Emotion: Boredom Thought: Is trapped Decision: Sell weed Action: Go to locker
Happy had spent the previous night up late drinking with Jug in the back creek. They’d found a moment of joy in the middle of the stress of his new drug dealing career[^1]
Now he had to get ready for his second onset career at the same time.
Now, at 4 am, he regretted staying up until midnight and sneaking back upstairs. His red electric alarm blared its unpleasant wails at him and knocked at his pumping head.
He got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. The paint behind the toilet was peeling as he was peeing. Mummi had the chai on the stovetop boiling. She never slept. Happy now had the honour of being the first man to leave the house. Minder was already at the table, coming downstairs before they both headed out together.
“Good morning,” Happy said.
“Did you clean your ears?” Minder said.
“Shut up and drink your chai,” Mummi called, to neither of them in particular.
Happy put the cup to his lips, tasting the rich milk, cardamom and cloves. A bit of milk had separated and floated at the top so he pulled it out with 2 fingers and wiped it on the table[^2] Happy then went to take his clothes off the door. He put on black cargo pants, one pocket a bit heavier from his box cutter and gardening gloves. He put on a black t-shirt and hoodie. He put on his foundry boots, which had a steel plate all the way over the top. These were overkill but he wore them because they’d been a gift from Mummi’s friend in Brampton.
Happy and Minder left the hose at 5:30 to walk down the street towards the agency office at the strip mall. Before walking across the street he made Minder stop and both looked both ways. A guju lady had been struck and killed by a car the month prior heading to catch the bus. At the strip mall, an assortment of proletariat stood awaiting their ride. It was a crowd of mostly gujus, who were the latest wave of immigrants to the neighbourhood, and who needed the work the most. A few stragglers of different immigrant groups rounded out the group. They includes punjabis, blacks, and the odd poor white.
Soon, a full-sized school bus pulled up and all the workers got on. Happy pulled out his walkman and listened to Wu-Tang with Minder seated beside him. The bus passed the hood and turned onto the highway. It passed from the boundary of Toronto into what was collectively called the 905, a tundra of factories, gas stations and housing sprawl.
Jagpreet was on the bus too. Her and Minder had worked together since Mummi had got them both this job. She waiting until the bus pulled out onto the highway and steadied itself vs meandering on the side streets to get up and walk towards Happy in the back. She sat down beside him. She was wearing western clothes which worked better at the plant and helped her blend in, but Happy wasn’t used to seeing this much of her silhouette. It was closer to the slim figure of his classmates vs the roundness of Mummi.
“How are you beta?” Jagpreet said.
“I’m good,” Happy said.
“I heard your dad got laid off, I’m sorry. So sad,” Jagpreet said.
“Do you really care?” Happy said.
“I may not have been happy there beta, but I don’t want anything back to happen to you guys. I want the world for you and I will be there at your graduation,” Jagpreet said.
“Then why did you leave?” Happy said.
“It’s better now between me and your uncle. We can have our own life while we’re further from your mum. You should come over for tea and we can be a family again in a new way,” Jagpreet said.
“Sure,” Happy said.
Jagpreet made sure he had enough for lunch before returning to her friends.
They pulled into their destination, a factory where manufactured products where fitted into in-store displays and shipped off to store. A middle place where unremarkable work was done to add a vague value to the business. It felt like the whole place existed for nothing, and thus so did Happy. Happy’s job was to stand at the end of a production line to open boxes of toothpaste and dump them onto the table for the next person in line to slot them into a cardboard tray they’re just built for it.
He watched Minder worked next to him, focussing on one task and doing it 1000 times a day. Minder late rtold him he liked having a purpose and now when Happy saw him, he looked like he belonged.
That was it. He had to do this all day and stay sane somehow. He passed hours waiting for the lunch bell. When it rang everyone dropped their work with definition and rushed to the microwaves to be the first in line to heat up their daal and roti. Happy didn’t bother trying to muscle the aunties and went over to his locker instead. He had until the bell rung 30 minutes later to himself and he took advantage.