2 The Big City

"Damn this traffic is long." I thought to myself as I'm at a complete stop on the highway. I am currently driving to my new apartment in Toronto to pick up my key from the landlady, I'm driving from my hometown Amherstburg in my beat-up red 2000 Hyundai Sonata.

It was meant to be a 4-hour drive but it's already been 4 and a half and I'm only just outside of Toronto. Thankfully my new landlady was understanding when I texted her about my situation and I don't start work as a bartender until 2 weeks from now.

Finally, after another half hour, I made it to my apartment however it seems I misunderstood the advertisement as I'm not renting a full apartment but this woman's basement in Moss park. "Wow $900 for a shitty basement, no I can't think like that I'm sure things will get better I just have to work hard and persevere," I thought to myself as I signed the lease.

"Here is your key and if you have any issues feel free to text me!" exclaimed Jessica, my new landlord, before she left me alone in my basement.

The atmosphere of my new place felt eerie I've never lived alone before and now I have a small bedroom and a kitchen area all to myself. "Huh, maybe I'll get a cat so I don't get lonely. It worked for Oscar when he moved away from his parents so it might work for me". I said as I looked into the mirror and observed myself.

I'm a 5'6" slightly athletic man with a bronze completion, dark chocolate brown eyes and curly black hair showing my Middle Eastern blood. I have a goatee and was wearing black jeans, a grey turtleneck along with a pair of glasses, as you can see my colour pallet is extremely diverse.

The next week and a half days past in a blur with me furnishing my apartment and buying groceries, it cost a lot more than I expected I was lucky enough that my parents taught me to put away a quarter of every cheque in a savings account or else I would not have been able to afford everything

"Wow living in this city is a lot more expensive than I anticipated, will I be able to make ends meet I only make 10 dollars an hour? No! I can't think like that I'm sure I can make enough money in tips" I say to my friend Oscar over the phone

"Haha you really like to gamble with your life don't you Mohamad" He replied with a laugh.

"I guess you can say I enjoy the thrill of it" I reply with a smirk. Growing up I always enjoyed gambling it started with minor things like flipping a coin when deciding what to eat but later on it progressed to me taking more and more risks. There was a time when I knew making a turn while driving was risky yet I made the decision to make the turn anyway for the thrill of it I do my best to keep myself from getting too out of hand but sometimes the temptation is too much.

After a couple of hours of chatting and catching up with Oscar, I end up going on a late-night walk around Toronto listening to music. The weather was a cool 13 degrees outside, and the moon shined brightly in the clear dark Skye. The wind felt soothing blowing across my skin as I walked. The conditions helped clear my head as I traversed the streets of Toronto. After walking for an hour getting lost in my head, I suddenly feel an impact in my chest!

"Ow sorry for bumping into you like that" I heard I look forward and see a 5'5" lady with black hair, Carmel brown eyes and a bronzed complexion.

"No worries, I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking" I replied.

"Haha you got something on your mind?" my late-night acquaintance asked

"Ya actually I've been going through a rough time lately" I answered

"Well, then how about I join you on your walk as you tell me about it" She said in a kind tone of voice.

I don't know if it was her bubbly demeanour or her charming looks, but I ended up venting about my frustrations to her. I spoke about how difficult it is to move to a whole new city where you know nobody, about how I hate the fact that my best friends and I contact each other less and less every day and that were drifting apart, I spoke about how nothing is going how I planned it and staying in a positive mindset is getting harder and harder every day.

"Wow, you've had it rough this past couple of days huh" She said sympathetically.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have dumped all my problems on a complete stranger haha" I say with a slight chuckle as I scratch the back of my head.

"No problem! If anything, your honesty and openness is completely refreshing to me, wait a sec I haven't introduced myself, have I?" she exclaimed while spreading her arms dramatically as if it was a really big deal.

"I'm Maria Rios" she introduced herself with a smile on her face and a over exaggerated bow as if she was a actor who just finished a show.

"I'm Mohamad Maqamir" I said also with a smile on my face.

After I vented to her we chose to chat about the simple things such as what our hobbies are or what school we attended when we were younger. "Maybe, just maybe I found my first friend in this big city!" I thought to myself. I've enjoyed myself immensely walking and talking to Maria for the past hour.

"Well Mohamad it is getting pretty late and I have to be home soon, it was nice meeting you!" She said with a sparkle in her eye

"It was nice meeting you Maria, how about we exchange numbers before we part ways? I asked hopefully as she seemed like a really nice person

"Sure" Maria said as she gave me her number so we could stay in contact with each other.

"Hopefully we will have time to hang out again soon" I thought to myself while we parted ways.

That very night I went to bed feeling lighter than I had in the past two weeks, venting to Maria has taken a load off my shoulders that I didn't even know were there.

But while meeting her brushed away some of my stress and loneness being alone in my eerie bedroom made me feel anxious everywhere I looked there were shadows dancing in the corner of my vision and the creaking of the aged building made me feel as someone or something was in here with me.

The only other sound is the occasional muffled screaming of sirens outside adding to my anxiety. However, I knew I could not allow myself to stay up too late I had to do something to alleviate my fears so I can go to bed or I will be too tired the very next morning. I turned on my television and played an episode of Naruto on Netflix. I grew up watching Naruto and just hearing the show in the background gives me a confidence boost along with the light of the TV warding away the darkness.

Before I went to sleep, I started to think about the next morning because that is when I have my first shift at the Abschaum Casino. It's a shady small casino in a dirty ally way by parry wings park. I found the job on craigslist and while it wasn't my preferred choice it was the only one available to me at the time. The only other job I had was as a baker being paid under the table with cash, so I didn't have enough job experience to qualify for any better place.

Still, it's not too bad of a gig, a co-worker named Dawson got my number from our employer and reached out to me, he said he wanted to give the newbie some advice before I came in. He told me that the job will be safe as long as I follow the "3 Cardinal rules" as he likes to call them.

The first rule was to keep your eyes down, you didn't see anything and if you did then make sure to forget about it, the second rule was to keep your head down nobody there is your friend so anything that happens is none of your business and finally and most importantly the third rule is to keep your personal life and your work life separate don't even use your real name while introducing yourself to customers. "trust me you don't want any of the scum that frequent this place knowing anything about you" I recall Dawson telling me.

I finally felt my thoughts getting more muddled up and my consciousness drifting away. "Today was a great day!" I thought to myself with a happy and relaxed smile as I finally allowed the darkness to overtake my consciousness