Saturday, 10th April, 2021.

Sunlight glaring from the window, slowly creeping up towards a thin black haired man in his early twenties. A small fly buzzes around the room from the open window slowly landing on the man's unkempt face as he breathes out with slow consistent rhythms. Feeling ticklish around his forehead, Mateo slaps his head out of instinct, quickly waking himself up. "Fuck sake, fuck summer and fuck this DAMNED fly". The fly on the other hand was too quick for the stick man as it evades the hand slap with ease as it resumes buzzing around the hot humid room before settling on a rather interesting sock at the corner of the small apartment.

Mateo checks his phone, it's 12:34pm on a hot Saturday afternoon. He clears his eyes and reads the only text message present on his lock screen, "I sent you a deposit of $300 for this month, check your bank balance and don't forget to pay your rent fees - Mom". Feeling somewhat happy that his parent still sends him money after he left his home for college 2 years ago, he texts back "Thanks mom, I'll check later and don't worry I'll pay Mr. Hopkins today". Putting down his phone, Mateo gets up and stretches his limbs, shaking them uncontrollably like one of those blow up stickmen flailing in the air at a local garage or petrol station, its a rather pleasant feeling stretching oneself after a tiring night. This was a routine thing that Mateo underwent everytime he got up from bed like a morning ritual. Looking around the room all he could see was a mess. This was an undeserved understatement since there were used bottles, empty cup noodles, empty packets of various snacks strewn all over the floor and tables in the compact room. It was a mess but for Mateo it was a safe haven, a man cave more like.

Walking towards the kitchen muddled as he barely misses stepping on a half empty cup of unknown substance probably mixed liquor, missing it by just an inch. He grabs the only 'clean' bowl present on the kitchen table and fills it up with his favourite cereal that was half-spilled on the kitchen counter-top before filling it up with a near expired milk from the musty fridge. He sits down on an old wooden chair barely breaking it as it rocks back and forth like a pained old man screeching for its dear life. Before he devours his favourite meal, Mateo whips out his phone and plays the most recent Widemen video, it was a group of English knobs known as Utubers doing various skits for shits and laughs, this was a nice way of relaxing his bones as he munches on the crunchy flakes. He does this entire process like a trained professional and in fact he does this routine nearly every single day before going for work in downtown Chicago. A measly 2-10pm shift in a local "11/7" shop, which pays for $14 an hour, barely providing for his college semester and daily needs. Mateo had to adapt once he left the protection of his mother, he quickly found out about the importance of a stable income after a couple of ups and downs. There were times where he had to rely on his friends generosity in times of debt even though he was being supplied with $300 each month by his mother. He figured it was time to 'man-up' so he took it upon himself and went out on a job-seeking campaign until he narrowly gained a job at a local shop.

After a quick shower, Mateo packed his stuff up in a ripped Ididas bag and walked out the door. Sun still glaring in his deep dark eyes, he put on his headphones and played Dreams by Feetwould Mac, a great song, he was always proud of his taste in music although his wild friends would disagree, they would rather listen to Skittles, the rap god. To be perfectly honest, Mateo was an all round listener, he liked a wide variety of genres. Placing his phone in the pocket of his jacket, he descended the rusty stairs and started his journey to his workplace. Mateo was lucky enough to secure a place near his college and workplace, a close 20 minute walk from the nearby 11/7 shop. On the way to his destination, he opens up his bank app to see a balance of $4,421.08 , not bad for an unkempt 21 year old college boy but not enough for all the pleasures he wishes to have. He could use a bit of money on a brand new PC, his old one was on its last few breaths, he could also use a brand new bag since a ripped one wasn't ideal, nonetheless he is an avid believer in using an object until it breaks apart.

Roughly 20 minutes later, Mateo opens the backdoor to his workplace but before he does so he is surprised with an ear piercing scream as he walks in. "Godamnit, my fucking hand", Mateo sees what can only be described as a mad gorilla jumping up and down screaming it's head off as it clutches his left hand swollen from a dropped hammer, the corners of his mouth raised when he witnessed this whole fiasco. This "gorilla" was his dear friend John Cena, Mateo's childhood friend since the age of 7. They went to the same college together out of convenience and because both of their courses were available in the same college. John took civil engineering while Mateo studied Forensics.

"Alright calm your ass down John and where the hell did you even get that hammer from?", Looking behind him, the brown-haired man said with teary eyes, "The old man wanted me to fix the cooler, and I found this hammer on the top shelf but i 'slipped' before catching it with the back of my hand". Mateo chuckled at the visual imagery his dear friend just described, "You know, coming from a former state wrestling champion, you sure do have some greasy ass butterfingers, keep it down or that old man will find enough reason to fire both of us". John scrunched up his face when he heard that, it made him depressed, it wasn't his fault having being born with smooth hands.

"You're right, but fuck does my hand hurt, I think I'll call it a day. The cooler can wait tomorrow, my shifts over anyway". John works from 6am-2pm, which is impossible for Mateos as he is a nightowl through and through, he could never picture himself waking up as early as 5am to prepare for work, not a chance! "Alright man, I'll catch up with you later, by the way are you still going with me tomorrow?", Mateo and John were planning on catching up with their old high school buddies in a chain drinking session. "I don't know man, my hands pretty messed up, I'll check in with you tonight, I still have to convince Jane as well". Jane was Johns girlfriend although a little too clingy in his opinion, Mateo could barely withstand that stubborn woman, to this day he still didn't know how John could tolerate her, maybe she was too good in bed?. "Take care and don't forget to buy a little something for the boys", Johns big ears twitched at the last sentence, "Piss off Mateo you know I'm broke". Mateo couldn't help but retort "Says the guy that has loaded parents" he said that quite convincingly since John's parents were indeed big timers in the corporate realm, John simply didn't bother with his friends banter and so he leaves the building still clutching his left hand.