A cold wind hit quickly as soon as Luke opened the door so he hastily closed it to keep the inside of the house from getting colder. Because, in it there are two elderly who can get arthritis if too cold.
Luke walked three hundred yards to the nearest convenience store in the complex. The sound of a bell hanging above the door rang as he entered the shop. Even so, it didn't bother the person guarding the cashier and didn't even turn around. The cashier was still busy doing crosswords on the counter so Luke immediately turned to the shelves in the dishwashing liquid section as Ulfa had wanted. Then he moved to the milk rack to grab a two liter of milk and not forgetting three cans of beer from the fridge.
"I'd like one too," Luke said softly, smiling down at one beer for himself.
Luke approached the counter and placed his groceries there.
"All done?" asked the cashier.
"One more cigarette," Luke said, pointing to the red cigarette holder on the shelf behind his back.
"ID card?"
"Don't you know me, huh? Give me the cigarettes already."
"Yes, yes, yes. You are becoming more and more like your grandfather, Bright."
"Shut up and quickly do the math, Gerald," I replied with a chuckle.
Geraldy Tan alias Gerald. He was Luke's friend when we were in elementary school. I heard that he is now not continuing his studies because his parents have gone somewhere and Gerald was homeless before being adopted by the owner of this shop. Although his adoptive parents were able to send Gerald to school, he once said that he was not very good at studying and didn't want to waste time at school. Work better. Having a lot of money is his biggest dream.
The 'piip' sound was heard several times as Barry counted Luke's groceries. Meanwhile, Luke unscrewed the cigarette butt and took one out and held it against the corner of his lips.
"Any matches?" asked Luke with a cigarette on his lips.
Gerald just pointed at the zippo that hung on a small shelf above the counter. Luke uses it to light a cigarette. He briefly removed one of the gloves before lighting the embers of the cigarette.
"All twenty dollars."
"Hey, I took three cans of beer, you know. Shouldn't it be more than that?" Luke's brow furrowed when he saw the total price that was less than it should be.
"I did. I'm purposely not counting this one beer."
"Wow, that's really kind of you," Luke complimented as he handed Gerald the money.
"I heard you had chickenpox, so I gave you a discount."
"Damn it! It's not smallpox! It's an allergy! Look! I'm having an allergy, you know?!"
"Ha ha, all right. All right, Mister Chicken Pox."
Gerald gave her the change as well as the receipt. Apparently, it wasn't Gerald who wanted to be kind, but because the beer brand was having a 'Buy two get three' promo.
"Damn," Luke cursed because he felt cheated by Gerald's kindness, while Gerald himself just laughed.
Now, in Luke's hands hung a plastic bag while on his lips was a roll of cigarettes. I deliberately walked slowly so I could enjoy the cigarette while enjoying the night air. I decided to stop first. Smoking on a lonely sidewalk, on a bench under a lamp post, downing that can of free beer. The cold is really crazy. Luckily the coat he was wearing had a super warm furry hoodie so Luke's eardrums wouldn't become ice cubes.
The puff of smoke that came out of Luke's mouth didn't only come from cigarette smoke, but indeed hot steam from inside his body. Even though he was shivering cold, at least Luke felt warm. He also remembered one of the gloves he took off when he was about to light his cigarette. But, there is one thing that is magical. Palms that are not covered with gloves become smooth again. Even though earlier it was very scratched, red, and full of friction wounds but now it's completely smooth, as if nothing had happened there. In fact, before Luke left earlier-before Luke put on the gloves from the house earlier; his hand is still injured. But now...
"Awesome!" Luke screamed to himself on the spot. "It's really cured?! Wow, amazing!"
To further confirm this, Luke removed the other glove and noticed a difference. One is clean of wounds, while the other still has abrasions.
So, that seems right. He used these smooth hands earlier to stir water from the powder in the basin. The powder the mysterious girl gave me from the subway.
"Magic! Truly magical!"
Luke jumped off the bench and let the quarter of his cigarettes fall onto the wet pavement. Stepped on his own shoes.
But only two seconds Luke was jumping up and down with joy, something startling came from the side. It was neither a person nor a ghost, but a dark colored dog with a slightly longer muzzle than a normal dog.
"Oh... hi, puppy ," Luke said awkwardly.
The black dog did not greet back even by just barking or sniffing like a wild dog in general. It just stood on its two front legs and watched Luke fixedly. The stray dog's silence only made Luke nervous so he looked around to see if the stray dog was bringing even wilder packs. But apparently not. The dog just sat still.
"Um, want this? Are you thirsty?"
Luke shook the beer can in front of the dog and it still didn't respond at all. But on the plus side, it wasn't aggressive so Luke worked up the courage to pour the rest of the beer onto the sidewalk so the stray dog could lick it easily and then Luke walked home, both pleased and apprehensive.
And once again, Ulfa welcomed Luke's arrival a bit exaggeratedly. He said that Luke had been out there too long to worry him. Luke didn't give much reason apart from handing Ulfa a plastic bag of groceries because he wanted to go down to the laundry room right away. Finds the packet of powder he threw away and brings it into the room. Mix the powder back with water and stir it. Now using the other hand which is still injured. After that, Luke decided to sleep while waiting for good results the next day. Before that, Luke got up to cover the blinds on the window but at that moment, his eyes fell on something outside. On the sidewalk in front of the house. That dog again. The outside dog was sitting up in the same position as before, staring at Luke's room.
But, that stray dog; now there are two .
***