Chapter 1 | Quitting Time
“I hate this story,” the little tiger floating by the young man’s shoulder complained.
“I haven’t even opened it yet!” Rayne’s reply came louder than he expected, earning stares from the few people in the store. He turned the book over to look at the cartoon tiger on the cover again.
It’s a story, Tiggy, Rayne projected his thoughts. It doesn’t have to be realistic.
“Well it’s an insult to my kind,” the feline turned away from the book in disgust.
Rayne scratched the back of his head, irritated. You’re not even a real tiger. He stuffed the book back into the dusty shelf. They scanned through the selection a few more times before the chimes of an old grandfather clock signaled the start of the day.
“Time to go to work,” Rayne said with a sigh.
Pulling over the hood of his navy blue jacket, he walked past the book store’s counter and out the door. The street was lit only partially by the rising sun, the lampposts’ light still bright. Despite the early hours of the day, the book store was already up and running. The establishment across from it would open soon enough as well.
Rayne groaned and reluctantly crossed the street to get to work. He glared at the neon sign of the Sweet N’ Chewy Cafe. It took everything he had not to vandalize the cafe’s pristine doors and windows.
“You know you could always just leave, right?” the pesky tiger whispered in his ear, sensing his hate for the place.
Rayne swatted at him. “Not yet,” he said, more to himself than Tiggy. “If I get caught and they find out I’m not eighteen, I’ll be sent to a family, or worse, back here.” He eyed every corner of the cafe’s exterior. “Just one more year,” he promised, “then I can go. I also have to make sure the others will be fine once I’m gone.”
Tiggy landed on his head and pawed at the hood of his jacket. “How can you be both so mean and so sweet at the same time?”
“I could say the same thing about you,” Rayne replied. He walked around the side of the cafe through a tight alleyway. Even the back was well-kept. The trash bins were tucked neatly into one corner. It left a spacious area that they use for little parties on birthdays.
Rayne quietly entered the cafe through the backdoor, hoping not to run into a certain someone. He made his way through the room filled with extra tables and chairs stashed in towers along the walls. He veered right as he left the backroom, heading for his room. Rayne was just about to turn his doorknob when another door burst open at the end of the hallway.
A tall, thin woman stood behind it. She was half asleep and still in her work uniform. She groggily made her way to Rayne.
“What are you doing up so early?” Riyana questioned, pointing a finger accusingly at him.
Rayne felt Tiggy hide inside his jacket. “I just woke up,” he lied. “I thought I’d get a headstart with opening the cafe.”
“Like she’ll ever buy that,” Tiggy mumbled from around his neck.
Rayne gave the tiger a sharp look. He was about to whisper back, when his boss interjected.
“Your little tiger friend again?” she asked teasingly. “Still won’t introduce me to it? It’s been years. I’m starting to think you and the others are just making it up.”
Rayne gritted his teeth, holding back a string of snarky insults. ”He doesn’t work like that,” he tried explaining for the millionth time. “Tiggy shows up to anyone he wants to. Not my fault he doesn’t appear to you.”
Riyana gave a hurt look. “I wasn’t blaming you for that, calm down now.” She patted Rayne’s shoulder casually. “Good that you’re trying to start work early. Next time, you could do that a little more quietly so you don’t wake everyone else who wants to start work on time though?”
Not waiting for a response, Riyana wanders back into her room, leaving Rayne quietly fuming.
Why does she have to do that every time? he complained.
“I have no idea,” Tiggy replied while getting back on top of Rayne’s head. “I just hope she’ll never get to see me. I’d rather dive into a pile of your dirty laundry than have a conversation with her.”
Rayne’s plan of getting back to bed for some more sleep was ruined. He couldn’t relax with Riyana’s first jab of the day already fired. Begrudgingly, he pulled on a Sweet N’ Chewy apron and hat and headed for the main area of the cafe to start opening up.
He pulled the chairs off tables, replaced empty condiment bottles and shakers, did some sweeping and turned the air conditioning on.
“Someone’s a clean freak.”
Rayne looked to the source of the voice to see a girl younger than him standing there. Her fair skin caught the light of the morning sunshine, highlighting her dark hair and brown eyes. She was already in full uniform when she arrived.
“Couldn’t wait to get your hands dirty again?” She smiled and went over to help Rayne haul cleaning supplies out of the closet.
“Morning Amy,” Rayne greeted. Tiggy floated up to the girl to cuddle against her chin.
Amy scratched the top of the tiger’s head. “Wouldn’t a certain duo want to do this specific chore?” she asked while pointing at the mop.
Rayne chuckled. “They’ll only do it if I let them mop the floor the ‘cool’ way. AKA, when I play around with the mop water, which Aunt Riyana absolutely hates. Says it’s a ‘waste of talent and energy that could be used for performing’.”
“But you’d do it anyway if they were awake right?” Amy questioned.
In reply, Rayne jokingly took the mop and began scrubbing furiously at the white and yellow tiled floor. Amy squealed and tried yanking the mop from him. They chased each other around the cafe, switching roles when one managed to grab the mop from the other.
Despite his age, Rayne entertained Amy with chasing her around. If he couldn’t be happy at fourteen, he’d at least make Amy and the others feel like a kid every once in a while.
They were taking a break and just staring at each other when two similar voices broke the silence.
“We thought we slept in,” the boy on the left by the staff doorway squeaked.
“It sounded like there were customers already,” said the other boy who was slightly taller than the first.
“Amiel! Anthony! You’re just in time for mopping,” Amy said with a grin “Either of you two wanna do it?”
As soon as the twins saw Rayne holding the mop behind Amy, they charged at him. Their yells of delight sounded like echoes of each other.
Rayne could only frown at Amy jokingly before bending down at the two boys. “Which one of you will mop this time?”
They raised their arms high, trying to reach higher than the other.
“I wanna do it!” yelled the shorter boy, Amiel.
“Nu uh!” Anthony shouted back. “You did it last time!”
Rayne raised the mop between them before they could argue any more. “How about,” he waved a hand over the mop. “both of you do it?” As if on cue, Rayne transformed the mop into two smaller versions of it and handed one to each twin. The two accepted the mini versions of it and cheered. They took their places at the ends of the cafe.
“Come on Rayne, make it rain already!” Amiel pleaded.
Sitting beside Amy on the tall bar stools along the cafe’s counter, Rayne cleared his head of every thought except water. He brought his hands close to him and they began to glow purple.
When he gathered enough power, he nodded to the twins. “Let’s make it pour.”
