Week 2 Story: Rama in New York

New York City: Pixabay

My name is Rama and I live in New York City.  Let me just start this story off bluntly; I am not a good guy.  I was born and raised in this huge, crowded, dirty city, and I love it because it's home.  Right now I am in a really peculiar situation.... but you have to know some of my backstory first. 

My dad, Dasaratha, was one of those big corporate guys who never spent any time with us.  He made so much money you probably could have called him a king, and indeed most people saw him that way.  I have two brothers: Lakshmana and Bharatha.  In general, we all got into a lot of trouble growing up.  Since our dad was never around and our  mom died when we were young, we were on our own most of the time.  My brother Bharatha got into dealing drugs, I got a fake ID and snuck into clubs to get drunk and meet girls, and of course Lakshmana was the black sheep of the family and pretty much kept to himself, though he did accompany me most nights.  None of us were particularly close, but Lakshmana and I spent a lot of time together. 

Although my family seems pretty rough, I do have a soft spot.  I met my girlfriend Sita when I was about 14.  She's way too good for me and I don't know why she ever stayed with me, but I would do anything to keep her with me forever.  She puts up with all of my drama and I still have no idea why... but she is the most perfect woman in the world for me. 

Now here is where the story gets interesting.  As I said Bharatha got into drug dealing, so he was gone a lot.  Dad didn't seem to care at all what we did.  Unfortunately this came to bite him in the butt, because the time came (as it always does with these sorts of things) when Bharatha had a large debt with some very bad people.  He decided the best way to deal with this was to kill our father so that he would inherit the money.  In order to not go to jail, he decided he would frame me, because he had to pin it off on somebody and Lakshmana was too much of a goody goody. 

Alright so you know how it goes, court, trials, yada yada yada. I ended up with a fourteen year prison sentence...for the murder that my brother committed.  So there I was sitting in prison for a long. freaking. time. I was getting really bored, and my wandering side was starting to get restless.  Being the angel that she is, Sita stayed with me, and she and Lakshmana visited me often.  It wasn't enough for my adventurous lifestyle to just see them through a glass screen and never leave the same four walls... I started looking for a way out. 

Escape was obviously not an option... I tried it a few times and it didn't go well- I almost made my prison sentence longer.  But then one day something weird happened.  There was this girl who for some reason decided to visit me one day.  I guess she thought I was really hot, but she was absolutely nuts.  Obviously I was in love with Sita, but this girl, Kamavalli, was just crazy enough that I had an idea.  She wanted to get me out of jail so she could marry me (I told you she was crazy), but my idea was much better than that.  I went along with it for a few months, talked to her when she came to visit, and convinced her I was going to go with her plan.  Now, this plan only worked because Kamavalli was the sister of the very bad man that Bhartha owed his previous debt to; the debt that caused him to murder our father in the first place. 

So this guy is named Ravana and he is HUGE.  He's also leader of one of the most important drug rings/ gangs in NYC.  Like I said, Kamavalli is his sister... so my plan was to find a way to frame her for the murder of my father, get her thrown in on my prison sentence, then I could be released.  I know it sounds crazy... but it actually worked! I told you I'm not a good guy at all... but hey at least I'm free again.  The problem now is that Ravana knows what I did and he is MAD.  He kidnapped Sita and I really don't know what to do.  Lakshmana is helping me out, we have guns and we are training to take them on.  I'm a pretty good shot, but I don't know if we can take out an entire drug ring... not to mention Ravana.... did I mention how huge he is?  This might be the last thing I do, but I have to save Sita.  I don't know where she is or what they are planning but I am going to do it.  I will get her back.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  This story was written based on the Narayan's Ramayana.  The character's names and relations stayed the same, but I changed up the plot a lot.  I turned Rama from a heroic character into a villainous hero.  The whole story was twisted by the New York City setting, and Bhartha was changed from a heroic brother to a villain. 

The Ramayana, Narayan Reading Guide