Speed Of Relations!

Characters- He

                    -The Man      

A room. A small room with a window. Don’t ask where. Don’t ask when. There is a 2 feet long wooden table by the door which is at the corner of the room. On the table laid the following items- A box of jaggery, a stainless steel jug with a stainless steel tumbler kept beside it upside-down and an object which could not be seen by the naked human eye as it was in the presence of darkness at the moment. An average sized, plastic chair is kept on one side of the table and a stool with a back rest on the other. A man in cream colored shorts, a blue-green tank-top with a loosened blue  tie hung around his neck,  sat on the plastic chair with his one foot on top of the other on the table, facing the door side of the table. He wore a blue and green, sports-shoe on his one foot and a leather sandal on the other. His hand was very close to his face as he  counted down his fingers one by one. 5-4-3-2-1. He counted as he sat there like a lonely hitch-hiker in space. He kept folding the fingers as he counted backwards from five to one and as soon as he reached his index finger, he pointed at the door.  Astoundingly, as soon as he pointed at the door, there was a knock! A knock which only repeated itself once. KNOCK-KNOCK! He got up and opened the door only to find ‘THE MAN’,  ‘He’ was waiting for. They both took the pleasure to scan each other from top to bottom in a swift manner. ‘He’ patted once on ‘The Man’s’ right shoulder and smiled. A smile which could make a man laugh but fill terror in his heart at the same time. His smile felt animated but genuine at the same time. He switched the chairs on the each side of the table respectively and gestured The Man to sit down on the plastic chair as he let himself land on the stool. The stool with a back rest. They both made themselves comfortable. Well, not entirely comfortable as He was not able to keep his feet on top of the table as he rested like an old dog which can be very active at moments. However, The Man draped his coat around the back of his chair and sat down. ‘The Man’ was not a man who preferred many pleasures in his life. ‘He’ lifted the box and opened its lid and asked ‘The Man’ if he wanted some jaggery. ‘The man’ refused the offer bluntly, but not too bluntly. ‘He’ soaked his taste buds with the delicious taste of the jaggery while he said to ‘The Man’, “Hmmm… This is some nice jaggerey! I wonder who made it? Perhaps an old man, who spent his entire life making these sweet, brown stones? Or maybe, a young boy, trying his hands for the first time at the art of making jaggery and got beginner’s luck in his short, pathetic life!”. ‘The Man’ asked him while giving no emotions away, “Why do you say that?”. ‘He’ replied, “Come on, man.  A chap making jaggery in a hot dump, isn’t pathetic?”. ‘ The Man’ questioned him, “What if he was a rich lad and making jaggery was his passion? What do you say to that?”. ‘He’ puts the lid back on the box and sets it back to its former position on the table.’ He’ said, “Well if I was a pezzonovante, I wouldn’t be making some freakin’ jaggerey! I would go out, buy myself some beer, commit ‘Drink and Drive’, get arrested, visit the big house, take a selfie from behind the bars and post it on FaceBook with a caption ‘Never Again!’ written on it and do the whole thing again the next day! Now, THAT would be a story!” ‘The Man’ replied in a very annoyed manner, “Wow! That’s just GREAT! First you like the person’s jaggery and then you insult him!”. ‘He’ puts his right hand on the table and returned, “Insult! I am not insulting anybody. I never did in the last half an hour. No. I am not a bad person. I was wondering. Do YOU ever wonder?”.  The Man replied, still maintaining his poker face like a rich faggot in a Vegas casino, “That’s a weird question. Yeah, of course, everyone wonders.”. He bounced back with a sense of pride in his words, like the sweetness in candy, “THERE, my friend you are wrong! People think, they don’t wonder. And when someone asks them if they ever wonder, they answer ‘Yes’. They think they wonder. You know, when you wonder, you have a desire deep inside you to know something or someone. You feel doubt about something or someone, like I was having about the jaggery boy. You can get surprised while wondering. You will feel admiration and amazement for one. You see? All these, THINGS, never take place WHILE thinking!”. If ‘The Man’ was sitting in-front of you, you would assume that ‘The Man’ is kidding by keeping a straight face, but no, ‘The Man’ never makes anyone laugh as far as anyone knows. The Man replied, still sitting as he was ten minutes ago, “Why are we even talking about this?”. He replied gesturing his hand towards The Man, “I don’t know. YOU tell me.”

                   They both kept their trap shut for about 5 minutes when He filled the room with his words, “Have you ever noticed how people walk?” He asked, with a smirk. The Man came back like he was being threatened by a challenge, a question, to judge his wisdom, “No, but I bet you have because you are the smartest ass in this room apparently!” ‘He’ was sunk into his stool with the back rest when he heard the furious sound of ‘The Man’ started shattering  He’s  words. ‘He’ sat straight after hearing The Man’s ‘Humble’ opinion about him and leaned forward to pour some water from the jug into the tumbler. He said to The Man, while filling the tumbler with water, “Relax, Man! Chill! Just makin some small talk here, that’s all!”.

                        He hung the tumbler from his claw towards The Man to offer The Man some water but he didn’t receive it. The Man looked away. He said while tilting his head, “Okay!” and kept the tumbler back on the table with water still in it. ‘He’ rested his back on the stool and said, “You know…” He’s voice attracted The Man’s attention, “ I was just sittin there, in a café, minding my own shit. Its early in the morning, so everybody is washing their sandwiches down their throats with their coffee and then, you know, suddenly, this bitch out of nowhere, gets up from her table and points freakin’ gun at everyone while shouting, ’It’s a robbery! Move anyone of ya and and I am gonna kill every last one of ya PRICKS!!!’ So, you know, I freakin’ startled and moved! That bitch shot at me but in the nick of a time, this waitress came in-front of me and traded her life for my death. Not a fair trade, I tell’ya! That day I felt the presence of the God and the Devil  at the same freakin’ time, at the same freakin’ place!” The Man’s curiosity was peaked, so he asked, “And why do you think that?” He leaned forward and said in a low voice, “She was my sister. The waitress. We were meeting after seven and a half years later and were talking over milk with some jaggery mixed in it.” The Man took a sip of water from the tumbler and asked, “What happened after that?” He replied, “The bitch panicked and left the café as swiftly as possible leaving behind a dead body and a grieving brother.”

             They stayed silent for a moment and then The Man announced, “Quiet a story you got there. Now, shall we?”

            He replied, “Do we have to?”

            The Man replied, “You shouldn’t have done it!”

             He said, “Yeah, I guess, well, what can you do?!? Lets begin!”

                  They both got up from their chairs and lifted the table from their respective ends and set it aside, by the wall. The Man reached for the mysterious object which was now in the light- IT WAS A KNIFE! The Man picked the knife and stabbed him in the belly. “OH SHIT! This SUCKS!!!”

 The Man whispered in He’s ear, “You shouldn’t have done it!”.

                                                                         FIN!