October 20, 2018
Levi Cranston (The Magic Video Game) and Jack Andrews let their friend, Kevin Maggliardi, stay over at their house for the night, since he was involved in a pretty scary situation. Asad Prejesh and Jing Hao went into downtown Boston for the evening with Jing’s and Kevin’s roommates. Around 8:30 pm, Mackenzie Burbanks, Levi’s girlfriend, came back to the apartment for the evening. She had spent an evening in downtown with a few of her girlfriends. She was aware of the situation with Kevin. “Hey Mackenzie,” Levi greeted the love of his life. “Hey Levi. Is everything alright with Kevin?” Mackenzie asked. “He will be. He was held at gunpoint today.” “What?!” “Yeah, but fortunately, he didn’t have his card on him,” Levi explained. “Oh yeah, absolutely. What all did he lose?” Mackenzie asked. “What little cash he had.” “At least that was all he lost. Is he staying over for the night?” “I think so. He’s passed out on the couch.” “I wondered with that blanket being there.” “He’s cocooned in the blanket.” Mackenzie went into her and Levi’s room to put away a few things. Jack stayed in the common area with Kevin, in case he woke up. He decided to watch some TV and crack open a cold one with the boys. Levi followed suit. When Mackenzie came back into the common area, she gently shook Kevin, but he moved around on the couch without waking up. “How’s he doing?” Levi asked Jack. “He’s probably doing okay,” Jack replied. “So my sister, Elizabeth, and her husband are coming in next week to look at places up here.” “Oh, Paul got the job?” “Yes. They were looking to leave Philadelphia anyway. They had been there for two years, and they wanted to move up here to Boston,” Levi replied. “I like Philly,” Jack said. “I do as well, but I would never live there.” “Their philly cheesesteaks are pretty great.” “Because it’s Philly.” “True that.” It was the next morning, at around 9 am. Jack and Asad had been up since 7 am, and Levi and Mackenzie both woke up at 8:30 am. Kevin was still not awake, but Jack could see that he got out of his blanket “cocoon.” He was sleeping on his stomach with his arms wrapped around Asad’s pillow. He just let him sleep. An hour later, Kevin woke up on his own. He had slept for 14 hours altogether.
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October 20, 2018
Levi Cranston (The Magic Video Game), Jack Andrews, Asad Prejesh, and Jing Hao were at their apartment in Allston, playing card games. It was around 7 pm, and they were expecting their other friend, Kevin Maggliardi, to get to the apartment around 5:30 pm. They knew that he had some errands that he needed to run, but they had not heard from him until about 30 minutes later. At 7:15, they heard a knock on the door, and they knew it was Kevin. Jack walked over to the door because he knew that he was going to be really shaken up. “Hey Kevin,” Jack greeted their friend at the door. “Hey,” Kevin responded quietly. “You alright?” “No.” “We’re all here in the common area,” Jack said. “That’s good,” Kevin replied. “You wanna talk about it?” “Maybe in a bit. I need to catch my breath.” “You ran all the way here?” “Yup.” Jack and Kevin walked together into the common area, where everyone else was. They noticed that Kevin was absolutely not himself. He seemed really tired and out of breath, and he was really sweaty, after sprinting two miles from the scary incident. He appeared to be very shaken up, and Jack let him lie on their couch. Levi and Asad put away the games, so that they could focus on helping get Kevin stable. No one has ever seen him like this before. Asad got a pillow from his room and put it on the couch for Kevin to lay his head on. Kevin lay sideways on the couch, trying really hard to catch his breath. His hands were on his chest, most likely feeling for his heartbeat. “My heart’s pounding,” Kevin remarked quietly. “It’s okay, buddy. You’re safe here,” Jack replied. “Thanks.” “So what happened?” “I was being followed and then held at gunpoint,” Kevin said. “Oh shit. You didn’t lose anything, did you?” Jack questioned. “I lost like $12 in cash, but that was about it. I didn’t have my wallet on me, so I lucked out. When I gave him what I had, I distracted him, and then I bolted. I think I ran like two or three miles. And then my asthma acted up a bit, so that was great.” “Why did he follow you in the first place?” “I have no idea why I was a target. Maybe it was because I had my backpack on me.” “Yeah, who knows? But, at least you’re safe.” “I don’t think I’ve ever feared for my life.” Jing and Asad walked over to Jing and Kevin’s apartment in Cambridge, only a 30 minute walk on foot. Their two other roommates, David Vittorio and John Harold, wanted to hit up downtown Boston in the evening, so all four boys were going to head out that way shortly. Levi and Jack decided to stay back with Kevin. They would probably watch TV for the rest of the night and let Kevin stay over. “Hey Kevin,” Levi got his friend’s attention after he accidentally fell asleep for a few minutes. “Yeah?” Kevin asked softly. “Something similar happened to me when I was a kid.” “Oh really?” “I used to walk home from school, and I was approached twice in eighth grade,” Levi remarked. “Oh wow,” Kevin replied. “Yeah. It was pretty scary. When I was walking home from school, some old guy asked me if I was cold, since I didn’t have a coat on. That terrified me, so I bolted back to my house. That was the first time, and we thought we had everything settled. Then, a month later, someone screamed random crap out of their car, and I thought it was directed at me, so I ran back to my house. That was when I was walking to school. I couldn’t go to school that day, because I was too terrified.” “That’s scary.” “You alright?” “I will be.” October 2019
Matthew Rhodes Bacaluso-Leyman (Rhody) spent the morning out on a run with a couple of his friends. He had been feeling a little under the weather for a few days but started to feel worse today. He did not feel bad enough to stay home but did not feel well enough to stay out for too long. About halfway into their run, Rhody had to stop because he had a horrible cough and couldn’t catch his breath. “Rhody, you alright?” One of Rhody’s friends asked him. “I will be. Just need to catch my breath is all,” Rhody replied, breathless. “Rhody, you sound horrible. You need to go home.” “I’m going to be okay I think.” “You have no business being here. Your cough is horrible, and that will make things worse if you’re not too careful,” his friend told him. “Okay, fine. I’ll head home,” Rhody said. “I’m going to be honest, it sounds like pneumonia.” “Oh boy. Then fine, I’ll go get checked out.” “I definitely would.” “I’ll head out now, and I’ll see you guys later.” Thanksgiving 2015
Kevin Maggliardi and his three older siblings were at their parents’ house in Cranston, Rhode Island for Thanksgiving. At the time, Sheridan, 29, was living in Boston. Graham, 26, was living in New York. Addison, 24, was living in Chicago. And Kevin was still a student and living in Boston. Although Sheridan and Kevin lived close to each other and are very close, they otherwise keep their lives pretty separate. Sheridan was living with a couple of his friends in Cambridge. Kevin was living in the Allston neighborhood with his friends, Jing Hao, Mike Wong, and David Rogers. Graham and Addison were helping their parents make their traditional Italian food for Thanksgiving. Sheridan came home after getting coffee with a friend. He was walking toward the kitchen, and then Kevin quickly ran through the walkway leading to it, quickly scaring Sheridan. “OH MY GOD!!!!” Sheridan shouted. “BOO YA!” Kevin screamed. “What the hell, man. My heart nearly exploded.” “Charlie got scared. Ya dingus.” “Don’t ever f*cking do that again,” Sheridan said, trying to catch his breath. “You alright?” Kevin asked. “No, of course not. I’m gonna like die over here.” “No, it’s not that bad.” “Still, don’t do that.” “Noted.” January 2020
Rhody Leyman just came home to his apartment in Brooklyn, New York after having minor surgery to put tubes in his ears after a few ear infections over the past eight months. He could have worked today, but he thought it would be best to rest up for the day. His friends, Graham Maggliardi and Allen Harris, stopped by to check on him. Rhody spent the day on the couch wrapped in his fleece throw blanket with his orange tabby cat, Topaz. He had a cotton ball stuffed in each ear. “Hey Rhody, how you feeling?” Graham asked. “Not as bad as I thought I would. I was pretty nervous about this one since I knew I’d be awake during it,” Rhody replied. “My ears are pretty sore, and I’m exhausted, but otherwise I’m doing alright.” “That’s good. How many times have you had tubes put in?” “This will be my fourth time. I’ve always had issues with my ears and fluid buildup. And we all thought that was resolved when I had my tonsils removed.” “When did you get your tonsils removed?” Allen asked. “I was like sixteen, I think. And this is the first time since then. They checked my throat and my nose, and my tonsils and adenoids haven’t grown back. And everything else came back clear,” Rhody replied. “No other problems?” “No. And the ear infections I’ve had recently weren’t awful, like I could still work and live a normal life. My ears were just sore.” “In case you were wondering, we got you a smoothie while we were out. Wanna hang out here, and we could get pizza for dinner?” “I’m totally cool with that.” September 2008
“Hi Rhody, how are you doing?” Matthew Rhodes Bacaluso-Leyman’s (Rhody’s) best friend, Zach Niornski, asked over the phone. “Like complete shit. This started a couple days after my dad and I came back from our college visit in Evansville. Literally one of the worst colds I’ve ever had,” Rhody responded. “Sorry to hear that. But how was the weekend getaway?” “We were gone from Wednesday night to Sunday evening, and we had a blast. Didn’t realize how awesome the college is. As of now, that one is my top choice.” “And you’re planning to go into engineering, right?” Zach asked. “Mechanical engineering. And you’re planning to do something in computer science, right?” Rhody responded. “Yes, I think so. Just not sure where I’m going yet.” “Yeah. I just can’t think that far ahead right now.” “Did you go to school today?” “No.” Summer 2019
Rhody Leyman and his friend, Graham Maggliardi, Kevin’s older brother, spent an evening on the rooftop of Graham’s Brooklyn, New York apartment building. They brought their lawn chairs and a few beers out and decided to contemplate life for an hour or two. It was just the two of them for the time being, so that was nice. “My heart has been beating very fast recently,” Rhody remarked after a few minutes of silence between the two of them. “You alright?” Graham asked. “I think it’s my anxiety and all. I’ve dealt with this most of my life, and of course my shrink knows about it. There’s one thing I’m not sure you all know about.” “What is it?” “I actually have two last names. I usually just go by Rhody Leyman, but my real name is Matthew Bacaluso-Leyman. Those are my dad’s last names as well,” Rhody remarked. “I like it,” Graham replied. “How are you feeling right now?” “I’m alright now. It happens every few hours. This afternoon, my heart was pounding so hard that I almost threw up because of it. I’m gonna tell my shrink about this when I speak with them again.” “You gonna play rugby tomorrow with everyone? Boyfriend Ayaan wanted me to ask you.” “I hope I’m up for it. Depending on how I feel, of course.” “Yeah, just let me know. I’ll hang out with you if you don’t.” “You got a deal.” Summer 2019
Rhody Leyman and his friend, Graham Maggliardi, Kevin’s older brother, spent an evening on the rooftop of Graham’s Brooklyn, New York apartment building. They brought their lawn chairs and a few beers out and decided to contemplate life for an hour or two. It was just the two of them for the time being, so that was nice. “Also, my whole life, I’ve been struggling to accept myself for me. I think my biological mom is to blame,” Rhody said. “I kinda know the story but maybe not to that extent,” Graham replied. “Yeah. So I have three brothers on my dad’s side from a previous marriage. They divorced, and my dad quickly got with my biological mom. She had a story about where she couldn’t get married or she would lose her assets, so technically Jayne and I were both born out of wedlock. Doesn’t bother me so much now, since a lot of people go through that, but it somehow did a lot growing up.” “If you really want to get technical, all four of us kids were born out of wedlock also. My parents got married a few years after Kevin was born.” “Nothing wrong with that. As long as your parents are happy,” Rhody remarked. “Two completely different personalities, but yes they are,” Graham said. “Same with my dad and stepmom. They both mean the world to me, and were the ones who tried to convince me that I was not at fault for my biological mom leaving us. When I was a kid, I had myself pretty much convinced that I was the reason why she left. I had to go through countless rounds of therapy, and it still didn’t work.” “Do you know where your biological mom is now?” “Who knows? Last time I was curious, she was in rural Louisiana. Chances are she’s not there anymore. Jayne and I decided to do a DNA test to see if there was anyone else related to us other than this girl named Caitlyn, who we don’t know at all. And it turns out our biological mom has six other kids with five to six different guys. One of them is a year older than Caitlyn, who I think is 25 or 26.” “How did you react when you found out?” Graham asked. “I threw up. I spent the next two to three days just feeling so sick to my stomach. Jayne didn’t feel much better than I did,” Rhody responded. “Do you know where the other kids are?” “All over Indiana and the south. And I checked their social media because I was curious, and their lifestyle pretty much matches my biological mom’s.” “At least you’re in a way better place than they seem to be.” “I wouldn’t go that far, but yes I’ve done a few things with my life that they haven’t. Estrella, my stepmom, has been more of a mother figure to me than f*cking Miranda ever dreamt of being.” October 2019
Matthew Rhodes Bacaluso-Leyman (Rhody) spent the morning out on a run with a couple of his friends. He had been feeling a little under the weather for a few days but started to feel worse today. He did not feel bad enough to stay home but did not feel well enough to stay out for too long. About halfway into their run, Rhody had to stop because he had a horrible cough and couldn’t catch his breath. “Rhody, you alright?” One of Rhody’s friends asked him. “I will be. Just need to catch my breath is all,” Rhody replied, breathless. “Rhody, you sound horrible. You need to go home.” “I’m going to be okay I think.” “You have no business being here. Your cough is horrible, and that will make things worse if you’re not too careful,” his friend told him. “Okay, fine. I’ll head home,” Rhody said. “I’m going to be honest, it sounds like pneumonia.” “Oh boy. Then fine, I’ll go get checked out.” “I definitely would.” “I’ll head out now, and I’ll see you guys later.” |
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