Alon Z / Art / Queen Kong

Coming out of the open house, the real estate agent suggested that we’ll go for a coffee to debrief. I don’t drink coffee so I suggested that maybe we’ll get water in the nearby store and check out the streets around. When we walked inside I noticed that it was a small Asian style market, there were three aisles. One with a long refrigerator that had dairy products and some unfamiliar meats, one with general household stuff like flour and yeast and one with cleaning supplies. In the back of the store a wall size standing refrigerator was positioned against the wall, inside it a variety of beverages and beers and on top of it neatly aligned packages of toilet paper and paper towels. In the front of the store, an elevated custom made wooden tray held seasonal fruits and vegetables like apples and oranges alongside all season produce like onions and garlic.

Walking the store I was beginning to develop some hydration strategy when I realized that near the register stood an industrial juicer under a yellow hand drawn sign saying $4 - 16 oz in large red letters followed by an horizontal green line, followed by a list of solid ingredients on the left such as apple, pineapple, orange, celery and beet, and a list of leafy ingredients on the right side such as mint, parsley, kale and basil. Being a juicing enthusiast I immediately recognized the great deal and asked the guy upfront to make me an apple pineapple and mint one. He quickly operated the juicer throwing in one apple after the other followed by large fresh pineapple chunks. When the sixteen ounce cup was filled, he covered it and handed it to me with a large straw, seamlessly replacing it under the juicer with another cup, as the juicer kept dripping more colorful liquids out. I handed the guy a five dollar bill and said thank you so much, then he opened the register, placed it in the drawer and handed me a one dollar bill back. The real estate agent was already outside so I turned over to the front door when the guy behind the counter offered me the second cup which was filling up under the juicer while the financial transaction took place in the background. I picked it, said thank you again and opened the door trying not to lose control of both of the cups. As I was walking out a small cat with a chipped ear made their way inside through the door gap, making sure to brush against me with their side. Later on I learned that the ear mark was made by the trap neuter release program the city operated on feral cats, chopping the upper side of their ear provided an easy way for the authorities to know the cat was already fixed from a far.

The real estate agent didn’t get anything, yet was looking toward me with tired eyes when I stepped outside. I gave them an approving look back and said let’s put a bid for the asking price. It’s hard to believe that this was more than five years ago, living in the condo all this time so many of these things became part of my routine. Throughout time I learned to know the juice operator and the cat. I remember when he told me that they named her Kong since she used to like hanging over the cans of beans in one of their other stores, Kong means beans in Korean he clarified.