Читать книгу All Inclusive - Farzana Doctor - Страница 9

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The evening sky was turning pink as I walked home from Nora’s. I found my two roommates drinking on our porch.

“Azeez, you’re moving out soon, eh?” Max flipped his blond dreadlocks off his face and a cloud of patchouli wafted my way.

“Yes. Tomorrow afternoon.” While I had mixed feelings about ending my sojourn in Canada, I was thoroughly ready to leave Max and Jonathan. Our house was a filthy, rundown mess. Over the five years I’d resided there, the place had deteriorated as tidier guys had moved on and only these two remained. There was always some kind of unidentifiable grime I’d have to clean off the tub before I could take a shower. I’d taken to wearing my outside shoes everywhere in the house except in my own bedroom.

“Have a drink with us.” Jonathan cleared a mouldy cardboard box off the folding chair next to him. Max passed me a beer.

They were smart fellows, PhD students entering their sixth year of studies and still a long way from completion. Canadian students were like that, never seeming to be in any hurry, not like us visa students with more limited budgets and under heavy expectation to finish. While my parents supervised me through weekly long-distance phone calls, inquiring about my health and research progress, these guys seemed rootless. Their families lived less than three hours away, but they made brief visits only once or twice a year. I pitied their frail familial connections.

Max and Jonathan toasted my dissertation, which I’d defended successfully two weeks earlier. Mummy had urged me to return home sooner, but I’d resisted. I’d wanted to prolong my independent Canadian life a touch longer. Soon, I’d be enveloped in the responsibilities and obligations of home. My job at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology would begin two months hence. I’d be introduced to a number of prospective brides.

And so I booked my flight for June 22, telling Mummy that I needed time to pack and say goodbye to my Canadian friends. And anyway, I’d paid my rent to the end of June, I’d argued. Later she’ d blame herself for not pushing the point more, believed that her anxiety about my return date was some sort of prescience.

I drank a second beer and we discussed Jonathan’s research frustrations and Max’s gripes regarding his supervisor. I accepted a third beer and boasted about my new academic post. And then my tongue loosened and I told them about my afternoon with Nora.

“Man, your life is golden!” Jonathan exclaimed.

“Fuck yeah. A PhD, a job lined up, and today you got some pussy!” Max added.

I didn’t think it was nice for him to talk about Nora that way, but I grinned and burped. “It’s quite golden, no?”