Maximus of Mine

Page 1 A Raw Connection

Ever felt dirty rain water on your face? Like possibly leaking out of a clogged drain and most definitely full of dead insects. Now imagine that shit hits you in the face on a rainy day, "Are you okay?" He asks me as I hold my broken umbrella aside. It was a middle-aged white man, his wife sat beside him and his two sons were sitting on the back seat of their car. 

This interaction happened on an unknown footpath. I could smell the stench of the drains beneath us, separated by a few layers of iron and tar and I could feel the cold rain water fall on my shoulders. This was a new country.

"Thanks for that nice shower, saves water, you know," A flying plastic bag covered one side of my face as I said this, "The water feels amazing," It was a rainstorm and I decided to walk out with a broken umbrella. See, I have never been the luckiest of the lot. And I have no idea why. I ran out with an umbrella, thinking it would rain. And it did, and when I opened the umbrella, some idiot had broken it already. 

But as I tried opening it a bit, someone paddled past me on the bicycle lane right behind my back, I almost ran into him. And that gave me a strong adrenaline rush. I watched him cycle away in the harsh rain. I looked at the sky, hoping it would wash down this dirty water from my body. And that was exactly when it stopped raining. 

I slammed the door of my dormitory and looked at my roommate and his buck-toothed friend listening to some singer who couldn't sing. He choked and coughed in autotune, "Pure talent to be able to listen to him,"
"Yes, I love when he does that to his voice, it's like a...passing a stinking nettle to your ears" My roommate, Casper, said, "What happened to you?"
"Rain?" I threw the broken umbrella in the dustbin.
"Oh, that one is broken,"

"Couldn't tell. Who the fuck broke it?"
"You broke it," My roommate came closer to me, "Remember the last time you went out with an umbrella, and you got attacked by two crows so you started fighting them with the umbrella until a civilian helped you?"
Shit. This is embarrassing. 

"Did that jog up your memory?"

"Yeah, ahem... I will take a shower,"  As I stood under the showerhead, with soap and shampoo running down my naked body, I remembered that embarrassing incident. And I remembered where I was going that day when the umbrella broke. I was going to meet him. I was glad that we never met. Being unlucky with everything else is bearable...But why am I so unlucky with men? 

"ALL MY FRIENDS ARE IN HAPPY RELATIONSHIP EXCEPT ME!"
"Maybe you should reflect on yourself...just a little bit," Casper said from outside the bathroom as he washed his hands.
"HOW IS IT MY FAULT THAT MEN TREAT ME LIKE TRASH?!"
"Because you're subconsciously attracted to assholes. You pick trash and they make you one. Misery loves company,"

Casper did not have to psychoanalyze me like that. Now, I'll spend another week just reflecting on myself while he reads his psychology major books and decorate the flat into a boho setting.

After the shower, I walked into my room and locked the door while my roommate, Casper, and his friend continued yelling and screaming at the TV while watching the live performance. My dog was sleeping on the bed. I smiled and remembered the time I first picked him up. Dad took me to a shelter and made me choose which one I wanted. 

They were all looking at me, full blue eyes staring into mine as their pink paws touched my red sneakers and I patted their heads. 

"Max," I lay beside my dog and looked at my ceiling. I think that was the last time I felt like I got a chance to choose. Ever since then, I have removed myself from taking decisions because the choices offered are just bad and bad. I picked Max up, that's what I call him now, though I intended to call him Maximus, but dad thought that name was too long for a dog.