He had bad days before, but none of them felt as appalling as today. By the late afternoon, he became fed up with those who pestered his good conscience. He just wanted to go back home and settle his frustration in some way. He didn't want to deal with the rejection that he had faced in the morning, which incidentally would be followed by some irritating moments at work.
Xavier got off at work as soon as the setting sun drenched the afternoon sky with an evident shade of orange and a much hazier variety of blue. The towering clouds, which had matured to more colossal figures above Southern California, began to conceal the sun from numerous human eyes. At this time, people headed home from work with no hesitation, Xavier included. Despite his impatience, he kept calm as he drove in his white-colored pickup truck. He tried to listen to songs on the radio, but he couldn't indulge himself in today's indie rock standards. He preferred a heavier, grittier rock sound than usual, more in the likes of Alice in Chains, Shinedown, and Seether. He turned off the radio when he didn't bother to listen to anything that didn't gratify his musical taste.
When he finally reached his apartment, the twenty-five-year-old Guatemalan man set his mind only on food and rest. He had lived in his apartment, which was located just a few blocks away from Cal State Long Beach, for at least three full years, and he felt relieved at even the mere sight of it. He would have preferred a two-story house in the suburbs, but because of limited funds, his one-bedroom residence would have to do for now. He went inside and changed his clothes. Now wearing a black shirt and brown pants, he could do nothing but slouch on his recliner in the living room. He didn't even want to produce a ponytail for his long and thick black hair, which became a bit of a routine at home. He gave a deep sigh as he closed his eyes for a brief moment. He just wanted to disregard the unhealthy experience from the last nine hours.
But three knocks on the door indicated that his moment of meditation would have to be delayed.
He said to himself, "please let it be a stripper of something."
He got off his recliner and headed for the front door. He opened it and found a man who he recognized standing in the hallway.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Xavier, but I brought you your mail. It was in my mailbox by accident."
Eugene was two years older than him, but a three-inch difference in terms of height gave Xavier a clear advantage. The smaller man had short blond hair and, at the moment, wore blue jeans and a white t-shirt. He handed Xavier the two envelopes.
Xavier tried to smile, but couldn't. "Thanks."
His monotonous voice led Eugene to ask, "Is something wrong?"
Xavier kept his eyes on his mail. "It's nothing interesting. I wouldn't want to bore with all the details."
"Oh, but I'd love to hear it. I don't like it when friends come home with a bad attitude."
Xavier didn't even want to try hiding the growing irritation that showed on his face. "I don't want to talk about it."
Eugene didn't back down. "It wouldn't be smart to bottle it all up, you know."
Xavier blurted, "Just leave me alone, man! Can't you get the hint?"
This time, the blond-haired man took one step back and raised his hands. "Okay, I get the hint. I'm sorry if I gave you any trouble."
Xavier remained silent as he closed the door. He put his mail aside and returned to his recliner. For the next fifteen minutes, he put on his headphones and listened to music on his Smartphone. Music from Alice in Chains became the norm in all five senses. He immersed himself into the authentic sounds of classic grunge. A distraction had arrived, however. He began to think about his brief conversation with Eugene a few minutes ago. Inside his mind, he couldn't determine the authentic justification of his rude behavior. His bad day at work had been partially to blame, of course.
"Sure, whatever."
Xavier turned off the music from his Smartphone and got up from his recliner. He left his apartment and walked down one flight of stairs. He reached the front door of Eugene's place. He knocked three times and waited for a response.
The two of them became neighbors for six months. Small talk was the standard between Xavier and Eugene, but once they got to know each other a little more during the third month, they became more than just neighbors. Their friendship had peaked once they discovered they shared a few similarities. Both were born and raised in Southern California, for example. Xavier did have a small problem with Eugene's sexual orientation at first, what with his feminine mannerisms and all, but it passed once he gained acceptance of other people's alternate lifestyles. It got to a point where they would do anything for each other in times of struggle, whether it be financial or psychological or whatever.
It took several seconds for Eugene to open the door and convey a solemn look on his face.
"I didn't expect you to want to talk to me again."
Xavier shook his head. "That's why I want to apologize for going off on you like that."
Eugene smiled. "It's nothing. It's not like it's abuse or anything like that."
"It's just that I haven't had the best day today, and I just want to be alone for the rest of the night."
Eugene looked concerned. "It's that bad, huh?"
"It's like I'm being punished for something that I didn't do."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Xavier shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not?"
"All right, come in."
Eugene led him into his apartment, which looked almost exactly like the one that the Guatemalan man lived in. Furniture and appliances appeared slightly fancier than what Xavier possessed. Eugene's dining room table and flat-screen TV looked smaller and more out-of-date, however. The TV revealed that a hockey game had just started: the Los Angeles Kings took on the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first night of the playoff season.
Xavier took a seat on the couch while Eugene sat down just a few feet alongside him.
The slim blond fellow turned off the television and asked, "Does it have anything to do with work?"
Xavier replied, "There's more to that than just my day job. This morning, my girlfriend had called me to tell me that it's all over."
"Ouch."
"She's now dating a guy that owns a damn Ferrari. He's from an upper-class neighborhood, a millionaire if I'm not mistaken. Can you believe it? She dumped me when she's going after wealth. It hits me right in the heart even as I'm reminiscing about it right now."
"She doesn't sound like the kind of woman who would survive in the real world."
"Our breakup was bad enough, but then I had to go to work. Being a car mechanic does have its own drawbacks. All day, I had to deal with impatient drivers who wanted to know every single detail about their transmission change, their air conditioning, and even their standard oil change. I've had men and women breathing down my necks as I changed their tires. One guy even yelled obscenities at me because he didn't think I used the right coolant for his car. I wished that I could shove a wrench down his throat, but then I realized that I wasn't a part of a street gang. I had my own morals and standards...unfortunately."
"Are you sure this wasn't because you didn't do your job correctly?"
"Of course, I'm sure! The manager hired me a few years ago for a good reason. It's just that I thought about my girlfriend all day, and it really tore me apart that she rejected me like that. It pissed me off that I had to go through that sort of thing, plus all the crap from people that I don't even know."
Eugene's voice had a more sympathetic tone. "Oh, it hurts to see a friend of mine experience pain and suffering."
"I hope you're not being sarcastic."
"Of course, not! You're a good man, Xavier. You don't deserve to be treated like a peasant."
"Well, you're right about that."
