Page 5 of A Spot of Tea
The tea shop sat at the top of the hill, the paint a pale sea foam green and the windows framed in white. Outside, tables sat empty, their umbrellas rocking in their bases.
“Are you coming?” Patty asked, looking over her shoulder.
He nodded and rushed forward. It couldn’t hurt to talk to the kid. He might learn something, and it’d be his good deed for the day.
They stood at the front door, her hand on the doorknob. “You’ll see them. They’re the only ones in there. I’m not supposed to get involved, but…”
She let out a huff and shook her head.
“I understand,” Joey said. “Nobody likes a bully.”
She opened the door and a pair of bells jingled merrily.
Joey walked in, surveying the small space.Jaggedby Old 97’s played softly in the background, and in the far room he spotted a table with a trio of young teenage boys giggling over a cell phone.
Patty scowled, pointing at an older man seated at the table. He stood and met them in the small lobby.
“It isn’t working,” he said with a sigh.
“I can see that,” she said through clenched teeth. “Help me in the kitchen, Reg.”
She cast a brief smile at Joey before disappearing behind a swinging door.
A snort rang out from the table, followed by the loud thumping of a bass-heavy song.
Joey sighed. He remembered being a teenage boy. He had not been his best self then.
He walked over to the table and pulled out a chair. “What’re you guys listening to?”
The boy with the phone shot him a glance. “Nothing.”
“C’mon. What is it?”
“It’s a song,” one of the boys offered. “From the robbery.”
“What robbery?”
The first boy spoke again, his eyes and lips twisted in disbelief. “Didn’t you hear about the bank robbery in town?”
Joey sat back and looked up at the ceiling. “Huh, no. I’m not from around here. I’m a pilot, just flew into town.”
The boy with the phone shot a heavy glance at his friends. “Oh yeah?”
“Seaplanes,” he said with a nod.
The boy glanced at his friends. “What do you fly on the planes?”
“People. Things.” Joey shrugged. “You’ve got a video of the guy who robbed the bank?”
The boy’s eyes grew wide and he tucked the phone into his hoodie pocket. “No, it’s just of this lady screaming and fainting. When she was there.”
“Fainting?” Joey leaned in and lowered his voice. “She saw him, then? Do you know who this lady is?”
All three boys instantly said, “No.”
“Huh.” Joey sat back and crossed his arms. “Too bad.”
“Uh, we’ve got to get going.” The boy tucked away his phone and stood.
