As Ashton stood by the door admiring the slum he lives in, a boy with the same physique and age as him whizzed past him holding some polythene bag that contained cheap groceries.
"Get out of the way, stupid!" The boy sneered at Ashton, jolting him out of his admiration.
Ashton was about to run towards the boy to squeeze his neck in playful banter when he missed his footing and fell down_onto the unpaved floor. The coins he had picked earlier rolled out of his chest pocket and he coughed so badly trying not to inhale the dust he had disturbed by stumbling.
"Fuck!" He groaned, getting back on his feet, he wiped his clothes with his palm.
After wiping his clothes half clean, he looked up and a gaze landed on the awaiting laser beam eyes of the boy that had just come in. Ashton tried looking away but he couldn't. The boy was standing by the kitchen counter like he was Ashton's mother. The boy's eyes leveled to the floor and Ashton followed his gaze.
"Who's money did you steal this time around?" The boy chided, folding his arms against his chest.
Ashton bent down to pick the coins. "The big mouthed police officer tossed them at me...I did not steal" Ashton claimed, hoping his defense would actually be taken as the truth.
"Liar!"
He got up after picking all the coins and dropped them on a rickety table. Its legs were dismantling already but it served as a temporary abode for the filthy coins.
"Believe me or not, that's your problem, Jamil," Ashton said, resorting to the couch after grabbing the TV remote. After settling into the couch, he stood up hastily from the couch like something had pinched him. But, it was because the couch was damp.
"Damn you, Jamil! Could you not open the window to let the sun in? This couch is fucking wet!" Ashton yelped in dismay.
"What window? Do you not have hands to open it?" Jamil asked, nodding towards the direction of the window.
Just great! The window was broken already and was wide open letting little rays of the setting sun inside the house. Ashton cursed under his breath now grabbing a large cotton fabric from the wooden chair beside him. He spread the cloth over the couch and sank his butt in again.
"Much better"
He switched the channel on the TV and the channel he was watching had some soldiers who were having a ceremonial parade. Ashton hissed because being a soldier during this period was just utterly useless. He wondered why some fools still went ahead to join the military rather than the MTA. Maybe it was because of the pay? Whatever damned reason they had was just proving a fact that they were stupid.
Ashton watched for over ten minutes and soon, his eyes were heavy. Though he managed to stay awake, what power can he hold against nature's call? He drifted off to 'lala land'
***
"Wake up, Ash." A voice called at him shaking him rigorously.
Ashton was disturbed greatly by the voice and how he was being shaken. He wanted whoever it was to leave him alone.
"No...I don't want to...I want to sleep a bit more." Aston mumbled back to the voice.
His vision grew dimmer as he was not ready to awake from his slumber. The voice didn't go away and it called at him again, now shaking him with great effort more than it did the first time.
"You have to wake up Ashton. You will be endangered if you do not wake up now! We have to go. Now!" The voice continued with great enthusiasm.
"Leave me alone! Let me be!" Ashton roared in rage.
***
He felt a tingling sensation on his cheek and he screamed again. He woke up from his slumber rubbing his cheek frantically.
"Ahhh" he groaned. He was now fully awake from his sleep. Still placing his hand against his cheek, he cursed at Jamil. "You little twerp!"
Jamil didn't mind Ashton's vulgar language and he beckoned to him to take the tin bowl from his hand. It was Ashton's share of their dinner. Ashton stretched out his hand and received the bowl. He took a quick glance at the content. It was porridge.
A 'watery porridge' precisely. It was lacking in flavor and nutrients and it had bits of unidentifiable ingredients floating in it. The porridge was unappetizing to Ashton's eyes and unfulfilling, and it definitely would not be enough to satisfy his hunger.
"Is there no better food left in the pantry? I bet I will fall sick after eating....eating? Drinking this potion you call a porridge."
Jamil dropped his spoon into his porridge and set the bowl aside. He turned at Ashton. "Tell me Ash, when was the last time you came to this house of ours with a fine pay through legal work?"
"Today...I brought some coins today and I got it by legal means." Ashton said back to Jamil. He knew Jamil might not believe his words again but he just had to set the record straight that he did not steal those coins.
"Oh! Those filthy coins?"
As if being controlled manually, they both turned their heads in the direction of the coins. They were still lying in wait to be spent on the rickety table. As their eyes darted onto the table, they both opened their mouths wide as they were mesmerized by the sight before them.
The coins were enough, they were silver coins. Enough to feed them with nutritional meals for a month. Jamil slowly turned at Ashton. As if Ashton possessed the ability to read Jamil's mind, he screamed in his defense.
"I swear on my fucking legs I did not steal them!"