Toucan Tango

Part 1

He sat, leaned forward slightly as if he was a cat waiting to pounce, nodding his head rhythmically to some unknown metronome. Everyone else in the room was fixated on him.

He was the only person present, aside from the venture capitalist who was outlining the pace of progress he would require to continue investing in INQTEQ, dressed in a suit and tie. He was clad in a simple and perfectly fitted black pinstripe suit with an emerald green tie. Much to his bosses chagrin, he looked far better than the investor. However, such was par for the course with matters involving Niko.

He out performed, out dressed, out everything’d everyone all the time, yet he managed to do so without creating tension or feelings of resentment amongst his coworkers. His demeanor was that of a pond. Still upon the surface, but just beneath, he was teaming with immeasurable wonders. His words were both warm and cool, depending on who was hearing or reading them and which temperature suited their needs best. His eyes always focused on something beyond the veil of reality.

The investor stopped talking and looked to Niko. He wiped several beads of sweat from his wrinkled forehead that were about to plunge down his face onto the floor.

“Well, can you meet these goals,” asked the man.

“Happily,” said Niko with a smile.

With that one word all the pressure that had been building during the course of the investor’s presentation broke. Air filled the room once again. Everyone, including the investor, drew a deep breath and exhaled a sigh of relief.

“Same time next month,” asked the head of INQTEQ.

“Same time,” responded the investor as he began to pack up his presentation materials.

The people shuffled out of the boardroom, leaving Niko behind. He swiveled in his chair until he was facing the window that overlooked the lush trees that peppered the park INQTEQ had constructed for employees to enjoy whenever they felt inclined to wander. Niko had never actually walked the park. He knew it only as an observer from the floor to ceiling windows of the INQTEQ complex, despite the fact it was built as a result of a suggestion Niko had submitted to the employee suggestion box. Niko explained that the company policy of “happy workers are brilliant workers” could not be better manifested than by providing a sanctuary for the worker bees from the soul crushing toxic rays of fluorescent bulbs. The park had actually done more for productivity than anyone could have hoped.

The park was just one more reason his coworkers loved him. He was a pauper, a fellow commoner, who everyone believed could be and should be king. A man who’s every action was benevolent, wise, and seemingly divined from some celestial origin.

Niko scanned the trees for a blue jay he had seen before the start of the presentation. As if by his will the bird appeared from the deep green canopy of a tree closest to the building and soared toward the horizon.

“Freedom,” Niko whispered under his breath. “A sweetness all creatures hunger for.”

He left the office well after nightfall that day. He was the first to arrive and last to leave each and every day.

On his way home he made a stop at his dealer’s house.

When he finally reached his home, sometime after 10:00pm, he steamed some vegetables and laid them over jasmine rice. As he ate he pulled a worn leather case from a hidden cubby on the underside of the table.

When he finished his meal he cleaned the dishes he had used. Niko sat back down at the table and pulled a bag of heroin from the inside breast pocket of his suit and then unzipped the leather case. He splayed the case open to reveal a gleaming antique glass and stainless steel syringe.

He began the ritual which had been performed countless times before. Within moments he felt the familiar pinch of the needle piercing his skin, followed by a wave of the gentle warmth of spring twilight coursing through his body.

“Freedom,” Niko exhaled. “A fever upon the heart.”