The Chocolate Fight

Admir the bellman
who is Bosnian
and Hiwot the valet
who is Ethiopian
are fighting in the bellcloset
over a box of Walgreen's chocolate
brought in by Krikor the Armenian doorman.
"Baba lemme see tha' shocolate!" cries Hiwot.
"Fuck you! I hat it ferst!" Admir screams back.
They tussle
tugging the cheap box
back and forth between them.
With comic predictability,
it tears.
All the chocolates
end up
scattered
across the scuffed 12-inch vinyl tile.
No one will eat them off the floor.
They both blame each other.
Admir slams the door to the bellstand
as hard as he can.
I look up from the 608-page A History of the Modern Middle East
I was assigned
roll my eyes
and shake my head.