A Roof, a Lockdown, and an Ultimatum: Lockdown in Morocco - Part 2

Things did not work out for the Canadian and me. 

(Note: I refer to him as "the Canadian" not for any reason to belittle but out of requested anonymity.)

     In short, we were vastly different people on our own paths pursuing very different goals. If there were ever two people who stood in each other's way simply by doing their own lives, it was us. 

    One might wonder just how we were standing in each other’s way during a global lockdown. Well, I’d found out that he was “staying below the radar”, quite vehemently, due to his legal status in the country. I, well I….. was a budding YouTube star taking full advantage of this historical event! I wanted the world he was hiding from to see me in all my glory! But, I wasn’t about to hand the guy over to the government after the part he played in securing a safe haven. 

We eventually agreed that each would do their own thing alone…problem solved, right? Wrong. We only had one key to the apartment and nothing was open to get a spare. The complications compounded daily.

    Could either of us point a finger at the other for complicating everything in our own lives ? Were we both easy targets for slander? Of course. But instead, we chose the high road and decided one of us should leave before things had gone too far to repair. But who? Which of us would take on the daunting task of repeating the hell we'd already faced? Don't ever think he and I casually flipped a coin. No. We both invested equally substantial efforts to get us this far and neither were going down without a fight...or at least a heated argument. Even at this point, we had agreed to strongly disagree. 

A week prior-

     As the evening hours grew later and the vibrant but dark orange sunlight striped the kitchen wall through the window, the Canadian and I realized that we were getting nowhere in our dispute over the key to the kingdom, and we still needed to eat. Dinner was an agreed mutual effort and given our unsettled state, this seemed like the perfect passing of time and opportunity to keep the last shred of peace we had between us. Changing the subject and working together was something I believed we both preferred rather than face the reality that each of us was seeking to kick the other out for the benefit of our own progress. 

    After dinner and conversation about anything but the proverbial elephant in the room, the real awkwardness set in and quickly we found ourselves in separate rooms pretending we weren't avoiding each other. My mind was racing, trying to plot my next angle to win this battle. 

“This place is mine.” I told myself. “I paid for it.” 

    Forget that I would've never found it without him. (I trust you can derive that as the nature of our discourse.) I couldn't believe it had come to this and so quickly after overcoming a seemingly impossible feat to land a roof over our heads. My confidence in "winning this place" wasn't on a level to let me settle in for the night and get some rest for the anticipated long day ahead. There were details to this story that had my imagination kicked into overdrive pondering the possible outcomes. I was worried this would get much worse before reaching any resolve. The question wasn't so much about why it was coming to this, but moreover, the swiftness - the timing. How could something this divisive, this impactful, happen so quickly - now? Eventually, the anxiety wore me down and sleep overcame me. 

    Right on schedule, the first call to prayer of the day pierced through the closed window of the bedroom and abruptly brought me back to the land of the living. First light was still nothing more than a dim pale blue reminder that my long day was on its way. My first thought was coffee. Though it was just the instant stuff, I was eager to make it. 

    I sat with my cup of Nescafe trying to simultaneously stimulate my brain and calm my mind. I knew I needed to get up and at 'em but also cooler heads prevail. I had some thinking to do, and I was at a complete loss. I couldn't ignore the shock of such a quick turn of events, as if we did all this for absolutely nothing. I couldn't understand at the time that it was just a step in the process and to sit tight for just almost a literal second. All the emotions from last night had just returned to me like the demons of a recovering addict. I knew something had to give in my favor and soon.

Ding. My phone lights up with a notification.