Subs and a Soda

The bell over the door rang announcing the arrival of patrons. Mr. Greene looked up from the counter and smiled at the young couple.

The girl had ebony black hair that was held behind her head in a high ponytail. Pieces of her hair fell out of the arrangement and decorated the sides of her head in twists and curls. She had vivid deep blue eyes, which crinkled at the sides, when she smiled. She wore a bright pink tank top, which barely covered what little she had. Her pants were tight, white denim, rolled up to her mid calf. On her small feet she wore sandals showing off her painted red toenails.

The boy had short, curly, blonde hair that seemed tussled from the wind. His eyes were a very intense green. He was built solid, over a head taller than the lass, and appeared to be quite athletic. He wore a black cut off tee shirt and blue denim pants. Famous brand sneakers that appeared to be well worn adorned his feet.

They were leaned in towards each other laughing. The boy nodded at the storekeeper as they continued into the store stopping at the coolers where the sodas were held.

“Cola and iced tea,” Mr. Greene thought to himself. He had worked all his life inside the family store, and he considered himself rather good at predicting people’s tastes by appearance.

The boy reached in and grabbed a Coke sticking it under his arm. He looked down further and grabbed a Snapple Iced Tea, which he placed by the Coke.

Together, they walked to the back where the small deli was located. Mr. Greene headed back in preparation for their orders. “Large Italian with everything and small turkey hold the cheese and onions,” he thought to himself.

He smiled at the pair while he washed his hands and put on his white apron. The girl curled her body around the boy’s side while they both read the menu. Mr. Greene pulled on two plastic gloves and leaned in towards them. The girl flashed the clerk a grin before she turned to her boyfriend and nudged his arm with a kiss.

“How are you today?” the boy asked. His stare was intense.

“Not so bad,” Mr. Greene smiled back.

“May I get a large Italian with the works and a small vegetarian sub,” he asked, his deep voice and energetic.

Mr. Greene nodded and went about creating his homemade subs as advertised outside the shop. He glanced once in a while at the pair, they appeared so “pretty” together.

The boy turned to the girl and the girl placed her hands on the boy’s hips. The boy pulled her in closer as he wrapped his arms around her. On tiptoe, the girl delivered a kiss to the boy’s lips.

Finishing the wrapping of the subs, Mr. Greene held them out to the boy. He grabbed them and all three walked back to the counter with the cash register.

The old buttons of the ancient equipment groaned when he pushed them in but delivered an accurate assessment of the total. “That’ll be nine ninety-four please.”

While the boy retrieved a bill from his wallet the girl noticed the donation bin. Her pink lips gaped open and she nudged the boy.

The boy finished giving the man the money before he averted his gaze to the bin. His expression mirrored the girls and the clerk could see his eyes reading the sign. Mr. Greene finished the transaction in his drawer and held the change out for the couple.

The lad swallowed hard a few times and tears started to leak from his bright green eyes. “Where did you get this,” he asked Mr. Greene. “This boy is not from around here,” the boys voice was starting to break.

Mr. Greene looked at the bin and saw the smiling youngster riding a bike. It was on a poster asking for donations to help the family afford treatment for his recently diagnosed osteosarcoma. It was true that he did not know the family personally but he had heard of the tale of the boy who had lost both legs already and was fighting for his life. When approached by his church to put up the bin in his store he accepted readily. Anything to help a young child.

“He is a boy who needs help, whether he is from my town or not, I put up the bin and collect as much as I can,” he told the youths.

The boy swallowed again, reached into his wallet and took out all his money and pushed it through the hole on top. He seemed to weaken in front of the storekeeper and the girl pulled him in to her.

The girl’s eyes were wet as well when she looked at Mr. Greene. “It’s his kid brother, he didn’t know,” she whispered an explanation.

The girl took the change and dropped into the bin. Then, she grabbed the bag of goods from the counter and smiled weakly. She wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and they walked to the door.

From his open change drawer, Mr. Greene pulled out a twenty of his own and placed in the bin. His eyes tearing as the bell tinkled and the couple walked out into the sunlight.