The story is about a group of friends. They're about to graduate from high school and step into their respective college life. On one hand they have the immense pressure of the school final exam and on the other hand they're filled with nostalgia.
...
Suhas couldn't even look at Adam that day when Adam came back home. He was way too ashamed of his own actions to talk to or to look at Adam. The thought of the consequences of his actions on Adam's life was way too severe for him to even think about apologizing and moving on.
Over the next few days Suhas' restlessness went down a bit as there were no visits or official calls from the social services department. For the first time in his life Suhas was truly happy about the fact that the government is very negligent when it comes to taking civilian actions.
Slowly Suhas forgot the day when he almost jeopardized Adam's future. He has learnt his lessons. And now he was more open to giving Adam chances. He was getting more and more interested in knowing about Adam. Over the last couple of months while Adam was there he hasn't been anything but good. Adam hasn't done anything wrong or even remotely criminal. That combined with Suhas' guilt made it possible for Suhas to take more interest and get to know the kid.
It didn't take more than a month for them to get friendly. The kid who was still an unwanted guest a month ago turned into everyone's favorite person in the family. Suhas' parents also almost stopped looking for a home for Adam. At that point it was pointless. After so many tries it was very clear that no home would be willing to take a risk like that and finding one exceptional one is next to impossible. So they stopped looking for home and started thinking about making him more comfortable in their house. Maybe they saw their third child in him.
Suhas had a younger sister. When Suhas was 5 years old his mother had a baby girl, Sunayana (meaning the lady with beautiful eyes). She saw the light of this world for merely a few seconds. Suhas' parents never recovered from that blow. They never again tried for another child, instead they dedicated their entire life's work towards orphanages.
Slowly Suhas got to know Adam better and better. He learnt that Adam goes to church every day to pray for his mother.
"I don't remember her. I've heard she died in an accident with my father. I've heard he wasn't a very good person. I don't have her picture. I don't even know how she looked. All I know is that she was there. So I pray. Maybe she can hear me and know that I'm ok too."
Suhas was quite taken aback by the level of conscience shown by a mere 10 years old kid. Once he went to church with Adam. The church was fairly small in size. It didn't make sense to build a large church in a predominantly Hindu region. There were very few Chirstians living in the vicinity. So the church was pretty empty all the time. The Mosque just two blocks ahead was busier. Anyways, once when Suhas went to the church with Adam he heard him praying. He didn't pay much attention to the lines until he heard,
"...just know that wherever you are, I still love you the same."
That was for his mother. This 10 year old kid kept surprising Suhas more and more.
Slowly Suhas also got to know about how Adam ended up in juvie. Throughout the last couple of months he didn't seem like someone capable of doing something that could land him in juvie. So Suhas was curious. And eventually one day he asked Adam about it. And it was tragic to say the least. It all had to do with one fateful day when a 8 year old Adam was busy playing with his friend in an orphanage. Everything was good until another guy showed up. Maybe he didn't like them having fun or maybe he wanted to join in on that as well, whatever the reason maybe, the involvement of this third unwanted guest quickly escalated and peaceful and joyous playtime that eventually led to a fight between Adam's friend and the unwanted guest. The fight was short. It stopped as soon as one of them, not sure who, broke a flower vase. As usual the sound of something breaking made the caretaker show up there quickly. She couldn't hear the two of them fighting and shouting but heard the vase breaking. As soon as she showed up, the entire blame was put on Adam's friend. Why? Because he was an orphan and the other kid was the orphanage's owner's son. The caretaker had a habit of being too harsh when punishing kids and this time wasn't any different. To an innocent Adam, who didn't understand the intricate politics and hypocrisy, it was unfair.
He couldn't just stand there and watch while his friend was being punished for doing something that wasn't his own fault as he wasn't the one who started the fight. So after a while of watching his friend being beaten he wanted to stop her and so pushed her away. She fell. Down the stairs. That was the last thing Adam saw on that day. The rest of the day he spent in a closed room without food or water. Next day when the door opened all he saw was two police officers with two social services workers. He didn't know what happened. He didn't know where he was being taken. He didn't know what happened to his friend or to the caretaker.
Two years later when he was getting out of juvie, he heard on guard whispering to another "How does a kid that young kill someone!". That's when Adam knew what had happened two years ago on that day.
Later from his parents Suhas got to know that the caretaker took a heavy injury on her head while falling down the stairs and next morning she passed away.
Suhas got misty-eyed that day. Maybe because of her cruel death, or maybe because of Adam's cruel fate or maybe because of the cruelty of life. Nobody knows. The more he thought about how Adam was in juvie for two years for an accident and how the 'juvenile' tag changed his life for the worse, the more Suhas became adamant to never let that happen again ever in his life, to Adam and to everyone.
As days went by they became closer and closer. They grew an almost brotherly bond. Adam who was skeptical to trust people and Suhas who is quick to come to a conclusion quickly became each others' guide to overcome their hurdles.
After a couple of weeks when Adam was out, Suhas went to have a conversation with his parents.
"I've a serious request. Would you entertain it?"
"Let's hear it first." ,his father replied. Suhas wasn't the type to keep asking his parents for things. He barely did. So when he came to them with a request and with that seriousness they knew it had to be something very precious to him.
"You know, he's been here for a couple of months now and the search situation isn't getting any better."
"We know dear. We're trying our best. Even this morning I was having a conversation with a home in Mumbai."
"In Mumbai?"
"Yes. I have some acquaintances there and finally I managed to get a hold of this home. They have a very good reputation. They treat the kids very well. They heard his story and still were eager to listen more."
"So...This is it? He is gonna go to Mumbai? 2000 kilometers away?" He looked melancholic.
"No. Unfortunately they have no vacancies at the moment. They said they'll call us back the moment one of their kids gets a job and moves out."
With very little hope Suhas uttered, "Can we not adopt him?"
