Erkenci Kuş is a rom-com-drama from Turkey. It surely packs a punch with the main leads & supporting cast, music & literature references, eccentric characters & great plot lines!
Turkey is where east meets west and there's that appeal & something fo...
It's a new school, a boarding one at that, and I've been packed off here by dad. I hate it... not being in my stomping ground in Istanbul. I have to share my room with three other boys.... this sucks, royally! I have to do my own laundry and ironing as well.... dad is punishing me, that's for sure! .. .. I'm hanging out at the rocks by the bay, having skipped school, it was a hell of a boring day today! I hate Math so much..... it's revolting to me. And I'm told boys don't do art and my focus has been shifted to science. Fuck that, nobody is going to tell me what to do, I'm fifteen years old... and can take care of myself!
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I'm feeling braver as I take the puff of cigarette.... it's so cool! This is the life.... playing video games, smoking cigarettes and hanging out by the bay. .. It's late afternoon and I've almost forgotten that I'm being coached in Math and an alarm will be raised if I don't show up. Drat.. this sucks! I drag myself away from the bay and head to the coach's house. It's our old neighborhood and I know everybody there. There's a party going on in Suhan's house and what am I to do but crash it.
I scour the house.... and realize that the adults aren't around. So, I head straight for the liquor cabinet. Jackpot, it's open.... and full of a some great stash. I open a few bottles and smell them to see what is appealing. The bottle that gets my attention is scotch, says it's 15 years old.... wow same age as me, this I got to try. Gulp... urggh...oh wait, this feels warm and burns in a good way, not like watered down beer....this must be the good stuff! .. There's a gang playing spin the bottle..... and I'm immediately included in the game. It does help that I'm almost 6' tall, playing basketball has helped me, I have a killer tan and almost growing a mustache and beard... something called a 6 o'clock shadow. It's my turn to kiss and be kissed..... and the pro that I am, I take her by the hand into the kissing booth. As I enter, I feel my head spinning and the last thing I feel is an ache as my face hits the ground. .. .. I'm coming out of it.... and I'm in my bed and I smell awful! I stroll out of my bedroom and see dad in the family room. He's busy talking to someone on the landline and he finishes when he sees me. For the next hour, I'm berated and hammered to the ground..... I apparently passed out and bleeding and someone had called the parents in panic! Traitors! Long story short, the scotch made me pass out and I was found with cigarettes in my pocket! Dad made it very clear this I won't be going to the same school anymore. I've now been enrolled in an all boys prep boarding school, read prison. .. .. I watch with trepidation as the other beds in the room fills up - Akif is from Ankara, Metin is from Konya and Velu is from Jaffna in Sri Lanka. We are immediately curious about Velu.... me specifically because he looks a lot like Emre; he's tiny for 15, dark skinned and struggling with the language. As we speak to him, we hear his tale of woe : he's a Tamil refuge from Sri Lanka.... but with wealthy enough relatives to attend this school. His younger brother has been sent to Paris and his parents are trying to leave Sri Lanka. Wow... I tell myself, another one like me... but his life sound dangerous! .. .. Boarding, I mean bonding, school is THE best thing to happen to me. Over the next few years, we became like four peas in a pod.... inseparable, talking, playing, sparring, competing, protecting and learning together. In each their own way, understood me and I understood them. While missing one brother, I got three in return... and the friendships we shared remains constant, to this day.
Not one of us wanted to be here... but now we're brothers for life! Akif is the glue, Metin is the jokester, Velu is the wise one and I am.... the dreamer, of course! There was no stillness or silence in our room.... no option to brood or self-loathe.... that would come later... but the camaraderie I shared with those boys, who became men, is a lifelong bond that sustained and saved me during those awful years! .. .. Akif manages a printing press and I often use his services for my work. Metin is legal counsel for the agency and I see him almost everyday. Velu lives a busy and colorful life in Sri Lanka now and we keep in frequent touch with him.
They set the gold standard for trusting relationships.... and there's so much to be said for how much they them positively impacted my life! Bravo!
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Author's Note: One is cold and calculating while the other is hot and wild... there's a left/right brain contrast between Can & Emre and that leads to completely opposite thinking styles and hence the conflict between them..... apart from all of the external factors messing with their life!
Fan Art from/for the book "Running with Lions" and smoking teenager from Tumblr.
A, G & S... you were that for me, I love you girls!!!
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