Black Lotus

18 - A Dark Place

September 3, 2016 | Saturday

Tonight made me come to the conclusion that people who have material wealth are absolutely poverty stricken on the inside.

Rafael thought it would be cute to impress me by taking me to the most expensive restaurant in town on account of me deserving the "finer things" in life. It was apparent that he had no kind of clue what type of person I was. Not saying that a person could please me McDonald's, but trying to show off or be flashy couldn't guarantee you in my good graces. The people at the restaurant were way too familiar with Rafael, greeting and complimenting him. He must've been a regular customer. Unless he usually ate alone, he probably brings a lot of girls here. Whoopee.

Here was my plan for this date: Rafael has four strikes. Three normal ones and a fourth just in case he pisses me off. So, if he hits all for strikes, I leave. Yes that seems judgmental and mean, but something was already off in my mind and I knew it before I even stepped out of the house.

For several minutes while waiting for our food, Rafael talked around the subject of having children. He asked me if I ever wanted children, how many, and what I wanted them to look like. I answered that I had no focus on children at the moment, but if I ever a child I wanted them to be healthy, that's it. What they looked like wouldn't affect how much I loved them. Was he going to make some comment regarding me having his children? If he was, this would be a good time for me to plug im my mental earphones and zone out for a minute or two.

"You know Oasis, if you were ever to have my..." Pause. I zoned out right there. No, I wouldn't consider this strike one, but it was darn close to it. I'm not even old enough to drink, why would I want to have kids? I just finished being one.

When I was sure he was through talking about kids, I tuned back in. That was when the food came too. Maybe now I could gain the power of this emotion known as tolerance.

"Oasis? Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Is something wrong?"

"No, you just seemed kind of bored." Well, duh!

"I'm not bored. I had a long day, that's all."

"Oh, tell me what you did today. I've been talking you to death." Really? I haven't noticed a bit.

"I went and visited Max, and after that I saw my mother in chemo."

"I'm sorry about that, I had no idea that your mother had cancer."

"Yeah, she was just diagnosed a month ago."

"I'll be sure to keep her in my prayers." Alright, that was genuine, I liked that.

"Thank you."

"How is Max doing though?" He snickered like he knew something I didn't. I should have known this was going to happen somewhere. Max was an unavoidable topic with this guy. But it is still my fault for bringing it up.

"He's fine."

"You sure? Homeboy didn't throw anymore swings at you did he?" he joked.

There you have it folks, strike one!

He quickly halted his laughter when he witnessed the blank expression on my face.