As of late, I have been spending an inordinate amount of time at the garden patio of my cousin Benjamin. As if all roads led to his home, I've ended most of my days this past couple of weeks slouched lazily on his sofas. Not that I'm alone in this, our other cousin Mario is another familiar face in those parts as well as his brother Paulo, and my own brother Joseph who drops in from time to time.
It's a bit of a wonder that we have not yet grown bored of this routine, as it barely changes - The sofas/chairs are arranged in a circle for our little powwow, the door leading to the garden is flung open, and the speakers are laid on the floor. We then slowly lose ourselves to the soothing sounds of Owl City (yes, Owl City) that eventually serve as the background to our long-drawn conversations of shoes, ships, sealing wax, cabbages and kings. A bit of scotch, Mineshine milk tea, McDonald's, or whatever your body needs at that moment and we're set for the next few hours. Our little get-togethers pretty much always end the same way as well - a screaming match in Benj's room over a game of
MarioKart 64. It's a bit more grown-up nowadays than what we used to have as children - a screaming match of
barilan - but I don't think much has changed.
This affinity with my cousins has always been something I've been proud of, a tremendous positive force in my life. Having grown up with them, my cousins have always felt more like brothers who just happened to live in another house. Looking back, I realize that most weekends and summers of my life have been spent in their company. They have stood witness to most of the memorable moments in my life, and will continue to do so up until my corpse is sent off into the sunset on a flaming pyre. And although the winds of change have taken some of us to distant lands, our constant ranting, teasing and bickering with each other has not changed in the slightest, save the venue which has since been transferred to cyberspace.
That perhaps would be the one thing that would make the setup perfect - if the whole cast of cousins were still here with us, as if the good old days of yore had never left. But alas, each has his ship to captain and not all our ships were made to sail the same seas. Maybe one day when we're older, we'll all be together again. Maybe we'll play
barilan like we used to, big boys versus small boys. Maybe our little ones will be in on it too, wondering how on earth their old men got so good at it. When that day comes though I shall smile, make an L with my right hand as if it were a gun, point it at my son, and say..."BANG. YOU'RE DEAD."
