Coffee with the Criminal

two

Chapter Two

"I bet I can throw this tissue in that bin over there," Hayes said, his arms lazily resting on the table as he forced his words to come out his mouth.

"I bet you anything you can't," I replied back with my words being dragged out of my mouth too, my latte warming up my cold hands. Hayes had just come back from collage after two exams and I had just been to school, cooked for my Dad, and then babysat a few children down the street. One thing was for sure, we both looked like hell. Hayes was wearing a beanie to cover up his messy hair and so I decided to do the same. We were both also wearing the same jumpers that Dad had brought us from America when he went on a business trip once. It was black and had the words 'I heart NY' embroidered into it. We had both decided to wear it this morning because Hayes had told me about his exams and I had also told him about my busy day I was going to have so to share the pain, we both wore matching outfits. It didn't make sense but majority of everything me and Hayes did was weird and didn't make sense so I wasn't exactly reluctant.

Hayes decided to ignore me and threw the tissue anyway which landed right in a coffee cup on the table behind us. Luckily, the man who owned the coffee was buying something else at the till and didn't look back so Hayes decided to straighten his back as innocently as he could and turned towards the opposite direction to make it look like we had nothing to do with it. Truthfully, he was making us look like we just committed murder or something but to please my annoying brother, I also joined in and played innocent. The man came back to his seat and opened up a packet which had some sort of cereal bar in it. Hayes was trying his best to hold back a snigger as the man dipped the bar into his cup and when he took it out, along came a trail of white paper stuck on his cereal bar.

"What the..." he said as me and Hayes were quietly laughing behind him. He suddenly turned his head towards us and my heart felt as it just flipped. He knew, he knew it was us. What was I supposed to do, oh God.

"You." His finger was pointed towards Hayes.

"Me? What no, I don't know what you're trying to say it... it wasn't me Sir."

The man got up from his seat and stomped up to Hayes, his face fuming with anger. Hayes quickly stood up in respect but the man didn't look like he was looking for manners. He wanted an explanation.

"You, do not lie to me. It was you, wasn't it?"

"Yes, sorry Sir it wasn't meant for your cup." Hayes' head was down as he started to explain the process. " You see, I'm tired and bored so I thought I could throw the tissue in the bin but your cup got in the way and so-"

"My cup got in the way? Or your idiotic brain wasn't functioning properly?"

My mouth dropped open in shock as did Hayes. Hayes' head lifted, ready to say something back to this rude man but the man beat him to it.

"You dare try to answer me back again, boy. I payed for that drink and now it's ruined! Don't your parents teach you any manners?"

I looked at Hayes' face and saw how he flinched. He hated shouting. It terrified him because when he was a child, his parents would fight and get angry at each other, and then they'd take the anger out on Hayes. He wasn't my biological brother. His mother gave him up for adoption at the age of two and he never knew who his biological father was. So after my mum thought that she wasn't able to conceive after my older brother, Dad told her it was okay and adoption was always an option. It turned out though, in that same year, my mum was pregnant with me. Miracles existed and Dad always told us how we were both his miracles and Mum's saviours. He never mentioned  Levi though. No one talked about him in the house. No one.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'll buy you a new drink, how's that?"

"No! I wanted that one specifically! What was the need to throw that tissue into my tea! You horrid-"