Before he can answer properly, I step forward and drop the whole pile straight into his lap. The weight clearly surprises him;he lets out a short grunt as he catches them, arms tightening around the stack.
“Carry them for me?” I add, then turn away.
I walk off without waiting for his response, lips curling into a smile I don’t bother hiding when I hear him behind me, footsteps quick as he adjusts the books against his chest.
“At least say please.”
“Nah.”
“Yo,” he says, opening one as he walks. “They fucked this up proper. It’s backwards.”
I stop and turn around. He’s holding the book open, brow furrowed, genuinely confused.
It’s almost cute.
“No,” I say calmly. “It’s manga.”
He squints at me. “Man-what?”
“It’s Japanese,” I explain. “That’s how they print books there. Right to left.”
He waves it off, unimpressed. “Whatever.”
But he looks at it anyway, slower this time, eyes moving across the page. I watch him for a second longer than necessary.
“Any of this rubbish about football?” he asks.
“Actually,” I say, stepping closer, “there is.”
I take one book from the stack in his arms and hand it to him.
He reads the cover. “‘Blue Lock.’”
I gasp. “Youcanread?”
He flips me off without even looking up and starts flipping through it.
“This looks alright,” he mutters. “I play better though.”
“They’re fictional characters, Jabari—” I cut myself off. “You know what? I think you’ll like the characters.”
He finally looks up at me. “Why’s that?”
I reach out and pat his shoulder. “You’ll figure it out.”
I turn and walk away again, deliberately slow. He doesn’t follow right away. When I glance back, he’s still standing there, book open, eyes scanning the pages like he’s already invested.
“I like this one,” Jabari says, flipping through my stack of books again. “I think I could—wait. Why are these ones wrapped in plastic?”
He lifts one of mymanhwa, still sealed.
“Hm.” I reach for it a little too quickly. “No reason. Let’s just go find Za so we can?—”
“Can we fucking drink now?” he cuts in.
Rude!
I stare at him. “Firstly, don’t cut me off. And secondly. It’s twelve in the fucking day.”
