Just another day in New York

Walking down Fashion Avenue trying to find a quiet lounge was stupid. Specially when you carry a big black duffle bag and you look like a suburban redneck Asian. The traffic was as crazy as always and it somehow played on my nerves today. I went into a bar round the corner. Everything was black and red inside. If it was anything of a design thing, I would rather stick my fingers down my throat and throw up in the toilet bowl. I threw my bag on the floor and grabbed a tall bar stool at the counter. The girl at the bar beamed a big smile on me and hollered what I would like. She made me feel like a happy go camper. I kicked my bag further under the counter and ordered a beer with lime. I stood straight on the stool like I am sitting for an interview and the prize was the beer. I tried to smile but my lips were stiff and dead from the visit to the dentist. I simply winked thank you as she pushed the tall beer glass towards me and smiled; ‘Five Dollars’. I felt all my four pockets and found a five dollar change in my back pocket.

I surveyed the elaborate display of liquors in the glass panel and bobbed my head in tune with the music. I was mentally fighting my tongue from automatically sticking into my newly constructed teeth. It was a lot of drilling and more drilling at the dentist’s and the smell from it kept transporting me to a tile factory.

A tall blonde grabbed the stool next to me. She had a hint of French accent for an all American blonde. I was simply minding my own business but her tall figure sitting right next to me made me feel an inch shorter in an instant. She looked in my direction and helloed me. I smiled.

A young Asian couple came next and sat at the counter. If they knew anything about love, it was kissing. I had a glimpse of the girl. She looked like the girl at the massage parlor I met that afternoon who gave me a handjob and taught me how to say I love you in Chinese. But I was not in a hurry to fall in love with a random masseuse who touched all kinds of strangers.

I had a bad day and the scene at the bar wasn’t helping. My blind date text messaged at the last minute that she could not make it. I did not care and as a matter of fact, I was secretly wishing I did not have to meet her.

I ordered another beer and felt my bag with my leg. It was still there. My mood played on me and I felt the urge to hold somebody by the neck up against a wall and deliver some mighty blows where it hurt the most. I carefully crafted my vision again. It had to be somebody fairly smaller than me or somebody so drunk who could barely stand.

I paid up and left the bar abruptly. I did not want to spoil the bar ambience with my evil thoughts.

A homeless guy asked me if I could spare some change. I told him I could do with some real change myself. I smiled at that. My wit works in weird ways and most of the things I say are a remaining half of an elaborate sentence that already started in my mind. I walked down the street with endless display of shoes and tops and jeans. I looked at each window and saw my reflection on the glass walking down the street with a big black duffle bag. I half-heartedly entered a shoe store. I scanned the entire display with my eyes and stopped at the boots section. A pair of cowboy boots made me feel like going Outback and whip some rattle snakes in the dessert. I examined the boots and put it back on the glass shelf with a final sneer at the price tag. I am surprised the Prodigal mind in me did not probe me to spend today. It has been dead since this morning when I counted the remains in my wallet. I neatly organized my wallet while sitting on the toilet pot and placed the Metro Card on top. I hate Subways as it makes me feel claustrophobic snaking through endless tunnels but who cared about squeaky little rabbits in the stomach when two dollars could take you where ever and everywhere you needed to go.

I stepped out of the shoe store and walked into the subway. I took the N Train to Astoria. I sat on an empty seat next to a lady with some unruly kids. As the train left the station, there was an announcement that large bags would be searched by the police for security reasons. I sensed a couple of eyes first looking at me and then at my large black bag. I wished I wouldn’t be searched. I did not want to be embarrassed being searched through my underwears and dirty socks in a train watched by hundreds of strangers. I thanked god I did not have a beard or wore some checked scarf.

The Train stopped at 5th Avenue. I came out and walked to Central Park. I suddenly remembered my camera and needed to try some shots. Earlier, I had captured some really good shots of a Tai Chi Master teaching amateurs at a park in China Town. I was merely testing my new lens. A thousand and four hundred dollars in all, I had to dig really deep into my pocket for an expensive hobby.

I looked around for a subject. Everything was quiet and serene. Central Park is a pure break from the maddening crowds of New York. I spotted a grey squirrel and a pigeon. I took a few shots, but they were too fast for me. I just managed to capture a blur of an image. I put back the camera in my bag and decided I would instead read. Reading ‘The time traveler's wife’ in central park, I found myself slowly transported back into my mountains. It has been ages since I had last been to my birth place. A vague image of my mom cooking on the wood stove and my dad sitting by the fire drinking his regular milk tea played on my mind. I wonder if she still uses the hearth. They have electricity in the village now and I remember I had once gifted her a rice cooker.

At the back of my mind, a faint thought of a girl whom I met on the internet remained lingering. She went by the pseudonym ‘Scooter” and she once told me if I bought the book to make her jealous. I guess she really wanted to read the book. I wonder if she still has.

As the sun set behind the tall skyscrapers, the temperature started dropping. I closed my book and walked into the busy street. My mind felt lighter after the visit to Central Park but my subconscious legs pacing fast reminded me that I had a bus to catch back home. It was just another day in New York.