Moment
He left work at 5:00 pm preoccupied with the faulty lock on the laundry room door. Last
week his wife assigned him a new and urgent maintenance job, “It locked by itself and I
had to use my key to get into the house. Make sure to fix it.” And he replied “I’ll have to
get a new lock for it.” And just to be on safe side, he hung an extra key on a hook in the
garage. Every minor issue in his marriage had a potential to turn into a big headache. “I
was busy this, but I’ll get it done this weekend. In the meantime, if you get locked out, just
use the extra key by the door.”
He arrived home around 6:30. As he pulled into the alley and just before he turned
into his own driveway, he waved at his neighbor at the house behind theirs. He waved
back with a friendly smile. This neighbor always worked on classic cars and his latest
project was rebuilding a red 1965 Ford Mustang in his driveway. Although seeing a
dismantled engine, a fallen muffler or loose pieces of a cylinder scattered around the
neighbor’s driveway was not a pretty sight, witnessing a gradual reincarnation of extinct
species was truly exhilarating. He’d never developed an interest in working on his cars,
yet his neighbor’s perseverance and endless patience in divinely breathing life into a
corpse had earned his utmost respect.
As soon as he parked and entered the house, he snatched a cold beer from
refrigerator and checked his emails. The he changed his clothes and put his cell phone in
his tee-shirt pocket and went directly to the kitchen to cook dinner. His wife once again
had taken refuge in her parent’s house to be away from him after an intense argument.
Judging based on their fight history and severity of their latest clash he was certain she
wouldn’t be back until Monday and if he was lucky enough maybe even Tuesday. So, he
was looking forward to a relaxing weekend all for himself and determined to make the best
of it. He set his laptop computer on the Kitchen counter where he could watch the UN
general assembly meeting on nuclear proliferation on You Tube while cooking. He was
craving chicken curry. All he needed was chicken, curry paste, garlic, fresh cilantro, white
onions and coconut milk. His stomach was growling, the intoxicating aroma of curry sauce
lifted his spirit even before he started cooking.
He grabbed the ingredients from the pantry and refrigerator and darted out into
garage to get chicken from the freezer. As usual instead of getting inside the garage, he
stretched his body into the garage and kept his right foot in the door to keep it open and
skillfully managed to reach the freezer and grab two pieces of chicken. As he turned to
come inside, he was startled by the cell phone ringing. He swiftly changed hands and
held frozen poultry by the left and fished the phone out of his pocket with the other. The
split second before he got a chance to flip it open and as he was still keeping the door
ajar with his torso, both chickens flew out of his hand. In an effort to catch them before
they hit the dirty garage floor and answer the phone at the same time, he lost his balance
and fell. In the midst of this pandemonium, he grabbed the door frame to regain balance
and seized the hinged side of the door jamb. He tumbled and the heavy spring loaded
door slammed shut on his right hand locked inside.
For a moment he felt like he’d been electrocuted. An excruciating pain zapped his
entire nervous system and knocked him out. When he deliriously gained consciousness,
the garage was darker and devastating pain had erased his memory. Four fingers were
crushed inside the jammed shut door and his dark blue thumb was swollen beyond
recognition. His body had given out and his brain was not functioning. The horror of the
incident flashed through his head and once again he passed out. Next time he woke, his
eyes were filled with tears. His right hand was swollen all the way up to his arm and the
throbbing pain was ravaging his entire being. His hand was morphed into the door as if it’
d been sculpted by a surreal artist with a bizarre imagination. Seeing the eerie artistry in
this horrific scene made him realize that he’d never be able to paint anymore. He sobbed
silently into a coma.
Cut the chicken breasts in cubes. Add extra virgin olive oil in a wok and sprinkle a
pinch of mustard seeds and cumin and turn up the heat. In a few minutes seeds start
popping in hot oil unleashing the heavenly aroma...
The ring of his cell phone woke him. He reached to his shirt pocket but the phone was
thrown underneath the car’s rear axle. He could see the fluorescent light of its panel. He
scanned the rest of his garage and saw a host of tools and gadgets, a medical
emergency kit and a stylish oversized red panic button. So many rescue devices
conveniently placed on the shelves, mounted on the wall, or laying on his work bench,
available to be used on an emergency and too far for him to reach.
The very first time he passed by his neighbor’s garage in the alley and as he stretched
his hand to push the button on his garage door remote opener, his neighbor thought he
was waving at him, so he waved back. This unintentional gesture repeated several times
until he realized that he’d inadvertently demonstrated courteous behavior. Since then,
every time he returned home, they waived at each other. Although they never met, they
managed to establish a remote acquaintance based on a simple misunderstanding.
Blood was crusted on the door frame. As he desperately reached for the doorknob,
his wife’s warning pierced his brain and his gaze was drawn to the extra key on the wall.
The small red dot on his cell phone was blinking. The caller must’ve left a message. He
knew the call wasn’t from his wife not because he didn’t recognize her distinct ringtone but
because he knew her too well. In a way, he was glad that it wasn’t her. Otherwise by not
answering her call on a Friday night, he would’ve created a whole new issue in their
marriage. His dying hand was still bleeding.
Timing is crucial to cooking. Sauté onions and crushed garlic together but separately
from the chicken…
He stretched his neck to see the glowing numbers of the digital clock on the opposite
wall. The time now was 1:30. Even if he screamed in midnight silence, he could not be
heard. His corner lot house was only neighbored by a vacant house for sale. His anemic
body was in the throes of collapse. He desperately stretched his entire body in every
direction yet he reached nowhere but to a higher threshold of agony. He cried for help,
but his muffled squeal tainted with unnerving pain faded in his solitude.
Add chopped cilantro to the sauce and sprinkle some on the plate to garnish.