Inconvenience

Chapter 13: A Chance

Chapter 13: A Chance

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Max shifted and turned, tangling himself under his quilt as he adjusted to the day. A rooster's cry wailed into his ear. He slapped his hand down in the general direction of the noise, hitting the lumpy mattress a few times before feeling the cold plastic cover of his phone. He sat up and ran his finger across the screen a few times, finally silencing the ungodly alarm.

"Siri," He yawned. "what day is it."

She beeped twice. "Saturday, April 29th, 2017, Max."

"Whoop-de-fuckin-doo." He muttered. He went through the process of finding some alright smelling clothes to put on and, making sure they weren't inside-out, grabbed his cane and left the house. He'd been getting very good at finding his way around with it, no longer did he just wave it around and hope for the best. Now he actually knew what to look for and how not whack people in the legs. At least not by accident. Delia was good at teaching that, even though she could see just fine.

"Only a few days left." He thought. That was a solace to him, and to the numbed welts that stretched across both butt-cheeks. In just two days the camp would be taking campers again, and he'd finally talk to David again. That voice message could only keep him company so much. He could only listen to: "Hellooooo! Thank you for calling Cameron Campbell's Camp Campbell! We're sorry but due to a change in management and understaffing we are not accepting new campers until the 1st of May. Please call us back then and we'll give your child the adventure of a lifetime! Campe Diem!" so many times before the words became monotonous. Still, they let him remember David's voice, and that was better than nothing.

Max yawned, rubbing his eyes. He realized he forgot his glasses again. It didn't matter, not like the sun was shining anyway, not with this temperature. He thought about what he should do with his Saturday. He chuckled to himself, as if he wasn't going to do what he did whenever he had nothing to do. Despite not being able to see them, he could feel himself gravitating towards the golden arches.

He felt his shoe bump into a small crack in the concrete, letting him know he was right where he wanted to be. The automatic doors whooshed open and he walked into the ever-appetizing smell of cheap meat and chicken-nuggets.

"Mornin' Max." A nasal voice pitched its way into his ears as soon as he walked through the threshold of the door. He recoiled, tempted to walk right on out again, but knew that he had no choice. At least, not if he wanted cheap food and free Wi-Fi.

"Hey Sophie." He muttered. He could tell that the girl was close, the tell-tale giveaway being the perpetual smell of lemon-pledge hanging off of her. "Is there a free booth?"

"Third from the back." She said, taking a few steps closer to him. "Will you have the usual?" Her voice may have been annoying, but she wasn't all that bad, at least she knew what he liked. Hell, she'd even bring the food to him if she could, but Max suspected that courtesy was extended to everyone who couldn't make their way around without being kamikazed by a dozen hyperactive gremlins. Though, judging by the sound of the place there didn't seem to be more than a couple of tots running around.

"Yeah, but no fucking gherkins this time! There was one in my burger last time and I nearly fucking threw up!" God, he hated gherkins.

He went to the corner booth first and counted as went until he got to the sixth of the eight, and as per Sophie's advice, it was free. He shimmied across the seat until his back was against the wall and took out his phone. He put the earphones in his ears and turned on his totally legally-downloaded music. He bopped his head to Gorillaz' 'Clint Eastwood' for a while, until he felt a tap on his knee. The food smelled as good as McDonalds could. He reached into his pocket and held out a five dollar bill.