[i]
Waking up at 12:43 p.m. but for some reason I just fall back to sleep even though I could've gotten up easily. Reawakening at 1:30 p.m.
Strawberry Almond Honey Bunches of Oats with Almond Milk.
Errands.
Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin with Vegan Cream Cheese. Grapefruit. Popped Potato Chips. White Peach Tea. Maple Leaf Cookies.
I head to the gym to work out and run a few miles on the treadmill. It's exhilarating. I'm scheduled to help out with the dinner shift at China Wok. After arriving at the restaurant I see that it's been dead all day. I leave and tell my bosses to just call me if it gets busy. With the extra time on hand I go to the Rec Center to shoot some basketball. Kicking ass in a few pick-up games.
Back home. I fry up some Cod Fillets, steam some Vegetables, warm up some Wild Rice for dinner. Ana arrives just on time. I set up everything for us – Darren joins us at the table.
"It's a fish fry!"
Darren has successfully scored a new job at Whole Foods. He describes the in-person interview as him just bullshitting his way through. It doesn't feel right for him that he had to act like a person that he wasn't, essentially not being himself.
Darren: "I walked outta there and just cried and cried and called my mom."
Ana: "What?"
Darren: "No one understands."
...
Darren: "Apparently to be a cashier at fucking Whole Foods you have to have a master's in cashiering. You have to sit there and play Tetris for 45 minutes and you can't make one mistake so that they know you're able to stack the rich people's groceries. You have to be able to judge people based on their affluence at a whim; you have to know what strata they're in that way you can kiss the appropriate finger on their hand so that you're not reprimanded."
...
Darren: "I feel like I'm just gonna be homeless. I feel like I just don't even care anymore. I want to be homeless. I don't want to be a part of this society. And I certainly don't want to be a part of a group of fucking people that are just like, Well, that's the way it is! Shucks! It's fucking depressing."
...
Ana: "I feel like I'm better off just being quiet and doing my job."
Darren: "Yeah sometimes I'm okay with that. Sometimes I just feel like I get into this like really fake mode and the constant blabbering to people makes me wanna kill myself."
I decide to let out Sophie to offer the ultimate distraction from the serious discussions
downstairs.
I announce, "Here she comes to save the day!"
Almost immediately I hear Darren start baby talking at the dog in the most ridiculous way.
Upstairs in the bedroom with Ana. She feels bloated after eating all that food. We lounge in the bed with the twin mattress propped up behind us as makeshift theater seating. I put on Revolutionary Road (2008), a tense drama I watched many years ago. Afterwards, I don't know where I get the idea from but I pull all these old handheld game consoles from the late 70's and 80's that I've had since I was a kid, most of them came from my step-dad. Galaxy II. Merlin. Donkey Kong 3. Pocket Simon. I load them up with batteries and we entertain ourselves for a little while.
Sharing a Chocolate PB&J Bar.
It's almost 4 in the morning and all is quiet in the upper half of the house except downstairs the hollering and outbursts from drunken Darren and Josh echo through the walls – the house that never sleeps.
[i] Galaxy 2 Handheld Game circa 1981.
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