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Watching the guys walk down the street to where Roberd’s parents have a shop is torture. How did these five guys worm their way into my heart so quickly? Giving Roberd a final hug goodbye, even after our spat the night before, had tears pricking the back of my eyelids.
I had made the guys promise to meet me at Deathwish Java before dusk, making sure to have plenty of time to head back to the ship. But I want to run after them and stay with them. Get a grip! You have made it six years without anyone. No need to start becoming a clingy, needy female now.
Lecture given, I turn and make my way to Huckleberry. I wonder what he will have for me today. Bembe had given me Javambrosia yesterday and it had been a slice of heaven with a kick in the pants.
“Mon Cherie, what can I do for you today?” Bembe calls as I make my way to the small shop front.
“Just some time,” I smile at him. “Huck around? I need to ask him a few questions.”
Bembe’s face sours for a minute before returning to his normal cheerful countenance. “Why dat man get all the pretty lady’s?” He mumbles as he turns to bellow, “Huck, Mon Cherie here for you?”
Pulling a cigarillo from his pocket, he drags it under his nose, sniffing the scent, his eyes rolling back in his head.
“Get that filthy thing outta my shop!” Huck swats him upside the head. “If you want something to smoke, then get a real cigar, not those babies.”
Bembe chuckles and runs around Huck to the backdoor of the shop. “I will just take a wee break and let you be alone with your girl.” His grin lets me know he is teasing, but still I find myself glowering.
“I am not his girl! Just here for coffee and a chat.”
“Don’t mind him. He is just jealous that no one comes to see him. I told him that it is all in the hair and clothes.” He runs his hand over his polished head as he speaks, making me giggle.
“Yes, it is all in the hair, Though I have to say that outfit is rather swanky.” He has on a form-fitting shirt that looks like he is pushing the seams beyond their intended range, paired with black pants, he looks like he could double as a bouncer at one of the clubs.
“I’m sure you just came to chat,” He smiles down at me, “Am I risking my life talking with you without your gang.”
I glower at him, then look over his shoulder. “How about a cup of YuanYang?”
“Are you sure? Have you heard the story behind that drink? You might change your mind.” He smiles at me, and I can tell he is teasing.
“How about you make it for me while you tell me about it?”
“They say once long ago, before man traveled the stars or even outside his own country, a pair of birds would visit a man every morning while he would drink his java. These birds looked as different as night and day, yet each morning they would come to him, together. No one knows what made him do it, but after weeks of him seeing light and dark together, he called his wife to come to drink with him. But she did not drink Java instead she drank a te de cream. She shook her head at him, but he pointed to the birds. “Look, wife, how dark and light can mix.” She came to stand beside her husband, her te de cream in hand. The two birds moved and behind them trailed a trio of small ducklings, their feathers a combination of their parents dark and light coloring.
The husband turned to his wife and kissed her, taking the cup from her hand. He poured both of their cups into a carafe, combining their drink. “Now wife, we can drink together.”
“That is a beautiful story.”
“Is it a story though?” He looks at me and I nod my head. Our world is not black or white, but a mix of the two. He places the cup in front of me, “Now how can I help you?”
“I think you already have. I am looking for the elixir of life, but that is not something tangible. It is love for our fellow man.”
He nods his head and starts to speak, but then stops as Bembe loudly thumps in from the back alley. “Let us walk, maybe I can help you some more.”