The Cuban Cigar | Teen Ink

The Cuban Cigar

March 14, 2015
By vamika_s PLATINUM, Gaborone, Other
vamika_s PLATINUM, Gaborone, Other
39 articles 0 photos 30 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Colour my life with the chaos of trouble"


Slick. Tuxedo-black eyes and a cardboard suit. Fingering his thin wedding band, haggard eyes on the floor and gleaming briefcase in hand. He does not speak much. People do try; bolero music, black coffee, baseball, beers. But then you catch his charcoal gaze, maybe, by chance, and you think ‘Is he even there?’ Well, that’s only if you get past the glass and the chrome and the leather muscling in. Not to mention the overbearing cologne…


Today. Wall Street is an artery clogged with office ties, pencil skirts and eyes that wail. The unshakeable, the golden, the eternally prosperous American economy has cost every sharply-dressed, laptop-worshipping being in the street, their prized employment status.


But then, amongst the crush of cutting cries and complaints, a captivating Cuban wears a cool gaze. You rub your eyes and look again. You see the fine lines in his face, the defiant glint. He leans back casually in his seat at a café. You ogle; you cannot help it.


Sitting across from him is a woman, with smeared brazen lipstick and tightened eyebrows. She wears spiky heels. Her hands are bare, save for the crimson nails. Her mouth is a siren, reeling in despair.


“How can this be the great USA?” There is nothing shriller than that.


He is silent. The sunken grooves beneath his eyes, strange without the spectacles, hold up that cool, cool gaze. And then you notice the mangled laptop at his feet, the scattered paperwork and the cologne now mixed with sweat. The Cuban is enrobed in a quiet anger. You stare.


Slowly, deliberately, his hands delve into his pockets. His lips already wield a cinnamon-brown cigar that itches for a flame. The woman hands him a lighter and their fingers brush briefly. He lights up. Slowly, deliberately, his hands search his pockets again. And slowly, deliberately, he places it in the line of fire; a crisp, green note with Benjamin Franklin’s face. Slowly, deliberately, it burns and it burns and it burns.


Eyes wild and hysterical, the woman leaps out of her chair. He smiles. You feel electric as you seize his rebel-black stare. You think, ‘So that is what is really there.’


And the mystery deepens.


“Sit back down,” he says, “I am only killing the American dollar, dear.”


The author's comments:

Inspired by a picture of a man burning a US dollar note with his burning cigar.


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This article has 7 comments.


on Aug. 31 2015 at 4:00 pm
vamika_s PLATINUM, Gaborone, Other
39 articles 0 photos 30 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Colour my life with the chaos of trouble"

I'm astonished that my writing has enough power to pull you back for a re-read. Thank you for all your kind words. They mean a lot to me :)

on Aug. 30 2015 at 3:52 pm
SomeoneMagical PLATINUM, Durham, New Hampshire
22 articles 1 photo 259 comments
As I read this again and again, your work keeps me in tune with the "reality" present in the formality of your speech as well as making me drift somewhere far away...keep up the good work, I'm really impressed.

on Aug. 30 2015 at 9:02 am
SomeoneMagical PLATINUM, Durham, New Hampshire
22 articles 1 photo 259 comments
I love everything about your writing. It is so full of life yet you could call it "dull", because you don't exactly describe but you hi light the important parts of the story but don't really describe anything. Dull, I take that back. This can't be dull it can more be...I don't know. But this is amazing and everything about your writing draws me in. You "show" not "tell" as a reader like myself might say...don't mind me speaking gibberish but I am just filled with the excitement of reading this ;) it was a treat to read your work

on Mar. 24 2015 at 9:39 am
vamika_s PLATINUM, Gaborone, Other
39 articles 0 photos 30 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Colour my life with the chaos of trouble"

I can't describe how lovely and warm it makes me feel inside for someone to say that my writing has an "inexplicable magic." Wow. Thank you for that.

Beila BRONZE said...
on Mar. 22 2015 at 5:40 pm
Beila BRONZE, Palo Alto, California
3 articles 0 photos 516 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." -Mark Twain

There is some inexplicable magic to your writing that captivates the reader. "Descriptive" doesn't seem the right word. I guess most writing makes imagery come alive by coloring vividly inside the lines, brash and bold. You're okay leaving the spaces inside blank, because your subtle shading around the edges is what brings your writing to life in a new dimension. It's not what you say to the point but what you say beside the point (the thin wedding band,the sunken grooves, the leather muscling in) that ensnares me as I read. Keep writing; you have an incredible gift.

on Mar. 18 2015 at 1:51 pm
vamika_s PLATINUM, Gaborone, Other
39 articles 0 photos 30 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Colour my life with the chaos of trouble"

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your feedback :)

on Mar. 17 2015 at 9:49 pm
theblondechick GOLD, Kingsport, Tennessee
14 articles 0 photos 104 comments

Favorite Quote:
I want to live and feel all the shades, tones, and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. <br /> And I am horribly limited. <br /> -Sylvia Path

First, congrats on the Editor's choice. I highly believe that there is a change for it to be published in the magazine. (You have my vote.) This was an absolutely spectacular piece. It was stunningly honest and new scene. The pose was great. The description of the man. The description of the woman. You made the man mysterious, intriguing, and very very distinguishable. Lot of characterization for such a short piece. You writing reminds me of Maggie Stiefvater (specifically her Raven Boys Cycle, which is a compliment considering she is one of my favorite descriptive writers. Just Great