Water and life in Queens.

Have you ever looked closely at a drop of water or a tear? A world of fantasy and omens remains within each. The fusion of two molecules of hydrogen with one of oxygen gives us a liquid of life that contains an influx of natural and emotional phenomena. Rain, dew, and hail are miraculous sparks from the same source, and countless billions of drops of water run through the universe in the torrents of rivers, streams, and sea, bringing life and peace or fury and destruction. Humans, animals, plants, and earth cry because they need to be free and shed tears of joy, pain, love, and death. Water is intertwined with life in a mysterious, powerful, and spiritual way. Water speaks and is a medicine.

On the fifth day in New York, we woke up in our basement in Queens which had a surprise for us. Even though we slept most of the night on a deflated mattress on the floor, we got up very fresh and rested. As we were very hungry, we decided not to unpack our luggage and put the suitcases, the inflatable plastic bed, the blanket, and the pillows on the shelves of the closet. We wanted to prepare something tasty and abundant to eat; we found a medium skillet, a small pot, four cups, two plates and some cutlery in the kitchen’s cabinets and with great enthusiasm we proceeded to open the box with groceries that Billy had given us to prepare our first free breakfast in Queens. That first morning in our basement, the space smelled like latte and scrambled eggs all giving off a scent that made us feel in our own home, a home where we would live until I moved out of town and Liliana returned to Colombia. I will never forget the time spent in that apartment in Queens. My roommate was incredible and we never had the controversies or fights that most of the time arise between best friends when they go to live in the same place. Blowing your fuse is sometimes natural in these circumstances because daily living is always complicated as it exposes personal flaws that may ruin the relationship between great friends or couples. The friendship between my roommate and I remained strong and stable and was not affected by living under the same roof. Liliana was a wise soul, and I had a congenial personality which were the foundations of a special cordiality and understanding that were maintained until the end.

While we were having breakfast we heard a kind of soft roar between the walls of the bathroom, but since we were so entertained with our own conversation about the episodes of our very short stay at Mrs. Garcia’s house and the visit to the Latin Neighborhood in Jackson Heights, we did not pay much attention to it. Time flew by with laughter and coffee and suddenly we realized that it was getting late and that soon Billy would come to take us shopping as we had agreed the night before. Usually, I am a person who gets ready very fast so I am always the last one to take a shower when there are other women taking turns. As soon as Liliana came out of the bath a fresh and delicious smell of soap and shampoo floated in the air which made me forget a strange squeak that I heard on two occasions while my friend was showering. When I opened the tap of the shower there was a soft implosion of air before the warm water started to fall on my body. The water was abundant, strong and a sense of well-being invaded me completely. I was very happy to be in New York and very pleased to feel the water on my skin. The physical space of the bathroom was small but very harmonious and despite not having any luxury it looked pretty. I got dressed and dried my hair in the blink of an eye. When I came out, Liliana was drinking a black coffee and smoking a cigarette, sitting on a wall in the courtyard decorated with colorful flowers planted in pots. Since it was a cool and sunny summer morning, I thought it was a great idea to keep her company and sit outside to get some sun. Liliana only smoked once in the morning and once in the evening, but she did so with such style and pleasure that looking at her would make me smoke sometimes.

We were immersed in our thoughts when suddenly we heard a very loud noise, an unknown acoustic violence coming from inside. We ran in and heard intermittent purrs inside the bathroom whose volume and speed gradually increased until a burst occurred. Liliana and I looked at each other in terror and as we opened the door, we saw a jet of supersonic water coming out of the toilet. We stood there and did not know what to do. The speed of the water on the way out and the noise it made when going through the pipes left us paralyzed for a few moments; to make matters worse we did not find the faucet to close the water flow. Our impulse was to run to inform the owner and we rushed up the stairs going from the basement to the main house to ask for help from Ana Maria, but it was in vain because she worked at New York University and used to leave very early. All we could hear was the sharp barking of her little dog, Muñeca, that surely smelled our presence and nervousness through the locked door and sensed something bad happening. In our desperate race going downstairs we saw some towels hanging on the ropes of the laundry room, we took them and when we got to the bathroom, we instinctively closed the door and covered the crack on the floor with towels to stop the water that, after a few minutes, started leaking under the door and flooding the whole apartment.

In the middle of the disaster and with no phone to call for help, Billy showed up and was surprised to see us wearing wet clothes  and asked us with a smile if it was raining inside the apartment. Although the situation was chaotic, I could not control the urge to release the stress and loudly laugh at the funny joke that our guardian angel had just made. Liliana instead was more rational and told Billy that he had to find the valve to cut off the water supply. The first thing he did was to go to the bathroom and Liliana and I scared him off by yelling that it was not there so Billy headed to the laundry area, something my friend and I had not thought of because of the panic, he found the water regulator and stopped the surge of the fluid of life. After calming down, we went shopping, but not to shop for groceries, beds, and a sofa we wanted. Instead, we had to buy a bucket, two mops and a broom. Coming back home we discovered that in our neighborhood there was a Burger King, the famous fast-food restaurant. We stopped, went inside, and ordered a large combo with double burger, fries and Coca-Cola and devoured the food quietly calming our anguish.

When we returned home, we spent almost two hours to get the water out and dry the apartment with the tools purchased. Billy could not help us because he had a very important date. When Ana Maria came back from work and heard what happened she immediately called Jorge her trusted plumber who arrived around eight o’clock at night, checked the bathroom and diagnosed that a tube and the toilet bowl had to be changed because they were broken. The plumber and Ana María left for Home Depot, a warehouse where one can find everything needed to remodel, repair, build or demolish a house and while we were waiting for them, I thought about how we were going to sleep that night. Due to the flood, we had not gone to buy the bed and mattresses we needed so we sat down to try to inflate the broken mattress that Ana Maria had given us the night before. We put tape that we found in the first aid kit around the air valve to cover all the holes and prevent the plastic bed from deflating again. It seemed to work.

Ana Maria and the plumber arrived around 10:30 at night and unload their purchases. Jorge repaired the pipe faster than we thought and when he was putting the toilet bowl in place he angrily screamed a profanity. He had bought the wrong one and it did not fit into the gap. He could not fix things and had to wait until the next day to go and buy a new toilet. After the bathroom was repaired, we had to let the cement dry, and therefore, we used Ana Maria’s bathroom for two days with the disapproval of her dog that barked at us every time she saw us going up.

Many believe that water is sensitive and responds to our feelings and thoughts. Many assure that water communicates with people to warn of their inner state, give them a message, alert them of something or purify their spirit. I think water decided to speak to us that day to give life to a significant friendly bond between Ana Maria and us because we all needed an extra friend. The flood happened to give us a warning. Maybe we needed a cleanse. Possibly it was time to repair the emotional leaks in our life. Perhaps we had to listen carefully to the water in Queens.