Quarantine

Mayra was still thinking about the old man two days after that. It just seemed to stick out in her mind as she sat in the same table outside of the coffee shop. She took a sip from the cup and nearly burnt her tongue. “Gosh,” she said a little loudly.

“That’s hot coffee,” a male voice said, causing Mayra to look up. She knew who it was. His short beard hugged his jawline, and she faintly remembered what he looked like without it when he was in high school.

“Yeah, I know,” she replied, laughing slightly. She was embarrassed that he heard her say a substitute cuss word. She never felt comfortable using the other words, and she blamed her religious parents.

Grim laughed. “Just checking,” he said before walking into the store.

She watched him through the window curiously. She was surprised that he was still here. She kind of thought that he would never come back, and a part of her thought she would never see him again. She didn’t even remember how she was on speaking terms with him although she remembered working with him on a science project. She never completely understood him like she wanted to.

Devon usually kept to himself, and Mayra had grown up hating that everyone gave him that nickname. She had asked about that once if he liked it or something. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, “It’s just a nickname that was given to me from people in this town. When I go somewhere else, no one knows me by anything other than Devon.”

Mayra was slightly surprised by his answer. He was a smart guy, and she didn’t think someone that was so quiet could have a brilliant answer like that. She turned her attention to the street, deciding that she didn’t need to think about the past this early in the day.

Grim walked up to the counter and saw Ava jump slightly before shaking her head. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m fine. I guess I’m just not getting enough sleep,” Ava lied smoothly. She had seen something different about Grim, and it scared the life out of her. He looked like a dark evil creature.

Grim knew that Ava was lying because she wasn’t as smooth of liar as she thought, but he knew that she wasn’t going to tell him. He also didn’t expect anything but the answer than she gave him. He had learned to read body language and to know a lie when he heard one from working at the diner where he heard at least two per table.

“Well, just give me a cappuccino,” he said with a kind smile. Devon pulled out his wallet and handed her a five dollar bill. “You should get some more help in here. My cousin wouldn’t mind working here as long as you’re fine with him having a couple drinks himself.”

Ava kind of wished that she was in bed and agreed with what Devon was saying. He was right. If she had a few more people working here, she wouldn’t be as tired as she was now. The youngest one had been waking her up in the middle of the night.

She turned back towards Grim with the cup of cappuccino in hand. She saw the same thing she saw a few minutes ago, and she nearly dropped the drink on the ground. She took a deep breath and handed him the cup. She really needed to get some sleep.

Grim thanked her and went back outside. “What’s up with Ava?” Mayra asked, still sitting at the table.

“She wouldn’t tell me,” he said lightly. Of course, he was curious about it. Deep down he wondered if it was something more than just lack of sleep. He had saw the look she gave him before handing him his drink.

Mayra watched him cross the street. She got up herself and took the last sip of coffee. She tossed the cup into the trash can by the wall. She walked over to her car and drove to the station. She needed to get to work before she was late. She didn’t want to hear Abraham yell at her over something so small like being five minutes late.

When she got there, she realized she was stupid for thinking that. Abraham wasn’t even there yet when she looked in his office. She could have slept in before he walked in the door at almost nine o’clock. This was a first for her boss, and it was a little weird to wrap her mind around. Something was clearly up with this town as she saw the look of what felt like guilt on Abe’s face. She didn’t even know what it was that he would be guilty about.

Mayra shrugged it off. He may have just been tired, and she was mistaking that for guilt. That’s what she told herself, and it wasn’t really working. Something was most definitely going on in Four Trees.