Day: June 6, 2018

Neighborly

We’ve been living here for a while now, but never actually tried socializing with our neighbors for some reason.

When she learns that, Pari takes it upon herself to organize a quick dinner with one of them, a young woman named Eden that she met at the mailbox.

I know Eden. Her full name is Eden Stewarts, and her mother and mine are cousins. Her mom is called Nomi, or Kimmy, I don’t remember, it was a family of triplets and I can never tell which cousin had which name. I do remember the name Nomi was intended as a contraction of Naomi, a tribute to Grandma for basically raising Nomi’s mom.

Nomi’s mom, who is Eden’s grandma. And my grandma’s sister.

Still following? Told you my family was old and complicated.

Anyway, Pari does the shopping, and the cooking, and thanks to her I get to catch up with and make a friend out of a cousin I never met.

Pari is amazed at our local fruit and vegetable stalls down in the Spice Market, and the quality of their produce. She’s amazing at haggling, too.

Amazing, I tell you.

inviting Eden to join us.

And then cooking for us with the fresh product she just bought.

And it’s really, really good, too. Pari is Wonderwoman.

She serves her own plate last, so when the doorbell rings, she goes to answer.

It’s Romain. He wasn’t invited, he came alone, and we don’t know why he’s here, but I tell Pari to let him in. Why wouldn’t he be welcome?

Herbal Remedy

I wake up one day feeling absolutely awful. I don’t really know why, but my skin feels odd, I am nauseated, and everything is itchy.

Upon telling Pari that, I see her disappear into the kitchen, where she stays behind the stove for a full hour, dropping a myriad of plants and herbs she seems to be producing out of thin air into the pan.

When she’s done she pours the mixture into a glass and hands it to me with a smile. Her only explanation is “drink this, you’ll get better. Bottoms up.”

I trust her and drink it. It tastes a little like mud, a little like lavender, and I kid you not, I feel better the very second I down the last drop.

Pari’s some kind of magician.

Helping a Stranger

That night, when we head back home, we are not alone.

Pari, who lived in the basement of her tattoo parlor, has no place to stay, or at least, none where she would be safe. So we find a sleeping bag on the way, and we install it in a nice spot of our living room, hoping it will be comfortable enough. This is the first time we’ve ever wished for a pull-out couch.

Pari’s a great guest, and we do our best to take her mind off whatever disaster happened at her shop the best way we know how: by breaking out Mariokart.

We don’t have many things in common, but our conversations are fascinating.

She can defend herself at Mariokart. We’re still too competitive to let her win, but she scores a very honorable third place.

Goodnight, new friend.

The Tattoos

It’s been a year since our wedding, and while we could absolutely have gone for dinner at a fancy restaurant, Hugo and I want to go for a more… lasting experience.

So we do our research, and head to the best tattoo parlor in Oasis Springs. I’m going to get a sun, to symbolize brightness, and light, and maybe a certain beach. Hugo is going to get a stylized constellation. To be precise, the Leo — I was born in early August, see.

The parlor is mostly empty. The tattooist laughs and says she can tell we’re not from around here: there’s a party happening in the backyard of the building tonight, so everybody’s getting ready, apparently.

We tell her we can come back later, but she insists she wouldn’t have accepted the appointment if she wasn’t willing to go through with it.

Her name is Pari, Pari Ramesh, and I just love her aesthetic.

I feel like we’re going to be fast friends.

Hugo is not afraid if needles, but apparently he can’t bear seeing me go under it.

Checking myself out in the mirrors while Pari exposes the plan to Hugo.

Your turn, babe.

Suddenly, as I’m snacking in the backyard, something weird happens. People in unusual outfits raid the barely started party.

They seep into the backroom.

They are many.

It’s clear that Pari has a history with this gang of bears. They are up to no good. A fight is on the verge of breaking out.

One of them sees Pari slap a bear, and he apparently goes to call for reinforcements.

And the reinforcements arrive.

Thankfully, Pari has had time to escape.