MPA Student Work

The Truth About Fateh

I used to make fun of Fateh because of his arm, and its awkward angle, but then one day I realized THE TRUTH! (Insert ominous music)

It was the night of Guru Ram Das' birthday, and the school had returned from the Golden Temple back to the campus. It was around twelve o'clock at night, and I had taken off my chola because I was about to shower. I was standing in my room wearing just my kacheras talking to Fateh about pea pods when Sadh (AKA Boba Fet) walked into the room.

Boba Fet was still wearing full bhana from the Golden Temple trip. When he came in we started talking and somehow we eventually made a bet that I couldn't do a kick flip on my skate board in one try. I grabbed my skateboard and put it down on the carpet and with my bare feet I stepped onto it. I tried to do the kick flip, but I messed up.

"Damn," I said to Boba Fet. We hadn't decided what the bet was on so I asked, "So what do you win?"
"I'm gonna show you how to flip someone over your shoulder, using you."
"OK."
"I'll flip you on to the mattresses," he said, pointing to the two mattresses next to each other, which made up my bed.
"OK," I said. "This won't hurt will it?"
"No, I'll be gentle."
So I walked over to the mattresses.
"So," he said, "I'm gonna grab your arm and flip you over my shoulder but you'll land on the mattress so it won't hurt."
"OK," I said.

He did just that, and it didn't hurt. He repeated it about three times, and then he stopped.
"OK, now I want you to jump and try to flip forward while I pull your arm."
This time I wasn't so sure. "I don't think I can do that," I said, a little nervous.
"Come on, it'll be fine," he assured, but I knew it wouldn't work. What I didn't know was that in fifteen minutes I would be on my way to the hospital with a chunk of my bone chipped off and bulging out of a wrong place, but let’s get back to the story.

There I was standing in front of the mattress in my kacheras, with Boba Fet holding my right arm.
"OK, on three," he said.
My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was in my throat and my head throbbed with every pulsing heartbeat.
"One," counted Boba Fet. I could feel butterflies flapping around in my stomach.
"Two," he said. I wished I had landed that kick flip.
"Three!"
"O crap!!!" I thought, but I jumped anyway, and he pulled my arm, and I flipped, but not enough.

I went flying up and flipped upside down with my feet up in the air and my head getting closer to the ground. To stop from landing on my face I put out my left arm and landed with it straight out and locked, and my eyes closed. All of my weight fell on my left arm, and I heard it crack.
I was lying on the mattress. I opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was my left arm, with some part of bone bulging out of my elbow in a place I knew shouldn't have been.

Suddenly I realized how much it hurt and I started crying and screaming in pain. Boba Fet quickly rushed over and told me to breathe slowly.

"I knew it wouldn't work!" I cried angrily.
"Sorry," he apologized.
"Shut up!" I yelled at him.
"Why?" he asked.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
"It's OK," said Boba Fet. "Just keep breathing long and deep."

So I started concentrating on my breath, and after about a minute my arm stopped hurting (maybe it was because I was in shock), but I stopped crying. Then Boba Fet helped me put on my chola and get over to the nurse's office and from there I went to the hospital.

One of the twelfth graders came with me in the ambulance, and I remember how he kept asking me if it hurt, and I would just say not really. His name was Obi Wan, and he took care of me for a few weeks until I could somewhat use my arm. He taught me everything I know and trained me in the ways of the force.

Because of that night I realized that Fateh had gone through something similar to me, and that people (including me) didn't even think about that. We just thought "Hey, his arm looks funny, so let’s make fun of him!"

Yeah, but the reason his arm looks funny is he because broke it and the doctors had to re-break it just to make it look as good as it does now. After my own accident I stopped making fun of Fateh because I knew how he felt. And that was it.