Trouble

The meat stopped burning my hands after the second month and by the third, I no longer flinched when oil splashed against my skin. The pain had become really familiar. The night market music was slowly becoming my favorite. The smoke and endless movement of people, it had somehow become part of my routine. I woke before sunrise and returned after midnight. I barely slept. No one sleeps when you are hustling this bad. I had to make it. I didn’t have a plan yet but I must make it. I was making more money than Dan and life was much more comfortable in his apartment. .

“Move faster!”

The stall owner slapped the back of my head lightly as he passed.

I looked at the line ahead of us.

“They look close to dying.”

Dan burst into laughter beside me.

The stall owner pointed a knife dramatically in my direction.

“This boy has too much mouth for someone I rescued from starvation.”

“You pay me just a few dollars a day, that is not exactly rescue”

“Ingrate!”

But he was smiling when he said it. I was a bit surprising the first time I noticed it.

The owner’s name was Rash

He shouted constantly and complained even more often than he shouted. He always threatened to fire me at least twice a day. Yet somehow, he always packed extra food for me before closing. Three months ago, I would never have survived in a place like this. But now I knew which customers tipped more and which ones haggle best.

I and Victor Cole haven’t met since the last time he gave me another card

“Ethan!”

A little girl waved excitedly from across the market while holding her mother’s hand.

“It’s the quiet meat guy!” she yelled happily.

Dan nearly collapsed laughing.

“The quiet meat guy?” that’s your reputation?”

I ignored him, it was all I did this days

The little girl smiled brightly as her mother bought food before dragging her away apologetically.

Dan nudged me with his elbow,

“You’re becoming human again.”

“No, I’m employed.”

“Same thing.”

It wasn’t even close but I didn’t argue. I still hadn’t been able to tell Dan everything. But he knew most of it and never made me feel pathetic. And somehow between the exhaustion, the smoke, and Dan jokes something inside me had started settling.

The market had become strangely familiar. Rash complained like an angry father, and Dan never stopped getting on my nerves. The workers nearby had stopped looking at me like I was temporary. The feeling was new. It was the first time people expected me to return the next day. The first time my growth was acknowledged.

“Ethan!”

Rash’s voice dragged me out of thought again.

“What?”

“Take this order.”

He shoved a piece of paper toward me and I glanced at the paper.

“Four hundred skewers?”

I frowned.

“That’s not normal.”

Rash shrugged and moved to do other things.

“Big charity event downtown.”

Something about it felt strange immediately. Nobody ordered from stalls like ours for high profile events.

A thought flickered briefly through my mind before disappearing.

Maybe they wanted cheap food?

“When is pickup?” I asked.

“Delivery, tomorrow night.”

“Huh? Delivery?”

“Yes, extra dollars”

I was being promoted. Happiness swelled inside me.

“That’s enough meat to feed a small army.”

Dan whistled softly as he read the others

“Or poison one,” I muttered absentmindedly.

Rash smacked my shoulder immediately.

“Don’t say evil things near the food.”

I almost apologized, but I didn’t, I folded the paper quietly and slipped it into my pocket.

Later that night, after closing the stall, I sat outside the apartment building quietly while the city hummed around me. The streets have been colder lately. Winter was approaching, I had to see my mother.

Dan dropped beside me holding two bottled drinks.

“You’re brooding again.”

I accepted the drink quietly.

“Your brain hates peace?”

Maybe he was right. I stared ahead silently for a while before finally speaking again.

“Do you ever feel like something bad is waiting for you?”

Dan frowned slightly.

“That’s random?”

“I’m serious.”

He leaned back against the wall before speaking

“I think bad things happen randomly. Waiting for them just makes life exhausting.”

“What about you?” he asked suddenly.

“What about me?”

“If that rich old man came back tomorrow and offered you a different life, would you take it?”

Victor Cole.

I looked down at my hands and his words surfaced in my mind. The burns from grilling had faded mostly now.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.

Dan smiled.

“You’re changing, Ethan.”

I frowned slightly.

“How?”

“You look scary lately."

I had become quieter, more firm, I was barely afraid of anything but scary? The world had already taught me what happened to soft people.

Dan nudged my shoulder lightly.

“Just don’t become too cold.”

Too late, I thought.

But I didn’t say it aloud.

**

The next evening, the order took everything, even Dan had to help. Smoke swallowed the stall completely while workers rushed back and forth preparing skewers nonstop.

Even Rash looked stressed.

“Careful with those trays!” He called from behind me

“I am careful!”

A black SUV pulled across the road and three men stepped out. One of them handed Rash an envelope. His eyes brightened immediately.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” he said quickly.

The men barely acknowledged him but I did, I was happy for Rash,

One of the men glanced briefly toward me, he went pale as a ghost. A strange feeling crawled up my spine instantly.

It was recognition.

I was sure he knows me but I had never seen him before. The man looked away afterward like nothing happened.

I helped load the trays into the SUV quickly before the vehicle disappeared into the night.

“I thought you said delivery?” I asked Rash

“They decided to pick it up last minute”

I stared at the road long after the car disappeared.

Dan noticed immediately.

“What?”

I shook my head slowly.

“Nothing.”

But my instincts said otherwise.