“Hunniepleaselet’ssolvethisissueandgobacktoournormallife.”Thesewerethecriesofadevastatedmaninpainandlost.Hislonghair,ruggedclothesandshadyappearancegavehimout.Hewasbroke.Itwasevidentlyclearthatlifewasnotawalkintheparkashehadthoughtsometimeback.Comparedtothesurroundingenvironmenthelookedlikealostblacksheepinthewhitepen.“Security,seizehimandthrowhimoutmypresence,”orderedRozzie.Shewasnowthebosslivinginamansion.
“Ilovetheideahunnie.”Thesewordsalwaysmakeherrememberthetearsshehadforoveradecade.Herpillowhadnotseenanylaughterforaperiodof12years.TheseweretheexactwordsMr.Matano,astheregionhadcometoknowhim,hadusedwhenRozzie,thewifethen,gavehimtheidea.Thatnighthedidn’tgopartyingwithmeninthevillagedensbutstuckhome.Hehadpromisedtoquitalcoholandbefocusedonbusinessalone.
AtthebeginningMr.Matanowasjustasmallbusinessownersellingsmallscalecoffeeatalocalshoppingcentre.Hehadcometofallinlovewithoneofhisfavoritecustomersatthecafé.Rozziewasnotbeautiful.Thatwouldagravemisconducttodescribeherasso.InfactIthinktherewerenowomenthisbeautifulwhengrammarwasinvented.That’swhywedon’thaveabetterwordforsuchwomen.Duetothedeficiencywejustsaybeautiful.Herslenderbody,curvedwellineveryoutfitshewouldwear.Shewasalocalsalesladyofaloweconomychemicalcompanythatdealtwithlocallymadesoapsanddetergents.ShelovedthecoffeeservedbyMatanoandlaterMatano.
Matanoontheothersidewasamasculineyoungmaninhislate20’s.Hewasthedreamforeverygirlinthevillage.ThiswasnoeasyforRozzieasshehadtodealwiththejealousyofeveryotherladyofeveryotherclassoflife.“Iwillneverleaveyouortakeyouforgranted,”hehadtoldRozziewhenshetriedtoconvincehimwhyshewasafraidofmovingintoofastwithhim.
December,24th2000,wasthenightshewillneverforget.Matanohadinvitedherfordinneratalocalfoodkiosk.Thatwasalltheycouldaffordatthattime.ThenightstartedwiththetwotakingmixedfoodsatthekioskthevisitingMatano’sshelter.Withonlyabed,asmallstoolthatservedasthetable,the10ftby10,roomwasalmostempty.Hehadhisclothespackedinanemptybreadcratewithothershangingonaselfmadesisalline.
