Housewarming Visit at Imad’s Flat (Part 4)

Finding Imad’s Place

Getting back now to my chronology, I am up to the point on Tuesday where I have finished work, caught my train and reached Campbelltown Station. As I prepped up to catch my bus back home I was thinking about my promise to head to Imad’s new premises at the flats. Implanted firmly in my abiding mind I did jump off at Bradbury shops and in the darkly inklings of the night I did walk posthaste.

Unsure on where his unit would be I trekked past each block until finally I found his block to be at the back. Using common sense in the dark hallways, I figured that if his block was the first one then, he would obviously be the first door on the bottom floor. Hoping that this would be so I could hardly see the numbers past the screen door but I was certain to my hunch that this would indeed be Imad’s future bachelor house and a big step into a new life.

Anticipating Imad’s face, as the door swung open it was him alright but he looked so different. With his short fringed hair and a clean cut goatee and moustache he almost looked Macedonian or on the lines of Greek. Don’t forget though, Imad is half Yugoslavian but he tends to dominate more with his Lebanese side by dressing himself more for that part. Nevertheless, Imad is granted with the ability as not to be so pretentious as a full blooded Lebanese would and that’s what separates his indifferences with himself and Naqi.

Welcoming me into his house I sat myself down upon one of his lounges, kindly given to him by his sister. The television unit was in front of us and the lounges were slightly on an angle to each other, almost perpendicular to the wall that held the television but in a slight V shape towards the television. This little difference made me think that Imad was really taking his moving out seriously and as I would with new premises, he placed as much of his personal touch as possible.

The Grand Tour

Once we both got settled down I asked Imad to just show me around his house and in his sarcasm he pointed out his house, being derisive of himself but also making it seem like he was proud of his house. In his witticism, Imad made his house seem bigger than it was as he showed me his bathroom, the kitchen, his spare room and his own room. As he took me around his small humble abode I commented on the mirror paned wall so that when you were in the kitchen you could see yourself.

In the bathroom I thought to comment about his bathtub that also had a shower feature to it. Imad’s spare room had been left untouched as he noted that the room stunk when first he arrived. Showing me his own bedroom all that ornamented the room was a mattress and bed frames not yet set up. Imad had to borrow a couple of items from his sister but as we sat back down on the couch I made it perfectly clear that Imad could borrow anything from me.

“If you’re ever falling back on rent, come to me, I’ll help you out because we’re blood” I promised to a thankful and respectful friend. “Next time I come here to visit I’ll bring you a house warming gift” I noted and taking humor into his hands he replied “The only house warming gift I want is two woman attached to your hands”. Well, I’m not sure if that’s ever going to be possible but I’ll bring Imad some sort of house warming gift when next I see him.

Playstation and Gossip

When we finally sat down to enjoy our company Imad thought to put on his Playstation, his lifesaver from daily boredom. As we began to play some games on his Playstation it seemed to be a golden time of catching up. In this conversation I found out things that I already knew and others which made me more content with my sinister wishes against Naqi ever getting ahead in life. Renewing his vow that he still doesn’t speak to Naqi anymore, he remarked on how Naqi did come and see him on the weekend.

Imad wasn’t too happy about his little errant behavior of sympathy but as they got to talking Naqi explained with much pride how he had spent a whole night only with Lyssa. Imad thought I was obviously completely oblivious to this event in their lives but with each word, I knew what the end result would be. However, as Imad kept talking of how Naqi went out with Lyssa on Friday night and had a really good time he was completely oblivious to the fact that Naqi and Penelope had broken up resultant to that. Abiding by Lyssa’s wishes I decided not to tell Imad anything about the breakup, he would find out in time.

From this little compliment to my knowledge, Imad thought to comment that Naqi was smoking pot that night, as I already knew from Lyssa. However, Lyssa failed to note that Naqi was also on the goey, speed I think it. This startled me somewhat as I was taken by surprise but now that I think about it, I recall faintly Lyssa revealing something like that to me in the past. Imad as his usual skeptical self also put up the notion that Lyssa could actually be smoking pot or whatever else Naqi is having.

Not actually bringing that into the equation he noted how Lyssa always goes out with Naqi and Penelope so obviously, the chance of pressure might be there. Nevertheless, Lyssa pledges to me that she doesn’t touch any of the stuff apart from smokes and despite my sounding naïve after one year of being broken up, I believe her. Imad also thought to note his suspicion that Naqi could have gotten onto Lyssa or tried to at some stage in their existence.

This he believes because Naqi used to treat Lyssa like shit and despise her when she came out with the both of them. Through the passage of these last months Imad told me that he has seen a change in him. Nowadays Naqi has changed his tune about Lyssa almost over night and in which he used to be a prick, he’s now being unusually nice. The suspicion came into play when Imad (Through his being around the two of them more than I) thought that Naqi could have tried getting onto Lyssa one day in which she rejected him.

Imad couldn’t understand how Naqi could have turned pleasant all of a sudden and his only rational explanation was that he tried something with Lyssa and got rejected. To him, that would explain his pleasant attitude towards Lyssa as they would both be feeling weird with such a secret on their shoulders and being in front of Penelope all the time. Imad’s hunch does have some viability behind it but I don’t think Naqi tried something on Lyssa, he just realized he couldn’t.

There might have came a night when Naqi got drunk as well as Lyssa and the both of them were left alone for a while but in those moments the both of them went all weird. They would have kept their distances and from that experience of lust between them he would have changed his perceptive ways of Lyssa, no longer treating her mean.

Reading Between the Lines

Spinning off from this topic, it sounded like Imad was trying to have me read between the lines. Somehow, Imad was trying to give me a selective hint in his words portrayed, something he wasn’t allowed to tell me. It wouldn’t have been any knowledge of Naqi trying something on Lyssa but as I delved into my next near-topic I think myself to have stumbled upon it.

Not too certain how we started upon this topic but I do remember Imad and I getting into a debate about how Naqi could have fucked some other girl. I think I said “Lyssa would have just been like that little slut he done ages ago but just way out of his league and classier than such a tramp”. From this stemmed Imad’s query on how he thought Naqi could have slept with someone since then, it was feasible.

Deceptive as I was I convincingly noted that I heard of Naqi getting onto some girl some months ago and as Imad asked “Who was it then” it seemed as if Imad was probing to see if my truth would match his truth. From this point on I gathered that Imad was hiding something in which he either knew of a time where Naqi cheated on Penelope again or he knew of Naqi’s intentions to barter such crimes.

Imad didn’t look like yielding information as I feigned a time and place where Naqi could have done such a deed. “That doesn’t sound right to me” Imad noted, making me believe all the more that he was hiding something. When approaching Imad for the truth he noted “It’s not my place to say” but in the end Imad turned around to say that he had suspicions and a hunch that Naqi could have done something but it wasn’t his place to start spreading rumors.

Naqi seemed to be the embroidery and basis of our conversation and mostly anything stemmed back to him. Imad brought out my complacency when he noted that no one liked or even respected Naqi anymore. As is, everyone has grown up and Naqi’s still being the baby I knew two years ago. The main problem of Naqi’s is that he continually spins up bullshit to better himself amongst his friends and they’ve all gotten to the point where it’s time for him to prove some of his boastful exploits.

Everyone is sick of Naqi putting everyone else down, that’s why Imad partly moved out and that’s why Martin or anyone else in that group no longer feel the desire to be associated with him. Naqi to everyone is just a loser, made such by his boastful tendencies and the pleasure he derives from such insatiable complacency. “The drugs have fucked him up” Imad snouted, “He’s now worse for wear”.

Credit Cards and Chips

As we ate chips whilst playing his Playstation he also noted about his financial status. “I’ve now got a Credit Card” he plainly noted grabbing the controls from my hand. “I’ve actually got two Credit Cards, both of them from the Commonwealth Bank”. This to me sounded like a great idea, both a Master Card and Visa Card from Commonwealth Bank with a $1000 limit on each. This money was in turn to pay for bond and to get himself started living in his new residence.

Through some more chit chat, Imad hinted how he would be interested in heading to a place like Chevy’s or some nightclub. Imad has probably only been clubbing once or twice and I say this because the viable option of his never having been is too much of a purity for the hardened Imad. That would be something, Imad going to a nightclub but I feel that he would be just a touch over Jett’s hopeful attempt at fitting in when we headed to Parramatta Leagues Club.

Imad and I had a great hour or more of quality time together. Arriving at his house around 6:45 p.m. I didn’t decide to leave his polite company until 8:30 p.m. The thought of chronology was looming on my mind and with a promise kept and kempt to conversation I farewelled him in our handshake and headed home. How great it is, these secret handshakes, this alphabet I’ve created ere my memoirs time, these little enigmatic principles created in our younger days. How great is older life when younger principles are permitted. I might not be playing in the sandpit anymore but I still have my favored greetings and rudimentary language.