Manny and I had been friends for years, going out about once a month whenever we both found ourselves single at the same time. When he had told me about his friend George and his idea to bring together the 6 of us under one roof, I instantly knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I always knew Manny to be a bit more impulsive than me, but it wasn’t until I lived with him that I discovered that he was a veritable fire in human form.
El Fuego Rojo. His appearance matched his personality to a tee. Long, curly, perpetually disheveled hair; a habitually unshaven face; and a characteristic red button-down shirt to match the scarlet-painted walls of his bedroom. Manny was very good at starting things, but not always the best at finishing. We sometimes argued over the sheer number of tasks that he left unfinished, everything from washing the dishes to editing our home videos. By contrast, I never had much trouble with follow-through because of my perfectionism, but I lacked his initiative. We had a great working relationship. Manny created the spark, and I kept pouring on the fuel. Picking his brain often proved fruitless as he would just tell me, “Who cares? Just do it.” I used to wonder if he just didn’t care to put much thought into helping me, or if that was really the way in which he thought about most things.
*****
Over a year has gone by and so much has changed. George divides his time between his girlfriend and his career. Jake spends his days either animating or going out on dates. Our weekly house meetings have become just occasional conversations between either me and Brady or me and Manny, but never are the 2 of them in the same room at the same time. Apparently, water and fire don’t mix. I invest the bulk of my time on my friendships with each of them as they have become my closest friends.
It’s Sunday. Manny and I are in the living room sitting across from each other discussing our long-term goals.
“I have this idea,” I start.
“What is it, brother?” Manny asks.
“I want to write a book.”
“What about?”
“Well, have you ever watched the movie X-men? Or seen the cartoon?” I ask.
“Yeah, I used to watch the cartoon when I was a kid. Jean Grey is hot. I like the red hair.”
“Hahaha, she is. I dunno, I always had a thing for Mystique, but anyway…”
He laughs. “Ok, go on.”
“Did you ever wonder why a story like that appeals to so many people? I mean, think about it. It’s about a marginalized group of mutants with superpowers.”
“Okay…”
“I mean, think about it. Why? That means, deep down, there must be a lot of people out there who feel marginalized, or even just ‘different’ somehow. It’s almost like how we used to feel left out in high school.”
He laughs. “Hey, leave me out of this!”
“Ok, ok. But consider this. We’re like the United Nations in this house, all of us are different minorities.”
He laughs. “Except Brady,” he quips. “He’s just a white Anglo-American dude.”
“Well, in a house of minorities, Brady is the minority.”
“That’s true,” he concedes.
“But beyond that, there are also religious minorities, cultural minorities, etcetera. You have artists, and Goths, and vegans, and so forth. Many people actually have claims to being a minority in some way.”
“That’s interesting. I never thought about it that way. So where is this going?” he asks.
“Well, apparently a lot of people would consider themselves a ‘mutant’ in some way. I can’t give them a superpower, but I could empower them by sharing the lessons I’ve learned, kinda like how we’ve empowered each other over the past year and a half.”
“Write it.” He enjoins. “That’s a great idea.”
“Yeah, except I’m too scared.”
“Of what?”
“It’s such a monstrous undertaking. Write a book? The last time I ever wrote anything creatively was back during my first year of college.”
“So start small. Why don’t you start a blog?”
“I…”
He cuts me off. “Who cares? Just do it. Stop thinking so much. Life is short.”
Manny gets up to leave.
“Wait, aren’t you going to tell me about your next goal?” I call out after him.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he replies as he leaves the living room. As he walks out, Brady comes in and plops down on his green couch.
“Hey, I could hear you guys talking about me from down the hall.” He continues, “I disagree. You guys are still the minorities. I’m the majority.”
“Hahaha, tell that to the others.”
“Nooo, I don’t want to,” he says.
We both laugh.
*****
That was the day I wrote my first page. It took me another year before I had the courage to finally post it online, but that conversation was the start of it all. If you want to know what happened to Manny, true to form, he announced that he was moving out suddenly and without warning the following month. When I asked him where he was going, his answer was simply, “Oktoberfest.”
Life is short. There never really is a good time to do anything. So as Manny likes to say, “Who cares? Just do it.”
– – – – –
Posts in this series:
Part 1 – Lightning Strikes Thrice
Part 2 – Green Waters Flow Westward
Part 3 – The Immovable Earth
Part 4 – El Fuego Rojo
Part 5 – Darkness is But the Absence of Light
Part 6 – The Traveler
Choose to Take the Journey 
Every big step starts small. I like it.
:)