Be kind to others for you don't know the demons they battle with everyday.
"I rode the bus."
"I rode bussssss."
"The."
"Dhee."
"I rode the bus."
"I rode deeeee bus."
"That's it for today. You are doing well Jamie." The speech therapist remarked.
"Thank Mimi." Jamie smiled.
The speech therapist narrowed her eyes.
"Ssssss. Thankssssss." Jamie grinned.
"And it's Michelle. But I'll let you skip on this one." The therapist smiled.
"I see that the only problem lies when you have so many ideas and that when you try to get your thoughts across you tend to skip on some words. Maybe if you try to slow your pace a bit there might be some changes. Try this suggestion for this week and observe. Tell me about it when you come back for your next session."
"Will do." Jamie nodded. He stood and picked up his trusty umbrella.
Once he got out of the center, he posted a message on their group chat telling his friends that he was done.
Charles was the first to reply. He volunteered to pick Jamie up since Janine was still working in her part time job while Daphne was probably still busy, seeing as the message was not seen by her for a few minutes already.
"Hey girl!" Charles pulled on the side road 15 minutes later. He learned that Jamie suffered from a terrible accident which affected his mobility and speech. He was still on the process of recovery.
Jamie walked slowly aided by his trusty umbrella.
"Ugh. Sorry for waiting too long. I had to go around a protest rally organized by bigots." Charles moved away from the curb after Jamie situated himself comfortably.
"Hmmm. What say?"
Jamie cleared his throat and tried again with much concentration.
"What deyyy say?"
Charles looked at his passenger and smiled.
"Oh, let's not talk about them. It sets me off my mood. By the way how was therapy?"
Jamie hummed then shrugged his shoulders. "Good."
"You can be yourself with me you know. There's no need to correct yourself. Actually, I find you cute, broken sentences and all." Charles smiled.
"Thank. Dis p-ractice. Mimi say so." Jamie shrugged.
"Okay. You can practice with me all you want." Charles smiled and drove off after the traffic light turn green.
Jamie pulled his phone and sent a message on the group chat telling them that they were already near the mall. Daphne replied and told them that she was already there and was just going out of the parking area. Janine told them that she might be a bit late.
Ten minutes later Charles and Jamie finally arrived at the mall. They found Daphne outside a cafe.
"Why didn't you wait for us inside instead?" Charles felt bad for making her wait. If it weren't for that protest he would have arrived earlier.
"Oh. Hi guys! It's okay. I like to look around." Daphne was startled by their voice. When she turned her head to them, she sported a faint blush.
Jamie looked at the glass wall and finally found the reason.
"Look-ing aat han-some bar-barris-tuh." Jamie smirked.
Charles covered his open mouth.
"Dang! Girl, what a good catch." Charles said after shifting his gaze for a quick second.
The faint color has now become a full-on blush on Daphne's face.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go! Might as well wait for Janine here while we ogle- ehm enjoy a nice brew of Daphne's choice." Charles covered his snicker.
Against Daphne's refusal, the two boys entered the café. Because she was too embarrassed, she picked a random drink and asked her friends to order for her while she looked for a seat.
"Good afternoon! Welcome to Rise and Brew Café." The cashier guy smiled at them briefly. He was tall with broad shoulders, pink hair, and dark brown eyes. He had a black earing on his right ear. He had a look and charisma like a Korean idol.
"Good afternoon! Thank you!" Charles replied enthusiastically.
Jamie nudged his friend to remind him not to act too much.
"What would you like to order?" The cashier was unbothered by Charles' gooey eyes. Perhaps he was used to a lot of flirting in his line of work.
"A chocolate chip cream venti for me. What do you want cutie?" Charles turned to Jamie.
"Green tea cream." Jamie tilted his head up as he looked at the menu.
"What size would you like it to be?" The pink-haired cashier asked.
Jamie hummed. "Tall."
He chose the smallest size to avoid going to the toilet because of his bladder. He didn't want to piss his pants if his thighs decided to fail him.
"Is that all?" The cashier keyed their orders.
"Hmmm. Vanilla Daphnie."
"Ugh? We don't have a Daphne but we have a vanilla cream." The cashier was puzzled.
"Oh you certainly don't have a Daphne but if you want we can give it to you." Charles smirked.
Jamie pulled Charles' his sleeve. He cleared his throat.
"What my friend meant was vanilla cream venti for our friend, Daphne." Charles corrected himself as he tried to look oblivious and innocent.
"Ahh. Got it. Sorry about that. Any additional order?" The cashier bowed his head in embarrassment.
"You." Charles whispered.
"Ouch!"
Jamie pinched Charles' arm.
"None." Jamie named their cups and took their receipt.
"Alright. Your order will be served in a little while." The cashier attended the next customer.
Charles huffed as he followed Jamie to their table.
"I hope you guys didn't do anything embarrassing or else I swear to God I'm never showing my face here." Daphne said.
"No me. Charles." Jamie tilted his head and looked at the boy beside him.
"What did you do?" Daphne leaned on the table.
"I didn't do anything. I just ordered and looked around." Charles shrugged.
"Charlie say he order theeee boy." Jamie drummed his fingers on the table.
Daphne buried her face in her hand. "You did not just flirt with him."
"Hey at least I got something from our conversation. His name was Hyunwoo by the way and you're welcome." Charles nude colored lips were stretched as they curled.
Eventually their orders came. Janine proved to be late. Charles and Daphne were already finished with their drinks but Janine has not yet arrived. They decided to window shop as they waited for her. Jamie picked up his drink with his left hand as he supported himself on the umbrella with his right hand.
When they were about to leave the café, a woman wearing expensive looking clothes rushed past them. Her feet were accidentally caught on Jamie's umbrella. The next few seconds were like a blur.
Due to his support being suddenly knocked off his hand, Jamie was caught off balance. He stumbled on the floor together with the woman. His favorite drink was splattered on the woman's beige coat.
The woman on the floor shrieked.
Charles and Daphne quickly supported Jamie up as the woman grieved for her ruined coat.
"Stupid! Do you know how much this coat costs? This is a limited edition Gucci coat." The blond haired woman pointed her finger at Jamie. If it weren't for the man holding her, she would have slapped the boy.
"I sorry." Jamie apologized softly, not liking the attention of the people around them.
"Sorry is not going to cut it." The woman grumbled.
"I pay." Jamie said.
"You bunch of teens couldn't possibly pay for it." The blondie folded her arms.
"How much coat?" Jamie asked. His voice was so soft compared to the woman's shrieking complaints.
"30,000 dollars." The woman tapped her pointy shoes on the floor.
"That much?" Daphne gasped.
"I also can't believe that ugly piece costs that much. It's definitely cheaper than what she says. Besides Gucci does not even make designs like that. It must be a knock off." Charles grumbled.
"It okay Charlie." Jamie pulled Charles' sleeves to placate him.
"Why can't we have it cleaned first? I'm sure the laundry shops know how to remove stains from that kind of cloth." Daphne's eyebrows were furrowed.
"Excuse me? Can't you see the material of this coat? The stain cannot be removed. We wouldn't be here if your stupid friend watched where he was going!"
"He's not stupid." Charles moved a step forward. His face was red with anger.
"Clearly with the way he talks he is stupid. Autistic and stupid! You shouldn't even be associating yourself with him or else you would catch his autism."
Gasps could be heard in the café.
Jamie tucked his head down in embarrassment.
"He is not autistic. He has dyspraxia and if you do not know what that means, Google it yourself!" Charles shouted. His arm was being held by Daphne who looked at Jamie with concern.
"If you did not rush when you were walking, then you would not have tripped on your heels." Daphne said.
The customers who were seated near the commotion agreed.
"I clearly saw her bump on the boy first. It was her fault."
"Yeah, I saw that too. She was walking behind them. The least she could have said was to say 'excuse me' so they would move aside."
"Poor boy. He should not be told mean words. Look at how cute he is. How could you do that to a kid."
The people who were waiting in line couldn't help but comment.
"Come on. It was clearly an accident. What the kids said was fair. You could have it washed first before asking them compensation." A man in a working jumpsuit spoke.
"She should just let it go. Asking the kids for money is so too much. She should be ashamed of herself." An old woman with white hair shook her head disappointedly.
"It pains me to hear people describe kids with autism with words such as stupid. I have an autistic niece and she is nothing but brilliant." A teacher teared up.
The blondie curled her lip in disgust. She looked around and berated them. "This is not your problem. You people should stop being busybodies."
She then turned her gaze back to Jamie and his party.
"Pay up or you will never get out." She folded her arms over her busty chest.
Jamie mulled over it. He did have the money but all of it was already invested in the restaurant. At the most he only had 20,000 dollars from the sales of his painting but he still had to wait for the gallery to close. Perhaps if he paints tonight, he would be able to sell it online. In a few days he could pay the money.
All the commotion was witnessed by a business man drinking his coffee. Clad in a Gieves and Hawkes bespoke suit, his handsome elegant face seemed out of place in the humble café.