Chris Singh

When you see water flowing uphill it means that someone is repaying a kindness
African Folklore-

Gun shots, ambulance, a rock concert, neither, it was the alarm sounding and J.B. drowsily sat up trying to remember where he was, home, bed, time to get up. By the time the buzzer sounded a second time he got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Ten minutes after the he had gotten up he had his shorts and a sweatshirt on and was tying his running shoes. J.B from 3D then headed down the staircase, he never used the elevator at 5 in the morning because he thought it was too eerie. He always thought there was something peculiar about the way only country music seemed to be playing at that time. Kenny Rogers made him think of Freddy Kruger. A quick jog down the steps was a good way to begin his warm-up. Once in the lobby he would stretch for a minute or two, greet the doorman if he was awake, shuffle the songs in his I-pod and then be off.

Early morning was the best part of the day he thought, it reminded him of so many things, and people, but never about what had to be done. As a dreamer he could hardly afford to live in the present, it was too puzzling. He preferred to drift off into the realm of what was, or what he imagined was, and then what might be. The first song on his play list sounded, Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, always a good way to begin running the song starts slow then breaks into a frantic bawl, James often thought come to think of it maybe it was a cry for help, but almost every time he heard it also reminded him of fights in school, which were his own cries for help, or at least attention. It was his way of communicating with those around him back then. Back then he got into brawls as it were to make friends, what was it his father used to say, friends betray you, but a win an enemy and they’ll be loyal for life, or was it the other way around? These days James had a lot to be mindful of when it came to friends, having slept with one and working for another who was married to the one afore mentioned.

Secretly he was pleased that he was sleeping with his boss’ wife it was just the type of rotten thing he enjoyed doing to someone who he felt was too trusting, or too nice. In his mind he imagined that whenever someone tried too hard to befriend you it was a covert form of emasculation. He either had a hole in his shoe or he had managed to get a piece of gravel in it, whatever it was it centered his attention to the present. Thinking that he could withstand the discomfort since he was almost back home he went on. Of course as he approached the intersection he noticed the walk signal beginning to change. As J.B. set off to sprint across the walkway a car came gunning down the right side of the street and made a sharp turn, he barely managed to stop in time, but the car sped off a red Tercel. The only person he could think of that owned one was his maternal aunt who lived in Miami, as he made his way safely to the end of the crosswalk he thought, was his aunt after him? Did she still drive? Nah it couldn’t be, just a coincidence.

Getting dressed for work always seemed to take too long. Once fully awake James felt the need to get out of his apartment. It was a nice enough apartment but once there he often felt isolated from the rest of the world that he would rather judge and manipulate. He liked being part of the world but once there he felt annoyed at it. This was probably the reason he enjoyed silence especially when on a first date. It was Friday and tonight he was meeting a girl named Rubi, for dinner. Ray had described her as hot, so James agreed to go, after all he did have good taste in women.

Either her heel was about to break or she had gotten some of James’ gravel in her shoes because the first thing he noticed was her walk. Later on, in his mind the trouble could be traced back to the way she sort of walked, uncomfortably, like she hadn’t practiced wearing her mother’s high heels enough as a girl. Her jeans were tight, almost ridiculously tight for such a nice place he thought, she seemed dressed for a highway diner not at all for a four star restaurant in a cosmopolitan setting but, her awkwardness excited him. As she came closer he realized that she was significantly younger that he was, this alarmed him, he kept thinking Hard Candy. Still he fought the urge to leave and steadied himself. She sat down before he could get up to greet her and immediately began to talk.

“Are you a sports fan?” She said.
“Sort of, I follow the popular teams, Yanks, Jets, Knicks. Me and Ray Ito go to at least one game a season and watch the big games at home with some Papa Johns and Heinekens.”
“Well I guess that’s not so bad, I really don’t like sports guys.” She said
James inquired. “Any particular reason?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “The last guy I dated was really into sports, he was an asshole who turned out to be married.”
“I’m sorry to hear that” He said. He really wasn’t. In his mind naked images of Rubi in various sexual positions played. James thought the best thing to do for both of them was to nod emphatically and say, “Some guys just don’t know how to appreciate women.”
Afterwards he thought he had better say something to make her feel good, the best he could come up with was a cliché, “It was smart of you to leave.” James thought that if he could make her feel intelligent, although he thought she was not, he would most likely get some tonight. What’s the saying, ‘Play a sucker to catch a sucker.’

After dinner they went to a nearby bar for shots of tequila, Patron. After two shots they flagged a taxi down to take them to his place. Passing through the streets at this hour, it was nearly 12, he noticed how clamorous the roads were, a cacophony of cars and with the windows rolled down, people as well. When they turned up his block he pointed out his building to Rubi who now allowed him to extend his arm around her and rested her head on his shoulder. Her hair smelled like apples or strawberries, it was one of his favorite things about women, their sweet smells.