The Teachings of Pablo Eugene Escobar

“A wandering Mind XLIV” available on OpenSea.

Brian was laying in bed mindlessly scrolling through feed after feed, jumping from one app to another with no coherent intent, purpose, or aim. That was how he spent a lot of time his time. He didn’t know what he was doing with his life. He had a job that He hated passionately. It wasn’t hard. It kept him relatively active. It made sure his financial needs were met. Yet, he hated it with a passion stronger than any love he may have had for anything else in the Universe.

He heard the front door open and the usual sounds associated with his beautiful wife’s arrival. He heard the sounds he had become accustomed to. First was the sound of jingling metal. She kept many more items than she really needed attached to her keys. When she walked around holding them, you’d think you were hearing someone responsible for securing a massive prison designed to have a different key for each cell.

He heard her footsteps, and he heard something else and thought, “oh god…”

It was certainly not something that he wanted to hear.

It was a voice. Not his wife’s, but the voice of something small, weak, helpless, and frightened. He got up to go investigate the dreadful sound and greet his wife. As he walked down the stairs, he thought, “Did she randomly bring home a baby?”

Finally approaching her, he began to grasp the gravity of the situation, but before he could object, she said, “I found this Kitten! He was wandering around in the streets without his mother, almost getting hit by cars! I just had to go save it!” You could hear in her saddened voice that she deeply cared for the kitten. The kitten she was holding was crying vigorously. Those cries were familiar to Brian. He had learned that kittens make that sound when they’re afraid and are seeking help from their mother. So in a way, he was familiar with that sound too.

Brian turned his gaze down to the kitten. It was tiny and barely had opened his eyes at a week old. It was crying and trying to escape. Brian looked back up at his wife and in a callous tone said, “You should have left him.”

Although he said that, part of him took a liking to the little kitten, or perhaps he just saw him as another little project to work on. Either way, Brian grabbed the kitten from his wife, and held it close to his chest, right below his left shoulder. The kitten’s cries were finally answered. Even though it wasn’t his mother, he now felt safety and comfort in Brian’s embrace.

“I’m going to name you Pablo.” Said Brian.

“Pablo Eugene!” answered his wife.

Brian chuckled and responded, “Pablo Eugene Escobar” with a smile.

Pablo spent the rest of that night in that very spot. Brian had gone back to his original position on his back with his torso propped up. His phone was still in his hand, and he was still mindlessly browsing like before. So very little seemed to have changed, but this was the beginning of something new for Brian. He did not realize it at the time, but he created a bond that night. That moment was the beginning of a journey that will lead him down a very dark path.

The next morning, Brian woke up to Pablo on his chest. The kitten’s steps were still wobbly. Plabo made his way to Brian, sniffed his chin, and let out a low, high pitched short meow. Brian was looking down at him and smiled.

Over the following few weeks, they grew close. Pablo and Brian were inseparable. While his wife pursued her career as a child psychologist, Brian had a lot of time to himself. He had no career to think about. He spent all his days with Pablo teaching him tricks. Brian was a very intelligent young man. He was free to spend his days as he wishes because he managed to create an app that he ultimately sold while he was in high school.

Fortunately for Brian, his father was a businessman that taught him how to spot an opportunity at a very early age, and he was ruthless. What started with playing monopoly with his father evolved when Brian spent one evening at a new friends’ house.

His lack of satisfaction in life had grown into something gruesome.

To be continued.