Gabe's Breakfast Bowl

Gabe's Breakfast Bowl is the type of place where little squeaks are always audible, even if the staff keeps assuring that no mice are scampering around the place, looking for scraps of your leftovers. The food is way too undercooked to be edible, especially the chicken. It tastes as if you were eating steak that was cooked in lava. I made a disgusted face at my food before exchanging grossed-out glances with my adopted brother, Emanuel. While I heard my brother's muffled snickering along with the suspicious squeaks, I grew more disappointed by the second. I would have to leave him very quickly and was wishing that the deadline to leave was extended. I sighed and told myself that it didn't matter, that now was not a time to start missing my old life. I had work to do, and there was no time for feeling blue.

I stared right at the people who were with me- a tall, skinny man who was wearing a long coat that made him look like a very smart and important detective. However, looks can be deceiving. I peered over at the woman next to the man. She was a nice-looking woman who was drumming her long, purple nails on the table, the sound like tiny horses galloping. They both were smiling, particularly the man.

"The train isn't coming til' eight," he said. "Do you want to eat anything? Maybe pancakes?"

I plastered a smile on my face before shaking my head. "I'm good."

"Me and your father are both so proud of our baby boy," the woman smiled as I stopped smiling. She stopped drumming her fingernails on the table to caress my cheek softly. "You must feel a-tingle with excitement."

"Mhm," I said blankly, but I did not feel a-tingle. I did not feel a-anything.

"Put your napkin in your lap," the man told me.

"I did."

"Well, should drink your tea, too," the woman suggested. "It tastes beautiful."

Maybe today is opposite day then, I thought as I looked away from the woman.

I felt a rush of musty air as a very tall woman with long, silky hair breezed by our table, her dusty clogs bringing a great deal of noise on the floor. She stopped at a rack of envelopes, sighed, probably because she had to pay twenty-five cents for one, grabbed one, and tossed a quarter to the man behind the counter, who caught it without even looking. She brushed by our table again, and this time, she secretively dropped me a note.

A napkin in your lap is an excellent source of a hiding spot since practically nobody is nosy enough to lift your napkin to see what's hiding under there. I glanced down at my lap as if I were thinking about something important, then I swiftly unfolded and read the note.

"CLIMB OUT OF THE WINDOW IN THE BATHROOM AND MEET ME IN THE ALLEYWAY BEHIND THIS RESTAURANT. I WILL BE INSIDE OF THE BLACK AUTOMOBILE. YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES. -K"

As I crumbled up the note to place in my pocket, I couldn't help but wonder why someone would take the time out of their day to write "automobile" instead of "car." The word "automobile" would waste way too much time, especially at a time like this one.

"What's on your mind, Ravon?" The woman gave me a sickly sweet smile. Just by looking into her eyes, I could tell that her smile was fake. If someone smiles and they're not smiling with their eyes, they're fake smiling.

"I don't want my tea," I said, "you can have it."

"Thank you, my boy." The man quickly batted the woman's hand away as he snatched up the cup of tea. He put the cup to his lips and started slurping more and more, louder and louder until the cup was half empty.

"Here, take the rest," he suggested as he handed me the cup. I took the cup and sighed deeply.

The man frowned as he stared deeply into my eyes. "Won't you say thank you?" He asked.

"Thank you," I said, though I totally disagreed with the idea of thanking someone when you were the one who did them a favor by giving them your nasty tea that they somehow wanted.

I looked down at my lap and almost screamed when I realized that I had wasted more than one minute of the five minutes I had to reach the black automobile.

"I need to excuse myself," I said abruptly. I stood up and did a full 360°, which I regret since it made me look nervous, and that was not a good look.

"Drink the rest of your tea," the woman said. "There are thirsty kids in Africa that would love a sip of that tea to heal their cracked tongues."

Judging by how I dashed out of the restaurant like a cheetah with its butt on fire, anyone could guess that I didn't care how the woman felt about those thirsty kids. I got annoyed just thinking about what that woman had said. If there are thirsty kids in Africa, why don't you give them water instead of pressuring me to drink tea? What does me drinking tea have to do with thirsty kids? Does that woman even make sense to 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧?

I ran behind the restaurant to find myself inside an alleyway. I did a 180° to glance at the black automobile, or car with the tall woman with long, silky hair staring back at me.

The annoyed and impatient look on the woman's face made my legs propel themselves to the car as quickly as I could, just so she wouldn't have a problem with me the moment she saw me since I've had bad experiences with people who had a problem with me the moment they saw me.

I almost slipped and fell because of the rainy setting, and the stench, probably from the car, was not helping. Luckily, I caught my balance and continued to run until I reached the door of the backseat. I opened it and hopped inside the car with nothing preparing me for the repulsive stench that entered my nostrils. The car smelled as if a skunk drowned it in its scent.

"I'm K. Shaniya Gardner," the woman said.

"I'm Ravon Corlorown," I replied while handing her an envelope that contained a few paragraphs of introduction, like how I'm an amazing cook, an even better detective, and how I like to read.

Shaniya took the note and threw it back at me without even taking a glance at it. "I know who're you."

I stayed quiet for a few seconds before stating the obvious. "I actually believe that the correct grammar is 'I know who 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦.'"

"I didn't ask," she stated as she peered stressfully at the alleyway. "Change of plans. There's no time to lose. We need to go, now. I don't believe you'd understand if I tried to explain it to you, and plus, there's not enough time to explain it under the present circumstances."

"Under the present circumstances," I repeated, "you mean, right now?"

"Guess, Corlorown. Of course I meant 'right now.'"

"If there's no time to lose, then why did you take the time to say 'under the present circumstances' instead of 'right now?'"

Shaniya smacked her teeth before telling me to get out. "Get out," she demanded in a snarly voice.