Phoenix

Chapter Fourteen - Confession

At the ring of the chime, Phoebe tucked in her bag tightly with her after saying goodbye to Bern, the fat mustached man she first saw in Kurt Little's Classic book shop where she now decided to work on a sideline for her leisure. She knew there were no more than fifty customers checking into the bookstore every day and it was a safe place. Phoebe felt home within that shop like a big box of old texts where she can sit, work, talk a little, and simply sell books. It had no other employees except Bern, from whom she had known that the vermillion-colored shirt he was wearing was actually a marketing strategy for attention. It was during her previous shopping when she saw the ad for the low-paying job as the cashier.

There were no public cameras around any corner along the street where it has been and when Phoebe thought of it, she was exaggerating. She marched along the sidewalk about to take a cab when the guy stood from a distance before her as he waited for her exit. Phoebe was shocked because no one waited for her after work especially her brother – at least, what he purports to be.

DK approached her with a rigid face and tense arms and tried again another convincing look on his face. He was a foot taller than her and it was not easy to look upon her eyes without dropping it. He tried to calm down but his insides were telling otherwise and his adrenalin was kicking in because of something that he was hiding at the moment.

"Coffee and pizza?" DK blurted out the words earlier than planned. His eyes were passionate and a little teary-eyed from staring as he invited her to dine out. Food has never been a complicated thing to him until now.

"Coffee and pizza." Phoebe gave in to his snug look and it seemed to her that he was trying hard his best smile of the day. Food, on the other hand, was as easy as 1-2-3 for her and she's not picky at all.

***

"So what is it?" Phoebe was about to ask that question but she didn't because she was thinking it was too early for the night. They were taking a seat for two when she decided to let her brother do the words for her.

"Nice work you got." DK started to talk. "What are they selling exactly?"

"Children's books. Fiction. Graphic books. Pretty cool, though." I said. "I love books. Have I told you that?"

"Nope but I had an idea." DK replied. Plays are better than books, DK thought. The last one he read was an original play which was rewritten for its musical rendition but other than that, nothing. Phoebe might rather ask about going to the gym. "I read a book . . . or rather a play . . . which is in a book a month ago." DK was really trying hard.

"So how was it?" She asked.

"It was okay. It turned out to be a musical now."

"You hitting the gym very often lately?" Phoebe asked as if reading his mind. "Is something bothering you?"

DK became a little shy about it. "Yes. Did you notice?" He was referring to his worked out arms bulging below his sleeves and he was not yet to answer the latter question. Not just yet.

Phoebe nodded. DK sipped the coffee for a while. He wiped a finger on his shirt before deciding to finally talk about the matter.

"You know what, I've never told you I never had met any relatives. I meant never aside from Alexia. Well, there was one but I can barely remember him but there were memories I could remember so clearly. Ignacio was the name of my step-father for a very short time. He was there when I was training hard to join the Organization when I was very young like eleven or twelve years old. I did love him actually." DK stared into her eyes. DK was saying the truth now and he's serious about it.