The Sisters of the Dragon Coin

The Red Hen

Of all possessions, a friend is most precious of all- Heredotus

On one corner of a forlorn Brooklyn neighborhood, there was a simple coffee shop named the Red Hen. Nothing was overly appealing about it- the food was reasonably priced, but not dirt cheap. It was never truly crowded, yet never desolate. The wifi was decent, but sometimes slow and never really remarked upon. The same jazz soundtrack would play over and over again, and the sound of the television playing in the kitchen would hum in the background.   There were three dirt brown tables, with a semi-clean couch in the middle of the room. And in the corner, an old jukebox lay. It broke sometimes, but if you banged on it hard enough, you could get it to play a tune.  As said before, the Red Hen was nothing truly remarkable. It was meant as just a place to profit off of a commuter's need to have his coffee fix on his way to work. 

 But to two certain girls, it was a safe haven and paradise. 

"You have a huge problem," 

"I have many, my dear. To which one are you referring to?" Agnes bared her teeth into a grin at her best friend, as she sucked up the last of her strawberry milkshake. The noises of her slurping the nearly empty cup echoed throughout the room, causing the few other diners to stare at the source of the noise. Noticing their gaze, she looked sheepishly at the other customers and awkwardly waved. "Carry on with your business, ye strangers."

Rachel turned bright red and kicked Agnes under the table. "Bozo." She said scornfully, but with a grin. She looked down at the number of cookie wrappers that had gathered at their table. "Why did we blow all our cash on buying on those coconuts cookies? I'm  supposed to be on a diet, you know." In truth, she had been glad to have the binge.  Midwestern salads and peaches weren't very appetizing after that was all one had eaten the entire week. 

"Oh come on! No one has ever died from having too much meat on their bones."

Uhh, Agnes? Obesity literally kills more people than starvation." 

"Huh."  She made a face.  "I did not know that. But.." She waved a hand absentmindedly toward the counter. "I got five bucks from helping out my Nana. I'ma get another cookie. 

It was a late rainy Friday afternoon and the two friends sat side by side at one of the narrow tables in the center of the room. Agnes, a short girl with cropped mud brown hair that came just below her ears and dark auburn eyes, had elfish facial features and a mouth that seemed to always be in a permanent grin. She wasn't stick thin, but not overweight. She didn't resemble her sixteen years of age and often, (to her delight)  got handed the child's menu at most restaurants. Due to having an Irish mother, she had pale freckly skin that sunburned easily.  

Rachel, on the other hand,  had a tall and slender stature. She had brown skin and dark uncontrollable curls that reached the middle of her back. Although only fifteen, it was easy to mistake her for older. She once (or twice) used this to her advantage to stay alive in the pool for adult swim, or driving her family's car underage. Her parents still didn't know where that mysterious dent on the minivan came from. To be fair, it was Agnes who had slammed into the lampost in the first place. 

The pair sat in a comfortable silence, watching the rain fall out into the crowded streets and the buzz from the traffic outside. Suddenly Agnes piped up. " So what were you going to say my problem is?" 

"Like you said," Rachel said in a teasing tone. "You have so many it's hard to pinpoint one. But-" She paused for dramatics, as Agnes rolled her eyes, attempting to feign annoyance. "You are way too eccentric to a fault. Like last week, you crashed my dad's car-" 

"Aye! Let's not point fingers. You made me laugh from showing me a meme and I lost control!" 

"Okay..." She paused, mentally listing the misadventures of Agnes O'Malley.

"You once flooded the entire science lab in freshman year." 

"I keep telling people- it was a sink mishap!" 

 "You talk to strangers in a Shakespearean accent,"

"nay one appreciates mine own humeth'r and ingenuity" 

"When you babysat, you set the spaghetti on fire. How did you even do that??

"To this day, I still have no clue. You know that lady never paid me." Agnes scowled, recalling the fiasco and lack of cash that came after. She angrily bit her cookie. 

"You almost burnt down her apartment, with her two young children in it!" Rachel's voice was a bit below a shout now, and it echoed throughout the shop. A few alarmed adults looked up from their coffee. 

"Those kids were brats anyways," Agnes said loudly and heatedly- as if it was obvious. "I made them cookies but one of them happened to be 'allergic'. Granted those cookies were more for me, but still.   And then, they made fun of my fingerpainting, which if I say so myself, was a FRICKING MASTERPIECE. Man, I know I'm evil but I'm glad I burnt their spaghetti." 

By this time, the few other customers who were in the Red Hen were peering over their newspaper or phones at the girl who was threatening homicide against two children. Rachel was laughing so hard, she couldn't breathe, but when she attempted to let in air, she kept on laughing more significantly. 

Agnes smirked and waved at the strangers who were staring indignantly at them. "How art thee?" They all looked down, avoiding her gaze. Rachel was now in danger of choking on her own saliva and dying from how much she couldn't stop laughing. "I can't lose you," Agnes said, half-jokingly. "Think of dead puppies." Rachel calmed down a bit a few minutes later, and Agnes checked her watch. " Dammit, mom's coming home, and I don't want her to find out I squandered my fortune of coconut cookies."  Both were somber for a few seconds, before Agnes's face brightened. She picked out twenty-five cents from her multitude of change and dragged Rachel by the elbow to the jukebox. She jammed in the quarter, gave the old machine  three kicks, and then turned to her best friend "Come on, let's dance." 

And so they did. And in those moments, the world truly seemed to float away. The music filled the air, and they twirled round and round and round until they were so dizzy, they could feel the tea they had guzzled down two hours ago. By the time the song was down, the two of them had dissolved into sweaty giggling messes. 

"That.. Was awesome." Agnes was smiling from ear to ear, before checking the time again. "Oh shiz," She mumbled. "My mom's gonna be pissed. I'll see you on Monday!" Hurrying, she stuffed all the things she had poured on the table for the two and a half hours they had been there. She gave one final wave to Rachel before slipping out the door into the pouring rain. 

As she watched her friend cross the street corner, Rachel longed for Monday. But unbeknownst to her, that was the last time she saw the Agnes that she knew again. 

 I mostly wrote this as a joke... And I don't know if this is bad or good. Halp.

 Hiya folks, it's Catie, your author. Just warning y'all, slightly insane. And if you choose to stick around, you're in for quite a ride. 

- Catie Rain