glimpse

0930, time to reluctantly exit from my warm tangled blankets and into the cold world around me. Sigh.
I half drunken with sleep; rise up lazily to walk to the bath room.
Strip.
Turn on the water.
Climb in.
Wash.
Get out.
I walk with more alertness towards my room. House is freezing.
Open the drawers.
Get dressed.
Next, I brush my tangled mid back length hair and put on my coloured face. I feed my pet lizard, who equally looks disgusted at being disturbed. I watch as she strikes for the usual cricket meal I supply for her.
I grab my keys and exit the house. It snowed last night. I shiver as I hurriedly turn on the car to let it warm up.
Sigh, another day
I grab my coat and day planner, not bothering to eat the “most important meal of the day,” and run back to my second world, which by now is warm enough to drive away in.
I drive the quick 5 minute journey to my client’s home. Upon arrival, I find him as always, sitting in his chair watching some morning cartoon.
“Ready?” I call through his open living room window.
“Ya” was the simple reply.
I roll up my car window and turn the heat up a notch, and the power of the blast down.
My client exits out of his run down house, dressed in the usual stained navy blue jacket. His equally stained hat is in its place, on top of his forgotten hair.
He opens the car door and climbs in.
The stench burns my nose.
I turn the blast down even more, so to not spread the smell further than it had already had in my small car.
He smiles at me, showing his brown spaced out teeth.
I smile back and hand him his morning pills.
He puts them in his pocket and starts to ramble on about his family, and his child hood.
Today his story was one told before. His brothers and he used to shoot each other with guns. Nearly killed each other, but that is how you play “Cowboys and Indians” you see.
I smile and nod, too tired to correct the inconsistencies of his story today.
We reach our destination in short time.
I decide to wait in my car in front of the pawn shop.
He is probably getting the same TV and stereo back he pawned off just the other week. I have picked it up at least a dozen times over the last two months.
I reach behind his seat and pull of my fee-breeze bottle and give his seat and the ceiling a good soak.
Better.
Soon he returns, with only the stereo in hand.
He puts it in the back of my car.
We drive off in silence, back to his house.
“Can you take me to my aunt’s? I need to get my house keys back.”
I smile, “sure.”
These keys have been missing for two months. He had given them to a family member in exchange for money. By now he must have paid a good hundred dollars for their return, and yet they had not. Instead they kept changing “family” hands and he kept paying for them to be given back.
“I will call you.”
“Ok. Maybe we can do laundry after or before we get the keys.”
I have prompted to do laundry for over a month now, and still no laundry had been done.
“Maybe. I will see.”
“well, how about a shower at least?”
“I don’t shower.”
I frown, knowing the same excuses are soon to follow, but still I Persist.
“Why not? Do you need more soap?”
“No.”
“So you have soap then?”
“Ya.”
“So why don’t you use it? It will only be 5 minutes if that.”
I try to keep my tone pleasant and cheerful.
“I am afraid of the water. I was abused with it. My PO used to hose me down for 21 years.”
I smile.
“Well I am not a PO.”
“I don’t have time.”
“What do you have planned?”
“Cartoons.”
I sigh, “Do you have clean clothes?”
“NO”
“Ok we will do some when you call me.”
“I’ll get a cab.”
“You don’t have money.”
“Well, you are not my real worker. I ‘ll get my real worker.”
My client gets out of the car and closes the door.
He disappears into his dirty apartment, without a glance back towards me.
I sigh and pull away.
When I am out of sight I reach behind his chair and pull out the fee-breeze again.
It didn’t take long for my nasal passage to feel alive again.