CAGED

Fifteen

FIFTEEN

Today, Zuri sold two lanterns. I was not there when she sold them but I can spot that something has been removed. She sold one from the "Memory" and another from the non VIP group.

" Where did you go?" Zuri throws to me as she writes.

I shrug and look around. She pauses her writing as if that was the attention she thought I needed. When she stared that way, it made her look like her brother though she is a darker shade.

"Do you think you can manage this place?" She asks, already closing the ledger before her. " I need to do something."

"Yes I can."

I'm wearing my Spartan sandals and it slides easily against concrete so I slide over to the counter.

Zuri arranges her bag while I take her seat. She hands me some money. "You can buy something to eat."

I nod.

"Don't mess it up," she warns at the door before leaving.

When she leaves, I walk around the shop turning on the lanterns. I bring the leaf patterned lantern to the ground beside my feet then place my feet in it's glow. It seems as though my feet are beneath a shadow of leaves.

The door to the shop shuts. I stand up from where I am seated and immediately pull out my knife. 

She is here.

She looks at me and locks the door then she turns the sign. I watch on, getting into a defensive stance. This is my captor right here. She is wearing a coat that has lots of pockets and it stops around her thighs.  She pairs it with tight fitted leather pants. This choice of clothing does not sit well with her chopsticks legs. She should be wearing her baggy shorts more.

She spins around and throws her hand in the pocket of her long coat then she walks behind the counter and sits. 

"What do you want from me?" I ask, bringing down my hands. I am certain she does not want to kill me. She let me escape and has not come for me since she knew where I was. But the hide and seek is no longer tolerable for me. I don't need it.

Her eyes are grey. It adds to make her face lack distinct features. The grey eyes move around the small shop, never for once pinning on me. One could summarize that I am a fly.

I put off the lantern at my feet and return it to its place. I feel her eyes on me as I move. I know she never liked to talk but right now we need to talk. Staring wasn't of any use.

I stand beside the stool I was sitting on, giving the counter some space but not too far away from it.

"Please," I say, "What do you want?"

She throws her head up. With eyes closed, she hums in her throat. I feel like dropping a lantern from the shelf to disrupt her silence.

She walks out from the counter and approaches me. I shift closer to the wall as she passes. She lifts her eyes and pauses them at the window.

"This place lacks security," she says, walking down and running her hand over the lanterns. "They won't steal from here though because the man was good to everyone. You are the only one who can steal from here."

I get defensive. " What do you mean?"

She is as solemn as a graveyard. Her demeanor gives away nothing.

"What are you doing here?" She asks.

"Here?"

"What is this foolery you are doing in this shop and in this city?"