Different Worlds
"YOU GO WORK NOW?" he asked me, somewhat worried.
"NO. HOME." I answered.
"WHEN YOU COME BACK?"
"SOON" I didn't know the answer for that question, and I didn't want to give any further explanation.
"BYE"
"BYE".
The sun was very bright that day, and I had to walk a long way until I could reach the rodoviária and take my bus home. Normally I would cover the three or four miles walking in fast pace, but I was walking normally that day; I was going home.
The first time I met Carlos he was having problems to order food at a fast-food restaurant at a big shopping mall during lunch time. I noticed that the woman at the ordering station was having problems to understand what he was speaking, and also that he was having problems to speak. I watched his movements for a while, then approached and said to the girl "He wants two double cheese burgers and a small order of french-fries." We became friends after that.
Yesterday we were at a party. It is really interesting how people like him manage to dance: They feel the music; they let it control – truly control; they submerge into the flow of the songs... I wish I could do the same, but people like me don't know how to use our senses properly. We arrived late and soon he found a girl. Fifteen minutes later he brought her at me.
"NAME SHE?" he asked me.
"What's your name?" I asked her.
"Dany"
Carlos was looking at me anxiously. "D-A-N-Y", I repeated to him. He said nothing and took the girl away to resume whatever they were doing.
I was dancing with a beautiful and interesting girl when he poked me in the back. He had a different girl and asked her name. I repeated the process and he went back to the dance floor. I resumed dancing.
By the fifth time he asked a girl's name I couldn't continue.
"CAN YOU STOP INTERRUPTING?" I said, expressing myself very angrily.
"I NEED KNOW HER NAME!"
"THEN YOU ASK!"
"YOU KNOW I CAN NOT"
"SO DO NOT ASK." I turned back to the beautiful - and patient - girl. He pushed me.
"WHAT WRONG?"
"I TIRED YOU INTERRUPTING!"
"YOU DRINK MUCH?" Carlos asked, expressing a funny-like expression.
"I DRINK MUCH, BUT NO RELATION." My answer made him confused. "STOP ASKING NAMES. USE YOUR CELLPHONE. TYPE QUESTIONS."
"I UNDERSTAND NOW." He started walking. "YOU TIRED BE TRANSLATOR."
"YEP."
"FINE." He went to the lobby of the club.
"What happened?" both girls asked.
"He wants me to translate everything."
"I think you hurt him. Go there and talk to him." She said, leaving me. "I'll take something to drink."
I was also hurt, but I knew Carlos would be worse. I followed him.
"SORRY." I said when he saw me.
"OK. YOU RIGHT."
"NO. I CAN HELP YOU."
"CAN YOU BRING SOUND INTO MY HEAD?"
I said nothing.
"PROBLEM NOT YOU. PROBLEM ME. ME NO LISTEN. DIFFERENT WORLD. DIFFERENT LIVES."
We decided to leave. I went back to the dance floor and asked both girls their names and cell phones. We took a taxi to his building downtown and we did not talk on our way back. When I woke up today, he wasn't awake and I left a message with the girl's information on the table. Without will to work, I opened the door of the small apartment. He appeared at his room's door.
"YOU OK?"
"DIFFERENT WORLDS". I said before leaving the apartment.
