I forgot to set an alarm, as my battery died I didn't charge my phone when I arrived in the room. Wait, I woke up at 5:12 as supposed to be. I forgot my things back near the old tree of the east. Will my stuff be intact? Or vanished?
I quickly got up and checked out, as soon as I stepped outside the hotel, the moist warm sticky humidity grasped me entirely.
Geez, I felt disgusted as I rushed toward the east.
I found my baggage but my watch, partially broken earphones, and mobile charger got on forever. Someone took it leaving my smelly clothes as it is. The blue polo shirt I was wearing also gave a pretty nasty smell, I didn't have any set of clothes nor money to go to 71" harbor, green-pale inc. This was the address Mr. wiran gave me.
I have to get my debit card ASAP, so I decided to go home one last time to take my legal stuff of identity and some bank documents. When I rang the bell, my aunt opened the front door and was dazzled as I returned.
"Where were you? I searched almost every street in our locality."
"Why do you care now aunt Lisa? After throwing me out of the house, who cares if I live or die from suffering." I said
"Uncle man didn't throw your stuff he is yet to arrive from his trip. LB said that he was the one responsible for this mess."
"What LB? But why did he do such a thing?"
"He told me when got worried about you, he said you exposed his little secret to his dad which terrorized him from the core, so he destroyed your artwork and threw your clothes and stuff out of the window" aunt Lisa spoke
"Ohh. Hell naa, I seriously thought uncle Mai kicked me out of this house."
"He may be an arrogant oldie but he loves and care for you too, he doesn't want anything in return, he just wants you to be serious and independent" aunt Lisa clarified.
"So I see, for now, I got a job and a place for living at a cheap rate."
Which was a lie as I was not sure if Mr. wiran will hire someone as worthless as me plus I almost made myself sleep on the streets yesterday.
"You got a job? Where and how? And who gave you one?"
" I will elaborate on all of it, first I need my debit card and passbook and a spare of clean clothes."
I received Lb's clothes which were an embarrassing funky t-shirt and ripped jeans which gave me an appearance of a classless brat. Anyways it is what it is.
I grabbed this stuff, withdraw a hundred grand, took a taxi, and reached the green pale inc. I got there 20 minutes before 6'0 clock.
The shutter was closed from the front, and no vehicles outside or any individuals around the building. It was an old concrete 2-story block worn-out texture and black marks along the cracks were all over.
I went to the opposite side, thinking there would be a back opening, all shutters were locked. Though my phone was dead, I know my Samsung could work for some time even at zero percent. So I powered it on and called Mr. wiran a few times he didn't pick up.
The weather was quite pleasant, gentle breezes passed, and still no sign of sunrise, it was a dark, chilly dawn. This building was located on quite a crowded street with endless shops on every corner, but all were closed, I felt the urge to drink some hot tea so I went searching for a tea stall nearby.
I thought about dropping a text to Mr. wiran that I'm just nearby so he doesn't wait for me or get worried about not seeing me. Anyways why would he worry for me, I was a mere strange freak he encountered but I started to get the vibe of elderly support from him, the one which you get from your big brother, father, or uncle as if they have your back always. My phone was gone for good, I breathed a sigh of respect for him.
So now Both hands in my pocket, stabilizing my brain from the attack of curiosity bursting for getting my first job in an absolutely strange and weird condition, it hit me differently as if I suddenly switched bodies with a different person.
I just memorized my turnings of gullies that I was taking in search of finding fresh hot tea, it was like 2R, L, R, 2R so that I don't get lost, I carried a dead phone, my wallet, all stacked in a single large pouch.
There was a long bench on opposite sides, the shelter was made of slender bamboo sticks stacked over each other with a black plastic-like material to avoid water breakthrough. The stall looked quite old.
I tried to speak gently for no reason,
"1 single cup of tea with extra sugar"
He had those big bulky biscuits openly kept and always attracted my eyes.
My aunt never brought them for me as she was more concerned about them getting exposed to flies hovering all over them.
I didn't care about the flies, for the first time I ordered 2, dipped them in the hot tea, and munched like a beast. The buttery texture, brittleness of the flour, the sweetness of hot tea... Total wholesome Experience I had after ages.
I grabbed a daily newspaper which was resting beside me on the bench, it was printed in a local language and I wasn't any good at reading it. Just kept turning pages looking at the pictures of ads, models, and articles featured. I wondered when was the last time I held a fresh newspaper, the smell of it tripped me every single time.
The delightful smell of tea was also showing its dominative presence, boiled to perfection. Solitude was beauty in itself, I never had an eye for living these moments with my very own self. But I was not alone, I was there sitting with my curiosity and devouring those butter biscuits.