Chapter Text
#0 A Young Boy (Prologue)
A young boy was sitting in the backseat of his family’s car. The ride was uncomfortably silent, with a few intervals of awkward words of confirmation from his parents in an attempt to make the boy feel better. It did not work, as the boy was as uncomfortable as ever yet couldn’t care less simultaneously.
He stared at his feet through his dirty blonde bangs with a mundane expression, hitting his shoes against each other at a steady pace. Nothing else in the world seemed as interesting as the noise that was coming from his shoes at that moment.
His mind was nowhere near reality, and he could not hear his surroundings at all.
The world seemed boring and gray, the faces of the boy's parents became unclear, and his vision got all warped. The second everything turned totally clear again, he realized. He shed a tear for the first time since this whole incident.
* * *
#1 The Barber Shop
Pop! The sound of someone opening a beer can echoed in the room.
“Darma.. you know I appreciate your company, but don’t you think it is about time you move out soon?” It was Darma’s grandma. She looked at him with a compassionate and questioning face.
He took a sip from his beer before replying “I have been on the lookout for months, but I didn’t know you were that desperate to get rid of me.” He chuckled looking at his grandma’s amused expression.
“Oh shut it, you. How do you expect to get a girlfriend only to bring her to your old grandma’s house?” She stood up from the sofa. “She would have already ran away before you’d even notice a thing!”
Darma held the beer in one hand, and his phone in the other. As he was taking yet another sip, he unlocked his phone and tapped around on the screen to open up a site.
“Look here, I’m feeling pretty confident about being able to snatch this apartment.”
He showed his screen to his grandma who was about to leave for the bathroom.
“It’s cheap with one bedroom, one bathroom, an office, a living room, and a kitchen. The size is pretty decent, and I can turn the office into a guest room if needed.”
His grandma looked impressed. “Is it far away?”
“Not at all, it’s on the same street as my old elementary school.” Darma looked happy, which made his grandma smile.
“You should tell me immediately if you get it or not, I will find some people to help you move.” She continued on her way into the hallway as he thanked her.
Darma sat down on the old-fashioned couch and browsed on his phone.
[@homenhappy:
“40% on all nightstands! Valid 09/15-09/28 for Members”]
Liked by Anna_de_Jong
(148 Likes 9 Comments 2 Shares)
[@news4u:
“This study shows the 10 best pets for inexperienced pet owners”]
(275 Likes 38 Comments 47 Shares)
[@orionbarber:
“Our website is now up and running, schedule a quality haircut today”]
Liked by AsteriaAlles
(334 Likes 212 Comments 59 Shares)
The incredible like-comment-share ratio caught Darma’s attention. He opened the comment section and began to read.
[@JessicaT: I finally convinced my husband to get a haircut here after I heard a rumor of the handsome employee. The rumors aren’t true, he is more than just handsome. Truly a god on earth.]
Replies
- [@egbhu: Really! My boyfriend got jealous when he saw my nosebleed. Eyes = blessed]
- [@polaroiddream: Red flag. Your boyfriend deserves someone better than you.]
- [@egbhu: Don’t reflect your own insecurities on people online, we have a happy and healthy relationship.]
[@MayaIRL: too bad they only accept male clients, i would love to have their handsome employee give me a much needed haircut. i saw him on my way to work, such eye candy]
[@j4ck95: Good barber shop. Recommend.]
[@lovelypeachesxoxo: Handsome!]
Replies
- [@cocoalertt: haha funny seeing you here Laura, i agree he is so handsome]
Darma was taken aback by the comments, he didn’t expect the majority of them to be about a supposedly handsome employee. Intrigued, he clicked on the orionbarber profile and was welcomed to their social media page. Their posts were all aesthetically pleasing photos from inside their shop, a warm-toned barber shop with golden and red tints. It looked like a very fancy place. Before he knew it, he had clicked the link leading him to their website. Then he proceeded to schedule a haircut in October.
——
Almost a month had passed.
“I bought the apartment!”
Darma and his grandma’s faces lit up in excitement at the news.
“Congratulations Darma!” His grandma clapped her hands together.
She started looking for her old phone. “When do you move in? I’m going to call some acquaintances to help with transportation of your stuff.”
“I can move in today if I want to.” He was all excited. “Can you believe I actually got it? I would be so upset if all of this was just a dream.”
Having finally found her phone, she pinched his cheek as if to prove to him that he was not dreaming. She grinned. “I’m proud of you.”
“I should make you something good to eat as a celebration before you move! Can you go to the store for me to buy groceries? Get whatever you’re craving.”
“Sure, I’ll be back soon then.” Darma took on his jacket and stepped into his shoes.Then he made his way out the door.
“Be careful!”
Darma shivered due to the cold. This October was especially cold, colder than usual. He walked on the sidewalk while blowing warm air into his hands in an attempt to warm up, and then placed them inside his pockets while digging his nose into his jacket.
The fact that he had finally gotten a place for himself felt surreal, and he felt super excited to move in. He couldn’t help but to smile. When he looked up, he locked eyes with an unfamiliar man for a split second, before the man quickly looked away and sped past him. The man was wearing a sage worn-out bomber jacket with black jeans. Almost his entire face was covered up with a white scarf, and he was wearing a red knit beanie. He looked truly mysterious, Darma thought to himself.
Darma shrugged it off and made his way to the store.
The automatic doors opened with their excruciating squeaking sound as usual, it was a sound that made Darma grimace every time he heard it. When making it inside the store, he stopped by the vegetable section and put a few vegetables in his cart. After going around the entire store, his cart now consisted of the vegetables he picked up earlier, chicken breasts, a few cans of beer, and a lot of snacks and candies. He thought he would treat himself at his new apartment.
Darma left the store with two bags, one in each hand. The weight of the bags dug into his skin, and he sighed in annoyance. He really should have brought gloves, his fingers reddened from the cold and they began to feel numb.
The sky was a beautiful orange color as the sun was disappearing behind the buildings ahead. Darma really wished he could have taken a photograph of the scene, but decided not to due to the numbness of his fingers and the bags keeping his hands occupied.
He forgot the cold for a moment as he was watching the sunset.
The sound of something ripping and the thud of something falling on the ground below him brought Darma back to reality, and he realized that the bag in his left hand was suddenly a whole lot lighter than before. Panicked, he knelt down quickly to collect the beers before they rolled out of reach. He now had 3 cans of beer, 2 potatoes, and 4 bags of chips in different flavors on the ground in front of him. 3 cans of beer? Darma was sure he had purchased 4. That was when he looked up, and noticed that the fourth can had stopped rolling due to a pair of shoes blocking its way.
“I’m really sorry! I don’t get how they can sell such lousy bags, such a scam am I right?” Darma looked at the owner of the shoes that had stopped the can of beer from rolling any further. To his surprise, it was the mysterious looking man he had locked eyes with previously.
The man in front of him didn’t say anything, and took off his backpack. From what Darma remembers, he did not have that backpack when they passed by each other earlier. He reached the backpack to Darma, to which he responded by just looking at it confused. This quiet confusion lasted for a few seconds, until the mysterious man shook the backpack as if to hint Darma to hurry up and take it already. Darma’s eyes widened and he quickly grabbed the backpack.
“Oh, uhm.. do you intend for me to use this?” Darma asked.
Still keeping quiet, the man nodded. He knelt down, placed the stray beer in front of Darma, and got back up to walk the same way he had come from.
“Thank you!” Darma said, as he started putting the groceries in the backpack. With his back turned towards Darma, the man quietly responded with “You’re welcome.”
When Darma had finished putting the groceries in the backpack, he stood up and shouted “Wait! Give me your contact information so I can give you your backpack back to you later!”
The man continued walking without reacting, and disappeared behind a building. Darma hurriedly walked in an attempt to catch up, but when he had reached the turn where the man had disappeared, he was nowhere to be seen.
——
Ding dong.
Darma was busy drying the dishes and putting the plates in the cupboard when the doorbell rang.
The click of the door opening was heard, followed by a few voices greeting each other. Darma’s grandma invited her acquaintances inside.
It was the people who his grandma had contacted to help him move out. He didn’t have a lot of stuff to bring to his new apartment, apart from a few clothes, necessities such as toiletries, and some other trivial stuff.
He put the last plate in the cupboard, dried his hands, and made his way to greet his grandma’s acquaintances.
Neither Darma nor his grandma had a car, and their only source of transportation was the bus. Therefore they needed someone with a car to help with the move. He fit all of his stuff into two boxes.
The ride to his new apartment wasn’t long, it was a 15 minutes drive. When they arrived, Darma stepped out of the car and looked up at the apartment building. His place was on the 4th floor.
“Hey, let me help you with carrying the boxes.”
Darma turned around while holding the two boxes stacked on top of each other.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’ve got it from here. They have an elevator, so I’ll be fine. Thank you for the drive!”
The woman who had offered to help nodded and sat back down into the passenger seat of the car. The driver rolled down his window, and they wished Darma good luck with his new apartment.
Darma entered the apartment building and walked to the elevator. Since his hands were busy, he used his elbow to call the elevator to the 1st floor. The elevator doors opened with a ding, and he walked inside. He used the same strategy to press the 4th floor button, and the elevator doors closed. It was a nice elevator, and it looked like it had been newly renovated. There was a mirror on the back wall, and a small screen above the elevator door showing which floor he was currently on.
1…
2…
3…
4… Ding!
The elevator doors opened with the same ding sound, and Darma could exit the elevator and walk towards his apartment door. He placed the boxes on the floor, and then he entered the code he was given on the codelock. It played a tiny melody when he pressed the star, and the sound of the door unlocking itself was heard.
Darma opened the door, made his way inside and closed the door behind him. His new apartment was definitely smaller than his grandma’s place, but it was perfect for him. He walked in and placed the backpack he had borrowed earlier on the kitchen counter, and unzipped it. Then he opened the fridge and placed the 4 cans of beer inside. Darma found the sight kind of funny, as the fridge was completely empty except for the 4 beers. He closed the fridge, and brought out the snacks from the backpack and placed them on the counter.
The backpack looked very fashionable, perhaps even a bit luxurious. Darma picked it up to examine it, and to look for any branding or nametags. He caught a sniff of the backpack, it smelled of cinnamon and vanilla. A very comforting smell. There was no sign of any branding on the backpack, the only thing that stood out was the amount of hair strands caught in the fabric.
Excitement of the new apartment was soon turned to boredom. For the first time in his life was he living alone, and the silence was super loud. Darma felt his boredom turning into loneliness.
Buzz. Darma’s phone lit up as a notification popped up on his screen. It was a reminder of his appointment at the barber that was scheduled for the next day.
[“Reminder: Appointment at Orion Barber October 31st 4:35PM.”]
Darma decided to send his friend a message, telling her about his new apartment. He sent Asteria a message, to which she responded by calling him.
“Hey!”
“Darma! How come you told me just now?? This is the kind of thing you should notify me about immediately, you idiot.” Asteria sounded very surprised.
He chuckled. “Sorry, sorry. Will you forgive me?”
“I could have helped you move if you had told me. But I suppose I could forgive you if you allowed me to help you settle in sometime soon.” She was in a playful mood, as she was happy for Darma.
Thinking about it, he could really use some assistance with shopping. The sad sight of his fridge loomed in his mind. Not only that, but the apartment had no personality whatsoever, so a few decorations here and there would go a long way.
“Hmm… I could use some help with some shopping tomorrow, there is nothing in my fridge at the moment except for beer.”
Asteria laughed at him. “Of course, of course! I’ll see you tomorrow then? I have to go now because Dwade is calling me.”
“Okay then, see you tomorrow Asteria!” Darma moved the phone away from his ear.
“Goodnight Darma!”
Maybe tomorrow won’t be so lonely, Darma thought. He smiled, and got ready for bed.
——
Construction at a nearby store disturbed the peace of the morning, but it didn’t bother Darma at all. He was just happy to not have the silence turn him insane. Living all by himself is something he would not get used to overnight, and admittedly he still felt lonely and missed his bed at his grandma’s house. This new apartment didn’t feel like a “home” yet, partly due to the minimalistic look to it. Darma remembered that he should go shopping for groceries and simple decorations for his apartment with Asteria today before his appointment at Orion Barber.
He sent a message to Asteria to notify her about their plans today.
As he was browsing his phone looking at the map showing the stores closest to him, he started taking on his shoes and jacket. He looked back into the apartment, at the backpack sitting on the counter. Reminded of yesterday’s situation, he grabbed the backpack and walked out the door. Maybe he would coincidentally see the man again and could give the backpack back to him.
His first stop was a small convenience store next to the apartment where Darma found himself a pair of black gloves and a dark green scarf. He paid for them, and wore them as he walked out of the store. While waiting for Asteria to come, he found a pole to stand by. It was a fairly crowded area, with elementary students going to school, people waiting for the bus, businessmen scurrying around with briefcases in their grip, and then there was also Darma standing still observing his surroundings.
“Boo!”
Darma flinched and choked on his own scream. Asteria had somehow managed to sneak up on him, and decided to give him a scare. She was laughing as Darma was coughing, trying to compose himself.
“Bahaha! Golden reaction as always.” She had to wipe away tears of laughter from her eyes.
Embarrassed, Darma glared at her before rolling his eyes. As if nothing had happened, he straightened his back and started walking to which she began to follow him.
“So, what’s on our agenda today?” Asteria asked.
Outgoing as always, Asteria swung her arms in an exaggerated motion. She is definitely one of Darma’s more extraverted friends, as well as the one who visibly cares about him the most.
He was truly grateful to have her as a friend.
“Should we go to a cafe first? Let’s get a coffee or something to get us started.” Darma whipped out his phone to look for cafes nearby.
“Sure, I could use some caffeine to wake up.”
Asteria yawned, which was understandable as Darma had her come early in the morning so he wouldn’t have to stress about potentially missing his appointment at Orion Barber. Then he remembered that he had seen that Asteria had liked their post, despite being a female. Orion Barber was a male-client-only shop, so he was a little curious as to why Asteria had interacted with the post.
He saw that there was a decently-rated cafe right outside Orion Barber, and thought that he could casually ask Asteria about it if they went there. It was like a 3 minute walk away from their current location.
Darma led the way, as Asteria was rambling on about her experience arguing with her kid’s teacher. He was a listener, and she was a yapper. That’s how it has always been, and Darma liked it a lot. It was comfortable.
The cafe greeted them with halloween decorations, with spiderwebs on the walls, pumpkin candles, and the staff wearing face paint. Darma had nearly forgotten that today was halloween, as it wasn’t exactly a tradition he took a part in. If anything, he actually avoided it. He cannot handle scary stuff, as he is easy to spook.
Asteria on the other hand loved it. Darma also joked about halloween being made just for her, as her life-long mission is to sneak up on and scare every single person on earth.
They found a spot by the window after ordering, and Darma thought that he could finally ask about Orion Barber as it was adjacent to the cafe right outside the window. The barber shop had also been decorated for halloween it seems, as well as every other building on this street.
“It smells so good here.” Asteria said as she sat down.
Darma pointed towards Orion Barber. “I have an appointment there later actually.”
She looked in the direction he was pointing, and her eyes widened. “Oh! Orion Barber? Can I come with you?” There was an eager look in her eyes.
“I don’t have anything against you tagging along, the appointment is between 4pm and 5pm.”
Asteria looked puzzled, thought for a few seconds, and then slumped over in disappointment. “I can’t… I have to attend Dwade’s competition at 5.”
“Oh right, that was today wasn’t it? He’s worked hard for today, tell him I said good luck.” He had almost forgotten about Dwade’s archery competition.
“Well, is there a reason as to why you wanted to come with me to Orion Barber?” Finally he brought up the topic he wanted to ask her about.
She looked a bit flustered. “You see, I wanted to check out who your barber was. Because I’ve heard that one of the employees there is super hot or whatever so I got curious you know.”
A smug expression made its way on Darma’s face as he was getting ready to mock her. “So you’re saying that you wanted to go in an attempt to hit up a hottie?”
“You’ve got it wrong! I just wanted a peek.” She furrowed her brows as she glared at Darma.
“It’s not guaranteed that he will be working today anyways.”
She chuckled. “If I came with you and found out that he wasn’t there, I’d leave immediately.”
Baffled, he looked at Asteria. “Ha ha, is that so?”
In response she puckered her lips and nodded her head.
“Well now I know why you interacted on that Orion Barber post.”
One of the employees yelled out their order number, and Darma stood up to go get their coffees.
____
“Would you like a bag?” The cashier asked him as he was about to pay for the stuff he had picked with Asteria.
He had brought the backpack with him in case he met the mysterious man again, but the more he thought about it the more absurd it became. He had just moved further away from where he had met that man, so the chances of Darma seeing him again were slim.
“No thanks, I have a backpack.” Impulsively he had decided to save his money and take advantage of the backpack he had with him.
As he was packing the backpack with the groceries, Asteria said that she had to go and left him.
When the backpack was fully loaded, Darma attempted to close the zipper. It was difficult as the backpack was overly full.
Cling!
The pull tab on the zipper broke, and fell to the floor. Darma felt extremely guilty, as he had just damaged something that wasn’t even his. He picked up the pull tab and placed it inside one of the pockets of the backpack with a lot of guilt. To avoid any more accidents, he carefully picked up the backpack and handled it with a lot more care as he walked back to his apartment.
Darma placed the backpack back on the counter where he had placed it the previous day.
Using his pinky finger, he carefully forced the zipper to open up so he could access the things inside. As he moved his pinky finger inside the backpack, he suddenly felt something that tickled. Paying it little mind, he continued to slide his pinky opening the zipper more and more. Then he heard a rip.
His pinky finger had caught itself up in a thread, which had caused it to loosen up and opened the stitch connecting the zipper to the fabric.
This was the second time he had damaged the backpack today in an accident. How could this have happened? Darma started sweating, as he emptied the backpack. Relieved that he hadn’t damaged it for the third time, he carefully hung it up in the entrance to get it out of the way so he could deal with it later.
He would definitely need a beer after his appointment.
Right now he had 20 minutes left before he had to leave to go to Orion Barber. He spent those 20 minutes putting the groceries in his fridge, decorating his apartment with a flower pot and a few candles, and at last he took a quick shower. After drying himself, it was time to go.
Darma left his apartment and was on his way to Orion Barber.
The sky was orange, just like the other day. With the exception of a few clouds in the horizon, the sky was open and clear, with a few stars peeking out. Darma took his phone out of his pocket, bit off his glove, and snapped a photo.
To ensure that it was a good photo, he opened the photograph in his gallery to take a closer look. That’s when he saw him. The mysterious man from the other day appeared in the photo. Darma looked up from his phone quickly, and he was gone. Looking back at the photo he had taken, he realized that the man was entering a building. Orion Barber.
Having completely forgotten about the damages he had done to the backpack, Darma made haste towards the barber shop. He opened the door, which rang a bell.
Darma was met with a familiar smell. Cinnamon and vanilla.
“Welcome!” A man with a friendly smile greeted Darma from behind the counter. Darma smiled and greeted the man back.
He looked around the shop for the man, but couldn’t see him anywhere.
“Hello, I’m Darma de Jong. I have an appointment here at 4:35pm?” He shoved his gloves into his pockets and unwrapped the scarf from his neck.
“Ah yes, Darma de Jong. You can sit down over there. We’ll be with you shortly.” The man pointed towards a waiting area.
It was a cozy waiting area, with red velvet sofas and golden decorations. As well as a golden table with newspapers on top. Darma sat down slowly, and continued to scan the shop with his eyes in search of the man.
Excluding the man behind the counter and Darma himself, there were only two other guys in the store. A gray haired client and a bald barber cutting the client’s hair.
The man behind the counter disappeared for a split second into the staff room, and when he came back out he approached Darma.
“We’re ready for you, you can sit down at chair 7.”
Darma stood up from the sofa. “Oh, thank you!”
He walked past the other two men in the room, and looked at the numbers at the back of the chairs. Chair 7 was the spot the furthest in, closest to the wall. Darma sat down like he was told, and waited.
A few seconds later, the sound of the staff door opening and closing was heard. Then Darma saw a silhouette behind him in the mirror.
Behind him was a handsome barber, covered in red splatters. His skin crawled at the sight. The barber reached for the pocket in his apron, and pulled out a pair of scissors. The scissors were painted in the same red as the red on the barber’s hands,face and clothes. Darma observed as the barber took a look at his scissors, sighed, and bowed down closer to Darma’s ear.
Frozen in fear, Darma stared at the barber through his eyebrows in the mirror.
“Ahh, don’t tell the manager please. He doesn’t like it when I dirty his scissors.”
Darma looked at the scissors, as the dark red liquid resembling blood dripped on the barber’s already stained hands.
What kind of sketchy place did Darma place his foot in, and how the heck can he get out of here? He was sitting on the chair the furthest away from the exit, and the other client was already at the counter getting ready to leave. Did he really just sign himself up to get cut up by organ harvesters?
“I don’t want you to take my organs…”
Darma was fully convinced that these guys were organ harvesters, which explained the maniac standing behind him being covered in blood holding the very same scissors he used to cut up the body of another unfortunate soul. Even the thought about it made him sick to his stomach, and the realization that he could be next was unbearable.
“You don’t want to have your organs taken? What are you talking about?” The handsome barber looked stunned, and took a quick look at himself in the mirror. Then he started to laugh.
Now he really looked like a psychotic maniac.
He placed his hand gently on Darma’s shoulder, and smiled. “No worries, this is fake blood. I managed to spill it on myself in the staff room. Sorry for scaring you.”
“Fake…?” Darma was in a daze for a few seconds, then his face burnt up. The barber must have noticed his embarrassment, and backed off.
Then they locked eyes in the mirror, and the barber flinched. “I remember you!”
Still flustered, Darma tilted his head in confusion. He would definitely remember meeting someone this handsome.
Before Darma could question him, he began to walk off.
“If you could wait here for a moment, I will go get some clean equipment.”
He waved, and disappeared back into the staff room.
____
Darma had to admit, the handsome barber was amazing at his job. Usually whenever Darma got his hair cut, it would always look a bit awkward and he would have to let it grow for a week or two before it looked natural. However, this man made Darma’s hair look exactly like what he asked for.
“Thank you, and I apologize for my misunderstanding earlier…” Darma brushed his hand in his newly cut hair as he stood up from the chair.
“No no, I’m the one who should apologize. I didn’t realize the mess was that bad, I really should have looked in a mirror before approaching a client.” The barber reached for the broom hung up on the wall, preparing to sweep the hair strands that were laying all over the floor. “It was nice seeing you again!”
Hearing that, Darma paused. He turned around to look at the barber who was already at work with the broom.
“Where have we met? I don’t think I can recall meeting you.” He said it.
The handsome barber paused too, and looked up at Darma. They held eye contact for a moment, before the handsome barber said “excuse me”, hung the broom back on the wall, and hurried back into the staff room.
Darma had no idea what to do, if he should wait for the barber to come back or if he should go as he only said “excuse me” and hadn’t specified if he was expecting Darma to wait or not. Even so, Darma stood still.
Not long after the staff door opened yet again, and out came the mysterious man. Darma gaped as he realized that the mysterious man and the handsome barber were the same man.
He brought his hand up to his face and dragged the scarf away from his mouth.
“Sorry, I forgot that you couldn’t see my face clearly during our interaction.”
“So it’s you…” Darma suddenly remembered the backpack.
“Oh right! I have your backpack in my apartment! I’ve wanted to give it back to you.”
The handsome man smiled.
“If you have time sometime, would you…”
“Maximus.”
Darma paused his sentence and looked confused again. “Huh?”
“That’s my name, Maximus.”
That name really suited him, Darma thought.
“Well Maximus, when you have time, would you want to meet up so I can deliver the backpack back to you?”
Maximus grabbed the broom, quickly swept the hair on the floor into a container, and released the hair into another bigger container standing against the wall next to the broom. Darma just watched him waiting for his reply.
When he finished, Maximus turned to Darma. “I don’t have any more clients today, so I’m available now if now is a good time for you.”
“Sure..”
They started walking towards the exit, when Maximus stopped and began walking in the opposite direction.
“Wait a second, I have to take off my apron in the staff room. I forgot to take it off before wearing my jacket.”
Darma decided to wait on the outside, and walked out of Orion Barber.
He was leaning against the wall and watched his breath turn into small clouds in the cold air. It was really cold, but refreshing.
It didn’t take long before Maximus came out of the shop.
“I thought you had left already” He chuckled. “It’s cold, why didn’t you wait inside?”
“I just felt like getting some fresh air.”
They walked side by side, not saying much.
“So, your name is Darma?”
Darma couldn’t remember telling him his name. “How’d you know?”
Maximus looked amused. “I looked at the client list.”
“Right, fair enough.”
A few kids in costumes passed them once in a while, as they were out trick or treating. In front of them, there was a little girl who was panicking. The handle of her candy bucket had snapped, and her candy was spilled all over the ground. Maximus approached the girl and her friends, helping them clean up the candy from the ground, putting it all back into the bucket. He told her that she can still hold the bucket, despite the handle being broken.
The way Maximus helped the girl reminded him of how he had helped Darma the other day. He was really kind. Then another memory hit him, a very important factor Darma had completely forgotten about. The fact that he had damaged Maximus’ backpack.