Chapter 1

Our Seven Lives & Beyond

 

He only came alive in the boxing ring.

The drops of sweat and blood ' were something that excited him, made him feel as if he was not living in a transient life.  All he had to do was dance, duck, left right, left right, bob, turn, twist, and hit!

"And there we have it friends, Aham has maneuvered himself into the opponent's inner space and delivered a strong uppercut to his opponent, Umang.  Looks really painful, maybe a busted lip?  There is blood on the ring, and if this kid doesn't get up soon the middleweight title will go to Aham!"

Umang better stay on the ground, it took seven rounds, a hard hit to his shoulder, and a swollen eye to finally wear out his opponent.  Sure enough though, his endurance overpowered his opponent and his sharp jabs.

"'Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, ONE!  And there we have folks!  The new middleweight champion is Aham Modi!  Not so unbelievable to expect after that shock victory Umang dealt him a mere three months ago!  This fighter IS back on his game, and really did hit back hard!"

Aham hoisted the belt above his head and showed it off to the crowd. 

Aham quickly covered his slightly damp hair with a beanie cap, shrugged on his jacket, and secured the lock on his locker.  It was too late to deposit the earnings he won from the title match into the bank; and so instead of walking with that amount of cash in the night, it was safer in his locker.  As it was, his rent was not due any time soon, and he could send his mother a portion of it with a courier the next day. 

Striding towards the exit, he nodded at the night guard who congratulated him on the win.

"You did good, Aham.  Knew last time was just a fluke."

"Well, I made sure not to repeat the same mistakes.  I believe in success."

"Why not go out and celebrate it?"

"Didn't feel like it Uncle'"

"I know dikra, you're very stern in your habits.  Go home safely, it's quite late now and due to the monsoon weather some areas are without light."

"Seriously Uncle, I'll be fine.  Jai Shri Krishna."

"Jai Shri Krishna, Aham."

With a final wave, Aham strolled out into the night and took a deep breath.  The streetlights were reflected in the pavement puddles, and he made sure to not step in the puddles that had oil residue shimmering upon the surface.  The last thing he needed were his sneakers flooded and socks soaked with the dirty water. 

The air was crisp and refreshing; although, the main street's lingering scent of chutney and food followed him through the narrow pathways he had now reached.  With the scent of the savory but most likely greasy food hitting his nostrils, he realized that he should have at least ate a granola bar after the match.  His journey alone took half an hour by foot, and he had only covered twelve minutes so far.  This only increased the rumbling in his stomach.  Setting a faster pace, he left the increasingly deserted roads behind him with each footstep.

Making the second to last turn towards his flat, he was assaulted with darkness and only the half moon left to guide him.  'I guess this is where the power was cut.'  Suddenly, he was pushed harshly to the ground from behind, and the sound of feet flooded his ears.  Were there two people or more, he had no idea, but he had to get up.   Quickly hoisting himself up, his legs were swept out from underneath him and he landed painfully on his injured shoulder.  He could barely see properly out of his puffy eye, but he definitely was surrounded by a group of people. 

"Take this champ!" a voice said leeringly from the dark before a swift kick was delivered to his gut.  The pain was excruciating.  He tried standing but someone swung an object across his back while another person sent a hard punch to his face.  A slow trickle of liquid made its slimy way over the curve of his lips and he found it hard to breathe.  The lack of food and the two pairs of hands holding him up to receive a brutal assault of kicks and punches made him begin to feel queasy.  Soon he could not keep his pain quiet and his quick intakes of air revealed the labor of which he was breathing.

 

He was not sure how much time had passed, but the pebbles were pressing into his cheek and his body felt as if aflame.  There was a slight lightening in the sky as dawn was nearly approaching, and Aham tried with all his might to crawl towards the wall not too far away.  As he began reaching towards the wall for support, his hands found the thin bat that must have been used to hit him in the back.  He could barely make a grip to hold it.  After what felt like hours, he made it to the wall and used the bat to help prop himself up.  Taking a deep breath, Aham used his sleeve to rub away the grim and blood around his mouth.  Not only were both of his eyes swollen to the point where he could not see what direction he should move to, but he began seeing stars.  He took one step to the left, then another and almost tripped.  Were his legs broken?

He took a few seconds to gain a semblance of his balance, when he took another step and nearly fell.

He was floating, he really must be.

 

Days had passed and this stranger was still unconscious on her sofa.  When she had thought that the milkman had come an hour early, she was surprised to find that the thump on her door was a man, so badly beaten, slumped on her doorstep.  She could barely drag him to her sofa, and along the way not only did he probably incur some carpet burn but her own carpet had been wrecked by his vomit as well.  It probably was an even exchange.

 

The sounds of angels helped give him the ability to force his eyes to at least slit open and what he saw surprised him.  His guardian angel was sitting on the ground at the edge of the sofa applying ointment to his hand. 

 

A few more days had passed and his fever went down, Gopi was so relieved.  Over time she had gotten used to her lonely existence, she had no family and had lived in an orphanage until she could move out.  Thankfully, she was able to learn certain trade skills at her orphanage and gained a job at the local clothing factory.  They would give her a shipment of materials and fabrics, have her follow the preordained designs, and expect the product by a deadline.  Gradually, she saved enough to rent her studio apartment.  With Mr. Stranger sleeping on the couch, her own bedding was a mere two feet away on the carpeted ground.  Gopi was thankful that the clients she fulfilled catering orders for during the weekend never stepped into her home but took their orders from outside her door.

 

His days were blurring together.  How long had he been prone on this sofa?

 

Unlocking her door, Gopi stepped into her darkened room.  For the first time in a month and a half she heard the sound of Mr. Stranger.  He had flipped himself off the sofa and was coughing up what seemed like his lungs.

Flicking on the light switch, his body with remnants of his bruises still apparent by the greenish-yellow splotches became bathed in light. She rushed towards him and rubbed a hand on his back.  "Ji, are you okay?"

Aham's voice barely reached his lips and his croak broke the silence.

"Let me get you some water, once second!"  Gopi ran to the kitchen, retrieved a steal cup, and filled it with room-temperature water; after all she didn't want to give him a sore throat.  Returning to his side, Gopi eased him back on the sofa and helped him drink from the glass.  As a tiny rivulet of water slipped down the corner of his mouth, she raised the end of her chunni and dabbed it away.  A light touch on her wrist made her aware of Mr. Stranger's dark eyes trained on her face.  She blushed, and almost moved away.  Instead, she looked down and began to stammer.

"Ji-jj-ji, I..I."

What was wrong with her?  Why was she so nervous?  He must have looked like an ugly monster and had to avert her eyes.  He took a few more gulps of water and tested his voice out.  A deep whispery sound met his ears, and Aham realized that it was his own voice.  With her silent, he tried again to speak.

Gopi had to lean in close to hear what Mr. Stranger had to say.  "I'm Aham.  How long have I been here?"   She answered his question while he seemed to be swallowing to dislodge his throat from an imaginary irritant.  "Thank you'"

"Oh no, Aham-ji please, I just couldn't leave you there at my door step, ill and in need of care."  She helped him to the kitchen table, and over the course of dinner through the night she explained everything that happened throughout the time he was healing.

 

The next few days proceeded smoothly.  Gopi had helped Aham commute to the training center to update his trainer and the league about his absence, the police station to report his assault, and even helped him contact his family.  His mother was deeply upset, and had fallen into a deep depression when he had not contacted her once every two weeks like he normally would.  Although, she deeply praised the effort Gopi put into tending to his care remarking "Hey Krishna Bhagwan, at least some people still follow the good path in life."

Six months after the incident where Mr. Aham Modi laid unconscious at her doorstep, Gopi regularly visited him with a basket of food since his shoulder had yet to heal properly.  Since it had been bruised, dislocated and ultimately broken, Aham-ji had much trouble doing daily routines.  Luckily his fractured hands and foot had fully healed but he still could not enter the ring.  The fire that she would see light up his face whenever he watched a boxing match, let her understand that he felt lonely.  How hitting another person into submission was entertaining, she did not know, but she understood after she was persuaded to watch one of his old matches.  The way he would flit about his opponent was really quite miraculous for someone so muscular.

 

 

A year since his incident, Aham was dancing.  The cheers of the crowd had drowned into the background, and his feet moved to the rhythm of his heart.  On his seventh and last round, he will have won the treasure of seven life times.

"You are now Mr. and Mrs. Aham Modi," at the pundit-ji's words Aham lifted Gopi off the ground and twirled her merrily in his arms under a shower of petals.

FIN!

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Hope all of you enjoyed my story (please be kind of my first attempt).. if you have any plots/scenarios you would like to read, let me know! I'll try to write it up to the best of my abilities! 

I N D E X

Story One : Page One

Story Two : Page Five