n y c t o p h i l i a

s i x t e e n

T H E O

"Welcome to Mason's Café, what would you like today sir?" the waitress greets us.

"Uh what do you want?" I ask Destiny.

"A small coffee." she mumbles.

I nod my head and look up at the waitress, "Two small coffees."

She jots down our order, "Anything else? Would you like to try some of our carrot cake?"

"No thanks. Just the coffee." I reply.

She nods her head and walks off.

I look over at Destiny, she's on her phone.

I clear my throat to get her attention. She looks up. Her eyes meeting with mine. Those dazzling blue eyes.

It's funny. How can a simple part of the face be so beautiful? How can they drive me crazy just staring into them? There's definitely something wrong with me.

"So," I start. "What happened to your parents?"

She stiffens in her seat. Her eyes dart around the Café, looking at everything but me. "Um...I..."

"It's okay, if it's too personal then you don't have to tell me." I say.

"No, no I'll tell you." she replies looking up at me.

"Oh okay." I smile, hoping it'll comfort her.

"Here is your coffee. Hope you enjoy." the waitress sets our coffee in front of us.

"Thank you." I say and she leaves.

I look over at Destiny and motion for her to start.

"Well where to begin?" she asks in a shaky voice. "Um well my mother's name was Serena and she was the best mother anyone could ever have. She was someone I trusted with all my heart. I'd tell her everything, all my secrets and thoughts. We'd have this thing where we would walk on the streets of our neighbourhood at night. When everyone was asleep and it would be completely silent. It would be pitch black and the only light we'd get was from the moon. It was just the both of us. And I would always look forward to that everyday," she takes a deep breath in. "And yeah that's my mom."

"What about your father?" I ask her.

"Well my father was a blur honestly. We didn't have a strong bond like mine and my mother's. He'd always be at work and when he wasn't at work, he'd be out with his friends. At bars, always drinking. He'd come back home every night wasted. And me and my mom would have to put him to bed. It was always such a pain because my mother was worried about him. And then the next day in the morning he'd complain to us about how he doesn't get any sleep and that he always wakes up with a headache. So my mom tries to explain to him that it's the drinking and that he needs to stop. But he always denies it and blames it on his job. So yeah, we never really spent time together. He wouldn't take us out to places or spend time with us. He was always in his own world."

"Hmm interesting," I say. Honestly I don't know what to say. "So what happened to them?"

She takes a sharp intake of breath. "They died. In a car crash. On my twelfth birthday."

"Oh."

"Yeah, they had gone out to buy my presents and the cake and all the decorations. I was with my best friend at home, watching a movie. We got a call from the police and they told me what happened. I was too shocked to do anything so my friend went ahead and called Gloria to come pick us up and take us to the hospital. And when we reached there it was too late. The doctor told me that by the time they had gotten to the hospital they had passed on. And basically that day in the hospital was the worst. I broke down. I was broken. It happened so fast. A- and I d-didn't even ge-get to s-say goodbye."

Before I could say anything she stood up from her seat and ran out to café.

I stand up about to follow her but the waitress stops me. "Sir you have to pay for your coffee."

I quickly grab a ten dollar bill from my pocket and shove it in her hands. "Keep the change."