The Problem With Brazilian Girls

The problem with Brazilian girls, he said, is that they smile at everyone with that special smile that many men want to reserve for themselves. He went out for a pack of smokes and later came back. He quit smoking cigarettes more than six months ago but on occasion, he broke his own promise. Nothing made him feel more manly than a pack of Reds in his pocket. You know, in Europe, he said, women will think less of you if you are one of those non-smoking guys. The American equivalency, he argued, would be a guy who doesn’t drink whiskey or only drinks light beers because of the carbs.

I waited for him to return and in the meantime brewed another round of coffee. We were all addicted to different things. His teeth were yellow from the cigarettes, mine from too much caffeine. Everyone one had their own thing going.

When he came back, he did not say to much. At least, that was the case for the first few minutes. He tapped the bottom of the pack on his left palm. Smokers had strange tendencies. As if the cigarettes were asleep and needed a good kick in the ass before they could be smoked. He asked me for a light and as usual I could not find one. So many people came and went from my apartment and by some strange miracle this traffic resulted in a constant fluctuation in the numbers of available lighters.

Some guy whom I did not know left a silver lighter on my bathroom sink a few weeks ago. I had it in my pocket for a couple of days but it later disappeared after everyone came over for the semi finals. I should have never had bought that large screen TV.

I found some old matches in the kitchen drawer. They had a name of some Boston restaurant on their cover. He lit up his cigarette and later another. We were all addicted to our own devices.

Do you remember that girl I told you about, the one from the coffee shop? He inquired. Before I could answer he hit me up for a coffee with two sugars. I never put any of those sweeteners in my coffee, some regular milk did just fine with me.

It appeared that the girl from the coffee shop was now single again. She broke up with that guitar player after all of these months. Sam took a small note from his back pocket and proudly displayed his telephone number scribbled in red.

Coffee, cigarettes, sugar and dating, we are all addicted to different things.

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