Chapter 2
I was already wearing make-up.
You don’t take selfies without make-up, what are you nuts? That is like 60-70 less likes right off the bat. I got my bag with my laptop and sneaked out of the house. It wasn’t that hard with mom having a video of a how-to recipe playing on the tablet and the kitchen TV showing some Turkish melodrama BOTH OF THEM PLAYING SO LOUD MY GOD MOM TURN IT DOWN DIDN’T IT USED TO BE THE OTHER WAY AROUND?
Thank god we live in a protected neighbourhood, or else she wouldn’t even hear any burglars smashing their way in.
Deppy was online naturally so arranged a meet at the corner by my house.
While I waited, I could see a small Roma boy, just a kid really, trying to make a living. As the cars waited at the crossroads, he would stroll to the window, extend his little hand to the driver and ask for them to buy his pack of facial tissues. It was a thing they did. Instead of asking for charity, they would “sell” you the cheap pack, and you’d always pay more than its actual value as a kind gesture.
The boy was disappointed. On a warm summer day, nobody was sneezing or anything, so nobody was buying anything from him. He had just went up to jeep, having to stand on his toes to present his wares to the tall window. He was waved away by the man inside, who simply went on with his phone call. His shoulders fell and he slouched away, while the cars revved and left the intersection. He was standing in the scorching sun all day, trying to make a meager living.
I had seen his green eyes before. He’d been working our street for a few months. The boy had medium dirty curls, unkempt hair.
He reminded me of my little brother.
I called him and bought a pack of facial tissues from him. I gave him half my allowance, then shrugged and gave him all of it, except the change for the metro fare. He gave me a smile, sold me three packs of facial tissue and went on to enjoy some of the shade.