Down on Stanton, Ndusen carried two immense bags of garbage along the sidewalk, delirious with fatigue. He opened his eyes just wide enough to see what he took to be a pair of Hispanic street thugs, shoving and yelling in frustration at three black teenagers on the corner of Eldridge.
Ndusen knew better than to get himself involved in the heated argument, heaving the bags of garbage into a dumpster, he turned to make his way back home.
A gunshot, followed by two more flicked Ndusen's eyes wide open. He spun back in the direction of the sound, catching sight of the two Hispanic kids sprinting across the street, disappearing down Eldridge.
Ndusen lay in his bed, next to Kondwani. His eyes wide, rife with insomnia. He rubbed his stomach in a clockwise direction, hoping to dislodge the spasm that he could feel spreading through the mucous membranes in his gastrointestinal tract. He had witnessed another crime, and felt entirely powerless to do anything about it, knowing that any kind of action might endanger his family. He even felt he had seen one of those Hispanic kids before, but he was not sure where. Then it dawned on him. He pulled back the sheets and made his way out past his kin, and into the hall.
Pulling open the door to the inner vestibule, the resemblance was undeniable.
'WARNING. This is Rube Carbia and he is stalking me...'
But who could be sure? He had a hard time telling Hispanics apart, in the same way he did white people. He could easily find himself accusing an innocent young man of murder. And even if it was him, what would the police do? A paltry investigation, and then? For all he knew this Rube was working for a gang. A gang that would not think twice to snuff out an immigrant super and his family.
Besides, he had not seen anyone hit by the bullets, he reminded himself of this as he replaced his slippers by the side of the bed and lay back down. He would wait and see. Perhaps there might be something about the incident in the morning newspaper. Perhaps another witness had already come forward.
As the hours of the night dwindled, Ndusen wasn't the only tenant who was still awake. Mioko stood in her darkroom six floors above, sipping from a highball and working the enlarger. Ignoring the throbbing in her heels, she sucked on an ice cube as she watched the sultry shots from the Lamerica shoot appear in the stop bath.
Pouring herself another glass, she appraised the finished prints hanging on the line next to the spare shots of Rube. She wasn't exactly proud of her Lamerica work, but it was certainly magazine quality. And looking at the images now, they were undeniably evoking a familiar--yet somehow alien--feeling. An intangible emotion set apart from the lingering MDMA in her system; besides she'd adequately countered the remaining effects of the drugs with liquor.
No, there was something about the images themselves. Something primal.
They turned her on.
Mioko's phone alarm stung the air next to her face. The smell of rubber and chemicals filled her nostrils, her cheek pressed against the velour plastic coating of her inflatable mattress. She opened her eyes to find the red safety light still glowing on the ceiling above. It could have been any time of day or night. Her head felt like she'd gone days without hydration, emerging from the Sahara. She found her footing and leaned in to the slop sink. Under the tap she moved to gulp thirstily, but nothing flowed out.
As she opened her darkroom door and crossed to her apartment, her eyes went bleary from the sunlit hall. She couldn't wait to have her back up against the cold porcelain tub, to douse herself with her handheld shower-head, tip her head back to allow the scalding water to fill her parched mouth. But instead Mioko stood next to the kitchen bathtub wrenching the spouts in all directions, the faucet sputtering and hissing, but not a drop fell.
"Motherfucker," she said aloud.
In the ground floor hallway, she stood in her pajamas outside Ndusen's apartment, knocking on the door.
Alile finally answered.
"Is your father home?" Mioko asked.
She could see him in the background looking absorbed as he flipped through the morning's copy of the New York Post. He certainly didn't look like he'd gone without a shower.
Back upstairs, Ndusen was on her floor, his hands busy inside the sink cabinet.
Mioko was pacing to try and calm herself.
"Four days it's been off," she said. "Across the hall too. I figured the whole building was out."
Ndusen looked up at her, "I am so sorry."
Finishing the job quicker than she could have imagined, Ndusen sat up.
"Were you guys fixing something? What?" she said.
"Yes, well... what ended up transpiring is not what I was initially told by Mr. Axlerod."
"This is ridiculous. I'm two hours late for work."
"I am truly sorry."
Mioko shook her head, thoroughly fed up.
"And what about this place?" she asked. "I'm doing what I can to fix it up myself in my off hours. But it still reeks of smoke."
"I have asked Mr. Axlerod…" he said.
Mioko's leg vibrated. She was on the verge of tears.
Ndusen looked at Mioko's scouring brush and bucket. The leftovers from her efforts to scrub the floor. Her abandoned attempts to paper the charred walls.
"Let us, for this one time, not wait for Mr. Axlerod. I have plenty of eggshell in the basement. Today I will strip and paint your living room."
He smiled at her warmly. Mioko breathed through her nose, her lips pulled tight. She nodded slowly at him, fighting back the tears.
"Thank you."
"Of course."
Something disgusting and wet swiped Mioko’s face, as she lay crashed-out on the white leather couch of Jake's studio. Standing above her with his pug on a leash, Jake's hands were full of his own dry cleaning.
"This. Just. Will. Not. Do."
Mioko peered up at her boss.
"You were supposed to pick Strudel up from my loft an hour and a half ago. He pissed himself on the Eames chair. Not to mention the dry cleaning."
"Sorry."
Jake rolled his eyes.
"Sorry? Keep your shit together, Mioko."
Jake dumped the dry cleaning on top of her on his way to his desk. She sat up and stretched her shoulders back, closing her eyes for another quick instant, as Strudel started to soak her socks in canine saliva.
No matter what horribleness Jake threw at her today, it wouldn't mean a thing, because tonight she would be sleeping in her own bed.
BEHIND THE KEYBOARD
I wanted to give a special shout out today today to@hansikhouse and @voronoi and the rest of the @sndbox crew. I first met the sndbox team at STEEM Park way back when and they have been a huge support of DWELLING and @hardfork-series over the course of the last 5 months. Being a part of the @sndbox incubator has been a wonderful experience and I’m thrilled that @opheliafu and I will be a holding a DWELLING event here in NYC this summer with @sndbox. More on that soon!
It's felt incredible to be a part of their first cohort and their wonderful support of the work has made the process of sharing it with you all even more of a joy.
Yours In The Chain,
Doug Karr
SPECIAL THANKS to my wife @zenmommas for years of support during the writing process, @ericvancewalton for his trailblazing, inspired collaboration and incredible guidance, @andrarchy for his mind blowing insight and friendship, @bakerchristopher for being an inspiration as a human artist and bro, @complexring for his brilliance and enthusiasm, Masie Cochran, Taylor Rankin and @elenamoore for their skillful help in editing the manuscript, and to @opheliafu for the fantastic illustrations she created exclusively for the novel's launch on Steemit and to Elena Megalos for her wonderful character illustrations. I’d also like to thank Eddie Boyce, Jamie Proctor, Katie Mustard, Alan Cumming, Danai Gurira, Stephan Nowecki, Ron Simons, Dave Scott, Alden Karr, Missy Chimovitz, my dad Andy Karr and late mother Wendy, and everyone else who helped lead me to this moment.
I am a Brooklyn based writer, film & commercial director, and crypto-enthusiast, my projects include @HardFork-series an upcoming narrative crypto-noir and my novel Dwelling will soon be premiering exclusively on Steemit, and you can check out more of my work at dougkarr.com, piefacepictures.com, and www.imdb.com/name/nm1512347
Please comment thoughtfully, up-vote and resteem and I'll gladly upvote your comments!
