Outlaws

Chapter Three

We take a seat inside the quietly situated café hidden behind the community centre about half a block away. It is off street and quiet, James quietly mumbles that he is annoyed at himself for not venturing out such a small distance in the past three months of sitting in the parking lot. It is well hidden and the entry ways to the café are almost floor to ceiling glass allowing visibility of those entering the cafe so there couldn't be any unwanted surprises from the street. The counter was made of polished concrete so even in the unlikely event of something unwanted happening we would be able to take cover behind there. Being a café I know there are knives behind the counter and I am fairly well trained in the use of those. There are no cameras out the front or inside other than the one facing the till. Best of all, aside from the waitress behind the counter it is just the two of us in here.

I have been coming to this café for quite some time now and mostly for those exact reasons. I may no longer be in the special forces but the training is still there and that will never go away. Not knowing much about Barnes I made and educated guess that he will appreciate this place as much as I do, especially after seeing how guarded and alert he is. The waitress brings over our coffees we ordered when we came in, one long black for James and a Latte for me. Neither of us particularly seem to care about the fact we are drinking coffee at night. As far as I am concerned sleep isn't something likely to happen for me tonight anyway. Sleep never comes easily for me, constant memories forcing me to stay awake with the threat of coming to the front of my mind the moment I allow myself to rest.

"So you have been coming to these so called meetings for three months?" I ask after taking a sip of coffee.

"About three months yeah." Barnes says staring at the black coffee in his hand, I wonder why why he hasn't thought in all that time to leave his car and walk around at least.

"You never thought to just come in and see what it was all about in that time sitting alone in the car?" I respond a little shocked to hear that he had been doing this for three months and more so that I had not once seen him or his car before. I am usually much more perceptive of these things.

"Not really, I don't think I fit in with the group in that room..." Barnes trails off back into his own head. He takes him time to continue, deceasing how much to give up about himself to me. I can see the debate turning over in his mind as he selects through memories, weighing up how much of his past and himself she is worthy of knowing. I have to wonder if it is this obvious on my own face when people ask me the same sorts of questions. Carefully choosing words and details to share safely. Most of the time the information I know or details about myself are safer when kept locked away in my mind rather than shared.

"What makes you think that?" I prompt, realising how deep into his mind he is taking himself, scared he might drift back completely again.

"I am not a soldier for one." He says weakly to himself before trying to hide his anguish from me behind the rim of his coffee cup. Either hurting himself from the memories he scanned through or wounding his pride, seeing himself as some of us do, as a failed soldier. Something I heard my friend McKenzie Taylor say to me before leaving the base for the last time comes to mind.

"You don't need to have been a soldier to have fought a battle. Everybody is fighting their own battles and sometimes those battles are just as bad if not worse than the ones we fight physically."

He partially smiles to himself at my words, his eyes not leaving the cup of coffee in his hand. "Sounds like you have been to quite a few of these meetings then?"

"No, I don't usually last very long in them, I just have a wise friend." I admit as I take another sip of the warm milky latte.

"Sounds like it," he lifts his eyes up to look at me briefly before returning his gaze to his coffee, "I still don't think it would be the best environment to bring my stuff up, I only pretend to go to these things because I made a promise to my wise friend."