on one particularly foul and rainy morning, ray was sitting in the wendy’s on the corner, staring into a cup pf coffee, which was all he had been able to afford.
the four amigos were at “their” table, and ray had seated himself by the front window, as far away as possible from them, something he did not always do.
the four amigos were glancing over at him and smirking, like they were getting ready to open up on him on all cylinders, but were just… biding their time.
suddenly the door opened and a gust of rain and wind came in and wth it a girl.
she was wearing a raincoat with a hood that covered her whole head - like little red riding hood’s, but yellow. she flipped the hood back, revealing long blonde hair.
she looked like a movie star.
ray, and stan and the turk and umberto and vaclav, and the fifteen year old boy behind the counter, all stared at her.
for a few seconds none of them spoke, as the girl approached the counter.
“hey, snowflake!” stan yelled over at ray. “stop staring at that young lady! you’re invading her space!”
and his three buddies laughed, but the girl approached the counter and ignored them.
“yeah ,what are you, some kind of sicko?” the turk shouted at ray. “some kind of stalker?’ and the turk and stan laughed at ray, but umberto and vaclav kept their eyes on the girl.
“i wasn’t looking at her,” ray mumbled. he was red-faced and flustered - the amigos got to him every time.
“what’s that? you weren’t looking at her?” umberto growled. “why not? don’t you like girls?” and all four exploded in laughter.
meanwhile the girl had reached the counter, and asked for something in too soft a voice for any of the five men to hear.
bobby wilson, the young man behind the counter, had recovered his composure after the first shock of seeing her, as he was a very self-assured young fellow for his fifteen years.
bobby got the girl a small coffee and she left, without ever looking at ray or the four amigos.
“whoo-ee!” vaclav yelled as soon as the door was safely closed behind her. and all four started hooting and whooping like 12-yesr olds.
bobby could not help rolling his eyes. what a bunch of jerkoffs!
at the same time, he could not help feeling a little glad they were there, because he did not like to be alone with ray, who gave him the creeps.
even though ray had never actually said anything to or suggested anything to bobby that bobby could put his finger on. he always just ordered what he ordered - usually just coffee - without making eye contact.
ray was just a creepy guy.
now ray had finished his coffee, so he was ready to leave.
but then it occurred to him that the amigos would probably rag on him for “following” the girl.
so he stayed in his seat for a couple of minutes, staring into his empty cup.
the amigos left him alone. they were like dogs who had barked themselves out for a little while.
ray thought about the girl.
bobby and the four amigos had already forgotten her.
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