Showtime: A Story on Public Speaking, Presentation Skills, Inspiration & Mastery

By Armani Talks

Overshadowed by his 2 brothers, Malakai looks to pursue a skillset that he can master. The skillset that he is led to is impromptu speaking. In the initial stages, he is unsure what to do with this skill.

As Malakai's journey progresses, he is in

• Language: English
• Publisher: Armani Talks
• Release date: May 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869046734

Book preview

EC

Copyright © 2019 Arman N. Chowdhury

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America First Printing, 2022

https://www.armanitalks.com

1

Malakai walked center stage.

The audience looked back in disbelief.

‘Really?! Ladies and gentlemen, Malakai is taking stage. Unbelievable!’ the commentator said.

Malakai slowly walked on stage.

His white suit was splattered in blood.

There was a pocket square wrapped around his battered left knuckle.

Just a few moments earlier, Malakai had viciously punched through the mirror in his waiting room.

He destroyed his entire waiting room…

Flipped tables, broken glasses, shattered lamps.

The biggest speech of his life was here.

And he was set to deliver it right after hearing the most horrific news of his life.

The audience could not believe what they were witnessing.

Malakai’s family in his village could not believe what they were witnessing.

The thousands of journalists in the audience could not believe what they were witnessing.

His twin brother, Gordon, who sat in the front row, could believe what he was witnessing.

Malakai continued to walk center stage.

He looked at the faces in the crowd.

He looked at the cameras.

The audience awaited in suspense.

Is he really going to speak?

2

6 months ago

Thirty fucking minutes, what is this??

Malakai was waiting in the drive thru for so long waiting to pick up a quick meal. He already had a long day and the thought of making food at home made him nauseous.

He just wanted to pick up food from Taco Bell, go home, watch some TV, and knock out. But his plans were getting stunted with how long it was taking in the drive thru.

Malakai was becoming infuriated.

He used to work in Taco bell for his first job. The Taco bell in the food court to be exact.

Since this was his first job, he had a hunger to prove himself to the manager.

The manager was a man in his mid-40s whose entire life revolved around Taco Bell. The manager’s name was Miguel.

Malakai went to Miguel’s Taco Bell 3 times before he finally got hired. Whenever someone would give Malakai a chance to prove himself, it touched his heart. His narrative mind would get engaged and he didn’t want to let them down.

So, Malakai worked hard. He worked overtime. He made it an effort to ensure that Miguel was proud of him. The customers loved it when they saw Malakai on the cash register because they knew they were going to get exquisite service.

He always went the extra mile to make sure that Miguel’s establishment looked good compared to the other establishments in the food court.

The food court in the mall also had other Chinese restaurants, sub places, pizza places etc. Therefore, Malakai needed to make sure that his Taco Bell had the competitive advantage of being quick and efficient.

Quick and efficient….

How fast food should be!

Why was he waiting 30 minutes to get his food for??

I thought it was called FAST food, he thought in disgust.

He couldn’t even leave because the drive thru had a one-way lane and there was already a pile of cars behind him.

As he waited, he turned off the radio.

The radio music began disgruntling him. A bunch of mainstream hits with little to no depth.

Malakai turned the music off so he could meditate.

As of late, he had been meditating.

He learned that meditation calms the mind down and increases gray matter in the brain. He wasn’t too sure what gray matter was, but if it was enough to calm him down, then he was sold.

Ever since Malakai was a child, he struggled with anger issues. The type of anger issues that would make others look at him in a different way.

At first, Malakai wasn’t aware of his anger issues. He thought it was something that everyone had, especially youngsters.

As he got older, he realized his temper was not ordinary. It was showing signs of something deeper. He once heard a poet say:

‘If you get angry about the small things, that means you are running away from the big things.’

What big thing was Malakai running away from?

Did this moment of him waiting 30 minutes in the fast-food restaurant warrant anger?

He believed so.

For most of Malakai’s temper tantrums, he believed he was justified. He felt he was being disrespected and the only logical thing to do was show that he wasn’t a punk.

It made him feel better when he learned that many highly creative people also struggled with rage too.

Michael Jordan would get heated at his teammates.

Steve Jobs would ferociously yell at his team.

Even good ole’ Walt Disney was known to have a heated temper when others challenged his authority.

Malakai believed that his rage was of the same lens. He must’ve gotten angry because he believed in efficiency.

He had dozens of shoes with massive holes in the soles.

Why?

It’s because he walked with ferocity. He walked like he had somewhere to go…

Others would often look like they were dragging their feet next to him. He couldn’t stand it when others walked slow near him.

Initially, he thought his anger was justified. Until he realized it wasn’t.

Malakai and his father got super-heated in the phone call recently.  That phone call was enough to show Malakai that his temper may be somewhat justified, but not justified enough.

If meditation could help with his anger, then he would give meditation a chance.

He awaited in the drive thru.

35 minutes turned into 45 minutes and his order still hadn’t been taken. Malakai steadily began counting his breaths.

1.

2..

3…

4….

3

After 50 minutes, Malakai hears the voice box in the Taco Bell say:

‘Yea, go ahead.’

Yea, go ahead?

Is that how you greet a customer?

You don’t even say, ‘sorry for keeping you waiting for almost an hour due to our incompetence.’

Anyways, Malakai wasn’t going to make a big deal.

He was almost out.

‘Yes, may I get the combo box? And can you exchange the cinnamon twists for the nachos chips as well?’ Malakai asked.

‘No,’ said the voice.

‘What?’

‘I can’t exchange the cinnamons twists for the nacho chips.’’

‘I come here all the time and I always switch the cinnamon twists for the nachos,’ Malakai said.

‘Well, I can’t do it,’ said the cashier in a condescending tone.

‘I’ve been waiting for over 40 minutes. I do this all the time. Please exchange the cinnamon twists for the nacho chips.’

Since Malakai had counted his breaths up to 47 at that point, he felt somewhat calm. He didn’t feel the need to lash out, yet.

‘I can’t do it,’ the cashier responded.

‘I waited for a long time and there is no other order that I want. Please exchange the cinnamon twists for the nacho chips.’

Silence.

Malakai waited.

He assumed the cashier was talking to his manager to see how to make the exchange happen.

He waited for 5 minutes.

Dead silence.

‘Hello?’ Malakai said.

‘Yes,’ responded the cashier.

‘Update?’

‘I already told you. I can’t exchange the cinnamon twists.’

Malakai became infuriated.

This guy was just standing idle for 5 minutes not saying anything? Is this dumbass cashier really showing an attitude after wasting almost an hour of Malakai’s time?

Malakai began yelling.

‘Yo fucker. I come here all the time. I told you to fucking exchange my shit. I’m not going anywhere till you give me what I fucking asked for. Give me your manager’s number. Give me your districts number. You useless piece of shit!’

‘Your momma,’ said the cashier through the voice box.

My momma? thought Malakai in rage. Did this worker just talk back to a customer?

From Malakai’s worldview, a worker never talked back to a customer. Miguel’s Taco Bell philosophy had been imprinted in Malakai’s mind. He knew that in the restaurant business, the customer was meant to be seen as a deity. And this worker talked back to Malakai and insulted his mom too?

This enraged Malakai.

‘Wait till I see you in the front. Just wait.’

4

Axel and Gordon were surprised that Malakai still wasn’t home. This was unusual. Malakai was more disciplined than not showing up till 11. His 2 bothers were up to date with Malakai’s movements.

Axel was the oldest.

Gordon was Malakai’s twin.

‘Hey, Malakai hit you up or anything?’ Axel asked Gordon.

‘Nah, he didn’t hit me up yet. He’s normally back by this time. You think he’s good?’ Gordon asked.

Axel shrugged his shoulders.

Normally, he didn’t get worked up.

But today, he was a tad bit worried.

As the oldest brother, Axel was overprotective with his 2 hot headed brothers. He felt like he was responsible for taking care of them, especially with their parents away.

As of late, Axel had been getting these ‘feelings.’ These feelings were noticeable in his ears, left thigh and gut. He realized that gut feelings didn’t just occur in the gut. Instead, it was sudden sensations that went all over the body.

Tonight, Axel kept feeling those sensations.

‘Hey Axel,’ Gordon said.

‘Yea?’

‘Look at this.’

Gordon handed Axel his phone with a text message.

The message was from Malakai.

It wrote:

‘Help. 3211 Lincoln Road.’

5

Malakai pulled out his phone.

After 1 hour and 12 minutes, he was finally entering the drive thru window. Someone was going to pay for the wait. More importantly, he wanted to see the person who talked reckless to him. He wanted to make this coward go viral for talking to him reckless.

The meditation was a memory of the distant past at this point. His anger was uncontrollable. Not only was his time wasted, but he was disrespected.

Disrespect was something that Malakai could not tolerate. He didn’t believe in taking the high road. He believed others should understand that Malakai was not the guy to disrespect. Whether that was going to be learned through words or through violence was not always clear.

He pulls up to the drive thru.

The guy opens the window and says:

‘2 cheesy chipotle burritos? That will be $4.84, sir.’

Malakai listened to the voice. Nah, that’s not the voice who he heard earlier.

‘Who was in the cash register before you?’

‘Um, sir?’

‘Who was in the cash register before you?’ Malakai repeated in the same tone.

‘Why sir? Is there anything I can help you with?’

‘There was a guy who talked to me disrespectfully on the mic. I can tell from your tone that wasn’t you. Who was in the cash register before you?’

This guy looked noticeably disturbed at this point. He was a white kid, but his face was now becoming red. Malakai could tell that he was protecting the disrespectful worker.

‘Have the guy who was talking to me meet me here. I’m not going anywhere until I see his face.’

The cashier had the face of someone who was stuck in a pickle. Based on his body language, Malakai could tell this was a new employee who didn’t want any trouble. Malakai had trained enough new employees back in his Taco Bell days to see the uncomfortable looks of being new on the job.

‘I’m waiting,’ Malakai said with his voice raising.

Suddenly, a flush of anger burst within him which made him yell:

‘Where’s that pussy? You back there pussy? Let me see what you look like! That’s why you work for me, bitch. Know that!!’

A few other workers from the drive thru began staring at him in confusion. Malakai could see a few heads popping out from the cars behind him to see what was going on.

‘Where are you coward?’ Malakai roared.

Suddenly, he could hear aggressive footsteps.

A 6-foot 2 guy, tan skin, in a Taco Bell uniform comes walking towards him.

‘What bitch, you looking for me? Fuck your nacho chips and fuck you! Get the hell out of my drive thru!’

Malakai looked at this guy and saw ‘floor supervisor’ on his tag. This guy is a supervisor talking to his customers like this?

‘What’s your name bitch?’ Malakai yelled at the worker.

‘Can’t you read?’ the supervisor responded back pointing to his tag.

It wrote ‘Cooper.’

‘Yo Cooper, congratulations. You are fired from this job.’ Malakai had been recording the whole thing and was ecstatic to get just a strong response out of him.

His happiness got balanced by the anger he felt for being talked to disrespectfully by this worker. He responded with:

‘You better know this... You work for me. I’m the customer, you’re a worker. You should be lucky I pay your paycheck.’

‘You don’t pay me anything. You’re banned from this Taco Bell!’ barked the disgruntled employee.

‘Hahaha try and ban me. Don’t make me walk inside and whoop your ass.’

‘Try it. I’m not scared of you and your dusty ass Honda Civic,’ said the employee with a smirk on his face.

‘What do you drive bitch? What’s that Taco Bell money getting you? Look at you, a straight loser! In your 30s and still working in fast food. Your parents must be proud of you,’ Malakai said.

At this point, the anger was spilling through Malakai’s voice.

That’s when the man aggressively took his head out of the drive thru window, got close to Malakai and said:

‘Fuck you and your momma.’

Without thinking twice, Malakai slapped the cashier right on the face. It was a loud enough slap to be heard by the other workers in the Taco Bell and the other drivers in the drive thru.

The slap landed perfectly.

‘Watch your mouth, boy,’ Malakai said in rage.

That’s when Cooper stuck his head back inside, grabbed a filled drink and threw it at Malakai. The lid came off the drink as it hit Malakai’s car and the Sprite spilled all over the front seats.

Enraged, Malakai opens the door to fight the cashier. But the cashier suddenly closes the window right as Malakai was about to lunge at him.

He sees the cashier on the phone, most likely with the cops. Seething with anger, Malakai realizes he better leave before the cops arrest him for assault.

Since the car right behind him is so close, they can’t see his license plate.

Quickly, Malakai rushes to the back of his car, squeezes himself between the other car and begins loosening the screws of his license plate.

He takes the plate off and puts it under his shirt, flicks off the Taco Bell employees, then drives away.

6

Malakai is sticky.

He looks around his precious car and sees the Sprite slowly drying.

This is going to be another headache. For the next few days, he’s going to have to Google how to get the aroma of Sprite out of his car.

What made him even angrier was that he didn’t even have his food!

1 hour and 12 minutes wasted.

Angry.

Cops possibly looking for him.

And nothing to even munch on.

Any sane person would have driven home by now. Malakai is not sane though. He becomes insane when he’s angry.

He parked at the Walmart right by the Taco Bell. There were a few other cars at Walmart to help him be less noticeable. He was still close enough to the Taco Bell to make eye contact with the entrance.

Eventually, this worker would have to go home.

Eventually, this worker would have to come outside the entrance.

And eventually, this worker would have to make eye contact with Malakai and his bat.

Malakai had played baseball growing up. Something about hitting a ball intrigued him, especially with a bat.

Despite getting initially curious about baseball, he couldn’t ever fall in love with it like he fell in love with other sports.

However, he kept the bat.

He’d often show off the bat to girls who he’d go on a date with. If he ever wanted to go back into baseball, the bat could be referenced once again.

Tonight, the bat was going to serve a different purpose.

Tonight, the bat was going to be used to break another man’s skull.

7

Axel weaved through the roads as Gordon gave instructions. Despite Axel being so well read and smart, he didn’t know directions even if his life depended on it.

Axel was ashamed by his poor knowledge of the streets, while Gordon didn’t give a damn. Gordon would say, ‘that’s what the GPS is for.’

That’s what made all these brothers different. Gordon and Malakai were more similar than different, although they did possess differences.

However, Axel seemed like he was from a different family.

A 6-foot 4 giant with broad shoulders, chiseled legs, and a strong jaw.

To outsiders, Axel was known as a fighter.

To people who knew Axel, he was an enigma.

Axel was an esteemed fighter who was a savant in boxing, martial arts, wrestling and much more. He had the awards and multiple championships to show for it.

The world knew he could fight and hurt others.

But to those people who REALLY knew Axel, he was more than a fighter. He was more so a philosopher.

A philosopher is known as the lover of wisdom. Well, that’s what Axel was. Constantly reading books, writing, and participating in debates on theology, mythology, purpose etc. He’d often encourage Malakai and Gordon to read more too.

‘Readers are leaders!’ Axel would say as he began his 2 hour a day reading routine.

Gordon would look at his brother with disgust and pride.

He looked at Axel with disgust because he thought, ‘if I was so big, I’d beat up anyone who talked back to me.’

Gordon, just like Malakai, was