Champu Bhai was in the middle of the table, eating a mouthful of grilled fried chicken. His minions, Shahib and his mate, Hameed were distributing the packet of powdered cocaine. The children, including Shehzad had not been in their normal selves. It turned out to be true that, indeed, Shehzad has been detached from his friends and family due to his family's constant fights and his backbiting mother. Perhaps, it would be a turn of fate that may change the present situation-despite many chances- for better or worse.

Champu seemed to have a serious 'villainy' image but in reality, his persona was an opposite. Behind him, cardboard versions of the annoying clowns were surrounded in the dark. Champu was scattering at the table files, still eating his meals. His angry face scared the terrible aggressive Shahib to a cute teddy bear.

"Where the bloody hell are my toys, my cutie bear?" asked Champu.

"What toys, sir?" said Shahib, biting his fingers.

"My blueprints, the ones that I've given you!" screamed Champu honked on Hameed's nose.

Suddenly, they got distracted by a car, dancing beside one of the tents at the carnival. Champu's temper was such that it turned into an innocent, chubby kid whining a lot. "HEY! GET OUT OF HERE AND F*CK SOMEWHERE ELSE! LET ME HAVE MY CHICKEN IN PEACE!"

Behind the car, Hablu and the gang felt awkward, looking at the intimacy between two couples despite hiding in the car. As soon as the car left, they hid under a dark tent. Both Shahib and Hameed were annoyed by Champu's clownish antics. He looked under the table, opened their pants and checked their pockets that ultimately resulted to nothing.

Until, a woman with a white sari, covered with messier hair and a ghostly aura, scared Champu, a smart man like Shahib and yes, there were liquid sounds. Both Champu and Shahib glared at Hameed who was peeing on his pants and the two angry cutie villain pressed their nose with disgust.

"Give me some fresh meat! Or else, join us!" cried the ghost.

"Don't eat me, eat him!" said Champu, pointing at Hameed and ran away, leaving the intoxicated children behind. The ghost unmasked herself, with an angelic look of her face stunned the children with disbelief.

The three ran away from the girl and slipped into the banana skin. Unfortunately, they accidentally went to a woman's green room, wearing a makeup. Looking at the three men, she screamed and ran away like an idiot or a cartoon character, who've never seen a man in her life. The trio continued to slide and the angry juggling gorilla kicked them out, ultimately crashing the circus tent. The three ran away with half naked torn clothes, except for the underwear.

"Kids, adults and all must wear Victoria's Secrets underwear" said Hamid, huffing.

"You idiot! What'll Queen Victoria wear? Bloody banana leaves! F*ck it!" screamed Champu.

The gorilla chased them and ran away outside the circus, like a banana split that melted into an ice cream.

The gang, especially Ehsaan noticed the 'angelic' girl, evacuating the children to the orphanage. Though Ehsaan wasn't sure of who she was, but her eyes couldn't deceive him-maybe someone from his past. Who knows? Among the hostages, the only person missing was, Shehzad. After the children were evacuated from the carnival, Ehsaan and the gang unveiled their faces from the hiding.

"Excuse me, have we met?" said Ehsaan.

"I think...you need to ask yourself" answered the confident 'angelic' girl.

She left like a cowgirl in a horse. It left them stunned and Hablu said "Who...is...that girl?"

"I dunno, let's find out" said Ehsaan.

"She's hitting on you, I guess" said Arhaan.

"I think, the situation's different" said George.

"Now, everybody's in love...hopefully, I'll try next time" said Ikkhon.

"IKKHON" glared the gang. Ikkhon blushed as if nothing had happened.

Another day, Sajed was in a jolly mood. He was humming a background song of a movie. Arhaan and Ehsaan were curiously looking at his strange but overjoyed mood. He was dancing, while frying an onion fritter. Delwar, on the other hand was absent. Well, Arhaan and Ehsaan would have a chance to eat the secret recipes inherited from father to son. On the further note, Sajed was a movie, travel and book buff.

"Well, Uncle Sajed, what's so great about today?" asked Arhaan.

"I watched a movie today from theaters, named 'King Kong'" replied Sajed in a jovial manner.

"How was it?" asked Arhaan.

"It's a sad, sad ending with a lot of exciting moments. It's directed by the guy who made the 'Lord of The Rings'. I feel sad for the gorilla. The ending should have been altered" commented Sajed.

"Well, sounds like an excellent movie!" said Arhaan.

"Where's Shehzad?" asked Ehsaan.

"Oh...he's sober today, though" said Sajed.

"And Uncle Delwar?" asked Arhaan.

"He's on the way. I called him from my new cellphone" said Sajed.

Back in the time, touchscreen phones were available but at the same time, quite rare. Arhaan and Ehsaan looked at these like an undiscovered wonder. The phone was more magical and a glimmer of hope. Despite some had it, it's a rise of touchscreen phones on the hands of common people.

Out of nowhere, Hablu popped up with a smile. Looking at the onion fritter, his stomach sounded more. He ate some of the fritters fast. He relished it so much that, he was eating like a hungry cat-a lasagna addict-with a sarcastic sense of humor.

'YUM YUM!' he mumbled while consuming it.

Ikkhon and George arrived late, by the time, Hablu was eating so fast that, half of the 'puris' were finished. Sajed wasn't surprised but disgusted and kept control of himself.

Adjusted by his eating pattern, they less likely irritated, but the only one who got annoyed was Ikkhon. He muttered privately "Better eat the stale fish curry than having a fresh fried potato-stuffed flatbreads".

After the tiffin time, they went to school. In the middle of the corridor, Ehsaan was walking into the stairs. The girl with an 'angelic' face looked at him like a creep and slowly following him. He was a bit upset about Shehzad and felt something strange...maybe about a colony or something more. Ehsaan noticed her, he stopped and stood in the middle of the staircase. Looking at her, he was stunned. After rubbing his eyes, she said "Hey, Ehsaan, you look a bit off, are you alright?"

"Who are you? And why did you even tell me to...Oh never mind! You girls are too strange" said Ehsaan.

"I understand that, you may've felt that my behavior is a little odd. But the moment I looked at your hair, I immediately recognized you" said the girl.

"I might have friends, but sometimes, I feel that, something is empty. Thanks to Mayesha, Hablu and the gang, who helped me to express my life to the fullest, but still, something is off" said Ehsaan in a down tone.

"You're still the same chap, since you've moved on from Alta Dighi"-

"Hang on...Ara? Is that you?" exclaimed Ehsaan.

From her confident self, her feelings weakened a bit, burst into tears and hugged him. It was more of a celebration, especially like the box of chocolates. Until or unless, it didn't fully fade away. Memories with her on the 'Alta Dighi', right after his father died, she was someone with a source of comfort.

"Dude, you're handsome as hell, but back in a day, you were a thin kid!" said Ara, the 'angelic' girl with a joyful expression.

We'll get to know both Ara's and Ehsaan's friendship later in the story. But let me tell you that, it was more than friends and it may also misinterpret you readers, due to the episode that I'll talk about. Furthermore, it may impact something for the future. Perhaps, it may be dangerous for 'Altab Nagari', at the same time, a blissful memory-I hope so!

"It is you! I miss you so much!" said Ara with excitement.

"Well, how did you get here?" asked Ehsaan.

"I was here, day before yesterday!" said Ara.

"With your mom?" said Ehsaan.

Ara was a bit down. With a heavy heart, she said in a down voice "Yes, right after my maternal grandmother passed away, due to cancer".

She was numb. Speechless. As Ehsaan, knowing that 'Alta Dighi' wasn't the best place for both of them, they shifted to 'Altab Nagari'-but, there are two perceptions of the place- one from where Ehsaan left, while the other were the remaining issues. She also wanted someone to comfort her. Ehsaan quickly realized that. He patted her hair and gave her some napkin. She kissed his cheeks.

Ehsaan just got fainted, after stepping into the bottom of the staircase. Thank heavens! He wasn't injured much. Until Mayesha arrived at the scene along with the twins: Sifa and Safa. Ara was shocked to see the twins, too identical and too unreal for her part. But focusing on Mayesha, she forgot all the shock. Anyway, Mayesha and the twins looked at his fainted body, he blinked his eyes and smiled with teeth.

Ara smiled back, while the twins and Mayesha turned their back, glaring at her with jealousy. Well, Ehsaan slowly woke up and offered Ara with his hand "Come on, darling!"

Ara grabbed his hand and he jumped like a hero that had shocked the trio. Both were in love so fast that, even Mayesha and the twins rushed on to Hablu, George, Ikkhon and Arhaan. They were enjoying tea, until they came to the scene.

"What happened?" The Musketeers asked.

Until, Ehsaan was holding his transistor and danced arm to arm with Ara- listening to hula or a typical commercial Bengali song which had nonsense double meaning lyrics in a loud tone. They were passing by. The gang members were so shocked that, they were sneaking around the couple.

"This happened" said Mayesha in a down voice.

"Everyone has their love life but I AM A LOVE FAILURE" whining Ikkhon but silenced by all with their fingers.

"Oh Okay" said Ikkhon, put his voice down.

They hid under the bushes of a park. The couple were holding their hands to each other. Mayesha was quite envious and disgusted with their act that she assumed something wrong with that new girl-Ara. But Hablu comforted her a bit. When the couple walked through the bridge, they followed them and hid themselves. Oh man! Can't a girl like Mayesha respect their privacy! The twins and the rest of the Musketeers looked disinterested. They realized that, Mayesha one-sidedly loved Ehsaan.

"Ara, thank you for coming to my life, again!" said the blushed Ehsaan.

"Oh, hush! Darling, our romance isn't out yet" said Ara lovingly.

"WHAT THE PUPPY LOVE IS THIS?!" screamed Mayesha, jumping out excitedly from the bushes.

Along with her and the twins, Hablu and the gang showed up. Ehsaan was quite shocked and shook his body to a disease that, Ehsaan faced for the second time. He laid in the grass, huffing and quivering but also have a severe headache. Mayesha realized her folly. Hablu took out his mini-first aid kit from his pocket.

"Arhaan, do you have a cheese sandwich and mountain dew?" asked Hablu.

"Cheese sandwich and mountain dew?" said Arhaan.

"Yes, also Neurolin Capsule. He needs some protein and also some capsule. And Ikkhon, go to Fardeen's for the capsule, quick!" commanded Hablu.

Arhaan took out his cheese sandwich from his tiffin box and fed Ehsaan. His body slowly decreased shaking. Ara was comforting him, while Mayesha looked at Ehsaan's innocence beneath his sickly face. The twins were with Ikkhon, who was sitting sadly in between them. For now, it's for Ehsaan. George was reminiscing the memories from how had he met the man who was under a non-effective snakebite.

Until, Arhaan brought the capsule. Hablu first gave him the cheese sandwich for proteins and capsule for the recovery. Similar to the first time, they carried him to his house. This time, Humayrah wasn't crying, on the other hand, was surprised to see Ara. Ehsaan, like the first time, sleeping deeply.

"YOU GIRL, WHY HAVE YOU CREATED THE SCENE?" screamed Mayesha.

"I'M NOT! I WAS TRYING TO HELP HIM! YOU SHOWED UP FIRST!" Ara answered with defense.

They continued to have argument. Until, Humayrah calmed the fight down "Girls, let's not fight, not in front of my son! This isn't the first time that he faced it! If you girls go to the continuous argument, he would be dead by now! So stop it!"

They were silenced at the moment. Then Hablu, Arhaan, George, Ikkhon, Mayesha, Ara and the twins went to the rooftop. Mayesha slowly recognized her immaturity. Whereas, Hablu was relaxed, explained the incident about the first time of his epilepsy. Ara was shocked, Arhaan said "so, how do you know Ehsaan? What happened to this 'Champu' bullshit?"

"I work on an NGO that, has been run by students all over Bangladesh. After Ehsaan left, Alta Dighi had become the military place for all the citizens. Champu not only controls Alta Dighi but some other bigger places. His target is to demolish Altab Nagari and renew it for a casino.

Alta Dighi was such that, their people only honored the people of power, topper children and social activists, but degrades those who had potential, failures and those of the lower and middle classes. Humanity was lost within when Champu became the governing figure of that area.

All were brainwashed by his sweet words, except my mom. Getting into the context, Uncle Kaiser, before he died, was a popular chemist in one of the largest factories of 'Alta Dighi' and Champu's father- Sarfaraz Raisul Sammad was his friend and boss. Despite being friends, Sarfaraz's jealous nature led him to become a power-hungry individual. Once, his meds were trusted due to Uncle Kaiser's dedication that he didn't like. As Sarfaraz was a greedy businessman, Uncle Kaiser was more of an artist. Until, Sarfaraz poisoned his meds, and Uncle Kaiser took some of his formula to recover people from malaria. Half of his patients died, while in the hospital ward, he tried to give all the oxygen masks to the patients, especially children.

In that dead ward, Sarfaraz was grinning, looking at him. Then he made a complaint to the district government and Sarfaraz's license was cancelled. Until, he drove a car on his way home but a truck bumped him and at the same time, Sarfaraz killed himself, enraged Champu to take revenge on those who 'wronged' his father.

When I realized that, Ehsaan was sitting outside the gate. Even his father died, he still was waiting for him to come, giving him some chocolates. I looked at him at the back and sat beside him. He looked at me as star twinkling around him. I don't know what did he thought of me back then... But I know that, his innocent eyes made me fall for him.

"Ara?" said Ehsaan.

"I know what you are feeling" I said.

"Everyone says that"

"I may but not..."

"How?"

"I lost my father too"

He hugged me, in such small words. We played hide-and-seek at the back of the garden, ring-a-ring-a-roses in school playground and soccer in the area playground. Our friendship blossomed. He frequently complained about his teacher beating him and landlord abusing him. His mom and I were how he got comfort from, before you guys arrived.

Whenever he comes home, his mood totally changes when he sees me. When we were running through the stairs, the landlord caught him. He was drunk. He grabbed his t-shirt. Ehsaan was helpless, traumatized. He growled 'Why the fuck are you here, you son of a swine!'

I jumped off to him, bitten and scratched his ass. After blood spilled from his neck, though he wasn't hurt much, he was whining a lot. Whenever I've seen Ehsaan, being constantly being bullied in school, I screamed 'LEAVE THE GODDAMN KID ALONE!'

They were afraid. Since then, I saw the violent side of him, while he broke not only the teacher's stick but also enraged by the attitude represented by 'Alta Dighi'. Corruption was the other name for this place. Bribery, lobbying, money laundering, partiality, narcotics, blasphemy morals and what not? Even the best people who left 'Alta Dighi' don't want to visit back.

Right after Ehsaan left, I burst into tears but he wasn't aware of it. On the other hand, 'Alta Dighi' was taken over by Champu, eventually, as a politician. Everything went dark. Children were treated as militants and robots more than people. Those who even failed in schools, despite having a potential to be big. The tainted adults were misguided and brainwashed by his strange ideologies that Champu was claimed as a hero.

Reading the news in papers, my mom was worried about my safety. When I was walking back home, I heard a conversation between Champu and one of his minions: Shahib. I sneaked through the walls of the slum. It was empty and a BMW car stood at the midst of street. Though, I wasn't clear about the whole thing, their body languages and words did stroke my mind.

"First Alta Dighi, then Altab Nagari...what are you up to, boss?" asked Shahib

"If I rule the country, I could take revenge against those who harmed my father. Hence Altab Nagari is my ultimate target!" said Champu excitedly.

"What's so special about it here? The tea stall?"

"No. All three. If I get them in my hands, I will be king!"

"How?"

"I'll drug certain children, make an extortion in the name of kids' dreams of going abroad, human trafficking, then-we'll rule the world. As I have a political power in 'Alta Dighi', no one can stop me!"

"But...but...Dhaka is a big place"-

"SHUT UP! NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, WE'LL RULE THEM ALL!"

I realized that, it was going to be something big. Way bigger than what I've imagined. I was terrified of those words. I understood that, the corruption will begin in this area. The children were turning into addicts and militants, some were tarnished by dreams of going abroad, especially from the middle class families and mostly, the adults were licking the shoes of these men. These sickened me as a person! They realized that I overheard the conversation!

Champu and Shahib chased me through the woods. I ran fast as a deer. They tried to rip me apart. Until a group of ladies marched hard with their brooms and daggers. The duo were so scared to death that, they ran away. The women then kept protection of our house and introduced me to some others, especially with the twins- Safa and Sifa. Maybe Mayesha doesn't know it! Perhaps, it's online and back in the time, putting their real profile pictures on social media wasn't a strict rule. After that, I talked to some of my other friends of the organization from the internet by leading into the organization.

After my beloved grandfather's passing from Dhaka, he gave us the inheritance of his mansion. I was in an emotional turmoil. Since then, I am here. But when I saw Ehsaan, my love blossomed again for him. I explained all these to him. We know that you were following us. Our love might be genuine but not puppy love. Now you know the reality"

Despite all these, Mayesha understood the issue but like a stubborn queen, she just left. Such an out of character for someone like her! Hablu, Arhaan, Ikkhon and George got annoyed of her stagnant behavior. More of that, Only the twins stayed, they asked "what's your Facebook name?"

"Shirin Ara Ali" said Ara.

"Hang on! Shirin Ara Ali of HUMANE ORGANIZATION?" exclaimed Sifa.

"Yes"

"It's so nice to see you!" said the twins and gave a group hug. The boys were annoyed.

Suddenly, Ehsaan arrived at the scene. Everyone was shocked. Ara ran onto and hugged him. He was overjoyed to see Ara embracing him once more. Hablu smiled. But pretending to be annoyed. He was walking slowly and interrupted the couple.

"Can we have some chit-chats later? Come on guys, we need some strolling to do!" said Hablu.

"What about Mayesha?" asked Ehsaan.

"Aah! She needs some time, that's all" said Hablu.

The gang walked down the stairs. They strolled on the roads. While Mainul was bidding Ehsaan 'have time with the gang!' Hablu kicked a bottle. Little did he knew, something big was about to happen in 'Altab Nagari'.