Dang Convergence Vol. 1

Chapter Twelve The Calm Before The Storm, Pt 2

Chapter Twelve

The Calm Before The Storm, Pt 2

There was a man with a tattered brown shirt, ripped black trousers and muddied dark sneakers laying by the curb not a great distance away from Jonny's; a straw hat resting on his face, masking it from view.

Next to him was a small silver bowl; a handful of coins in it. Dang placed ten dollars in the bowl as he went past; he hadn't gone very far when he heard the man groan. He halted and looked at the homeless dude.

"Uh, are you good?" he asked.

He got a groan in response. The man ran a hand along his stomach.

An expression of pity formed on Dang's face. He looked at the half-eaten sandwich in his hand and felt a little repulsed, his appetite started fading away completely. "Hey, look, it's not much," he began as he set the sandwich down on the man's chest. "But I'm throwing in a few more dollars so you can get some more grub, alright?"

He rolled up a hundred dollars and slid it perfectly into the man's hands. "There you go."

He straightened to his feet, turned around and started to walk away. He'd only taken a few steps when he heard the man move suddenly and quickly too. He looked back to find that the homeless dude had sat up now, and the hat that had been sitting on his face was now on his head, the shadows from it obscuring much of his facial features.

The homeless guy was staring at the money in his hand. "You're serious?" he asked, as if unable to comprehend such a gesture.

"Yeah, man. You look like you could use a few meals. If you need a place to stay, there's a shelter I could–,"

"Thank you," the homeless dude cut him off, his tone genuine, sincere. "I, uh, I wish I could repay you with something but uh...maybe some other time, eh? I promise to find a way to return the favor."

"Nah," Dang shook his head and smiled. "Won't be necessary. Just watch after yourself, alright?"

"Yeah," the man murmured.

Dang gave him a final nod and continued on his way. Further down the block, he came across a few familiar faces.

They were outside a costume shop, seated on a bench, clad in baggy flannel jackets and beanies on their heads. All three of them were of darker skin. Tyler, the largest and tallest of the three, had round glasses on and was currently stuffing down a burrito, some of the sauce getting onto his thick beard. He was the first to see Dang and he whistled upon seeing him, nudging the two sitting on either side of him–Caleb and Mikey.

Both of them erupted into cheer when they saw Dang. Mikey stood from the bench, bounding toward Dang with a wide grin on his face.

"Dang, my man!" Mikey exclaimed, before exchanging a handshake with Dang, the two of them bumping shoulders and exchanging back pats during the hug. "Dude, you haven't hopped by the court in a minute, what the hell is you been getting up to?"

"Man, I've just been busy," Dang responded, shrugging. "Had a lot on my plate past couple days."

"Man, you've always got some shit going on," Caleb snorted, bumping Dang in the shoulder playfully. "I swear to God, sometimes I forget you're just a teenager in high school the way you be moving around, acting like you're up to saving the world and shit like that. Look kid, these are your best years, you gotta blow off some steam, lay back and have some fun! Otherwise, you're going to grow to be like those grumpy, boring billionaires who run big, information-stealing companies."

Dang frowned and cocked his head to the side. "I don't know, man, I'm not sure being a billionaire is such a bad thing."

"Would you rather sit behind a desk for eight hours a day or come shoot hoops with the homies and make some little boys cry and whine like, well, fuck, I don't know, like some little boys?"