Loan Wolf

"I'm bored," Aiyana whined. She kicked the wall of the bar as she sat on her stool. A diner bustled around her with chatter, the clinking of coffee mugs and water glasses, and the shuffling of hurried hosts. She twisted a strand of her straight black hair into a braid absentmindedly.

"Do your homework, Aiyana. Right there, what does it say? What is the common name for Canis Lupis?" Her mother snapped her fingers to attention and stabbed down at Aiyana's worksheet. Aiyana grumbled loudly and bounced in her seat. Her mother looked identical to Aiyana except for the extra wrinkles and a darker tint to her skin. She was short, but 

"What does it matter! I can't use this in real life! Can't I just work here with you?" Aiyana said.

"School is your job! You focus on that, child!" her mother scolded.

"But—!" she started again, but her mother raised her finger to silence her.

"I'll be right there!" her mother called and sped down the tiled floor, holding a coffee pot.  

"You can't keep bothering her all the time. She's busy," Adriel retorted. He had hair as long as hers, held up in a ponytail. His brows are thicker and large. His lips were round like their late father's and his eyes were the same milky brown as the rest of his family. He sat by her with his arms folded on the bar table. He sipped at his chocolate milk. 

"Oh, shut up!" Aiyana scowled. She threw her hair back, jumped off the stool, and walked off. Adriel frowned and followed her. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Adriel said. Aiyana jumped at his voice. She spun around with an identical frown. 

"Why don't you mind your beeswax!" she yell-whispered. She crept behind a booth with a ketchup bottle in her hand. She peeked around the booth, smiled, and hid again.

Adriel looked between her, the ketchup bottle, and the crowd of bustling people coming in and out of the diner. His eyes widened. "Aiyana, stop! You'll get Mama in trouble!"

Aiyana didn't listen. She giggled excitedly, and as soon as a customer was visible, she squirted the bottle. Ketchup flew across the floor in an arc. An overweight man that was as tall as he was wide stepped right into the stream of goo and flew. Next time he knew, his body was bobbing across the floor and out the door, like a kid on a waterslide. Aiyana burst out laughing while Adriel looked on in horror. 

The crowds of people screamed and hurried to the man's side. The employees tried to pull him to his feet, two at a time, but he was too heavy. He kept bobbing onto his back, which only make Aiyana laugh louder. She was clutching her stomach behind the booth when she heard an earth-shattering shout above the noise. 

"MALIA!" 

Aiyana and Adriel froze. They peeked around the booth to see an old balding man in his diner uniform and slacks trudging down the hallway. Their mother stumbled in from outside where she had been trying to help the man to his feet. "Yes, sir?"

"DO I PAY YOU TO RUIN MY RESTAURANT? IS THIS RESTAURANT A DAY CARE?" the old man yelled. His face was red. His back was slouched from spending his youth over a stove. 

Malia stared wide-eyed and then her mind clicked. She looked around until her eyes met Aiyana's, hidden behind a booth to her right on the other side of the restaurant. Her face steeled into the most vengeful look imaginable. Her mouth set in a line. "I'm sorry, sir. Truly. I will do whatever I can to fix this," she said to her boss. 

"DON'T WASTE MY TIME. YOU'RE FIRED." He threw down his apron angrily and stormed off to his office at the back of the restaurant. 

Malia didn't even get the chance to beg for another chance. She stared for a long moment at nothing. She didn't tend to the noise behind her or the customers walking around her to get a better look at the fiasco outside. She slowly thawed, took off her apron and name tag, set it on the counter, and crooked her finger at her twins. Aiyana and Adriel shared a glance and quickly ran to her sides. She stood up straight as she led them out the back door, away from the man flouncing on the ground.