Say Cheese

This is my buddy, Ajus. He comes to the house every Saturday morning. Ajus never smiles. He is a very serious person. Which is understandable, because this is a very serious world and these are very serious times. In this way, Ajus and I are rather alike, for I never smile, either. Or rather, I smile only rarely, usually when people tell me to smile. Ajus, however, does not respond to this request. I asked him to smile for the photo above, and this is what I got. Ajus is holding a bag containing various snacks. When he needs a new snack opened, he will hand the item to me and rely on implication; for, you see, Ajus does not speak, either. He does not smile and he does not speak. He does like to sit with me on the porch, though. I smoke a cigarette, he chews a cookie, and we gaze pensively, unsmilingly, on the world before us. I always look forward to our time together.