Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro
21:00. Saturday, Barra da Tijuca. Vini asked Enzo to drop by his apartment precisely at 8:00 PM. But Vini's genius told him that his friend would as always be late, so he had the brilliant idea of lying about the time of the meeting. And it proved to be a very good idea, as Enzo was in fact late, only showing up at his door an hour later than expected.
- What a surprise. You are late.
- I brought the chips. - Enzo justified himself and smiled.
Enzo hugged his friend and also greeted Belgium with a kiss on the cheek. Nothing out of character, Vini thought. But there was still one more question to be answered.
- Why did you call me, Vini?
- Oh, you'll see. - Vini made a mystery of it.
He ran under the TV and took off the protective cloth. Vini's surprise revealed itself and got mixed receptions, as the film critics say.
- What is this? - Enzo asked.
- It's the new PlayStation 5.
- Oh. It really is.
- What's up? Shall we play?
- Depends on what you bring me.
- Vini, honey, I thought we were going out. - Belgium moaned.
- Why would you think that? I invited Enzo too. Shouldn't you have thought that this wouldn't exactly be a date?
- Okay, Belgium, I'll let you do some playing. - Enzo teased slightly.
- Cheers. - Belgium was sarcastic.
Turning on the TV, Vini encountered a problem that is commonplace in all of our lives.
- Enzo, did you sit on the remote control?
- No, Vini.
- Let me see, though. Stand up straight.
- Don't you trust me?
- No!
Enzo stood up. And there it was.
- How could you not notice that you were standing on the remote?
- Well, I didn't notice.
- If instead of a remote control a scorpion was there, would you have sat on the scorpion?
- Probably. - Belgium answered.
- Let it go, Vini, and crank up the video game.
Enzo had a point. Vini couldn't stop winding up. After all, when you buy a new toy, you don't want to wait one second longer. Therefore, Belgium sat down next to him as soon as the TV turned on and made a funny noise.
- What game will you put on for us?
- FIFA. - Vini showed him the cover.
- Oh, Vini! - Enzo complained. - Holy smokes! FIFA? FIFA has been the same game for at least five years!
- Stop talking nonsense!
- What else do you have?
- GT Sport.
Enzo's brown - almost green - eyes sparkled. Unfortunately, Belgium's blue eyes, not so much.
- I'm not going to stay here and watch you play car games all night.
- Vini, I've had enough of your girlfriend, time to find someone better.
- Very funny. - She said.
- Don't tease me, Belgium. I can make him trade you in for one of your sisters.
- You don't have the balls.
Belgium eventually realized that she would be the losing vote, so she headed to the kitchen... To have a bite. Meanwhile, Enzo and Vini were getting the video game ready, but then another problem arose.
- Enzo, why do you keep turning off the screen?
- I'm not doing that.
- Enzo, buddy, the screen is turning on and off!
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- I'm not doing this, you fool! Must be a problem with the screen.
Uh-oh. Vini didn't see that one coming.
- Vini, this could be worse than the NFL debuting to honor the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants and then giving us a boring Adam Levine show!
- Don't talk about Adam Levine, Enzo! - Belgium squealed.
- It's not my fault that your taste in music stinks!
Despite the useless discussions once again, the problem persisted. And then, what was already bad got even worse, as the lights in Lake's apartments went out completely.
- Holy shit! - Enzo complained. - Who was the motherfucker?
- Enzo, I think it was something at Lake. - Vini thought and checked outside. - The Costabella has lights.
- Oh, fuck me! It only gets worse!
- Maybe the transformer burned out.
- My big white ass! It must have been that ridiculous Corolla that blew all the fuses!
- What? Obviously not, Enzo! Stop being an idiot!
Sadly, though, that was not an option. So, Enzo went downstairs to the underground garage. And there he got a surprise. For some reason, the electrical cables in the Corolla began to spark and cause a electrical blackout. It was only a matter of seconds before the vehicle burst into flames.
- Ha, ha! - Enzo pointed at the vehicle. - Well made! Stupid hybrid cars!
On the tenth floor, the situation wasn't any better, because Vini and Belgium were completely in the dark. Nevertheless, Vini's girlfriend went to the kitchen to get a candle and at least light up the living room. It didn't solve much, but it was better than nothing. Once that was done, the couple sat down on the sofa, without much to do.
- If you want to go, you can go. - Vini said.
- No, don't mention it. - Belgium smiled. - I'll stay.
There wasn't much to be done, as the generators were only used to power the elevators and emergency lights. Imagine climbing 22 floors in the dark and using ladders? A nightmare.
- How is your father? - Vini asked, because there wasn't much to ask.
- Fine, fine. - Belgium answered. - He wondered about you.
- Really? Nice.
More moments of silence. And darkness. Still, it could be worse.
A few minutes later Enzo returned to the apartment. He closed the door and picked up some wires. And brought with him a little toy in hand.
- Vini, you can turn on the TV.
- Very cute, Enzo.
- I'm serious.
- Me too, dummy.
- What did you bring from downstairs? - Belgium asked.
You couldn't see very well, but Vini tried to figure it out. When he couldn't find the answer, he gave up.
- It's the battery from the Corolla. - Enzo revealed.
- What is? - Vini was intrigued. - You took the battery from the guy's car? Why did you take the battery from the guy's car?
- Let's connect the battery to the TV and turn it on.
- Enzo, I can't believe you did this. And how did you get the battery out without getting a jolt?
- There is no power, Vini. Probably the support turned off when the power went out. - Belgium brought up a good point.
- Still, if it was someone good, correct and honest, he certainly would have been hit and died right there. But since it was Enzo...
- Stop speaking gibberish and turn on the TV on the battery.
- This is not going to end well. - Vini wondered.
But Enzo's stupid plan paid off, because the TV switched on as soon as Enzo plugged it in. Poetic licenses aside, and despite the darkness, the two finally got to use the video game. Since there were no lights, Vini asked to not open the refrigerator. So, Enzo could only get fruits and biscuits. He returned and sat down next to Vini. But then, obviously, another problem emerged.
- Enzo, where is the video game controller?
- Have you lost it already? - Enzo replied. - You are such a dumbass!
- Hey, I didn't steal a battery from an electric car!
- Hybrid, Vini. Hybrid!