Politeness on boundaries

Time has passed by and work has been stealing the most useful part of my day .That period around 2am to 5am when Ideas just flow by like a vehicle with no brake.
I must mention it here that a lot of things have changed between the time of writing the last article and this one (if this one ever qualifies to be called an article). One of such changes inspired this write up but just before then I must mention how much I’ve been concerned about an average teenager nowadays. Its actually a bit of digression but I m appalled by the reduction in their crave for knowledge and their fashion sense. I might not particularly be bothered about their fashion sense because nothing they say is new and I can only imagine what our parents were thinking when putting on some of those things in their ‘Ol-school’ days
Without much desultory of thoughts, let me get back to what brought me here which is one of the changes that has occurred.
After a few days (which actually turned into months ) of squatting on my friend’s couch and getting a good job, I finally got my own place. You know the pride that comes with having a roof over one’s head, yeah!, the one our parents talk about all the time. It came with its own pluses and minuses. Your friends turn your apartment into a Bachelor’s pad and all.
That is still not the issue. Here it is. I’m probably writing this piece under the influence. What influence might it be? Just in the next door in my condominium, is a room occupied by two ladies. I had completely forgotten what shisha looked like but this girls where smoking from nothing less than a 2-stroke engine. Heaven to them is explained as a period when the Air condition has been switched on for about 4 hours, then you switch off the lights and then drag from this chronic machine. Puffing out smoke visible like a Genie about to come out of your mouth in the very cold and dark room, graced with the quality of pin drop silence, it’s like living in between the 2 –poles of the world at the same time. While the environment dictates cold and shudders, the effect of the inhalation simulated a noon period in the tropic environment of Kenya.
You might be wondering where I’m going with this, as a matter of fact, you probably guessed by now that I described that from an experience .Not yet and might not probably get there. One question for thought is this, One minute, I’m in my room reading quietly on my bed, stiffened to one position as I have to use the single thin ray of light from a slit on the window blind, thanks to poor electricity problem in the country, and the next few minutes that follow, I m behaving erratically, arranging, disarranging and then rearranging all of a sudden, Picking up and dropping all what ought and ought-not’s. What could be wrong? What could be the causal effect? I then did the job of careful observation of the period of time for this occurrence. So 8pm in the evening this particular day, I decided to turn on my bed and make a few calls to my friends.
There was no electricity supply as usual and just like some Aladdin effect, I saw something tangible making its way through that tiny line of space in between the door and the floor. It was a little dark but it appeared like it had some phosphorescent effect with it. Dissolving into my room was this soft wood-shavings brown colour smoke, just making itself comfortable by finding some space for itself as if it was licensed and authorised to do so. As it gradually found its way closer to my face, I still could not make anything of this effect; the closest I came was a lady applying foundation who had just clapped her hands together getting ready to apply some brown powder of some sort. But then I finally perceived the assumed powder and it occurred to me it was the same smell that I usually perceive around that time of the day come from Eucharia and Judith’s room, the same ladies I mentioned about earlier. I had got so used to the smell it dint make any difference to me , it dint occur like anything special, just thought it to be result of some daily factory process being blown towards my direction because no one dictates or opposes the direction of the wind at any time .



Then the next few minutes had me getting erratic as usual. So naive I was still in doubt if inhaled smoke was enough to get me high. Since the highest point of concentration is the source in the stages of diffusion and the air gets lighter as the smoke diffuses outwards, I could only imagine what it was the ladies were taking in. I was still thinking bout all this when I heard a knock on my door. Here was one of the aforementioned girls asking me if I could join them for some ‘high moment’. What happened afterwards is still a function of mental imagery but I woke up the next morning lying on the floor of my bed room. How I got there, I don’t know and how I managed to get there without taking the final and completing negligible effort of getting into bed remains a puzzle as well.
After this event, I knew certain boundaries were not to be crossed. Not all invitations deserve a polite response. Some need to be attended to with immediate dispersal. I learnt mine and survived it , it just might not be for someone else.