We Are Who We Are

We watched the dark man coming into the apartment with a sullen face that can make a tear cry. I imagine him being tall once, but after years of stress pounding him down, he ended up being short with this temper to match. His thick hair is unkempt from the wind trying to style its own way. Hunger eats his body, leaving him skin and bones.

His slams the door, letting his apartment shakes with a warning to all not to mess with him. Times like this are when I wish the sunshine can penetrate his night soul.

“I wonder what got him down this time?” My brother wondered. “Can it be where he has to find food in the trash where no one can see him? Does he have to find another way to take care of his siblings without any help?”

“Why do you ask such questions?” I asked.

“Because I can relate to that. I can relate a lot of things that he’ll never know.

“Everyday I see him suffering. Worry whispers questions in his ear about surviving life. It’s a shame on how God put us on earth to suffer. Everyday, he wishes to die, but afraid on who’s going to take care of his family.”

“That’s pretty deep coming from a roach, but you cannot relate what he’s going through. That man is human and we’re just bugs.”

“We’re all the same on this planet. We’re all species. We just look different, that’s all.”

“Whatever. C’mon, we gotta go get food for the queen.”

The phone rings as soon we’re about to leave. “Wait.” He said. “I want to know who that is.”

“Never realized how nosy you are.”

“I’m going to prove to you my first similarity between him and us.”

The dark man frowns when he picked up the phone. Must be family, a brother I presume. I think he may have a few from the way they come in his apartment with similar features. But then again, my family looks identical except for the queen, who is transparent and fat because she’s constantly hungry from the lost energy of producing eggs.

“What do you mean she’s pregnant again?” He shouts on the phone. He rubs on his head. “I cannot afford to help mama feed another mouth. Do you know who the father is?”

“I feel sorry for him.” I said.

“Ssshhh!” My brother hissed. “I want to hear more.”

“Of course she doesn’t know.” The dark man continued. “That’s how Mama is. Always believing in these lowlife Negroes who have empty dreams. Is that all what she can do? Stay at home and be pregnant all the time? To get the money from hard working people like me, who’s trying to get ahead but can’t because his mother keep having these damn babies like she’s a roach or something?”

“See?” My brother said excitedly. “There’s my first proof. Both of our mothers keep having babies so they can have servants. I told you we’re connected!”

“That was a coincidence. Not all mothers are like that.”

“Please! All mothers expect to have some type of return from their children. A return for giving them life.”

My brother’s theories are nothing more but anger. Where this anger comes from, I don’t know, but maybe it’s because all we do is work and serve. If we step out of bounds, it becomes risky, like we’re not supposed to think otherwise than to work and serve. I think he’s just tired of the routine.

“Look, I’ll prove you another way.” My brother said. “Look at the danger between us and his people. If we’re not too careful, we can disappear out of thin air. We get harassed because of who we are. All we’re trying to do is to survive.”

“You’re talking crazy, like you’re the victim. Look at the environment we live in. Do you think that we should accept this way of living? We get nothing but scraps!”

“Yes, but those scraps help us to keep alive! I too is seeing what is neglect, but is it our fault that we live this way? I blame the ancestors who done nothing more but to be proud of hard work for nothing. For centuries, we work hard for nothing. And then we get blamed on for taking something we think it will help us do better? How can we grab the hope when we have nothing but our dreams? We’ll steal it if we have to and claim it ours.”

“We don’t have a choice when the humans do.”

“Do the humans really have a choice? What if they can’t find their way out? And what about the people who choose not to move out of poverty? You can call them fools for not figuring it out, but I call them warriors for try to survive.”

We watched as the dark man hang up the phone and strolled into the kitchen. Our senses tell us that he’s about to cook, so we crawl over to investigate.

We watched him pulling out a pan. He put some oil in and with movement of his wrist, he spreads the oil until the pan is covered. He cuts the stove on and laid the pan on top of one of the burners. While that heats up, he goes to the refrigerator and pulls out what it look like meat. Then he walked over to the pantry and pull out some white stuff and two small containers.

“It looks like he’s about to fry something.” I said.

“Here’s another proof of my point.” My brother said. “We both know that what he’s about to eat is unhealthy, but it tastes so good! Like ours, his life span will be cut short because of his eating habits. I know you’re thinking, we can change it by eating healthy with vegetables and fruit, but from the way he complains about the food prices, it seems his economy can’t afford it. So, what can a guy to do? He buys the cheap stuff to stay alive. Because of him, we adapt in his diet. I don’t think that I like the taste of fruit, especially anything citrus.”

I give up trying to convince my brother that we do not relate to the man. Still, there’s one more question left in me. “If you can relate to him and his ways, then why don’t you crawl over there so ya’ll can be friends?”

“I think I will!” My brother said excitedly. “I will be the first one who can put bugs and humans together as one.”

We waited until the man becomes settled on the couch. When he turned on the television, my brother crawled over to the table. Without any warning, the man took off his shoe, and quickly smashed my brother flat like a pancake. My brother’s dream of unity is gone and my point became proven.

Another of my siblings crawled next to me sensing that our brother is dead. “What happened?” She asked.

“Nothing.” I replied. “Let’s get some food for the queen.”