The night was cold and so was his tea.
Benjamin Hearings has nothing much to show in his lonely life except for his ability to play the saxophone. The instrument has been his friend for as long as he could remember, in any case of his sad childhood to his failing adulthood. In nights of his life, he knew the quite 12th street wouldn't be complete without his sad melody playing along with the screams and shouts of other people. He only wished, he could be with someone, to love and be loved in cold nights like this one.
Sitting alone in the Charlies Cafe wasn't something new for him, sitting by the window, looking down to his tea while listening to the buzzing radio and rain on the window. His book was left half read beside him, the papers yellow and old, remembering he took it from the garbage beside an old hotel downtown. He guessed that's how you know. He thought. You know you're a housekeeper when you start looking through someone else's trash. Not that he was ashamed about it if he could still read it why not? Wasn't there a saying 'one man's trash was another's treasure'? But he rather not tells anyone he took it out of the dump. Not that anyone would ask.
"Your tea is cold love, want another cup?" The new girl asked. Benjamin smiled, liking the way she gave him attention.
"Thank you, that would be nice."
"I've seen you around a few times, you're a regular customer aren't you?" She poured him another cup. He noticed she was probably in her twenties, with long brown hair and large curious eyes.
"I live across the street so, you'll see more often." He promised.
"What's your name, miss? If you don't mind me asking." The girl reached for her missing name tag, for a moment confused.
"Huh, I lost my name tag. It's Grace. Grace Moning."
"Benjamin, nice to meet you." She smiled, nodded, and went on with her work. It's always nice at first, he knew, and then she would just turn, well he doesn't have the right word to describe Tavita, but easy going was probably it.
"Hey man," Someone said, taking a seat in front of him. "You okay?"
"The usual. I can't say I had changes these past days."
"You picked that out of the trash didn't you." Suddenly Gray said, eyeing his 'new' book. Unconsciously, he took it off the table and hid it. "Don't change the subject."
"Just asking."
"How did you guessed anyway?" Benjamin wondered.
"Dude, there's ketchup and everything on it," Gray smirked, drinking his cold beer. Benjamin glanced out, taking in the sight of the empty street. In the distance, he could make out screams and yells.
'... shut the fuck up!'
'... don't tell me to...!!!" Followed by children crying. He always had this thought in his mind, that everyone else around him has also a complicated life with problems and dilemma. With that, he always thought of what people had behind their faces. What have they been through, what their suffering was, secrets, regrets, broken relationships...
"Are you listening to me?" Gray asked, frowning. Benjamin blinked, "You said something?"
"I have been talking for fifteen minutes and you've been daydreaming all the time." He shook his head, "What is there in that head of your?"
"Sorry. I was... thinking."
"I know you were. Now listen, I can't believe I'm repeating everything again." He looked around as if making sure no one was there. Benjamin looked too, enjoying the calm same old Charlies. The radio on, Benny trying to find the right channel, three men sitting apart, one reading a newspaper while the other enjoyed their dinner. The cafe was a twenty-four-hour service family restaurant. Though it says so but it wasn't family friendly. There were pictures of girls in mini skirts and open breasts on one corner of the room. Well God knows Benny got to have some motivation to keep on cooking.
"Are you listening to me? Yo, earth to Benjamin."
"It's something dangerous isn't it?" Benjamin asked. Gray sat back a moment. "No, it's not. It has risks but I won't say it's dangerous."
He thought about it for a moment, "Whats the catch?"
"So you were listening!" Gray said, getting excited again. He leaned forward until his chest was by the edge of the table. Benjamin focused on him, determined not to doze off again.
"There's this club downtown by City Hall, just beside ZhiXings Chinese restaurant called Quarantined." He began.
"Quarantined?" Benjamin said, " I know that place. I go by there every time I go to work. Do they need a dishwasher?"
Gray snorted, "Dishwasher?" Benjamin blinked. What's a big restaurant need to get moving? They can't possibly have something more to over except as a waitress, a chef, cleaning service, dishwasher, and what else? There sure is a manager running the place, but he couldn't! Well if they gave him the chance maybe. He leaned forward, "A manager?"
"Would you just let me finish? And a dishwasher? Come on man, you gotta think big! Ditch the small money."
"When I get the big money, I'll ditch my small ones. If I don't work in the hotel then I'll be homeless." Benjamin exclaimed, drinking his tea before it got cold again. "Yuck," He reached out, "Hey, they're out of sugar."
"As I was saying, I know this guy Lino working there as a bartender on the upper floor. He said the Big Boss needs someone to deliver papers somewhere else. But we gotta do it in secret. I don't want to do it alone. But if you join me, I'll give you... forty percent of my share."
"In secret?" Benjamin frowned. "That's trouble right there. No way. If you have to do it in secret then there's something tailing it." He slipped his book in his old jacket where holes were stitched together carelessly. Gray eyed him, "So that's it? You're not gonna give it a try? You're just gonna walk out on me?" Benjamin nodded.
"I'm not interested in your secret business. My work now is enough to pay rent." He insisted, already on his way out; his tea abandoned. Gray shout out after him, "But it's not enough to help your sister!" As the door fell shut. "I'm not interested in your secret business. My work now is enough to pay rent." He insisted, already on his way out; his tea abandoned. Gray shout out after him, "But it's not enough to help your sister!" As the door fell shut.
He stood there, staring out towards the street. He didn't want to go home, not to his small and ugly flat on the fifth floor. He could still probably see Gray sitting while drinking his beer when he looked out the window. But he had to get out of there, to stop himself from getting into this kind of trouble. He knew exactly how Gray Stern is. He was a man with all sorts of shadows and dark corners. He didn't mind doing dirty work, like smuggling drugs, selling porn, or anything else that could give him big cash. Not like Benjamin who was just happy as long as he wasn't constantly worried about police tailing him. Whatever it is Gray had in store for him, even if it would give him a fast ticket towards freedom, he won't let himself fall right into it. Benjamin, like other people in town, only know of rumors about the place. About Quarantined and its secret business.
Sometimes, late at night, people could still hear small trucks, expensive cars, and sometimes police stopping by there. Lately, even more than usual. Benjamin heard it from one of his co-workers a few days ago. Whoever it is running the restaurant must feel the heat already. They needed to move the office.
"Yo, you can think inside." Gray popped his head on the door. Benjamin turned, just to see his friend smiling with a missing tooth on the left side. "I can get you dinner if you want." He offered. Reminding him that he hasn't eaten dinner yet.
"I'm still not helping you move those documents."
"I know." Gray said. "Just give it some time bro. You still have three days to change your mind."
"No." Benjamin insisted, walking inside again. Secretly grateful for the warmness of the room, the smell from the kitchen, and the company he's having; no matter how twisted he was.
"I'll have a double burger and fries." Benjamin said.
"Took the words out of my mouth." Gray grinned.
Her flat was a mess.
Jessica Barts dropped whatever she was carrying on the floor and darted to her sofa. It was soft, old, and big enough to hold her when she threw her weight there. Its protest drowned by the busy streets under her window, shouts, and cats in the alley. Mina, her cat, found her abandoned scarf was the perfect spot to lay down that night; with four paws raised, her soft purr was loud enough to hear.
Tik tok tik tok tik tok tik tok
The clock made its sound as she closed her eyes. Just a minute ago she was laughing with her friends down at the bar, eyeing a group of young 'hunting' man on the other side. Now, she was alone. Just alone. It was the perfect time to have her alone time, watching TV, making plans, or just sleep. But she did not want to sleep. She was to hype for that. She wanted to do something, talk to someone, go out again and let the morning pour on her head; reminding her she was screwed. With one hand covering her face, she opened her phone, searching for a nice song to ease her frustration. There it was... Keep The Faith, by John Bon Jovi. Everybody needs somebody to love, Everybody needs somebody to hate, Everybody's bitching 'cause they can't get enough, And it's hard to hold on, When there's no one to lean on
Faith! you know you're gonna live thru the rain
Lord, you got to keep the faith
Faith! don't let your love turn to hate
Right now we got to
Keep the faith Keep the faith Keep the faith
But who was there to love? She thought, turning to lean on her side.
She has her mother and her sister, but what could they do? She didn't want to whine about her sucking life when they had things they needed to do as well. Her mother was still active, working for a company a hundred miles away while her sister, oh let the angels help her, was busy with her boyfriend. Tall, handsome, and attractive. While she was probably doomed to be alone for the rest of her miserable life. Working for a small company downtown was just perfect for her low expectations, but of course, she wasn't up for the task, so her manager said. Jessica started at the blank old fat TV she had picked out from a second-hand shop when she came to her sister's apartment. Maybe she should just have fun on her own, maybe before she gets busy on trying to find a new job, she should head out because here she felt like a small mouse trapped in a cage. Looking out, she saw two guys sitting face to face eating a plate of something with fries. Charlies. She thought. Anywhere else but here.
Outside her flat, Jessica crossed the street and came to the restaurant just in time when someone walked out. Slipping in, she found the Charlies was slow on business at one o'clock in the morning. The lights were half bright, a radio playing, and some pictures of a sexy woman on one corner where the chef could see it. Two men were busy drinking beer and chatting while one was minding his own business with a ripped piece of newspaper. Probably jobless like her too. And there on one of the family seats were Benjamin and Gray.
"Hey, guys!" She took a seat next to Benjamin.; secretly disagreeing with the smell of cigarette coming out of Gray. Benjamin looked pleased, while Gray simply looked like he was about to tell her to go away.
"Whats a good girl like you doing here?" Gray asked, with a silent 'GO AWAY!' hidden somewhere.
"You mean in a 24 hour Family Restaurant?" She asked, then looked at Benjamin. "Hey."
"Hey." He said back. Smiling sheepishly.
"Same as you I think, just finding something to do at one in the morning." She said when a girl came by to take her orders. Even though Gray had protested that they needed some time to talk alone, she ignored him and ordered chocolate milk and a small flour chicken steak with black pepper sauce. The girl wrote that and went when Gray said, "You don't know how important this is."
"I'm all in for important stuff. Let me in." She leaned forward, folding her arms on the table.
"I don't think you'll have much interest in what we're discussing here. But you can sit here with us while you eat your meal. Right?" Benjamin said to Gray, which was rewarded with two popping eyes.
"What is it?" She demanded. "It's one of those secret missions isn't it?"
Like Benjamin who had lived in these streets for years, Jessica knew who Gray Stern was. A man with one leg on a day and one at night. He was always busy finding that one-way ticket to luxury. Though she never had a clear picture of what exactly that should be like, she knows what Gray was up to when he sneaked around about.
"No," Gray said after a pause. Her hot chocolate came, "Thank you." She said before the girl left.
"Well, then you shouldn't have any problem letting me in the info." She insisted, smiling between the taste of chocolate as she took a sip. It was just the way always like it. Thick, bitter, and sweet at the same time, enough to keep her awake the entire night.
"Well, you know man always have conversations that wouldn't suit a woman's ear." Benjamin tried, "I already said you can stay here and talk until your meal is done. I really think you should go home afterward, don't you have work tomorrow?"
"Yeah what he said." Gray drank his last drop of beer, hesitating for a minute before he stood up and left the table, probably to take another glass. Jessica looked towards Benjamin the moment Gray left, searching for something in his tired gaze. "If I do have work tomorrow then I won't be here."
"What is it? You're taking a day off?" He began, then, "Oh no. Don't tell me..."
"Yeah." She smiled halfheartedly, "I got fired today. They said I just wasn't up for the task."
"I'm sorry." He said, brushing her cheeks.
He was so kind. She thought, feeling a strange pinching feeling in her chest. He was handsome too, she knew. Not just for her, but for any other girls out there. There won't be anytime where she would ask someone about how he looked and that someone would say he was ugly. Benjamin was a classic sort of handsome, with soft edges on his jaw, but still looked manly. He had wavy dark brown hair that curled perfectly around his face down to his collar. His eyes were dark brown as well, soft, and gentle. Still those pair of eyes could cut through glass in times of need.
"You're staring." He said, breaking her thought.
"What?" She asked, blinking. Thankful of Gray who chose that time to return with a big glass of beer in one hand, followed by the girl with a plate of chicken steak. The smell was ridiculously delicious.
"Enjoy your meal." Benjamin said, drinking his beer as well.
"And then you can take your purse and go. Wait." Gray started. "Where's your purse?"
To be continued...