METANOIA

MORNING AFTER

Misha was the first to awaken from the slumber of the night before. His tolerance being the highest in the household, he was used to waking up first after a night of binge drinking. It was surprisingly early, nonetheless; it was still slightly dark outside. Pete also was somewhere in the process of waking up when Misha entered the living room.

Misha said, "Morning Pete..."

Pete raised a hand to say good morning, and immediately the memory of the full frontal view of a naked Samia flashed before his eyes. He raised his head and looked over at Samia, who was waking up groggily to Misha's voice. She was fully clothed and right where she was before she went to sleep. Pete was unsure if what he saw was a dream or not, and he certainly didn't want to comment on it until he was certain.

Misha saw her waking up, "Morning, Samia." She smiled and waved innocently. Without opening the door, he yelled, "Silas, get up, you oaf!" A mumble or perhaps a grumble squeezed out of the slightly open door in response. That was enough for Misha. He then walked back to his room and started to get dressed and pack.

Pete was avoiding eye contact with Samia, but the harder he tried not to look, the more he looked suspicious. Samia stretched and yawned before she hopped off the couch and made her way to the kitchen. Torn between whether to confront her or relieve his cottonmouth, Pete followed in her wake. All he could find in the kitchen was tap water, which they both drank reluctantly. There was an uncomfortable silence hanging between them, and despite the fact she didn't know what Pete had seen, Samia could tell something was wrong; however, she didn't press it.

In the interim, Silas also collected himself. He lay in bed at peace for a lingering second, and then a mammoth hangover and the images of the previous night interminably came to mind. He felt heavy and disgusted. He stood up and headed for the shower to wash away his shame. When he entered the living room, he was pleased to see Samia was no longer on the couch. Just when he thought she had left, he heard her voice from the kitchen. Defeated, he followed the sound.

Samia said, "So what did you say you were doing? Curating at an art gallery?" she shouted to Misha.

Misha replied cheekily, "He-he. No, I'm in investment banking."

Samia gave a short quizzical expression to this statement.

Listening to their conversation, Silas immediately realized what had happened. Misha had lied to the girl blatantly at some point about his job, not spitefully, but just to see if he could pull it off. The more outrageous the job title, the better. Oh, Misha! You cheeky bastard, he thought to himself. Silas drifted toward them, thinking of a way to tell Misha what happened, but they had straggled back into Misha's room.

In Misha's room, Samia pulled out a book called Common Interview Questions Asked on Wall Street. There was a pink post-it sticking out of the book. She turned to that page and read aloud the question circled:

"In a certain matriarchal town, the women all believe in an old prophecy that says there will come a time when a stranger will visit the town and announce whether any of the men folks are cheating on their wives. The stranger will simply say "Yes" or "No" without announcing the number of men implicated or their identities. If the stranger arrives and makes his announcement, the women know they must follow a particular rule: if on any day following the stranger's announcement a woman deduces her husband is unfaithful to her, she must kick him out into the street at 10 a.m. the next day. This action is immediately observable by every resident in the town. It is well known that each wife is already observant enough to know whether any man (except her own husband) is cheating on his wife. However, no woman can reveal that information to any other. A cheating husband is also assumed to remain silent about his infidelity. The time comes, and a stranger arrives. He announces some men in the town are cheating. On the morning of the 10th day following the stranger's arrival, some unfaithful men are kicked out into the street for the first time. How many of them are there?"