Cengiz’s story
Cengiz invited Ufuk to a café in the Çukurambar district of Ankara. The neighborhood used to be an underdeveloped part of the city, but, with the change in the zoning plan, it was looted for those with political connections. It became well-known for people living in tall buildings, and the cafeterias on the lower floors served as gathering places for children of influential people. Ufuk was not a fan of these circles that resembled kitschy versions of Ankara’s developed ones.
The day they met at noon was a warm October one. The cafeteria belonged to a chain whose owner is known for affiliation with the government. As Ufuk entered and glanced around the indoor hall, he saw Cengiz waving his hand on the terrace.
“Come on my old friend. Let’s enjoy the taste of the last days of the sun before winter comes,” Cengiz said affectionately. They shook hands and hugged each other as a sign of their intimate and lasting friendship. They ordered tea from the waiter and started a deep conversation under the October sun.
“How are things really going my friend?” Cengiz asked.
“Well,” Ufuk said, “you know things do not always go great. There are ups and downs on the road. But I’m at good crossroads in life. I was recently promoted for instance. And I finally finished my mortgage payments,” they both laughed. “What about you, Cengiz? You haven’t yet told me, but I heard you were appointed to be head of the department.”
“Oh, yes. But it isn’t that important. I have a higher salary, and also a room dedicated to me. It’s nice to have a secretary. Now, I don’t call the waiters. I call the secretary and she does it for me. And there are a lot of people wishing to see me, trying to get an appointment. That is great,” he laughed.
“Cengiz!” Ufuk intervened, “Dude, you know people cannot be promoted without political backing in Turkey. How did you get support?”
This was a question only close friends could ask each other. When Ufuk did it, Cengiz paused and took a sip of his tea. He looked around as if he was gaining time to make up a story.
“Ufuk, if it were not you, I would say that this was the fruit of many years of effort and a diligent life and the trust of seniors and so on. But, considering our strong bonds, there is no need to lie to you.” Still hiding his eyes, he continued, “A distant relative of mine in my hometown Mersin arranged the position for me.”
“Oh, really? I didn’t know you have a relative like that. You have never told me about such a person. Anyway, I am happy to hear about your success.”
Ufuk was surprised because he came from a poor peasant family that made a living with livestock in the Taurus Mountains.
“Yes,” he said. “Let’s say coincidental. A windfall! Sometimes, the bird lands on your head. And this was my turn.” As they spoke on this matter, Cengiz somehow lost his cosmetic cheer. Eventually, he said, “You know, these missions all depend on the political situation in the country. If the ruling party loses the next election, some others would replace us.”
Ufuk took a sip of his tea and replied in a harsh tone.
“I stopped talking about politics.”
“You did the best, my friend. You can’t imagine how people are reporting our political opinions to the police.”
Now Ufuk was looking Cengiz directly in the face, but the latter was evading him and hiding his eyes. They didn’t speak for a while. They both finished their tea. The waiter picked up the empty glasses and asked if they would like anything else. Cengiz ordered two more. The silence between them continued until they were served again. Cengiz started to mix his brew with a spoon. But, there was no sugar inside, so he was apparently thinking about something else. After taking the first sip, Cengiz broke the silence.
“Ufuk, you are very special to me. I would not have graduated from the university if you had not tutored me. You even arranged some scholarships for me. And, if I have achieved something in my life, you really had a great role in it. I just can’t deny it. You merit better friends than me, but people like you always attract others with serious weaknesses.” He stopped for a while, kept mixing his tea without a reason, and then continued: “I am sure you remember when I asked for a loan two years ago. You gave it to me, and I haven’t paid it back yet, have I?” he paused, glancing at his friend.
“Don’t mention it,” Ufuk replied.
“Anyway, I didn’t tell you the reason for that money. Prior to asking for some loans from people like you, I had started betting online. It was innocent football betting. I started to bet on Turkish leagues. But it was not sufficiently entertaining because the results of the matches were somehow easy to wager, and they don’t pay much. I tried to find other country leagues that were offering a greater amount of money. Premier League and La Liga and then the Bundesliga… No, I didn’t even stop there. I surveyed leagues of Southern America. You can’t imagine how much of an expert I became about entire football leagues around the world. Bet on matches everywhere.”
“But,” Ufuk intervened, “you don’t even play football.”
“I don’t play it. But who cares? You don’t need to be a player to wager on matches. Eventually, this habit drove me into a massive debt spiral. Since I’m a civil servant, I easily got loans from the banks. Paying the loans from one bank with the loans from another… Asking friends for some debt just to try to save the amounts which I lost in the previous match… And, as you might well expect, this was a danger to my job as well. A gambling addiction could be grounds for dismissal. I was able to hide it until a bank seized a part of my salary. I was on edge. Truly hopeless!”
“Why didn’t you call me? Of course, not to borrow more money but to ask for help with kicking this habit… It is a treatable addiction.”
“Believe me, Ufuk, I thought about it. But it was hard to confess to others. Yes, you or some other close friends could have been an exit from that hell.”
“So, why didn’t you do it?”
Cengiz stopped for a while. Apparently, he was not sure whether to continue. He glanced around again, as if he were being chased by somebody else.
“Do you remember Melih?” he asked silently and anxiously.
“Melih? Which Melih?” Ufuk asked.
“Come on, man, Melih from high school. He was two grades ahead of us. He then entered Ankara University’s Political Science Department.”
“Oh yeah, Melih from Kayseri? How could I forget that prominent figure from school?”
“Exactly, that Melih!” he said, bending down to the table as if he were being listened to by people around them.
(…to be continued…)
Transadaptation Volume 4 – Material Dissent
January: A Blinding Light and Then, All Darkness – Jonay Quintero Hernández (Spain)
February: The Opportunist – Lauren Voaden (United Kingdom)
March: A Stranger in my City – Alejandra Baccino (Uruguay)
April: A South African Soundtrack – Sarah-Leah Pimentel (South Africa)
May: Full Circle – Ina Maria Vogel (Germany)
June: La Lluvia en Bogotá – Adriana Uribe (Columbia)
July: Freedom – Krisztina Janosi (Hungary)
August: A Bus Ride – Svetlana Molchanova (Russia)
September: Transcendence – Armine Asryan (Nane Sevunts) (Armenia)
October: Motherhood – Marilin Guerrero Casas (Cuba)
November: Nine Days – Gennady Bondarenko (Ukraine)
December: Open – Seyit Ali Dastan (Turkey)
Background – Context
Transadaptation Volume 3: Evanescent – Young Adulthood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2022)
Transadaptation Volume 2: Conceived – Childhood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2021)
Transadaptation Volume 1: In the Middle – Prelude to a Contemporary Transadaptation, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2020)
Peripatetic Alterity: A Philosophical Treatise on the Spectrum of Being – Romantics and Pragmatists by Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)
La Syncrétion of Polarization and Extremes Transposée, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)
The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2018)
L’anthologie of Global Instability Transpuesta, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2017)
From Wahnsinnig to the Loony Bin: German and Russian Stories Transposed to Modern-day America, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2013)
Emblems and stories on the international community
Perception by country – Transposing emblems, articles, short stories and reports from around the world
Credits
1. Left column (top to bottom): Ankara, Turkey – Kizilay – Ozges Temur (Shutterstock), Ankara, Turkey – The historical quarter – Sun_Shine (Shutterstock), 2. Middle column (top to bottom): Ankara, Turkey – From the 50th Year Park – Çağlar Oskay (Unsplash), Ankara, Turkey – Art meets architecture – Merve Selcuk Simsek (unsplash), Ankara, Turkey – Kizilaz neighborhood – Fabrizio (Shutterstock), 3. Right column (top to bottom): Ankara, Turkey – Kizilay square – Fatir (Shutterstock), Ankara, Turkey – Hamamönü neighborhood – Fabrizio (Shutterstock)
Source: The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed