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Entry #5: A Day With Max

Tue. October 19, 2010



-------Today was a really weird day. I don't really know how to explain it nor where to begin. A lot happened today. I guess it started after school. Usually I try hang out with my friends but the cramps today were extra worse and my flow was extra heavy. So I needed to go home ASAP.

-------"Sorry I can't hang out today," I tell them.

-------We stood in front of the Barnes and Nobles where we usually hang out. There was this funny story about how we got kicked out one time because we were accused of being rowdy and loud. It was one month ago at sometime in September if I recall correctly. We were at the corner in the bookstore at the third floor, just loitering by the windows. Shauna was tired that day and was sleeping on Kevin's shoulder as he read the Watchmen series that I recommended to him. Maxine and Ed were playing MTG as usual, but Maxine was using a different deck from her main. She was play testing it with Ed. As for me I was drawing on a sketch pad that Ed had gotten me for my birthday. My drawing skills aren't really the best, but I honed it well enough to make my friends think it's amazing. Apparently I'm the artist in the group. I had a friend in middle school, who I used to draw competitively against, if that's a thing. His skills however, may have surpassed way beyond mine at this point I can imagine. There was also another group of kids near us, and they were loud as ********.  Barnes and Nobles kicked us out, because they had mistaken us for making all the ruckus.

-------But as I was saying, we were by the entrance of it. Shauna had wanted everyone to go to her place today and hang out there. But I couldn't go. I had told Maxine earlier about the heavy bleeding and she agreed to take me home.

-------"Sorry Shauna, but I have to take Ani home," Maxine explains. "She's having her woman stuff."

-------In a dramatic fashion Shauna let out a huge gasp: "Dun dun dun!" she exclaims.

-------"Sorry I can't take the train with you, but I'm staying up in the Bronx with my dad for the week actually," I try to explain.

-------"So she's going with me!" Maxine slings her arm around my neck and rests it on my shoulder.

-------"How could you?!" Shauna continues her acting. She places her hand on her face and looks away. "Who will I travel with through this cruel and heartless world now. How will I ever be the very best if my rival can't..."

-------We all were silent as we watch her through monologue. It was quite long and I don't remember everything she said. But I'm pretty sure she recited the Pokemon theme song. Ed and Kevin started cracking up when the song became apparent. I was giggling too. I looked at Ed, he has this cute smile that I sometimes find myself staring at subconsciously. Maxine was the only one who thought the joke was unfunny and super cheesy.

-------"Anyyyyways." Maxine says, while clapping.

-------"Don't dismiss me!" Shauna raises a single fist at Maxine. I looked up at Maxine and I see one of her eyebrows have raised up unamused.

-------"Just kidding, I love you!" Shauna says as she jokes around.

-------"You wanna fight?!" Maxine suddenly explodes.

-------"Eeeek!" Shauna hides behind Kevin as a natural response.

-------"Just kidding, I love you too." Maxine chuckles and goes to Shauna and gives her a hug.

-------I love Maxine's sense of humor, it's very dark and morbid. She often teases us about it by saying something ******** up, just to watch our reactions. Some how I'm the only one giggling, while Ed, Shauna and Kevin are usually reacting the opposite.

-------"Alright we're off then," I tell them.

-------We head off our separate ways but not before giving each other hugs. The train ride was long and very crowded as the usual due to the surplus of kids getting out of school. We take the Two train. Maxine gets off at the stop after mine at East 180th where I get off at West Farms Sq to take the bus. On the train ride we sat together. I didn't feel so good as the cramps got worse. She taps on her shoulder, indicating me to rest my head there and I do so. She slings her arm around me. We sit like like this for most of the duration of the ride. I take a small nap in the process. However the pain from my insides destroying itself keeps me slightly awake.

-------"You'll be okay on your bus ride home right? or do you need me to take you there?" She says as she holds me closer.

-------"I'll be okay," I smile at her.

-------She shifts her gaze away and into the windows, we have emerged from underground and are  now on elevated tracks. The sun is setting despite the fact that it's only four in the afternoon due to the position of the planet as well as it's tilted axis.

-------"It's okay, we're almost there," She assures me.

-------"Ummm... Max?" I ask looking into the sunset.

-------"Yeah?"

-------"I've changed my mind. Can you drop me off at my place, then we'll head out to yours to hang out?"

-------"Sure, how come though?" She asks.

-------"Its just that I kinda get bored by myself over there," I explain. "I mean sure I have my guitar and whatnot, but that's nothing really. Besides my father will probably be still sleeping and he has a night shift, so I don't really see him and I'm really kinda all alone."

-------"Fair enough," she says. "I'm sure my dad won't mind."

-------I remember too that Maxine's parents are divorced, in fact I'm pretty sure all my friends have their parents either divorced or split. Except Kevin, he's the only one with a full set of parents. It seems to be the norm, but according to my mother, divorce back in her motherland is frowned upon and a stigma to society.

-------"I also wanna pick up some supplies." I tell her.

-------We pass through the other stations of Jackson, Prospect, Intervale, Simpson and, Freeman. I often let my imagination run wild during my train rides. I think of the street and avenue names as guardians of those respected places. We reach my stop shortly after though. We head out of the station and walked to the bus stop at West Farms Square. I've been wanting to sit down by the bus stop and paint the place one day. I'm amazed by the architecture of the elevated train and the trees underneath it, and across the distance there is the five way huge intersection. Of course the bus is always late because of it. A lot of people won't think of it as beautiful due to the litter on the road, and the mass of people. But I find beauty in this place for some reason, maybe because the sunset as the lighting on this place is perfect for now. There's a guy here that I've seen around by the corner at the huge intersection. I never really see his face but I see him painting. I've always wanted to join him. One of these days I might.

-------My bus arrives and as usual, it is crammed tight. Maxine and I move all the way to the back of the bus because usually no one tends to go there despite the open space. Unfortunately today, the back is occupied by middle schoolers who are being unnecessarily loud. One of them attempts to flirt with me:

-------"Ayo ma, I like your hair,"  he says in his cracked voice. His friends are laughing at him, telling him he has no chance.

-------"Thanks..." I say awkwardly.

-------"I like them too," Maxine says as she stands closer to me.

-------My height reaches about to Maxine's chest. She's pretty tall if I haven't mentioned it enough about 5'll''. She towers over these kids. I can see there terrified expressions on his face, as Maxine slings her arm around me. She proceeds to twirl my hair. She acts as a deterrent to the kids as they fall silent. I look up at her, she is clearly instilling fear at them by staring at the boy as she wraps her fingers around my hair.

-------"I love these golden locks of yours," She compliments me without breaking eye contact with the children.

-------"Thank you," I wrap my arms around her, holding onto her instead of the railings. I play along.

-------He falls silent as his friends begin to laugh at him. I shake my head giggling to myself about the hilarity of the situation. We arrive at my stop shortly afterwards. As soon as we got off the bus we both burst into laughter. We talk about it while walking towards my father's house. Despite the economic struggles my family went through during the recession, my father has a lot of money due to his occupation as a doctor. He's the one paying for my brother to study medicine in Cali. He has house in NYC, and that itself speaks volumes I think. It's not a long walk so we get there pretty fast. The house itself is pretty big. It's built out of bricks, and has a nice front garden with the American Dream style picket fencing.

-------"Wait out here," I tell her, as I take out the spare key hidden under one of the flower pots.

-------I go inside and take off my shoes, and rush to the bathroom to change and clean. Afterwards I go to the my dad's room which is where I'm currently staying in. I grab a couple of pads and some pain killers for my cramps. I take a few before leaving. I find my father sleeping on the living room couch. I'd tell him that I'll be out for a while but he's too heavily asleep to even notice. It's not like he'll care if I'm gone for a couple of hours. Staying here means I don't have a curfew like at my mother's place. So I write a note instead and place it on the dining room table before I head out. I go outside to the garden and lock the door before placing the key back underneath the flower pot.

-------"Sorry for making you wait," I say.

-------"You didn't take that long"

-------"Alright, let's go."

-------We take the bus again back towards the subway station. She lives near by the station about a five minute walk, three minutes from the East 180th station had we gotten off there on the two train. Luckily the bus on the way back was less cramped, so we manage to snag a pair of seats by the front. We talk about a plethora of things from school, comics, to mtg and, music on the way there. There is the occasional silence but nothing awkward, sometimes I tend to slip into space and into my own imagination. We continue our talk once we get off the bus as we walk to her place.

-------She lives in the projects on the 22nd floor. The elevator we had to take reeked of dog piss, and we had to hold our breaths for a while. Its usually not like this as I have visited her a couple of times. It is her dad's place whereas her mother's is around the lower east side near Shauna's. We get to her place at 22B, she knocks on the door and her father opens it. He is a tall man about six feet tall, one hand alone is the size of my face. He has this accent that I can't quite pin down where its from. I find it strange however due to the fact that Maxine doesn't have it She gives him a kiss on the cheek.

-------"Welcome home," he says to Maxine.

-------"Hey daddy, this is Ani," Maxine says. "You remember her right?"

-------"Hello again." He says smiling at me.

-------"Hello," I say politely while adjusting my glasses.

-------"Anyways daddy, Ani and I are just gonna chill for a while if its cool with you" Maxine says casually.

-------"It's alright, would you like to join us for dinner Ani?" He asks me.

-------"I would love to," I tell him. It's better than having pizza left overs at my father's place.

-------"Alright, I'll go back and continue cooking then. You girls have fun." He goes to back to their kitchen.

-------I walk into the apartment, and the whiff of something delicious kicks me. I feel my stomach grumble at that point. I didn't really eat anything today other than breakfast which is the NYC public school breakfast. Surprisingly it's a hundred times better than the lunch they offer, as the lunch "special" today was particularly abhorrent. I often find myself holding some of the packaged breakfast foods such as the small plastic bowls of cereal in my bag, only to eat them later on in lunch just in case. Unfortunately they were serving turkey bacon and toast today so I couldn't get the cereal. The apartment itself is small and reminds me of the one that I stay in with my mother. The kitchen is directly connected to the living/dining room. There is a small hallway that leads to Maxine's room, the bathroom and, the office room. The office room is where Maxine's father works in. He is a stock trader so he usually does his work at home, meaning he has time to cook and spend time with Maxine. There is also a sofa bed there which I assume he sleeps on.

-------Maxine leads me to her room. By the entrance there is a pull up bar and on her door is a poster of some exercises you can do while you're doing pull ups. Before we enter though Maxine does one pull up. She tells me that she made a rule for herself that every time she passes through that door she has to do one pull up. Her room is small about the size of mine at my mother's place. She has a shelf filled with trophies ranging from karate, and volleyball to soccer. She also has several medals which are pinned on the wall. There are also a bunch of dumbbells of various weights by the entrance of the door. She has several magic the gathering posters as well as some motivational posters around her single window. I notice something new though, Its a small ukulele on her desk, and a chord sheet next to it.

-------"This is new," I say as I inspect the instrument.

-------"Yeah I got it a week ago," she takes off her bag and opens the window. "I've been meaning to learn it."

-------"You don't mind right?" I ask about the ukulele.

-------"Sure, go on ahead." She says as she lays on her bed. "I just haven't had the time for it."

-------"Its okay, I don't know how to play with it but I can always try." I tell her.

-------I play some chords based of the chord sheet she had next to it. Pretty soon I start a progression as I hum along some notes in key.

-------"Okay whatever Ani," she says with sarcasm. "Doesn't know how to play she says."

-------"Sorry, I saw this chord sheet you have, and I just figured it out."

-------"You should teach me how to play and how to read that," she asks.

-------I nod my head yes, and smile. She gets off her bed and walks towards me.

-------"You're so adorable Ani." She pinches my cheeks.

-------"Owwieee."

-------"Sorry I couldn't resist," she says as she lets go.

-------"Its okay," I smile at her.

-------"Alright lets play some magic," she says excitedly.

-------"My deck is at my mother's place at Queens."

-------"Its alright, I have some extras," she says as she sets up a small foldable table which was tucked behind her bed.

-------I place the ukulele down back on her desk. She makes me choose a deck from her collection. I pick for the blue/white control, which is close to the mono blue control I have at home. She takes out her dice as well. We play several sets of best-of-three matches where I win some and I lose some.

-------"Say you should join me for FNM, I forget that you're pretty good since you barely play with us."

-------"I don't know... I have some music lessons on Friday." I lie of course, it was the anxiety of meeting new people that inhibited me from saying yes.

-------"Oh alright," she says with a slight undertone of sadness or disappointment.

-------We continue our games for more, eventually changing decks for different variations and play styles. I also help her play test on the current deck she's working on. We also have small talk as we play.

-------"Say... I got a question Ani" she asks me.

-------"Shoot"

-------"Do you like Ed?"

-------She looks at me with intent and silence, waiting for my response. It is my turn, and her question renders me unable to think of a strategy. I put down the cards.

-------"I'm not sure..." I tell her honestly.

-------"How the ******** are you not sure, its either a yes or no" She says.

-------"Why are you asking me this, do you like him?" I ask back.

-------"What, no. That's not it. I just noticed you look at him a lot. Like when we play magic for example. Instead of you watching the game, I notice that you look at him more. And I'm guessing its not his combo life gain that you're interested in. I'm sure cause a blue player like yourself would find reactive games more interesting."

-------I blush a bit.

-------"Ahah! you're turning red. So you do like him!"

-------"No that's not it..." I try to explain. "He's my best friend..."

-------"uh..huh," she sounds unimpressed. "Well its okay, what ever it is. If you ever need to talk I'm right here."

-------"I know, thank you." I smile at her.

-------"Anyways its your turn," she reminds me.

-------We finish our game. Just as we were about to go to another game, her dad calls us from the kitchen telling us dinner is ready. He has made this dish called Sanacocho, and it tastes amazing. It is a type of stew, and it is rich in flavor and texture. He brags about using seven different types of meat from four different animals. I try to imagine what they are. I compliment him on his dish. We have small talk at the table. He asks me how school is, and how my parents are. I tell him that school is great and that my parents are doing great, though that second part is a lie. Maxine brags about how I was able to learn the ukulele in seconds and that I'm willing to teach her. I'm jealous of the relationship Maxine has with her father. As I'm quite distant from mine as he is always working. My father doesn't even have time to cook for me, and I'm not even sure if he knows how to be honest. As we finish dinner I take my leave. It is getting late, around eight at night. Maxine and I exchange student metro cards as she has one extra ride left. I leave at this time as well because after nine the student metro stops working and, the bus takes hours sometimes to arrive.

-------"Thanks for having me over for dinner," I tell them, my stuff packed and ready.

-------"It was a pleasure," Maxine's father says. "Come back soon."

-------"I can help wash the dishes before I go," I offer.

-------"That's sweet of you, but I got it," he replies back. "Sweetie go take her to the bus stop, its dark outside and she shouldn't be walking alone."

-------"I was already planning on it daddy," Maxine tells him. "C'mon lets go Ani."

-------I waved goodbye to her dad, as Maxine and I exit their apartment. We go down the stairs this time to avoid the dog piss elevator. She walks me to my bus stop, and we wait a while. Eventually my bus arrives at nine.

-------"Thanks for letting me come over," I tell Maxine as I hug her before getting on the bus. "It means a lot to me."

-------"Anytime Ani," she hugs me tight. "Get home safe okay?"

-------"I will," I get the metro card ready. "I'll see you tomorrow in school."

-------"Yeah."

-------I get on the bus. It is dark outside. I stare into the moon and its crescent shape as I sit home bound towards a home, that does not care but home nonetheless.