
After
hearing the story of both ends to give black dot to 4 of us including
me,Papun,Vaishu,Suman and 3 of the juniors.
“Congratulation
buddy, we have just entered the elite panel of those distinctive personalities
with black dots, 2 more of them and we will not be allowed to participate in campus
placement.” I said
“We are
famous now, well that’s a cool way to say we are screwed” replied Papun.
“But tell me
how faculty came to know about this incident” I enquired
“The one we
started beating first complained, hoping we gonna suffer a lot, but you we only
got a black dot and he is suspended from the hostel for the whole semester
along with a black dot” told Papun
“What a
dumbass, I mean from which planet does these hail from, I really felt like
celebrating even if I am screwed, he is one with a dagger in his heart” I
exclaimed
We didn’t
put much thought on that incident but it was not the case with everyone. In the
hostel we were remembering what we went through in the past 24 hours and Omi
was making fun of it in his own way, Vaishu entered
“Guys
there’s a meeting downstairs in the common hall in 10 minutes and we want you
people to join” he asserted
“Wow his
expression says it’s not gonna be an easy one, let’s go I don’t wanna be a
reason to amplify their anger by joining late” said Shintu
As we
expected the meeting was about that cricket incident and the topic was whether
we settle for an apology or should it be the hard way around. But no one looked
to walk over the matter so easily. After quite a bit of furious discussion we
finally came to the conclusion as
“Firstly the
cricket tournament is abandoned. Secondly I want everyone of you to completely
boycott the juniors. There won’t be any conversation or help of any kind like providing
study materials, question papers or anything” declared Mantu
“And also
there will be no fresher’s party.”
Wait a
second, what, did he just said there will no fresher’s party, that’s not
happening. Now I am completely screwed.
“Ok, bye honey” it was
Omi curtailing his conversation with Suhani while entering the room. It was two
and half past midnight and we were about to sleep but Maddy was in a mood to
make the night a little longer.
“Dude that
was around 2 hours, what you both talk about for so long almost every night.”
said Maddy
“When you
are in love there is no boundation for time, even after those 2 hours I am
feeling there’s been lots of things which I wanted to tell her but i was so in
to her voice that completely forgot” Omi replied
“Yup things
like were those chapatti’s of the mess properly cooked, was there ample water
in the lavatory and blah blah blah” commented Maddy
“Look I
don’t want to hear comments from those who are not even in a relationship,
first get a girlfriend and then we will talk about it and the way I am looking
at it none of you are in the picture, Jeet went close but after that decision
of no fresher’s party, I think it made you all even” replied Omi
“I agree, Jeet
you must have realized getting in to that fight wasn’t a good idea after that
decision of no fresher’s party was given.” said Maddy
“I get in to
that fight because of my friend Papun, but a narrow minded person like you
wouldn’t know who was just sitting there when Papun was getting that beating.”
I replied
“Wow, look
at 2 losers fighting, I sometimes think how I used to live on that side of the
road, it’s so monotonous on that side.” Omi was in mood to add spark in our
anger
“This bitch
is getting more arrogant with each passing day, Omi you realize you are not the
only one with a girlfriend, and note the date cause tomorrow’s event will be
written in golden ink on the pages of history book cause tomorrow I am going to
propose Sana, just think how much better our relationship will be than your
long distance sucking one, just imagine the things I am gonna do with her.”
said Maddy
Only a mere
image of what Maddy told scared the hell out of me. What if Sana agree to his
proposal. Looking at Maddy’s track record probability favors his statement.
Thinking about his past affairs I could only compare it with the pickup lines
of those coaching institutes who says ’100% success guaranteed’. For him
getting Sana could be a piece of cake and it might a matter of night before we
could see her in his arms.
That night
both me and Maddy didn’t sleep. Maddy couldn’t sleep searching for crappy
proposal ideas and lines from internet. I couldn’t sleep thinking about the
next day’s sun have in store for us. It might be the last night I can think
about Sana with a prospect of making her mine one day. Tomorrow the whole world
might be upside down. Oh how I wish this night ever couldn’t be over. How I
wish this could be the world’s end.
The next day
it was Maddy who was gaining all the attraction and I was hatting every bit of
it. He was dressed in his self-proclaimed lucky shirt which he use to wear
during tuff papers in which he was certain to get a backlogs and call it
superstition or anything but it had it’s effect, Maddy didn’t had a single
backlog and it didn’t matter how crappy was his preparation or how his paper
went and I felt like tearing it apart.
“Wish me
luck guys, or you know what I don’t even need it and Jeet I am really feeling
sorry for you buddy but I guess it’s your fault only, you should have put in a
thought before getting in the arena against me” self-centered arrogance of
Maddy was speaking
“Tell me Jeet, what’s the
number of parallel path in a multiplex wave winding” those words of Prof.
Mishra woke me up from my thought. That whole day I didn’t even listened to a
single word of any class, whether it was microprocessor or data base management
system or presently principal of electrical machine. Had he not interrupted me
who knows for how long I would have been in that state.
“I don’t
know sir” was all that came out my mouth when I clearly remembered that it was
(c +- m)/(p/2). But that wasn’t the day he’s gonna get an
answer from me.
After a
session of 10 minutes making fun of me joined by everyone in the laughter and
how future of student’s like me is in dark I was asked to leave the classroom
which I followed wholeheartedly. On my way back to hostel I did a quick scan of
the canteen hoping to find a heartbreaking scene but couldn’t see them. In the
room also I was waiting for him to appear but everyone except him came.
“He left the
classroom after the first class” Omi informed us as he being the branch mate of
Maddy in electrical engg.
Everyone
joined in the speculation of where they were now, suggestion ranged from
movies, date and some dirty one’s also which I tend to ignore. With every
passing minute the anxiety was rising.
But around
7:30p.m that anxiety changed in to worries. Girls are not allowed to wander out
of hostel that late.
“What you
think where he could have gone” asked Omi
“His Alma
matter” we all came to the same conclusion.
Now if you
are thinking what is this Alma matter, well for someone among us it might be
B.I.T and for some their previous school but for Maddy it was a nearby pond
connected by a river where we all have learnt swimming. He always believed that
that pond have taught him more than any school he ever attended and whenever he
was sad or disappointed he went there sat either on the edge or went in for
swim. He once told me after coming out of the water all his worries magically
disappears.
We went out
of the college from the back door as we won’t be allowed to go out so late.
Maddy could be easily spotted sitting by the edge. We went there and sat by his
side.
“What
happened champ, we thought you gonna throw us a grand party but you are sitting
here” said Shintu
Those words
compelled Maddy to cry. He then went on
to narrate what happened out there with him and Sana.
“After
leaving the class I went to the library and messaged Sana to come at once. When
she came I took her to back of the corner rack and there I told her how much I
adored her and how much I am obsessed with her thought. But the next thing she
told me made me go out of my mind. She told me she is already in a relationship
with someone else. I wasn’t been able to stand that answer and I forcefully
grabbed her hand, initially she tried to remove them but after her efforts went
in vain she did something I never expected. She slapped me, I was stun and she was
able to slip her hand out of mine. By that time the librarian came there after
hearing that sound. I had to leave the place before a scene. I wasn’t able to
face you people so I came here, I thought I need introspection. But I can’t see
anything inside me. I am feeling numb.”
That was the
time Maddy needed his friends the most but all those arrogant talks he had
before made me do something I regret for all my life
“Now tell me
how it feels like to actually get your ass kicked big times” were my words
He jumped
over me and grabbed my collar. Had others not separated us, it could have been
a serious muscle show. That was the day we stopped talking to each other.
We returned
to hostel quietly, nobody spoke a word the whole way. When I was about to sleep
after all those exertions I went through, my phone beeped. It was message from
Sana and it said
“Can we
please meet in the canteen tomorrow after the classes?”
I replied
her positively. And then again a thought striked me which I had completely
forgot because of the fight that could have occurred and a feeling of victory,
how Maddy failed to snatch Sana away from me. I am already in a relationship,
were those words only to wave Maddy away or seriously there’s someone we
weren’t aware of the presence. I don’t know when I felt asleep thinking about
it.
The next day
while waiting for her in the canteen the same thought was pooping in my mind. She
entered and after accosting she started the conversation
“I hope you
know what happened yesterday”
I nodded.
She continued
“I never
have thought for a second something like this he could do, well things went
pretty nasty from my side also. Look I want to apologies but couldn’t face him,
could you do it for me”
I said yes
but if I could only tell her things he did I wanted to do too and we are out of
talking terms because of her. Then I asked what was killing me from inside
“You told
him that you are already in a relation with someone”
“Yup that’s
right I am seeing someone”
Now that was
the biggest ache I ever felt. I wanted but couldn’t asked her who was he. I
quickly wrapped up the meeting and went towards the hostel with heavy steps.
“Let’s go to watch
Batman: The dark night arises” said Omi. It was their effort to abridge the
communication gap between me and Maddy. After some persuasion we both agreed to
go. But they didn’t just stop there, they went a step further and made me sit
to the next chair on which Maddy was sitting.
“Hey isn’t
that Sana?” said Shintu just before the interval. All of our attention went
that way
“Who is by
her side?” asked Omi. There was a guy with whom she was talking to while
holding his hand and he was throwing popcorn bits on her.
“It’s Pratap
sir” replied Maddy ”So is he the one” that questioned shocked us. How could
that be true.
Then came
the interval. Maddy walked out of the theatre and we all followed him. Well the
funny part is we never watched the later part of that movie.
“Can we
please go to our place, I can’t stand the very scene of her with someone like
Pratap sir” said Maddy
We all
agreed to it. As a matter of fact we were really stun by her choice of men.
Pratap was the biggest Punk our college had ever produced. He already had two
black dots and a series of never ending backlogs and she chose him before
Maddy, it was hard to get acquinted to that idea.
We were
sitting by the pond side staring at the image of moon on the water.
“Has that
girl completely lost it,’Pratap’ are you kidding me, how could she” said Shintu
“And these
two idiots are not talking with each other because of her, give it a break guys
and mark my words that girl’s gonna regret it big times” said Omi
But neither
I said anything nor did Maddy, my head was completely blank and I guess it’s
the case with Maddy too. I don’t wanted to go away from the pond but that day
even that pond couldn’t absorb our worries. We came to our room and went to
bed. But none of could sleep. My eyes were fixed to the rotation of the fan.
Around midnight I heard Maddy sobbing but no one was able to face him so nobody
moved. That was one of the longest night and it haunts me even today.
