Inescapable escape
By Grace, Anjana and Olive
“I’ve never worked a day in my life!” Kent exclaimed to the bartender at Campbell Apartments of Grand Central Station. He combed his greyish hair with his fingers as he sipped his wine. It was a warm Sunday evening and Kent had just gotten back from an exhausting day at work. Large masses of people swarmed through the main concourse, rubbing against each other’s shoulders. Even the air felt heavy. The rumbling sound of a thousand footsteps simultaneously heading in different directions lingered in the air and was amplified by the echo created by the 150 ft tall ceiling. The bar, Campbell Apartments, had an atmosphere that was distinctly different from the rest of Grand Central Station. It was calm, peaceful and created a feeling of relaxation and tranquility. The bar was enclosed by four short, yellow ochre walls that evoked a sense of intimacy. It was dimly lit by a few yellow fluorescent bulbs. The rim of the Kent’s wine glass sparkled in the light while the wine inside glimmered and swung from side to side as he placed his glass on the counter. He gulped what was left and slid the empty glass back to the bartender for a refill.
“I buy and sell real estate, but that’s not really a job.”, said Kent.
“Want another drink?” The bartender asked. Kent nodded and continue boasting, “I design shirts too. Look!” He pulled his iPhone out of his pocket to show off some pictures of his basic formal shirts. Each one had a fancy tag that read “Designed by Kent.” The bartender glanced at the photos briefly before moving on to a new customer. Kent was a little bit of a lonely man, this was his usual Sunday evening: making drunk conversations with anyone who would listen at Campbell Apartments.
A young man across a few tables however seem to have a little sympathy for Kent. He shuffled over with his traveling bag, one of those that looked like a camping bag. He sat on the seat beside Kent.
“Nice shirts huh,” he said to Kent in a casual and friendly tone. Kent was delighted, usually most people just ignore him.
“Oh yeah, I send them to Milan to get them made,” Kent replied with a laugh as he tried to be humble about the compliment.
“I’m Kent, nice to meet you!”
“I’m Gustav, nice to meet you too!”
“So what’s up with all these traveling baggages?” Kent looked curious.
“Oh yeah, I travel a lot, I love travelling. I just came back from Hawaii to visit my Mom here in New York.”
“Oh wow, I love travelling too! How was Hawaii?” Kent asked, as he straightened his suit.
“Hawaii was great! I went to a volcano there and it was beautiful. I got a little ash stain on my shirt as you can see because I fell,” Gustav laughed as he pointed towards the grey stubborn patch on his Fossil shirt. Kent’s eyes lit up, he had been to that same volcano as well about twenty-five years ago. “I love that volcano in Hawaii!” Kent exclaimed.
“It was pretty long ago, I was in a helicopter and it flew right above the crater. It was 500 degrees of temperature! My pilot was crazy and I was the copilot so we all thought we were going to die.” Kent laughed in reminiscence as he continued, “It was so dark, sulfuric acid fumes were smelling, and it took me almost, uh, 30 minutes to get out of that danger zone, but it was fun. I was with my wife then, it was probably one of the most memorable experiences I had with her.”
“Wow… That sounds like quite an adventure! You’re married?”
“Oh well, yes but actually she’s more like my ex-wife. We separated quite a while ago.” Kent’s facial expression changed a little. He looked down at his wine glass.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Gustav replied. The conversation drifted out as Kent’s charisma faded with the thought of his ex-wife.
“Anyway, where you from?” Kent asked, redirecting the conversation.
“I’m from right here in New York actually, what about you?”
“Me too!” Kent exclaimed. The bartender approached Gustav to take his order. Gustav asked for Calamari with salted marinara sauce and a pinch of black pepper. Kent raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes in shock.
“That’s exactly how I like it!”
“Oh yeah? My mom makes THE BEST Calamari EVER” Gustav said, shaking his head from left to right in awe.
Kent stared at his wine glass, pensively. He looked up and and said “My ex-wife used to make me Calamari with salted marinara sauce and a extra black pepper. His glistening eyes could not bare to look up. He suddenly turned down to his wine glass. Gustav was at a loss of words. “I… uh..I’m”, he stuttered. “I’m so sorry.” he said with a concerned expression. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Nah, it’s fine” Kent said, with his eyes still fixated on the glass. Gustav hesitantly placed his hand on Kent’s back, to console him. “This must be so weird. We just met-” Kent laughed forcefully. “-and here I am…”
“One Calamari for you!” the bartender interrupted. Kent looked at the dish and smiled, thinking about the way his ex-wife used to make it.
“What happ-” Gustav stopped himself from completing his question. Kent answered anyway. He sighed and said “I was just scared. We were young, she was pregnant and I just wasn’t ready.” Gustav chewed his Calamari quickly and swallowed when he realised it was his turn to speak. “So you left?” Kent looked back at his wine glass and nodded. “Have you spoken to her ever since?”
“Nope. Never spoke to her again.” Kent said. Gustav continued to munch on his Calamari. “I don’t even know if I have a daughter or a son.” Kent took a sip of his wine. “It’s just hard not knowing, you know?” Gustav put his fork down and straightened his back. “Yeah, I do know.” Gustav said with an serious tone. Kent was confused. “What do you mean? he asked.
“You think leaving is hard? No, you made that decision. Imagine being left. That’s what hard.” Gustav said while looking straight into Kent’s eyes with disgust.
“Okay, I have my reason for leav-”
“I’m sure you do.” Gustav interrupted. He asked the bartender to pack his Calamari.
“Look, I was only twenty years old and-”
“How old was your wife? I’m pretty sure raising a kid alone must have been a piece of cake for her!” Gustav said, sarcastically.
“Um, you don’t even know me.” Kent said.
“Great excuse man. BARTENDER! I need my food packed now!” Gustav screamed.
“You look like you’re about twenty years old. Imagine having a freaking child now.”
“Bruh, you’re the one who decided to sleep with her. Don’t assume I can relate to your shit.”
“Don’t talk to me like that!” Kent exclaimed while leaning backwards in shock.
“BARTENDER, WHAT IS TAKING YOU SO LONG?” Gustav screamed.
“You have no idea what I have gone through.” Kent said. “That was the toughest decision of my life. I’m guessing someone in your family walked out on you and I’m sorry, but-”
“Are you? Are you really sorry? You just said we just met. HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE SORRY?” Other people at Campbell Apartments looked at Kent and Gustav awkwardly. Gustav was getting agitated and was looking around frantically trying to find the bartender.
“I’m just saying that I understand what it’s like to have a broken family.” Kent said, calmly.
“Where is the goddamn bartender?” Gustav said, frustrated.
“I was so young. I didn’t want to have to tell my already disappointed father and my mother that I got my girlfriend pregnant. I didn’t want to be judged by everyone.” Kent explained.
“So you let your girlfriend go through all of that.”
“I know I was wrong. I just didn’t know what to do. I thought the only way I could run away from my problems was by literally running away.” Kent said.
“Whatever man” Gustav said, dismissing Kent’s point of view.
“I don’t even know your name and you’re showing me so much attitude.” Kent said in disapproval.
“I don’t even know if I have a child. She could have had an abortion for all I know!” Kent exclaimed, wishing Gustav would understand.
“CALL HER!” Gustav shouted.
“I tried! I don’t know where she lives, I can’t find her on Facebook, Twitter- nothing!” Kent cried. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and said “you wouldn’t understand.” Gustav jumped onto the counter and slid to the other side of it. He stuffed his Calamari into a cardboard box and jumped back onto the counter. He hopped off and grabbed an old wooden suitcase that he left near his seat.
Kent’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Where did you get that from?” he said.
“Home.” Gustav said briefly. He slammed the suitcase on the counter and unlocked it to put the Calamari inside. Kent leaned forward towards the suitcase to look at what was inside. “What the hell is wrong with you?” exclaimed Gustav. He turned his back towards Kent, hiding the suitcase.
“Why are you so mad?” Kent cried.
“Because I didn’t even get to see my dad! I just saw my mom suffer, cry herself to sleep at night, have panic attacks, pray to God everyday because she didn’t know what else to do and then worry about me too.” He had tears in his eyes. He quickly grabbed his Calamari and shoved it in his suitcase. Kent immediately got up and peered over Gustav’s shoulder to see what was in the suitcase. It looked so familiar. It had a wood knot at the top right corner- just like the suitcase he left with his ex-wife. He knew he only had a few seconds to look at Gustav’s suitcase. So he ran his eyes through everything that was inside and froze at one of the shirts. He focused on the tag which read ‘Designed by Kent’. Gustav hastily shut his suitcase close, glared at Kent and stormed off. Kent was left speechless and watched Gustav become smaller and smaller in his eyes as he walked off into Track 23 of Grand Central Station. ‘I don’t even know his name’ he thought.
