MORALES, Antoni L.

[antoni morales]

Born and raised New York City dweller, currently living in Bed–Stuy. Antoni is better known as Ant, never known as Toni.  He is a career bartender, currently working at NY hotspot Bodega. His parents Angelica and Aaron Morales would like the record to show that, of their four children, it's only Ant who has chosen to tread a dangerous path. ______________________________________________ "Though my first child went to the local high school, which happens to be the one I teach at, and she did well there, my second showed such promise that his mother and I decided to explore other options. That's how Antoni ended up with a full ride scholarship to Holy Cross, an honor that was then extended to his younger brother. With that weight off our minds and the promise that Ant would surely get a college scholarship too, Angelica and I felt confident enough to invest in our youngest girl's education too, scrimping and saving to send her to Sacred Heart. Sofia thrived there so it was money well spent, whereas the boys.. the boys are a different story. It didn't take long for Ant's demeanor to shift. He had been excited for the academic challenge at first, thirsty to prove himself. But that didn't last. He's never said what happened but I suspect the other kids were not welcoming to him. He quickly developed a chip on his shoulder and we encouraged him to shrug it off. This was such an incredible opportunity and he'd earned it, he deserved to be there even more than the other kids as far as we were concerned, since he hadn't paid his way into it... it was a mistake to say that to him, I can see that now.  Ant soon realized he held a certain kind of power over these kids. He told tall tales of crack dens and robberies at gunpoint, all sorts. You should have seen the looks the other parents gave us come PTA meetings! I wanted to shake them, they were all so gullible. I'm a teacher and his mother is a professor of Philosophy, for fuck's sake, we were putting one of our kids through private school on our own dime... we were, are a normal family. Took the kids to Disneyland, mountains of presents come Christmas, we aren't some gangsters. Still, sooner or later it was going to catch up with Ant and it did just that. He wound up getting expelled for fighting another boy (fighting is a generous framing, I will admit), and he almost got his brother kicked out too, though thank god we managed to make the school see reason on that. Matt managed to make it through, though he still thinks of Ant as something of an idol. He'll grow out of it, eventually." ______________________________________________ P A S S I O N S B U Z Z K I L L S ______________________________________________ MOST PLAYED 1. the middle - jimmy eat world 2. hoping no one notice - mahawan 3. 505 - arctic monkeys 4. chick habit - april march 5. gallowdance - lebanon handover 6. the perfect girl - mareux 7. there is a light that never goes out - the smiths 8. nothing's gonna hurt you baby - cigarettes after sex ______________________________________________ "Someone asked me recently how I'm so good at lying. It took me by surprise, because I like to think of myself as a pretty straight up guy. What you see is what you get, you know? Sure I went to a fancy school, but I was a pity admission, not like I grew up in that world. That school did give me one thing though, and that was access. Whatever you think about rich kids is true. Most of them have no idea how privileged they are, no matter how much they try to pretend otherwise, how much charity they do or how woke they try to be. They truly don't get it. They don't see that they're there by pure, dumb luck. Even the ones who know their birth was a coincidence of fate, they still think their mommies and daddies worked oh so hard for everything they have... what, like janitors don't work hard? McDonalds workers slinging burgers for minimum wage?  Truly, they think they're different on a molecular level. That even if they had been born in different circumstances, they'd be able to force fate's hand and work their way back into society's good graces. They won't tell you this. They'll swear up and down that they know they're lucky, but it's a front. Now, they aren't good liars. So lying back to them was something that came easily. I'd tell them that I grew up in the projects, that a scar I got from a bike accident was a stab wound, that no, really, seriously, this lemonade is alcoholic. And you know what? I don't think I was that convincing, not at all. But they bought it. They bought it like they buy everything, too stupid to think critically about the facts of the world as they know it, too insulated from reality to have to. Fuck 'em, fuck every last one of 'em. I don't regret a thing." ______________________________________________ most familiar scents  -  weed lingering on clothing, laundry detergent, garlic and onion being cooked by his roommate, the loewe beetroot candle his ex helena left behind that he's now addicted to, exhaust drifting through his open windows, rain on concrete, cigarette smoke, the mechanically tinged scent of the subway, his dog rezno's breath in the morning. most familiar tastes -  soy sauce, fenty glossbomb (a favorite amongst all women, as far as he can tell), egg rolls, protein shakes, cigarette smoke on the tongue of a girl in a nightclub or the bar he works at, whisky sours, gin & tonics, buttered sourdough toast with maldon sea salt and chilli flakes.  most familiar sensations -  muscle aches after a workout, throbbing scratches on his back after a night of passion, sheets cooled by his constantly running air con, rezno's rough tongue across his face, skin itching on the subway, face stinging from acid exfoliators, hands dry from counting cash, feminine fingers tracing the tattoos on his arms. most familiar sights - sunrises over neighboring skyscrapers making gold light pool in his bedroom at 6am, extravagant parties where people don't seem to notice him slipping off or noting down details, blow cut into skinny lines by an amex black card, girls with their heads tipped back and panting, huge amounts of money in unassuming envelopes. most familiar sounds - burner phones buzzing at 3am, traffic honking outside his apartment at all hours of the day and night, the rattle of the subway as it goes by, girls saying his name with an upward inflection as if they are surprised to see him somewhere, school "friends" asking if he can hook them up, thumping techno at his club of choice (basement if you're wondering), his parents asking when he'll make something of himself.

lex     ryan manick    resident