Turkish Monuments!

I am Hooked....(Part1)

Ed, the American friend I had made some days earlier in a cafe in the trendy part of Izmir, Turkey’s third biggest city, had told me how to find the place. It was located close to one of the main streets where traffic never dies down and the most prominent sound is that of the horns Turkish drivers appear to blow to indicate, to warn, reproach or ridicule other drivers or just to use them because they had not used them for the past 30 seconds. The entrance itself lay hidden behind a “Büfe”, one of the little kiosks that can be found at nearly every street corner in the centre of Izmir. With a beating heart I had walked up a few shabby steps and past some faded posters advertising straight porn flicks.I bought a ticket for 3 million lira, not even 2 dollars and followed the usher. Having come in from the bright sunlight of a summer's day I could not see a thing in the darkness of the theatre and had trouble following the usher and his dim torch that he was swinging back and forth while walking. Of course he had wanted a tip, but another 1 million lira did not matter. He guided me towards one of the seats nearby and disappeared in the dark. The movie was an old German porn flick from the 70's. Big Bavarian tits in fading Technicolor colours and ugly guys in Lederhosen pursuing ample women through barns and hay-stacks in a sort of sexual slap-stick.

I had not come for the porn film and could not wait for my eyes to adapt to the dark so that I could have a look around. It took several endless minutes until I finally could make out the guy sitting two seats away from me. Even though I could not see his face clearly he seemed to be old, with a pot belly sticking out visibly even in the dark of the cinema. I was disappointed. With slight desperation I peeked into the dark trying to make out if there were any younger Turks. Slowly, very slowly, I could see how big the cinema was. It was huge! Maybe 400 seats, with high ceilings. In the front and in the middle rows there were guys in about every 5th seat or so. As I looked around to the back, where it was even darker, I could see that the back rows were more crowded even though I still could not make out any details. However, there seemed to be quite a lot of movement. Some guys sat down only to get up again, walk up and down the aisle and then sit down in another seat. I could still not gauge if any of the men in the cinema were as hot as some of the guys I had seen walking through the small alleys in the Bazar area earlier that morning. I just could not stand it any longer. I got up from my seat and slowly walked up one of the side-aisles leading to the back rows nearly tripping over one of the unlit steps along the way. My senses were on full alert. The back rows were indeed more crowded than the front part of the cinema. Especially in the last two rows nearly every seat was occupied. I found an empty seat next to the aisle in the 5th row from the back or so as far away from the entrance and the torch of the usher who came in every now and then to show a new arrival to one of the seats. I sat down with my heart beating fast. I knew someone was sitting to my left but it was only after some minutes that I dared look at him.

With baited breath I risked a quick glance to my left. He sat in a relaxed posture, his arms folded with his legs comfortably spread apart. His dark beard made him look older than he probably was. He must have been in his mid twenties. He was wearing a dark suit, like it seemed to be the fashion among the men especially from the East of Turkey. Another glance. His white shirt had the upper two buttons open and no pot-belly disturbed the outline of his abdominal area. As the film showed a woman spreading her pale meaty legs wide on a hay-stack the cinema lit up slightly and I could make out the chest hair that curled out of his shirt. He was staring straight at the screen without apparently paying any attention to me. Another glance. He had dark short hair. His profile was masculine with quite a big nose that however only emphasised he masculine facial features. Suddenly he turned his face towards me with a very stern look. I quickly turned my head away, freezing in my seat not even daring to breathe. I could feel his gaze burning on me. What would he do? From the corners of my eyes I could just about see that he was turning his attention back to the movie. I breathed a sigh of relief.

To be continued...