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The town called them the gali ke bache, or the street kids. They varied in ages; some of them barely having reached adulthood while others were in their early prime. They were called the gali ke bache because of how often they were seen on the streets. Even despite any responsibilities they might have had, they always managed to gather around to play cricket at least once a week.
Their games ranged from matches played as if they were professionals to matches that were just chaotic messes with very few rules. The latter was much more fun for all of them, but it did earn them quite a few complaints from their neighbors whenever a ball would fly onto one of their roofs. The village both feared and adored them.
They tended to play cricket on the weekends, when they didn’t have to worry about school or any of the other responsibilities they had. During the summer, however, they would hang out whenever they had the chance. The 22 of them were practically inseparable.
One such day was today. The sun was barely out, yet the streets were already full because of them. It had taken a lot of convincing to get all of them to come to this match because who would willingly wake up at 6 am, especially on a Saturday? Still, Johnny made sure that all 22 of them would come, because this was going to be a match that none of them would want to miss.
"We are going to witness history this Saturday," he had said. "It's a single wicket match between me and Jaehyun! You do not want to miss this. Be there at 6 am or continue sleeping and miss out on this legendary match."
"Bhai, what the hell is a single wicket match?"
"Jisung, do you even play cricket if you don’t know what that is?"
"I have a life outside of cricket, Haechan."
Doyoung sighed before explaining. "A single wicket match is basically a cricket match but between two people. They take turns batting and bowling. I assume we're supposed to assist them as fielders."
"You are correct! You guys better show up."
"Who in their right mind would wake up at 6 am to go watch a cricket match they're not even playing in?"
"I'll buy you all jalebis."
"Lame. Kulfis are better."
"Ugh, fine. I’ll treat you all to khoya kulfi. Tell the others."
And now here they were a few days later, waiting for the match to get started.
Half of them were asleep, with their eyes barely open. Even Jaehyun and Johnny, the main stars of the match, looked tired. The sun had barely risen, yet here were 22 guys standing on the street ready to play cricket.
You'd think they'd get used to waking up this early, but frankly only the ones who had been awake since Fajr time looked alive… So only about 6 of them.
The only reason they had their matches this early was to avoid people and the complaints of their neighbors, though they still got yelled at for being awake so early. Sleep in, get yelled at. Wake up early, and still get yelled at. Sab logh khush kabhi bhi nahi ho sakte.
Their gali was definitely too small for 22 guys to be playing cricket in, while also leaving space for people to walk, but they had no care in the world- until the Baba ji next door would start hurling joote at them.
Almost everyone was dressed in shalwar kameez, and then there was Mark who showed up in a hoodie and some shorts.
"Yaar, what the hell has living abroad done to you?" Renjun asked.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Bhai… I thought we've been over this before. You should only wear desi clothes to this kind of stuff unless you want to disappoint your mother AND the rishta aunties," said Chenle.
"There are no rishta aunties here. I don’t even want to get married, anyways."
A loud smack was heard as Haechan's frustration grew. "What about your ammi jaan, huh? Think of her. Don't let these gore logh turn you into one of them. Playing in shalwar kameez is so much more authentic."
"Dude, the professional cricket players don't play in shalwar kameez."
"Oh, I didn't know you were a professional cricket player," Haechan said in the most sarcastic tone Mark had probably ever heard.
Mark was about to say something back when Johnny interrupted him, calling for everyone’s attention.
“Suniye, mere doston, this match is going to be recorded in the history books of our village. And if it isn’t… Ignore anything I said this past week hyping up this match. I’d like to hope you all know what a single wicket match is and the rules for it.. But I really can’t have faith in you guys. Taeyong will explain for you all!”
“I can’t do this today. Just figure it out yourselves,” Taeyong said.
“Okay, great! Looks like it’s a free-for-all with no rules, then!”
“That’s not what I-” Before Taeyong could continue, Jaehyun had snuck up behind him and put his hands over his mouth in order to shut him up. The others had no clue what was going on, but decided to just trust Johnny and Jaehyun. What was the worst that could happen?
Maybe a few injuries, a debt that needs to be paid, and regret.
It started off simple. Jaehyun had lost rock paper scissors, so he was up to the bowl first. As soon as Johnny had made that decision, the boys started mentally preparing themselves for a lot of yelling and beating. Everyone knew Jaehyun sucked at bowling. He would attempt to do one of the fancy spins, only to end up hitting windows, or worse, innocent bystanders. It was fortunately still relatively early, and most people were still inside preparing and eating nashta or already outside, at the dera.
The windows were still in danger, though.
However, it was far too late to protest now. Everyone had already gotten into position and were anxiously watching Jaehyun and Johnny have a staring contest. Jaehyun began to move forward, slowly taking a few steps, with a huge grin on his face that told you he was about to fuck everything up. He held the cricket ball in the palm of his hand, the seam under his fingers. He released the ball, his fingers rolling down the right side of the ball, everyone watching, waiting for something to go wrong.
But it didn’t. Jaehyun successfully used the off break technique, his delivery near perfect. The ball did spin clockwise, deviating towards the right, towards Johnny's leg. Unfortunately for Jaehyun, Johnny managed to hit the ball with his bat, the fielders making a run for it as it went up, up, up and further away- before inevitably hitting the ground right before the boundary.
“Guess you should’ve hit it harder, bhai,” Jaehyun said with the same grin from before on his face.
“The game wouldn’t be that fun if I got a chakka right away,” Johnny insisted.
“Chokka toh maar lete! I have money on the line here!” Haechan exclaimed, already aggravated at the other’s playing.
“Is this supposed to be a cricket match or a gossiping session? Can we get back to playing?”
Not wanting to piss Yuta off, everyone went back to their positions, waiting for Jaehyun to bat again.
You could say the high from his previous spin got to Jaehyun, because he attempted to do a left-hand wrist spin, despite being right-handed. Everybody watched in horror, and before they could say anything, Jaehyun threw the ball. The delivery was absolutely terrible, and Johnny hit it yet again- but too hard this time, because the ball went straight in the direction of his neighbor’s roof.
“Chakka!!!!!” Jisung yelled.
“Yaar, this isn’t the right time to be celebrating. Who the hell is going to bother khatarnaak khala and get the ball back?”
Everybody slowly turned to look at Mark, their eyes pleading.
“No! I did it last time!”
“Her daughter is in love with you! She’ll literally sneak you up there if you ask!”
“I’m not doing it! I have morals.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?! Jump over?!" Renjun said, exasperated.
“Wait, that’s actually not a bad idea.”
And that’s how they ended up here, on the roof of Jaehyun’s house, slowly trying to convince Hendery to jump over and grab the ball. The plan was for Mark to distract both auntie and her daughter, while Hendery jumped onto the roof and tried to take the ball back. It took a few offers of samose before either Mark or Hendery gave in to the plan, but they eventually did. That’s all it took for them to trade their life away- a few samose. But who wouldn’t do the same in their place?
Everybody watched him climb up the side, ready to jump onto khatarnak khala’s roof.
A few moments passed. Still nothing.
“Arey, chilang maro! What are you waiting for?” Yangyang said.
Hendery listened, making a leap for it. They had severely overestimated Hendery's agility, because his landing ended up being very rough. It took a few moments before he stood up, doing a thumbs up in case anyone was worried.
"Ouch. That must’ve hurt,” said Johnny, to which he received glares from the others. He was the reason they were in this situation in the first place.
“Couldn’t you have hit it with less force? Did you have to hit it so damn hard? What kind of vaar do you have with the ball?”
“First you scold me for not hitting it hard enough, now for hitting it hard. Why can’t I ever have some chain?”
“Chup karo! Look at Mark,” Chenle said, snickering as he watched Mark struggle to converse with khatarnak khala and her daughter. Mark looked awkward, asking them if they had any desi ghee because he was desperate for some. The auntie ended up slamming the door in his face, and everyone quickly redirected their attention to Hendery, who was still trying to find the ball.
“Oi! Jaldi karo. We don’t have all day, do you want us to die?”
But before Hendery could even respond, khala ji had already come upstairs, the ball in hand.
“Isse dhoond rahe ho? Chalo, mil gaya. Na cricket sahi tara se khel sakte ho, aur na hi padhai pe dhyan dete ho. Tum log barey ho ke kya karo ge? Phir bhi maar khate raho ge? Apni harkatein dekho! Main tumhari ami ko bataon? Tumhare abu ko?”
("Were you looking for this? Well, you've found it. You can't even play cricket properly, and you can't pay attention to your studies either. What will you do when you grow up? Will you still get beat then? Look at your actions! Should I tell your mom? Your dad?")
“Nahi, nahi, massi. Mistakes happen! Can’t you just let it slide? It won’t happen again,” Doyoung pleaded.
“Fine, but in return, tum ladkon ko meri madad karni ho gayi. Do my groceries for a week, aur samjo maaf ho gaye. Aur ye cricket wicket bhi choro, bas ek hafte ke liye mujhe sukoon se jeene do.”
("Fine, but in return, you boys will have to help me. Do my groceries for a week, and consider yourselves forgiven. And leave this cricket wicket too, just for one week let me live in peace.")
“Deal! Waise, khala, aaj nashte mein kya banaya hai? Main ne subah kuch nahi khaya,” Hendery asked her.
("Deal! By the way, auntie, what did you make for breakfast? I haven't eaten anything this morning.")
“Jhootiyan kha lo ge? Huh?! Will you be fine eating shoes?” She said, angrily, which Hendery took as a signal to take the ball and run- before they could get in further trouble.
“God, she ruins all the fun,” Johnny said when they reconvened outside.
“No, you ruined all the fun,” said Jaehyun.
"By the way, why do we call her khala? Isn't she technically Taeil bhai's phuppo?" Jisung questioned.
"Arey, Jisung beta, it's for the alliteration, are you dumb? Khatarnak phuppo doesn't sound nearly as nice as khatarnak khala."
“Can you guys shut up? You know what can help us with our grief? Those khoya kulfis Jaehyun and Johnny promised us.”
“And samose!” Mark chipped in.
There was no better way to end this failed match than with food. It was a way of comforting themselves, for having signed a deal with the devil. Maybe it was because they had all risked their limbs and their lives for a ball, but the kulfis and samose that they ate that day tasted even more exquisite. Even though they hadn’t been able to actually wrap up the match and choose a winner, it had still ended up being memorable for them.
Maybe it wasn’t about cricket in the first place, but the people with whom it was played.