A small girl walks into a cafe, the open door letting in the cold fall breeze as it shuts behinds her. She approaches the bar, speaking to the bartender. "The usual." She takes a seat and grabs a small, leather wallet from her back pocket. The wallet appears to be in bad condition, as the leather seems to be slowly tearing off of the wallet.
"You say the usual, but you only appear here once a week, and it's always the same with you. Order something else would you."
"Do I look like I can afford anything else? " The bartender hands the girl a water. She reaches into her wallet and pulls out a few coins.
"That's not enough, went up in price again." The man grabs the glass again.
"Seriously, again? That's the third time in two months, you greedy bastard." The girl puts another coin on the counter, and only then the man accepts it and gives the girl her drink. "Business is business, kid." He grabs the coins and stuffs them into his pocket.
"Business is bullshit." She says, and takes a sip from her water. "You've got that right, kid." The man smirks, and continues cleaning glasses.
After not even a minute, the girl finishes her drink and stands up to leave. But before she gets the chance to do so, the bartender speaks up. "You downed that pretty quickly, are you still thirsty by any chance?" The girl turns around, standing there with a confused look on her face.
"Well yeah, but I can't afford another glass. The rest I'll get elsewhere." The man inspects the girl again, and shakes his head. "You mean you're going to steal? We can't have that now, can we." He grabs the glass the girl drank out of, and refills it. "Tell you what kid, you tell me a bit about yourself, you get this glass on the house."
She hesitantly approaches the bar again and sits down, unable to hide the slight smile on her face. "Thank you, sir." She holds the glass in her tiny hands and takes a sip. "What exactly is it you want to know?"
"Well, for starters, a name would be nice. You've been coming here for the past 4 months, yet you've never said any more than needed. At least give me something I can call you by."
The girl plays with her glass a bit before answering. "People call me Kaeyla. What about you?" She takes another sip, this time drinking slower, savoring the water a bit more. "The name's Ray. Nice to meet you, Kaeyla." He extents his hand for a hand shake, but Kaeyla just shakes her head.
"Something wrong kid?" The man retracts his hand with a worried look on his face. She doesn't answer. Instead she holds up her hands, showing the dirt that's on them. Taking a second look at the glass Kaeyla's drinking out of, the outside is also covered with a few swipes of dirt.
"Get over here, kid." He gets out from behind the bar and leads Kaeyla to the employees restroom. "Wash your hands in there." Kaeyla entered, and a few minutes later came out again. Her hands were cleaned up, along with her face. "Now you look more like yourself." Ray gives her a smile, and goes back to the bar to grab another glass.
"I couldn't possibly. You've already given me a free one, Ray."
"Kid, you need it more than I do. It's 1.50$, it's really not that bad." He hands her the glass, as her eyes light up. Instead of a slight smile, she now smiles from ear to ear. "Thank you."
Kaeyla ends up talking with Ray for a little more, until she finally waves goodbye, exiting the cafe. "Back onto the streets for the week."
Other than spending an hour a week in the same cafe, she stays outside most of the time. She puts her hands in her pockets, trying to keep them from getting cold, since she always had the most trouble keeping her hands warm of all things.
YOU ARE READING
Out In The Cold
General FictionA seventeen year old girl got left behind by her mother, and ever since has been living on the streets of Zaria city. With winter slowly approaching again, will she survive another year?
