He woke up exactly at seven
O’clock in the morning to a room lit with the rising of the morning sun from
the East. Anything about the East intrigued him and he had few reasons why it
has come to stay like that. The realization dawned on him several years ago
when he found out that, the three men who had come to visit Jesus Christ upon
his birth came from the East and nowhere particular. Both Far East and Near East
with their sandwiched adjective, the Middle East is predominantly ancient and
throughout history, they have been a major part of world news and home to many
religions. They have wealth; they have some rich cultures and some of the richest
and wise Kings ever.
He stepped out of bed, sauntered
to the low framed windows. He pushed the drapes aside and was blinded by the
high rise morning sun, that, he had to shut them quickly. He walked into the big
living room and the TV was on from last night. The Politicians were on again,
ably assisted and guarded by the Hostess; one beautiful damsel who doubles as
the Operations Manageress of Live Tube, the number one leading Television Station
of the nation. He walked on, behind the lined sofas to the kitchen which was
across his room.
The last time he went to that
part of the house was last week. He was not the type to indulge in food that
much. He was more of a man on the run than the one who sits and eats. He was
the epitome of junk food. He considered all of that as superficial; after all,
man shall not live by bread alone but by the word. He often wondered the exact
word the Bible was always talking about, since he had no particular word in
mind. He loved the word all the same and
equipped with a couple of the bible verses, simply because it partially served
his interest.
He was selective with the verses
and he knew by rote those that served his interest. They formed part of his
defense mechanisms and he knows just when to use them. All he had to do was to
rationalize the situation and diffuse the severity until you even start feeling
guilty for tenaciously believing in your stance or for being harsh on him.
He walked to the fridge at one
end of the room, where the kitchen cabinet ended. There were some groceries in
the coolant at the bottom of the refridgerator, left there by his girlfriend
who lives an hour drive away from Amidede Town. He brought the container out
and started picking up the items after the other. He hand-picked one big, ripe
tomato, a bulb of green pepper, onion and placed them on the cabinet.
He needed to smoke so he went
back to his bedroom, where he had left his pack of King Size fags. He picked up
the container; hit the bottom of the pack with flair, making the cigarette pop
up with some kind of mastery as if it’s on cue. He then reached out for his
clothes he had left on the floor the night before, and brought out a lighter.
He placed the butt on his lips, as he lighted the other end of the thin,
aesthetic carcinogenic cigarette and walked out.
He puffed out a thin trail of
smoke into the air, like nobody’s business, as he stylishly inhaled and exhaled
through his pouted lips. It was time to prepare breakfast.
He placed the burning cigarette
into an ash tray and then started to chop the vegetables into a couple of
sizeable slices, and emptied them into a bowl. He reached out for three eggs
from the shelf and cracked them for the contents. The yolk was yellowish, with
a lot of whites; just how he likes it. He mixed the sliced vegetables with the
whites and the yolk and then, whipped the mixture reasonably.
Using a small pan, he started
frying the egg. When the egg turned brown, he spooned hot butter on top of it as
it fried. The melted butter cooked through and became solid, yet tender and was
ready to eat after a while. He has just prepared one of his favorite recipes
his girlfriend has taught him, called, the Perfect Sunny-side-up Egg.
He was done with the first part
of the cooking; now it was left with the oatmeal to match. The only time
Oatmeal mattered was in the morning and that’s certainly the time he loves
eating it. It was low in cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart diseases and
these would be the two attributes that necessitated his like for the Oatmeal.
He prepared the food and
over-turned all the hot meal into a bowl, since there was no need to scoop it.
He added some sugar to the food and lots of honey as toppings on the oatmeal, and
then he packed all the food and his ash tray of cigarette onto a bigger tray
and headed towards the living room to watch these politicians make mockery of
themselves.
He knows a lot of people respects
and takes them serious, but to him, they were just another con version,
stratified at the citadel of the four-one-nine Conglomerate and a persona non-Grata,
because that was what he perceived himself to be, through their lenses, and why
not? If he mattered, he won’t be fingered on the straw mat and left there all
alone by himself to finish what they both have initiated. To him, it smacks of
insensitivity and disregard for a fellow homo and he has since severed their
relationship. He doesn’t know, if staying single or dating was the better among
the two options but he was cork sure that he will always stay single as far as
his relationship with the Politician was concerned.
He placed the food on the
center-table and slumped into the sofa and began biting into the bread. He
usually does not eat breakfast for one reason or the other. He either is in a
hurry to nowhere or hasn’t woken up until after midday, from his numerous night
outs which is like every day. Sometimes, there were no ingredients to cook with
and he doesn’t care, but if he was going to cook, he tries to eat well.
He ate with relish because it was
a long time since he ate anything like that and that would be the only meal he
would have, except something miraculous happens. He doesn’t have too many
friends and does not get under unnecessary pressure to please someone. It has
taken him much effort to attain this independence, carved out of this chaotic
world, where people assume mastership over you without your consent and make
you believe them as if they believe themselves any more than you do.
He did not have much to do and
sat there smoking his world as if his very life depended on it. He’s read and
knows all about the side-effects of the excessive smoking habit but he couldn’t
care less. Why should he care when he will die all the same even if he ended up
as a monk. Life was a phase and a fluid one and he does not compromise on his
penchants and beliefs. It was getting him nowhere but he was going nowhere and
he lived a moment at a time.
#excerpts of 'The Cross'
