Don't Forget to Write

A Blessing and a Curse

 On the way home I stopped at Abe's deli. "Hey buddy," he called.

"What's up Abe?"

"Nothing, I've not seen you in a while. Did the robbery scare you off?"

"No, I've just been having a pretty hectic time. How are things with you? Any other robberies?"

"No, no more robberies, and business has been busy again, so it's okay."

"Of course it's been busy, this is the best deli in town." I ordered two sandwiches.

"Okay buddy, five minutes."

I grabbed a few things and put them up on the counter. Eggs, milk, bread, a big bag of cheap rice. Peanut butter was on sale so I bought two. Compelled to be kind to Bruno and myself, I got a box of oatmeal too. When I came up to the counter with my groceries Abe rang me up for everything and the sandwiches. "Okay buddy, forty-five dollars."

"Forty-five dollars? Geez Abe whose robbing who?"

"That even with your discount. You don't like it you come back with food stamps."

I checked my wallet, I had $51 I thought about putting the oatmeal back, but decided Fuck it and gave Abe the $45. "Alright Abe, I'll see you."

"Wait, friend."

"Yeah?"

"What happened to your head? I don't see you in days, maybe even weeks, and you come back and you have a big scar? What did you do? Fight with Bruno? Fight with your girlfriend? Get too drunk and fall down the stairs?" He laughed at his own jokes. "Really, what happened?" I told him the story, which by now I had grown tired of repeating. "My goodness. My friend, you are okay now?"

"Yeah, just a little hazy from time to time."

"Here, I have something for you."

"That's alright Abe you don't have to give me anything."

"Nonsense. It is nothing." he pulled a couple of packets of tea from a drawer behind the counter. "This is from my personal collection. Me and my wife drink this tea when we need some peace. When the kids are full of energy, and work is more laborious than usual, and the little things don't seem to go our way. When everything seems to be chaos. This tea has been drank for generations in my country for its ability to both sharpen and calm the mind. Use it when you are feeling 'hazy'."

"Thank you Abe, I really appreciate it. You're a good man."

"Of course my friend. Barakallahu fik."

"What does that mean?"

"It means 'Allah bless you'."

I thanked him again for the tea, the food, and the blessing, wished him a goodnight, and went up the six stories to my apartment.

"Yo," I called.

"Petey," Bruno called from the living room. I walked in and gave him the 12inch sub. He smiled up at me. "My brother, this is why we're roommates."

"That's not even the best of it." He raised an eyebrow at me as I reached into the shopping bag and, very dramatically, pulled out the box of oatmeal.

"Yes! We will eat like KINGS for breakfast tomorrow. Petey boy, I'm making us some oatmeal with milk and I'm throwing in some cut up bananas, maybe some chocolate chips, who knows... I can get crazy with it." I hadn't seen Bruno this excited since before the NYU game. His eyes were bright and his smile was huge. Happiness can sometimes be easy - as easy as buying someone a snack they like. Happiness is amazing, too, because you can feel it even if it's someone else's. It's shared.