I turned my head to see a teen about my height, slightly fairer-skinned but overall dark.
"Kelly! What's popping, my man?"
I dap him up; the clap echoed down the hallway.
"Nothing, bro. I'm just cruising. I've just written a draft for a new book and you've got to check it out."
Kelly was an aspiring author. We all were, really. Lost in other people's worlds so often we wanted to build our own. Ben had walked that road the longest among us, guiding me and, eventually, Kelly onto it.
"Definitely. I'm working on one myself. Both of us could use the advice."
"Hey, don't forget about me." Ben joined in.
As we bantered, Ben though clearly invested, gave in to the protests of his stomach.
"You guys go on with the discussion. I'm hungry. I'm doing some gari soakings."
Kelly's head snapped in Benjamin's direction the moment the sacred words were uttered.
"Ben, you are the greatest!"
Kelly patted Ben on the shoulder with a suspicious amount of force and a smile so bright even a social hermit could tell what he wanted.
"Fine. I suppose there's room for one more mouth."
Ben rolled his eyes at Kelly's obvious hint.
"Many thanks, senior. This junior is truly indebted to you." Kelly added a mock bow to spice up the wuxia atmosphere. Ben, for his part, began stroking his near-nonexistent beard like a 'distinguished' elder.
"Forget it. This venerable one will give face this once."
My chest tightened and I quivered, struggling to stifle my laughter at their theatrics.
In our room, Kelly and Ben were sitting on the cold tiled floor, ingredients scattered around and a comically large bowl in the middle as they prepared the sacred delicacy. Ben unscrewed his container and poured a generous helping of gari of cassava flakes, if you prefer. Kelly added two spoonfuls of sugar, stingy until Benjamin scolded him into adding a couple more.
Much to my shock, they'd even prepared the most optional of ingredients, groundnuts. I was certain it was going to be a dish for the ages, until I realized, after acquiring that mythical ingredient with much difficulty, they had forgotten a rather fundamental component: milk. We all palm-faced at the amateur mistake.
"Padi, please tell us you have milk, right?"
Fortunately, the heavens were smiling on us that day and I happened to have a tin of unadulterated milk. I tossed the can to them and the ritual proceeded.
After adding more than half the can, which they were very reluctant to part with, and some water, the swirling, creamy mixture was complete. They took a few sips and nodded in satisfied agreement.
Though it was tempting, I resolved to buy a proper meal later that evening.
"Yoo, let me get in on that, man."
A shadow fell across the floor as a hand pushed open the door. When Benjamin and Kelly saw the face, their expressions soured considerably.
"Archimedes, clear off from there."
The tiny titan among us, only slightly shorter than Kelly and me, was Archimedes. The reason Ben and Kelly were displeased at his arrival was obvious: his uninvited spoon dove straight into their bowl.
"Just one spoon, eh? Just a single one, man."
When Archimedes said one spoon, it usually ended with at least three. Of course the rest of us were equally guilty of parasitizing each other's food, but Archimedes still reigned supreme in the art.
"Archimedes, I'm warning you. Grab your spoon and teleport out this instant. How is four spoons not enough for you?!" Ben yelled, irritation plain in his voice, pointing his spoon accusingly at the persistent intruder. A milk moustache above his lip gave him a faint resemblance to a pompous elder.
It didn't faze Archimedes. He dared another spoonful before bolting for the door, much to Kelly's annoyance.
"When you come back we'll see whether you sleep tonight," they shouted bitterly before resolving to finish their precious food should that devil decide to return.
I found the whole scene comical, but I was absorbed in an online novel on my phone. A Regressor's Tale of Cultivation suited me perfectly; I read it daily and kept getting lost in its world and dwellers.
Unfortunately, time is a scoundrel when you're having fun. Sneaking away, turning the hands of the clock faster just to ruin your mood and blurring the line between fiction and reality.
It was already 7:00 p.m. I lay on my bed, pondering how to inject novelty into the evening, when Kelly offered a timely suggestion.
"Ben and I are heading to the arcade to game. Wanna come?"
"What about Archimedes?"
"If I so much as see that rascal's shadow, I'll..." Ben started, his fist shaking in the air with indignation.
"Alright, alright. Guess it's just us three then."
My lips curled into a grin. I welcomed the break from the unceasing echo of routine. A small deviation that promised a good night.