It was usually hot and humid that day when I was returning home from visit to the leasing office of my new apartment. Me and my 'would-be-roomies' signed all the documents and I left the place. I was walking down the road to the nearest railway station, Reliant Park. With a huge stadium looming in the background this station was awfully small for the home of the Reliant Astrodome.

I looked at the station thinking of "DADAR" and "V.T"; man they are huge.. and have a life. In that instant I was missing being pushed around by the 'we don't have time to wait' crowd.

So, I was walking towards the station when suddenly this miniature, make-belief, and almost-like-a-toy train came honking its almost-like-a-toy horns. 'Shit' I am going to miss my train. So I start running, not thinking of the road I had to cross like my breath depends on it.

I could sense someone following me. Ambling across the road, steps irregular, careless and heavy. With those steps I heard a low clamoring of metal against metal. Scared a little, I gathered speed and walked speedily towards the train. ‘My stalker’ and possibly a ‘mugger’ increased his pace too.

I reached the station a second late and the train had already left. “Crap”. I sat down on the nearby bench looking at my watch frantically, as if the trains are controlled by my watch.

“We tried… hey man, we tried; put-it-there”, said my heavily drunk ‘stalker’ pointing his closed fist towards me. I lifted my arm, with the same gesture and our fists met.

From the touch I felt that one punch in my face and I would be done for a long time. I looked up there was a wide grin across and I could see his sparingly populated black and whites. The man was in his early late forty’s or early fifty’s; well built and burly; carrying a heavy army rucksack. His right eye though, reminded me of Mad-eye Moody, the grumpy old D.A.D.A teacher from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It remained disturbingly fixed on one object for a long time.

“These trains, sure do trick me a lotta times”, he said with a heavy southern accent.

“Yeah”, I said, still little apprehensive.

“Hey, what’s ya name? You run fast man.”

I answered.

“Damn, you from Pakistan?”

“No. India” I was beginning to get a little comfortable with his presence.

“Damn, India. Beautiful country dude”. This guy was total “talli” and from what I could make out, was about to fall any moment.

“Yeah I been there ‘eh. Lotsa cows. Lotsa ‘em. ‘am Ray by the way.”

I smiled at him.

“Dude ya’r cool man; put-it-there”. And again we punched each other’s fists.

“Ye’eh. I just stepped out for a beer. Hell that thing’s shit. You know Saumitra, what beer leads to ?”

I shrugged, “more beer?!”.

“Dude, how do’ya know tha’? Cool; put-it-there. Ya’r cool man. I like ya. Beer leads to more beer”..

He laughed loud. Beer leads to more beer. Heck I knew it. I have my share of booze.

“Cool man..” his voice trailed into the air.

I could see the train arriving from far away. Hush… I rushed to tap my card. ‘Pass’ for my fellow Mumbai pravasi.

“I ain’t got no balance on this one here. Heck, I might not even tap this damn thing. And if ‘am caught I’ll show ‘em the finger”. And he showed me the universal gesture of numerous emotions… We both laughed.

We got into an empty, single ‘bullet like looking bogie’ train and settled down.

“I ‘ave three kids, one as old as you. ‘Ah ma wife kicked me outta the damn house. She caught me with ‘ma girlfriend”

This moved me a little. Here was a man, drowned in alcohol and laughing about his split with his wife ‘coz infidelity. Hmmmmmm… ‘don’t judge him Saumitra. Everybody has a story, you know’

“ Ya know, the usual American story,” yes, the usual American story.

Ah, a classic tale of love;

A man sees a woman of his dreams, falls in love instantly. She falls for him a little while later and they both live happily ever-after.

Only, the ‘ever-after’ ends ‘soon after’ the man falls in love with another woman in his post marriage dreams.

“I paid for ‘em for last thirty years, while I was in the Marines. See this eye?” he pointed to his  swiveling  optic contraption.

“Took a bullet in Naam”

He was talking!! but I had nothing to say anyway.

 “Tell me something, Saumitra. Why are India and Pakistan… always ‘at it’??”

This question had to be dealt with tactfully. I am representing my country here.

After giving a crap answer I ended saying “just ’deal with it’ ”

My off-balance friend was impressed, “wow man. Deal with it.”

Silence fell as we heard the announcement in the train for next station. Neither was getting down.

“Hey, you know if the library’s open now? I gotta go and write to my wife. Thirty years……”

There he goes again.

“… gotta tell her, deal with it. Ya know, someday whenever you’re with your friends, just tell ‘em, that you met one good American today. It’s a dying breed, but I think I am one of ‘em”

“Hey, you a student?”…

Nod…

“Ya need money? ‘Coz I got money man. You ever need money, come to me. I ain’t like this all the time, ya know. Someday I would get my Maseratti, pick ya up from ya place and we’ll go hangin’ out, have some cold beer, get drunk and get some chicks and get back home.”

He was fifty, from my guess; and he was talking to me as if I were his age. Or he was mine. I remembered a line from the Rocky series- ‘Only in America.’

“Hey, I got a bottle of whiskey in my bag right now. What say, you and I go get drunk and get some nice ass American girls and……………..”

I laughed my heart out and politely declined all his offers. What a fool!!

“Hey let’s do it. C’mon don’t be shy. I’ll teach you tricks for getting nice hot chicks.”

I smiled. And yet again declined. But this was getting tempting by the minute. This guy was cool.

“Yeah, I understand, ya wouldn’t wanna go out with a drunk-ass guy like me.”

No. The problem wasn’t his drinking. You wouldn’t understand anyway, Ray. For a moment there, I cursed everything about me. Where had I lost myself? I was a free bird like Ray. And now I feel I am just like anybody else who is walking on the street. Ray was an alcoholic and had cheated on his wife. But I could ignore those things for he was doing what he wanted.

That day, a drunk told me to reclaim my life. Some days back an old friend told me the same.

Ray got off at the next station after we hugged. We never saw eachother after that and it’s been four months since. But Ray touched me or may be even pierced through my thoughts.

This one’s for you Ray, I am telling everyone…

‘I met Ray, I met a good American’.