The Sanctuary

The Chef's place has always been the sanctuary, as far back as I remember. I became friends with him through Hojam and knew Hojam through The Microbe. We always, or better to say 99% of the time, hung out at The Chef's. He would call us or we would automatically show up at his door most of the time on Fri, evenings. Many would simply come because he provided free food and many would come just to drink with him. That was free too. Regardless of that, which was an important factor, I must admit, hanging out there was always fun.There was no strippers, no girls, no smoking and no gambling. I might sound very unusual to Westerners here but that's how we spent the night. At times fights would broke out but at least I was not part of anything serious! 

None of us ever were broke at the time and everyone either made as much money as he did or even more but no one dislikes free food and free booze. For the later of course you have to be a drinker. It was impossible to get into The Chef's and he wouldn't hand you a can of beer.

He drank a lot and drank hard liquor besides beer. He drank too much that now he has ulcer. I noticed that when he visited me in Squamish. I had to take him to a local clinic at the time.

But apart from that, everyone was mooching off him! The biggest loser was Hojam who even slept at his place for many many nights simply because he was a fucking lazy bastard and cheap motherfucker! I have brought part of his history here in this blog in a separate post. Then it was The Loyal. He was the bastard of the bastards. Being from a part of the old country which people are infamous for being cheap, this motherfucker fanatic was The Chef's roommate for a while and interesting things happens to him which should be the subject of at least one post. He was from a very poor family in Isfahan. When they split, he would still go for free food to The Chef's. And then there was Hassan the North. This piece of shit that I met him once in my own place back to 2006, was a sailor who had left his ship when it docked in one of the ports of British Columbia. Being from a village in the north of Iran, he was a mid-aged guy, physically very strong, as a sailor of a commercial ship has to be, he even had grandchildren but the piece of shit had abandoned everything and sought asylum in Canada! Here he was chasing Aboriginal women or on general everything that he could put his penis in! He was mooching off The Chef a lot but wouldn't hang out with me or maybe it should be said he never hung out with us when I was there. His case for remaining in Canada as a refugee, as he told me once, was that a specific person in his village had planned to kill him and he feared his life! I don't know what piece of shit lawyer would accept a nonsense case like this but apparently he had one! The Chef told me that he had not seen him for a very long time after he returned the last installment of some $800 he had borrowed, although not complete, he paid part of that money after some 2 years! The Chef said that once he was back home from work, when he used to live in 15th Ave., he found a note in front of the main entrance of his building indicating that Hassan the North had come and was in need of his help! That at least should have been 5 years ago! Then it was a religious guy the Refrigerator Mechanic, I would like to call him. He was a family man and I met him once only. He was some kind of a jerk. Once I, Hojam and this guy were at The Chef's and he even didn't wait for the others at the table and started eating! He had a very bad impression on me but The Chef says that he still calls him and he is successful in his family and professional life. Good for him!
Who else? There was this guy who hung out with Hojam a lot and they actually worked together. This piece of shit was a fat fuck, addicted, drunkard whom I met once only. He worked in a restaurant which later was closed and the new owner after reopening, replaced him! That's what I was told but the whole story could be anything else. This motherfucker would go to The Chef's and get money from him for weed! The last time he got some $60 from him and got disappeared but the reason was that him and Hojam were trying to scam The Chef some big chunk of money. The Addicted Fat, I would call him here, told The Chef that his mother was sick and he needed some $20,000 or so to have her admitted to a hospital for an important surgery! I don't know if The Chef had that kind of money at the time but I know he worked 7 days a week and sent money to his family and I also know they were very close to convince him but somehow he didn't pay them and that was the reason The Addicted Fat never showed up! There was also a Kurdish guy whom used to hang out with them and basically as I said earlier everybody would go there just to benefit from this simple guy, The Chef! 

When I called him last night he asked me to go there and I reached his place around 03:15 PM. He was dressed, sitting at the dinner table drinking beer and eating. He was a little bit drunk but suggested to go to my place because he said he was looking for a change and I can understand that. For years and years people always gathered at his place, ate his food, drank his beer and took his money but he never complained mainly because that was the only way he could overcome his loneliness. So I said OK. We went to Superstore and we got a little grocery including a good piece of Stake and then an 8-pack of Kokenee and went to my place. I cooked, yes cooked(!) the Stake by adding herbs, salt, paper, onion, mushroom and garlic powder and it came out really good. I then drove him back. That's what it is and always has been. Hanging out with The Chef is always fun. You eat and you listen to his stories and most of them are interesting and hilarious! The Chef himself is the sanctuary!