Anton or Antoine

Part V, Bird Brain

Mr. Chambers' fortune came in handy when he decided to never step foot again at the firm. To begin with, he never really had to work a single day in his entire lifetime. When they repatriated in the 1950s, his father established a printing press company which became immensely profitable during its 30-year run. Sadly, it went under just after his father's untimely demise. His mother, unknowledgeable to anything business related, did not have the courage to take over which eventually caused the business to die a natural death. Fortunately, his father's prudence ensured that his future will be taken care of through a trust fund.

Money gave Mr. Chambers choices - which college to go to, which car to buy, which suits are appropriate for specific functions. He has always attributed a hefty bank account  to choices, and not happiness. He knew at the very beginning what financial freedom entails. That it allows you to select paths that if you're smart enough, will impact you positively while its opposite, greed and unending desire to fill an insatiable void. He saw it through his own eyes. His parents although affluent and living comfortably, seemed to have never reached a state of joy. He knew that it's not because they were limited with what they can do in life, it's because they were clouded by their richness. And he promised to never do the same mistake himself.

Mr. and Mrs. Chambers met in the most bizarre opportune circumstance. While Mr. Chambers was completing his internship at an accounting firm, he was tasked to regularly connect with their counterparts in Europe which after a while made him think that fate just pushes him back to where he came from. During one of the most important calls he made, the switchboard operator accidentally committed an error that almost cost him the possibility of landing a permanent role at the firm. Mr. Chambers was so furious he filed a complaint  to the telephone company and demanded to speak with the clumsy operator. The manager, bounded by company guidelines, didn't comply with his request. He was only given the operator's badge ID for reference. From that day on, every time he needed to make an overseas call, he always made sure to listen to the voice and ask for the badge ID hoping that at some point, he'll be able to once again speak to the person who almost ruined his future. And one day he did. Mrs. Chambers was the clumsy switchboard operator, a klutz through and through. The anger that he thought he had towards this lady was in fact not hatred at all, it's infatuation laced with obsession. The more you hate, the more you love kind of cliché. Because as it is, hate is not the opposite of love, it's indifference.

They kept in touch which lead to her eventually flying across the Atlantic and moving in with Mr. Chambers. That's the shortened story of how they met. Mr. Chambers might have omitted some details while he was telling Gary and I this story. Who knows. They got married the following fall and that's when our lovely self-absorbed Henry entered the picture, as a wedding present.

Henry has been having the time of his life roaming free around the house. Funnily though, he can no longer fly. He flutters his wings and jumps hoping that the wind will carry him but to his disappointment, he always just lands a meter away. The power of levitation no longer runs in him. Also, his weight gain can be linked to it. He once attempted to fly from the kitchen counter as if it's his runway aiming to reach the coffee table.

"Hey Tony, look! I will fly from here and land in the living area. Just watch." He proudly announced while Gary just rolled his eyes in utter contempt.

"You have my support." I responded with a wink discreetly thrown at Gary. It's like we're playing with a three-year old kid hungry for attention. He indeed landed, cataclysmically that is. Henry ended up at the vet that afternoon with a broken neck. He had his neck plastered for two weeks and as expected, no one mourned for his misfortune.

Every so often he would join us at the back porch when he tires himself attempting to regain flight. When this happens, the quiet afternoon becomes a loud monologue. He always starts by... "Have I told you?" and then followed by a rumour that he heard during one of the afternoon tea sessions. "Have I told you? Mr. Tomlin had a mistress. And it was his cousin. Can you believe that?!" And this goes on and on until his throat dries up. There are days when we just don't have the patience for it, we'll leave him and go back inside.

Interestingly, the months that came after his newfound freedom, Henry showed signs of cerebral developments. I'm pretty sure that the metal contraption made him somewhat stupid and contributed to his superiority complex. Imagine being locked up in a cage for decades, who wouldn't go mad? Parrots, according to a TV documentary Mrs. Chambers like to watch are one of the most intelligent birds out there. That's proving to be true. From plain malevolent gossips he once was fond of, slowly, he started to become like an encyclopedia. Churning out facts at a velocity so fast we can't even keep up. From "Have I told you?", he transitioned to "Did you know?" It seems as though the years he has endured trapped in the living room forced to listen to stories by random strangers, watch series of documentaries, all the while observing life have come into light the moment he was liberated.

"Did you know? Pteronophobia is the fear of being tickled by feathers? Bet you guys didn't know that." Then slightly spreads his right wing reaching Gary and continues with... "Maybe that's your condition, Gary. The reason why you despise me so much. Ha ha ha."

I'll laugh. He'll laugh. Gary, unwillingly, slightly grins. We became close buddies, The Three Musketeers.

We became so comfortable to one another that we turned to sharing our lives prior being part of The Chambers. I have never mentioned anything about Mom, Dad and José to them. I told about how I was well taken care of and that unfortunately, with José's condition worsening, I had to be given up for adoption.

"Oh that? I know that story. I heard during a tea session." Henry interrupts. Of course he knows everything. What was I thinking even bringing this up. I was followed by Gary who's evidently trying not to be emotional, told stories about their short stay at the pet shop. Same with me, both Lisa and him do not know who their birth parents are.

Henry has gotten bored with this that he went back to "Did you know?" He still craves the limelight after all.

"Oh shut your trap. Did you know? The amazon is considered the 'Lungs of the Planet' because it produces roughly 20% of earth's oxygen?" Proudly stated with his beak held up high and then seconds after became poignantly quiet as if an old memory had just struck him right through his temples.

"Wait, I was from the Amazon. I recalled just now." He continued. He is an African Grey Parrot as he always says, so how come he came from the Amazon? But I disregarded the thought. I was letting Henry have his moment of recollection, he was deeply engrossed.

"And I had a family... My dad. He was the company chief of the Ulawahoo Tribe known for having the smartest parrots. My mom... and I had two sisters." Staring blankly at the corner cactus while everything unravels bit by bit.

"One day, a group of hunters arrived with their huge nets and cages. Similar to what we have inside the house, but way bigger." Slowly uttered like each word being typed as he spoke. Gary and I, being good listeners as trained by Mr. Chambers, kept mum.

"Next thing I knew, I was already being traded at the market somewhere north which was where Mrs. Chambers' cousin picked me up, and wrapped as a present." His head now hunched, saddened by the apparent rush of memories he once tried to erase. Empathic as I am, I know exactly how he felt. However for me, I know where my family is and I still get to see them when chances allow.

He reminded me of the character Nemo from "Finding Nemo" I once saw with José when he was just two. A fish who was captured and made to a pet in a continent thousand miles away from his home, and with his father's relentlessness, he soon was returned to the ocean just as where he belongs.

Only that, Henry was never rescued.

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