“No.”
“Did you tell him about our mesh baskets?”
I nodded.
“Hmm.” He slurped his sample. “Well, this is right. Good job, Darius.”
“Thanks.”
I had done nothing worthy of praise. Anyone could brew Orange Blossom Awesome.
That was the whole point and purpose of Tea Haven.
“Was that a friend of yours from school?”
Clearly the nuances of my interaction with Fatty Bolger, the World’s Most Boring Hobbit, were lost on Charles Apatan.
“Next time, have him try the Blueberry Bliss.”
“Okay.”
TRUCK NUTS
The bike rack for the Shoppes at Fairview Court was located at the far end of the shopping center, right outside one of those clothing stores that catered to Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy like Fatty Bolger and Chip Cusumano. The kind that had pictures of shirtless guys with abdomens that could only be expressed in integers.
Five different kinds of overpowering cologne waged war in my sinuses as I passed the store. When I made it out into the parking lot, the sun was still up, barely, but the mercury lights had come on. The air smelled dry and vacant after weeks of rain.
I had been riding my bike from Chapel Hill High School to the Tea Haven at the Shoppes at Fairview Court ever since I got the job. It was easier than getting a ride from either of my parents.
But when I got to the bike rack, my bicycle was gone.
Upon closer inspection, that was not technically true—only part of my bike was gone. The frame was there, but the wheels were missing. The bike slumped against the post, held on by my lock.
The seat was missing too, and whoever had taken it had left some sort of blue blob in its place.
Well, it was not a blue blob. It was a pair of blue rubber testicles.
I had never seen blue rubber testicles before, but I knew right away where they had come from.
Like I said, there was no Zero Tolerance Policy toward bullying at the Shoppes at Fairview Court. There was one toward stealing, but apparently that didn’t cover bicycle seats.
My backpack sagged on my shoulders.
I had to call my dad.
“Darius? Is everything okay?”
Dad always said that. NotHi, Darius, butIs everything okay?
“Hey. Can you come pick me up from work?”
“Did something happen?”
It was humiliating, telling my father about the blue rubber testicles, especially because I knew he would laugh.
“Really? You mean like truck nuts?”
“What are truck nuts?”
