Chapter 4 : Coke Thief

Once I find the only parking spot in the parking lot, thank God, I lock the car and enter the old building with large ‘Carrefour’ words displayed. The smell of fresh air conditioner fills in my lungs, making me stop for a second to breathe in and enjoy the artificial smell of heaven.

“Excuse me, you’re blocking the way,” a woman with bright red lips, black hair tied in a neat bun and emotionless eyes say stiffly, as if she’s holding back words that might hurt me.

Wordlessly, I step aside but not too far so that I am still directly under the softly vibrating machine that produces such smell. Just as I’m about to continue my little shopping, I feel a presence by my side.

I turn to see a huge blond man who’s about fifty years of age wearing a business suit and a suitcase in his hands, standing facing the parking lot like he’s expecting someone. I recognize the man as my new neighbor, the one who moves into Roller Pin’s house.

Not to mention he’s from Germany.

“Excuse – uh – me,” I squeak so softly that I doubt he heard me while my betraying cheeks redden. I cover my embarrassed face with my long red hair, which I’m grateful that I refused to cut them. If only I brought along my hoodie, I would have put the hood over my head.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, I chant in my head when taking a basket that’s supplied at the entrance. Once I’m far away from my German neighbor, I push my fringe away with a swipe of my hand so I can see properly again. My phone beeps softly from my pocket.

Where the hell are you? Two minutes is up.

I slip the phone back into my pocket without replying Ellie’s text message. I turn into the drinks section to see all sorts of fruit juices and no carbonated drinks.

A little girl that is standing next to me stares at the top of the fridge. For a second, I thought she was experimenting on her mind power until, “Excuse me, can you…”

“Yes…?” I ask, urging her to continue.

She shyly looks down. “Can you give me the yoghurt please?”

Oh, so that’s what she’s staring at. I lean forward towards the coolness and grab the yoghurt off the highest section of the fridge.

“Thank you,” she mumbles without glancing at me before scurrying off with the yoghurt packet in her hands. I chuckle a little at how shy she is. If only I’m as brave as the little girl, I wouldn’t stutter to every stranger I meet.

The communication device of mine beeps again and again.

Seriously, I was so close to doing a backflip from my window and land on my neighbor’s car. You’re lucky you have a friend like me.

Maggie!

Just as I’m about to reply, my phone is bombarded with more irrelevant text messages from you-know-who.

Godzilla and King Kong should be placed in a cage then see what kind of King-Zilla creatures will be produced.

Maggie, a squirrel is stalking me.

Help! The squirrel is everywhere!

Here’s another fun fact about Ellie, if you don’t reply to her text within the period she allows, she’ll hijack your phone with weird text messages. I give up and call her instead, which she picks up on the first call.

“Mags! Where the fuck are you, woman? I’ve been standing here for God knows how long and I’m absolutely certain that it wasn’t bloody two minutes!” Ellie yells on the phone, making me wince at the damage she has done to my right ear. I’m so glad that the little girl is no longer around me or she would have learnt a new word today because bloody hell, Ellie is loud.

“Lower your voice, Ellie. I swear one day, you’re going to make me deaf before I turn twenty,” I tell her, walking down the vegetables and fruits sections to see another row of drink section, but these ones are selling with promotion.

“I’ll make you deaf right now if you don’t tell me why you’re not here when you’re not here.”

“Give me a few more minutes, El. You can never guess what happened today,” I say, searching around the drinks section to not find a particular type of refreshment.

“The squirrels are taking over Mars and are on their way to Earth as we speak?” Ellie says sarcastically.

I frown at the absurdity of her suggestion. “No…”

“Godzilla cheated on King Kong with the Loch Ness Monster?”

“El, seriously? Godzilla and King Kong?”

“Why not?”

“You’re impossible,” I say, squinting my eyes to see a small separated refrigerator with the Coke logo on it. Coke, here Maggie comes!

Ellie makes a decision to annoy me further instead. “Is the sky blue?”

“Kind of. It looks like it’s going to…”

“I’ll take it as a ‘yes’. Then you’re supposed to be here freaking eight, no wait, nine minutes ago! Where are you, Mags?” Ellie asks angrily.

I’m in front of the Coke fridge now, only to see one Coke bottle left.

Thank you, creators of fate and destiny. You picked me as your chosen one for the only mighty Coke left in this superior Carrefour at my worst time.

“Maggie Eriksson!” my blonde friend says loudly, snapping me back into reality.

“I’m, uh, driving. I’ll be there in five minutes tops.” I’m about to press the end call when a hand appears out of nowhere and opens the Coke fridge. I drop my phone and rip that hand off from the fridge, then stand protectively from the threat.

“Hey! What’s the big deal?” the owner of the hand exclaims. His accent is slightly off, but not unnoticeable. I take a quick moment to study his features. He’s attractive with an average male body; not too buff nor skinny. His blond hair has a bit of brown in it, unlike Ellie who’s hair is very blonde. His pale face is twisted into an angry look since his eyebrows are drawn towards each other, causing his forehead to crease and blue eyes that are a mixture of amusement and impatience.

I have never met him before, eventhough he looks like he is as old as me. I have never seen eyes as blue as his…

“That’s my Coke,” I state dangerously, like a mother protecting her young. No one should ever mess with their young unless you want to have a taste of pain and lose a limb in the process.

“No, it’s not,” he argues, taking a step towards me like he’s challenging me in a fight. He’s going to lose his fingers if he dares touch what’s mine.

“Yes, it is.”

“I don’t see your name on it.”

“I don’t see yours either.”

“I took it first.”

“No, and as I can recall, you didn’t leave a trace of your DNA on it,” I reply smugly.

“That doesn’t mean you own it,” he says with a small smirk planted on his face. I’m so tempted to punch him to rip that smirk off his face and then grab my Coke before leaving Carrefour with imaginary explosions going off behind me like the ones in the action movies.

Damn, I’m so creative.

“Can anyone tell me what’s going on?!”

That, my friends, is not the wise words of a worker of Carrefour, but my only friend Ellie Hurtfield who coincidentally heard our argument through my phone that is still lying on the floor. I rashly pick up the phone from the ground and dismiss the call before Ellie has the chance to interrogate me.

I’m so going to receive a mouthful from her later.

And guess what? That thief uses my distraction to his advantage by stealing away the last Coke in Carrefour and disappears from my sight.

That coward has added fuel to my anger. Without thinking, I walk around Carrefour aimlessly while keeping an eye out for a blond dude with my Coke bottle in his grasp. I receive a lot of unwanted attention from the Carrefour workers during my search for a thief. I mean, if you see a teenage girl walking up and down the counters with an empty basket, you would be suspicious of her too, right?

Four and a half minutes later, I receive a text from Ellie: Get your ass here soon or face the consequences.

Disappointed, I leave Carrefour empty handed while thinking of infinite ways to kill the Coke thief. All my plans include an evil laugh from me towards the end of the torture. I should probably learn how to laugh properly before I can execute the plan.