Cowardly Gesture

 

 

Cowardly Gesture

 

 

 

"Angelo?" London asked. Two good-smelling coffee mugs sat before the two men untouched and wastefully going cold.

 

"It's all over, London…" he buried his eyes in a hand, undoing the cowardly gesture by sweeping the same palm across his disheveled ear-length black hair, "It's over. I'll go back home, like a loser. I dropped from school and I traveled miles, just to end up disappointing my family, who needed me. I ended up even more broke than before."

 

"That's not possible." London smiled, finally tasting the coffee he'd been craving.

 

"It is…I owe people. I couldn't pay for the plane tickets."

 

"I'll pay for tha--"

 

"Forget it! I don' wanna owe you next. You're in a deep mess too."

 

"You won't owe me. Really."

 

"Why act so heroic, London?"

 

"What?"

 

"Why are you helping me? The man who promised us the money is dead. It's over. Just go home." Angelo buried his eyes in one hand again.

 

"What's over?"

 

"This…whatever contract we had." The boy was right, but to London, it was only the beginning of a journey of honesty with himself. Yes, that was what he needed. More honesty with his feelings. Another throb vibrated through his body.

 

"Angelo, I--" A cell phone rang and London slipped his hand in the pocket of his light jacket, "Hello? ... It's for you." He passed the phone to Angelo who limply received it with one hand, his eyes still hidden behind the other one. Angelo's cousin on the other end sounded restless. Something must have happened back home.

 

"Oscar," he bitterly said, "I f****n told you not to call this number again…No, I haven't got the money and you know that..." The next minute of the conversation resumed in Spanish, probably an exchange of insults. Angelo slowly rose from his stool, "…What?" his eyes looked as if he had witnessed an angel of light descending from the roof of the café. He slapped the phone shut and climbed the table in one move, his hands clasping around London's shoulders, "London! I need the apartment keys!"

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

The storyline is getting more strong. A lot of problems coming together at once. I like the storyline. Thank you for a excellent chapter.
Coyote