“A-maal! A-maal! A-maal!”
Samar remained silent, his controller held between two firm hands, between his lean but muscular thighs. She averted her eyes before she started imagining how they looked. She didn't need to imagine; she had seen them in the gym.
Double Dragon flashed in bold before them, and on the count of three, the game began. Billy’s (in this case, her) girlfriend was kidnapped. And she had to find her along with Billy’s brother. Enemies were coming in from both sides and they had to beat them up.
She was all maniacal, attacking every button on her controller, throwing punches, elbows, and kicks in random order. She did not look left or right. Samar, on the other hand, was meticulous, jumping more than attacking, picking up fallen knives or guns and killing more at once. His points were multiplying like the plague, hers were…
“Daaxsaab, this is not the SFF, itne saleeke se maroge toh kab marenge?![73]” She tried to nudge him with her knee. He did not pay heed.
“O, Daaxsaab, left side se aa raha hai![74]”
She thought he would look to the left; instead, he kept punching the one on the right.
“He came he came he came…” she tried to distract him, and a punch landed on her. “Fuck!”
“Sa-mar Bhai-ya! Sa-mar Bhai-ya!!” “Sa-mar Bhai-ya!”
“Oye!” She hollered at the traitors behind her. And in that momentary distraction, her player was knocked on his arse. “Oh shit!”
Samar was there, though, kicking the next assailant away before she got pummelled. She jumped back to her feet and went behind the assailants who were trying to attack him. Thereafter, she stopped baiting him. They beat the bad guys up one after another, having each other’s backs without even asking.
“Sa-mar! A-maal! Sa-mar! A-maal! Sa-mar! A-maal!”
Amaal felt giddy.
He kicked the final guy, and they landed inside a vault. The tent went silent. The girl strutted out. And suddenly the screen exploded.
Now, they were pitted against each other for the girl.
“Fuck I forgot about this.” Amaal raised her eyes to the man sitting beside her, gaze on the screen. The tent was deathly silent now.
“Samar is not competitive at all,” she announced. “Right, Samar?” She jiggled her thumb on the joystick to come closer to him. He was standing straight, no movement. Amaal glanced at the man beside her again. “Samar?”
“Ooooooh!”
She glanced at the screen, and Billy was flat on his arse. His brother had punched him. She gaped at Samar. The side of his mouth curled.
“Haww!”
She knocked the joystick on her controller and jumped to her feet, only to be kicked back down. “SAMAR!”
The tent erupted.
The laughter was loud, the boos louder, the cheers for him even louder as he kicked her again.
“Sa-mar Bhaiya! Sa-mar Bhaiya!” He pummelled her to the chants. And continued to pummel her even as she knocked her joystick all ways to get a few punches in. He blocked them all. She groaned, getting half up from her chair, nudging the joystick like a lunatic.
Samar landed one jumping punch.
And then Billy was dead.
The girl walked to his brother.
And Samar set his controller back on the table between them.
“Sa-mar Bhai-ya!” “Sa-mar Bhai-ya!” The chants became a song. “Sa-mar Bhai-ya!” Sa-mar Bhai-ya!!”
Amaal huffed.
