A Man Once Told Me - Camilla Basham

A man once told me "You know dying is the most embarrassing thing that can ever happen to you, because someone's got to take care of all your details". It was a strange opening line, but at first glance I could tell he was a strange man. I had just run into someone carrying drinks and caused them to go crashing to the ground and the look of embarrassment on my face was obvious.

The man who uttered those words stood before me in a smoke filled room in a warehouse in the bowels of Chelsea.

Maybe the smoke caressing my nostrils helped it sound more profound then it really was, or it could have been the martini staring up at me, but I understood exactly what he was saying. "I imagine you're right. I would just die of embarrassment if I died." I said with one of those ridiculous little girl giggles that women seem to resort to when alcohol and men are involved.

Our words were in an audible wrestling match with the pitter and patter rhythms behind the drone of the tune "Venus in Furs" coming from the three men and one woman commanding the dimly lit stage all clad in leather, ripped shirts and blood shot eyes. He laughed wearily at my attempt at humor and then said, "You remind me of someone I once knew, but not in this lifetime; plus she lived inside of a TV." Unsure of what to make of it I just smiled.

He pointed to a painting on the wall near us and I tried to turn to look without bumping into the swaying crowd, but despite my efforts managed to cause a mini title wave in my martini glass that landed down the front of my dress. He didn't seem to notice. The painting was bold, stunning, familiar and strange at the same time. "Oh, wow, it’s fabulous. Who knew a single banana could make such a bold statement." I yelled over the music lifting my now half empty glass to my lips.