Friday night, at 8 o'clock.
Aiden was practically bouncing off the walls the entire day.
Every time I saw her, she was smiling, and her blue eyes were ablaze.
"Sis is freaking out." DeMarius whispered to me. "Should we get her some medical attention?"
"She really likes poetry." I shrugged.
"Clearly."
"Sky!" Aiden called. "It's seven fifty-five!"
"Okay, I'm coming!"
"No, you have to change first!"
"What?"
"You have to go put on black."
I looked over at DeMarius. "Why do I have to wear black?"
"Poetry cafes, man." He shrugged. "Just the way artists vibe."
"Okay, don't ever say that again."
•••••
Aiden and I took a bus from the hotel to the Richard Rogers, and walked from the Richard Rogers to the cafe.
It was a quirky little place, entitled 'Cream and Sugar', as Josh had said.
"Not too crowded." Aiden commented as we walked inside. "That's good."
She was right: there weren't too many customers, but it wasn't empty.
The lights were dimmed, and a small stage with a stool and a mic was set up at the front of the shop.
Aiden bought coffee, as promised, and we took a table.
We sat there for a while, listening to all kinds of poetry. Some kinds, I hadn't even heard of before.
Slam, free verse, elegies, Shakespearean sonnets, and countless other types.
The overall experience was amazing.
There's just something about the smell of coffee and parchment in a dark room with a bunch of people dressed in black.
It's so quiet, you can hear your own heart beating. And instead of applause, you're supposed to snap.
Some poems were profound, but others made no sense.
One of Aiden and I's favorites was about pineapples.
Consider all the pineapples.
Consider every one.
They're all lovely fruits,
That grow under the sun.
When you consider the pineapple,
One must consider its name
For that is how the pineapple,
Made its way to fame.
It took all of our willpower to hold in laughter, and snap for the poet as he exited the stage.
The owner stepped on as Mr. Pineapple stepped off.
"Thank you, to all our voluntaries!" She said. "Now, can I call someone up who was not planning on presenting this evening? Spice things up a bit?"
I instantly looked at Aiden, who had her eyes on her hands in her lap.
"How about you?" The owner said. She was pointing in the general direction we were sitting in, and I knew she'd selected Aiden.
My predictions were proven to be correct once the owner made her way down to the tables and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Would you like to go up?" She asked.
Aiden's eyes widened. "Me?"
The owner nodded. "Please?"
