The sweet, icy taste of a kala khatta gola usually fixed 90% of Vicky's life's problems.Today… even that wasn't helping.
He sat on the low wall next to Rakesh's gola stand. The old rusty cart, the rainbow syrup bottles, the smell of crushed ice… all so familiar. All so normal. Something he desperately wished he felt right now.
But his brain was still back in his cupboard with a sniper rifle and in his pocket with a diamond.
Rahul nudged him with his own anjeer-flavored gola."You're very quiet today. Eating slowly too. Who are you and where's the real Vicky? The one who eats like a vacuum cleaner?"
Akash laughed. "Maybe the physics exam broke him. Same happened to me in 10th. Pure trauma."
Vicky managed a smile."My brain is fine, okay? It's… busy."
"Busy?" Rahul raised an eyebrow. "With what? Practicing rooftop superhero poses again?"
"Shut up," Vicky muttered, flicking a pebble at his sandal. "I've moved on from physical testing. Now I'm in… theoretical phase."
Akash sipped his gola dramatically."Theoretical phase of being a noob?"
"Of being awesome," Vicky corrected. "One day you'll beg me for… a new gaming mouse."
Rahul snorted. "Oh, big claims. What next? You found treasure inside your aloo paratha?"
Vicky's smile twitched.If only they knew.The diamond in his pocket felt like it weighed 5 kilos.
"Nah," he lied smoothly. "Just dreaming."
He quickly switched the topic. "When are we playing next? I need to reclaim my AWM crown."
They talked for another 20 minutes — the usual nonsense, teasing, plans, jokes about exams.Perfectly normal.
Too normal.
All Vicky could think was:
How the hell do I tell these guys I have a literal AWM in my cupboard… and a diamond in my pocket?
Answer: I don't.He'd lose them. Or they'd think he'd joined a gang. Or worse, they'd tell someone.
"Alright, I'm going," Vicky said suddenly, tossing his empty cone. "Cycle time. Brain needs space."
Rahul grinned. "To think about your 'theoretical phase'?"
"Exactly."He mounted his cycle like a man heading toward destiny.Or in his case… panic.
He pedaled away fast, leaving their laughter behind.
He didn't go home.Instead, he wandered through the quiet parts of the neighborhood — the older lanes where the houses were big, courtyards dusty, and stray dogs lazed around like retired kings.
Usually the wind in his hair calmed him down.Today it made him think faster.
I have a diamond.A real Minecraft diamond.I have gold.I have an actual PUBG AWM hidden in my clothes drawer like a lunatic.
He groaned.
"I'm not a superhero. I'm a walking crime documentary."
He passed by Shree Ganesh Jewellers.For a crazy second he imagined walking in:
"Namaste, uncle. Here's a diamond. Cash do."
Then he imagined uncle's shocked face.Police.Parents crying.TV news reporter: "19-year-old boy arrested with illegal diamond of unknown origin."
"Nope. Never," Vicky muttered, speeding past.
Destroy it? Throw it in the lake?The idea made his heart physically hurt.This diamond wasn't normal. It was a miracle.
And the AWM?Destroying steel?Where?How?His mother would find it even if he buried it under the pyramids.
He braked hard under a big banyan tree near the colony edge.Huge roots. Deep shade. Peaceful.
He dropped his cycle, leaned back against the bark, and took out the diamond and gold nugget from his pocket.
In the sunlight, the diamond sparkled with cold blue fire.The gold glowed warm and heavy.
Vicky stared at them like they were cursed artifacts from a temple in an Indiana Jones movie.
"They're useless," he whispered.
Instead of feeling powerful, he felt… trapped.
He imagined his mom's reaction if she saw the diamond:
"Yeh kahan se aaya!? Drugs बेच रहा है kya!? Kaun si gang mein join hua!?"
He imagined his dad's disappointed silence.
He imagined Rahul and Akash stepping back slowly like he'd lost his mind.
His chest tightened.
He closed his fist around the diamond so hard the edges dug into his skin.
"I have the means to change my life," he said softly."But no way to use it without ruining everything."
He leaned his head back against the tree, breathing hard.
He needed a plan.Not a superhero plan.A survival plan.
A place safe enough to hide the impossible.
A hiding spot so perfect that even the ultimate cleaning force of nature — his mother during Diwali — could never find it.
But for now, as he sat under the banyan tree with two magical items burning holes in his hand…
He had absolutely no idea where that place could be.