Max watched as Aarya grabbed her pantie to wear but Max couldn’t wait anymore.

 

"Hey, I'll wait for you downstairs," Max said in a soft tone as he closed the door gently.

 

"Okay," she replied, her voice barely audible just before the door clicked shut.

 

Once the door was closed, the smile faded from Max's face, replaced by a serious expression.

He checked his phone and saw the time: 6:20.

 

"Damn it, people are already at their houses," Max muttered aloud. After a few moments, he hastily concocted a rudimentary plan in his mind.

 

As he walked, Max opened the DoorDash app and began placing orders from various restaurants but not to this address.

 

Rather than ordering everything from one place, which would take a long time to arrive, he opted for smaller orders from multiple places. This way, although it required more effort, the food would arrive much faster.

 

Max descended the stairs while simultaneously managing orders for food for over fifty people.

 

—

 

In the midst of the bustling crowd, Show was visibly bored to death, absently slipping the cup he had poured for himself as the drink distributing crazy duo  remained oblivious to his presence, despite his attempts to engage with them. 

 

Eventually, a girl approached him, prompting a momentary spark of hope in Show's mind that a real girl had finally noticed him. However, as she began venting her problems, he quickly realized her intentions and slowly slipped away from the conversation.

 

Right now, Show was observing the crowd from a distance, his gaze fixed on the energetic dancers moving to the beat of the music emanating from the boombox and the home theatre system. 

 

From the corner of his eye, Show noticed Max descending the stairs. Max's gaze scanned the crowd, searching for someone, until his eyes finally settled on Show. Sensing that something was up, Show and Max walked toward each other, meeting in the middle of the room.

"What's up?" Show shouted over the booming music, his voice barely audible amidst the background noise.

 

"Get the gang together, quickly. I'll get Shake," Max responded, his words also drowned out by the loud music.

Show sensed it was something urgent from Max's tone and didn't question further. He quickly went to find the others, while Max headed in the opposite direction.

Max made his way to the room where he had seen Shake enter, but unsurprisingly, it was locked. Despite knowing what was likely happening inside, Max didn't have the luxury of time to bang on the door until it was opened. The loud music drowned out any attempt at shouting,

 

B A N G

 

Max shattered the lock with only one swift kick from his foot and he was greeted with quite a steamy scene inside the room.

 

There were two girls at the edge of the bed, one black with curly hair and one white with blond hair. They were on top of each other. White girl was kissing black girl's neck while she was moaning out loud. Shake was banging the black girl, standing on the ground while fingering the blondie.

 

AHHh

 

As soon as the door broke blondie screamed, while black girl stopped moaning.

 

"WHO THE FUCK..." Shake began, but he quickly swallowed the curses as soon as he laid eyes on Max. In a matter of seconds, the girls hurriedly covered themselves with bed sheets.

 

"What's going on, Max?" Shake asked, his voice tinged with surprise. He knew that Max wouldn't have barged in like this without a reason.

 

"Yeah, Shake, Rodney just came in. Let's go," Max said, maintaining a casual tone.

 

Shake understood the code: "Red emergency, let's go."

 

"Sorry, girls, I'll have to cut this short. I've got to meet Rodney," 

 

Slap

 

Shake said while slapping one butt. 

 

Giving them the room and privacy, Max stepped out, making a mental note: 

 

"I need to try that."

 

Shake dressed quickly and emerged from the room.

 

"What's up?" he asked as he joined Shake in the hallway.

 

‘Let’s go’ Max didn’t explain but shake followed him.

 

When they arrived, Show had managed to gather the other three as well.

Max poked his head out from the main door, scanning the surroundings for a moment before pulling back inside.

 

"I saw a fully covered white van pass by three times in front of the house, and it was parked a few houses away from here when I arrived," he reported.

 

A sense of urgency filled the room as everyone tensed up, fully understanding the gravity of the situation.

 

"We need to move them," Shake said with a serious tone.

 

"I ordered food to Mr. Gerald's house. Shake, call him and ask to borrow his house for today," Max suggested.

 

Both Shake and Max were familiar with Mr. Gerald, the owner of the house directly behind theirs. He worked nights and was known to have an extra key hidden under the flower pot. Moreover, they knew he could use the extra cash.

 

"Then shut off the home theatre, say 'food's on me,' and move the boom box and drinks there. Most of them will come with you," Max instructed.

 

Nodding, Shake quickly left to carry out the task.

 

"Stick, did you bring your JBL speaker?" Max turned to Stick.

 

"Yeah, it's in my room," Stick confirmed.

 

"Keep it connected to your phone. Go upstairs with the king, and either knock on doors or break them to get everyone out. When everyone's gone, place the JBL speaker close to the stairs, where the sound can be heard downstairs, but make sure it's hidden from view," Max continued.

 

Then both of them went away.

 

"Rock, you have to do the same downstairs. Make sure no one goes astray, especially from the front.  through the kitchen's back door," Max instructed.

 

Without hesitation, Rock dashed off to execute his task, starting with banging on the closest door.

 

"Show, you need to remove everything that could break—framed photos, TVs, and if possible, easily breakable furniture—to the room where I broke the door," Max directed.

 

Show immediately began gathering the items as instructed.

Shake took a call and persuaded Mr. Gerald lent the house for a few hours with two thousand donation. Then, he broke the wood fence to create a pathway. After finding the spare key, Shake opened the house and turned on all the lights. Then he returned to the main house.

 

"Hey, everyone, listen up!" he called out, lowering the sound of the massive boombox and shutting off the home theatre.

 

"Max got us free dinner!" he screamed, hyping up the crowd.

 

"Yaaayyy!" they cheered, holding their drinks high.

 

"It's at the other house, follow me! You two, too," he said, pointing at the duo distributing drinks.

 

While all this was happening, Max was in the storage room rummaging through items. He stumbled upon a long, thin wire and brought it back with him. By the time he returned to the house, most of the crowd had dispersed, with various couples seen leaving through the back door in quick succession while cursing.

 

Entering the kitchen, Max began sifting through the storage and found nearly a pound of baking soda.

 

 "Damn Costco," he muttered. 

 

“Well, good for me”

 

He also grabbed equal amounts of salt and sugar. Taking four pots, he placed them on the stoves and began heating them. Then he poured equal amounts of baking soda, salt and sugar to each heating pots. Despite knowing the process should occur slowly, time was of the essence, and Max hurriedly mixed the ingredients together, a risky move he couldn't afford to delay.

 

"Oliver," Max heard someone call his second name.

 

"Hey, Aarya, I was just making something. Why don't you go there first?" he looked at the still beautiful Aarya and replied casually, masking his tension.

 

"Okay, I'm hungry. Come quickly," Aarya responded as she made her way through the back door.

 

Shortly after, King and Stick followed suit, descending the stairs.

 

As soon as Max saw them, he instructed, "Help Show and Rock, and turn on the home theatre with normal sound and close the doors of rooms downstairs." Without hesitation, they rushed to assist their friends.

 

As Max's pots started to emit a slow stream of white smoke, the smoke alarm went off, filling the room with noise.

 

Without reacting to it, Max grabbed another pot and attached the wire he found to its handle. Then, he retrieved two metal mixing bowls stacked together from the kitchen. Carrying them to the nearest room, he arranged the wire-attached pot under with the two bowls on top of it in front of the door.

 

Next, he carefully laid the wire until the back door, ensuring it was inconspicuous.

 

As the smoke continued to billow from the pots, the others returned.

 

"Go, go, look out for the wire," Max instructed, and they stepped outside without touching the wire.

 

As soon as they stepped outside, Max heard the sound of tires screeching in the front. He knew that if he was even a few seconds late, it could be game over.

 

Max gripped two pots in both hands, despite the searing pain. He knew that dropping them was not an option; it would spell disaster. With a swift motion, he threw the smoking substance across the room, instantly filling it with thick smoke. Grabbing the other two pots, he tossed them as well, being careful not to touch the wire. Quietly, he made his way to the back door and closed it without making a sound. As he stepped outside, he heard footsteps approaching in the hallway.

 

"Show, Rock, go help shake," Max whispered urgently.

 

"King, I want you to throw a rock, As soon as I give the signal, throw it," Max instructed, pointing at Shake's Dodge Mustang.

 

"And Stick, take out your phone and search for what I'm about to say. Play it when I give the signal," Max continued.