Lemonade by Musa Shafiq

The first day of 6th grade school didn't feel like the first day. Nevertheless, Tyler felt confident about  this year. The morning air was full of humidity. Tress stood tall, watching him as he took steps along the concrete sidewalk. The sun, poking out from behind the trees like a kid playing hide and seek, managed to reach him and spread its warmth to  him. Tyler, with a freckled face, stood confidently in this striped t-shirt and blue shorts. His backpack was quite large. His mother had shoved everything in there: a binder, books, a Chromebook, and even a little first aid set, full of bandages and Neosporin. Other miscellaneous items included athletic tape, deodorant, lip repair, lunch, and a tennis ball for some reason. His backpack felt heavy, of course, but he didn't let little things like that destroy his mood at the moment. Houses stood quiet and still like statues as he walked by. He could see the sun-coated school now. From his view, the students  looked like dolls  and while the buses pulled in, they flooded out, and entered the school,  on their way to their  first class of the school year. He was so mesmerized that he didn't notice  the small, squeaky voice  from across the street.

“Lemonade here! Lemonade for sale.”

“One drink for two dollars! Two dollars only!”

“Best prices in town!”

Tyler turned to find the source of the noise. Across the street was a kid, sitting in a lawn chair, next to a makeshift booth with cups and bottles full of lemonade. The kid was waving an empty cup around, advertising his product. A few other kids were walking around him: two across the street, and one in front of him. All were going to the same middle school. They didn't seem to care much about the kid. Tyler, however, had different plans. He strolled across the street to get a closer look. The kid watched as he approached, and anxiety grew in his eyes. Tyler was pretty tall compared to him. He then stopped abruptly in front of him. He was about the age of 8, wearing a striped shirt with the same design as his clothing, along with blue shorts. The kid sat still, not saying a peep for a moment. Then, he gained confidence and motioned towards the wooden booth.

“Do you want some lemonade?” he asked. 

Tyler stood for a second, looking at the booth, then back at the child's face. The kid had regained anxiety from the unresponsive behavior of the middle schooler. Tyler then smiled and burst out laughing. After a few moments of giggling, he finally found his words.

“Can I have two for 4 dollars?”

He didn't need two cups, but he decided to be nice to the kid; he was just practicing his entrepreneurial skills, even though the prices were a bit high. The kid, bursting with excitement, got up and sprinted behind the booth. He observed the child put two cups and take the big jug full of lemonade and fill the two cups. He could see the light in his eyes, gleaming with joy. The child sprinted back and gave the two cups to Tyler. He fumbled around in his pockets for some money and only found a five-dollar bill. He handed it over to the small child. He, too, was smiling.

“Keep the change, kid.”

Thin hallways packed with kids, pushing around for room, teachers yelling, kids talking and laughing, lockers slammed shut, the bell ringing for class, and Tyler, with two cups of lemonade. He entered his first period and sat down. He turned to his left and saw his elementary school friend Owen. The two looked at each other for a second, then realized who they were. Owen was the first to speak

“How has your summer been?”

Tyler paused for a moment, looking at the cups of lemonade in his hand. He then gave it to Owen, who thanked him. Then he spoke.

“It was alright, went to Colorado, saw mountains, then went to bed. Still tired.”

The two laughed together, then Tyler was about to return the question when the teacher spoke over them, interrupting their conversation. She started to talk about herself and the school rules. After she finished her little speech, she slammed packets full of math problems on everyone's desk. It looked like a book with its thickness. The two boys stared at them in horror. They both then sighed in disappointment for the outcome of the school year that lay ahead. They opened the packet to page one.

After the first period, Tyler had been assigned so much work that he had not drunk any of the lemonade that he bought. So, he trudged through the hallway, occasionally sipping it as he slowly made his way to his next class. He was following his schedule on his phone when he bumped into a very tall kid. He wasn't paying attention at all in front of him. Unfortunately for him, it was an 8th grader. A really big one, with a long nose and long hair tied up in a ponytail. And even more unfortunately for him. He did not like Tyler making contact with him.

With one mighty push, Tyler was on the ground. The lemonade spilled, making a mess all over the floor and his clothes. The bully then began to insult him. Tyler couldn't even make out what he said…something about his striped shirt? He began to look around. He was in a bit of a daze because of the head trauma he received from the ground. Students crowded around, all bandwagoning on not interfering with the situation. Through the small crowd, he saw Owen. He tried the focus on him, but couldn't. Owen noticed him staring at him. He quickly looked away, not offering to aid in any way. 

Then, the 8th grader said something about his freckled face. He was not going to allow that. With strength he didn't know he had, he got up and tackled the bully. Students crowded more into the fight. The 8th grader was about to respond when teachers came into the scene to separate the two.

Tyler was sent home immediately. His father yelled at him for getting into a fight. He tried to explain, but his father wouldn't listen. At that point, he got fed up and ran up into his room and shut the door.  There he sat, thinking about his first day of school. It was pretty unfair in all. He could still hear his dad yelling from downstairs at him. He didn't care. All he wanted to do was nothing. Nothing at all. Not a care in the world. He felt betrayed, a sense of doubt in everything around him.

The next day, school was off due to a holiday. Tyler was told to go fetch some groceries for his father, so he grabbed some cash and made his way. About halfway through the walk, he had reached the city. Tall buildings surround him. Bustling car horns with the many footsteps of different people around him made him feel a little better; all he could think about was yesterday. I mean, anyone would think about it. He turned around a corner and laid eyes on the grocery store. He pulled out a list of food he had to retrieve on a crumpled piece of paper, mumbling the items written on it.

“Onions, watermelon, bread, pancake mix, cereal, steak, carro-”

A loud voice behind him broke the silence of the city's background. It was a raspy cold voice, like the owner of it had a cold.

“Hey!”

Tyler turned around to find two men wearing black hoodies and jeans. Both must be in their mid-30s. Both skinny, one with freckles on his face, the other with some acne and a weird-looking lip, as if it were broken. Tattoos also covered their faces and hands. They were about the same height. The acne one was bald, while the other one had small but straight hair. Both were way taller than Tyler.  They were only a few feet in front of him; he stepped forward, but with extreme caution. It was common sense if you saw someone like this. Whatever they want must not be so good. After he stood about a foot away from them. He then spoke, with a hint of fear in his voice

“Can I help you?”

The bald man then stared at his pants

“Give us everything.”

Tyler froze. He realized the predicament he had just placed himself in. The big mistake that he had made, like a chess piece being blundered. Terror shot through him. He looked around him, attempting to find anything in his environment to aid him. He couldn't. He now felt like that kid selling lemonade. People were moving on with their lives while he stood still. He turned back to the men and tried an alternative option. He cleared his throat.

“I'm just trying to go to-”

The bald man took two steps in front until he was less than half a foot away from Tyler. His determination sent a wave of fear through the 11-year-old boy. He held his fist up, clenched tight.

“Do not make this harder than it has to be.”

All of Tyler’s confidence had been diminished; he reluctantly complied, putting his hand down and reaching into his pockets, emptying them. It didn't matter anymore; he was done fighting. They took his phone. his watch, and even the shopping list, which was just a piece of paper with lead on it. As they walked away, the man with freckles on his face stopped and turned around. He stared Tyler right into the pupil. Tyler saw bravery in him, but he also saw something else; the man's expression shifted into sadness, his ears drooping like a dog. He had felt a different emotion towards Tyler. The bald man had stopped and realized his partner wasn't walking along with him. He also turned around.

“Come on, dude.”

The freckled man broke eye contact with Tyler and continued his walk with his friend. And just like that, he was alone, robbed not only physically, but mentally too. The noise of the city became known again, like it never left, like nothing ever happened. Tyler was still frozen, processing the whole series of events that took place. After he stood for a few minutes, he accepted it. He moved for the first time in the last 2 minutes, turned towards home, and made his way, the city noise drowning out the silence.

2 days later

Tyler had been unsuspended. He trekked towards school again, going on as the same path, trees and houses watched him again. He noticed how they observed him. It's like they knew what had happened and what he had done. The sun did not want to reach him anymore; it was covered by clouds, playing hide and seek again. The air felt like it was trying to choke him. The environment did not recognize him anymore. He could see the school now, kids piling in like usual, buses packed in, the building looking like a dollhouse from his angle. Everything was the same as last time. Once again, he stopped to marvel at the sight. Observing the symmetry of the school, just like the one from 4 days ago. He heard another squeaky voice to his right from across the street.

“Lemonade! Get your lemonade for sale!”

“Buy some fresh lemonade!”

“One drink for two dollars! Two dollars only!”

Tyler broke sight of the school and turned to find the source of the noise. There, across the street, stood a small child. A different kid this time. Next to him stood a makeshift booth made of planks. A jug and a stack of cups stood on the booth. The kid was next to it, waving a cup in the air like a flag. He was wearing a blue shirt with red pants. Short, curly hair, and green eyes. Tyler looked around and watched as the other kids walked around him, ignoring him and trying to mosey their way to school again. The kid began to lose confidence and stopped waving the cup. He grew quiet and just viewed the middle schoolers, holding the cup like it was a small fire in the winter. His eyes began to lose their energy, and his expression grew disappointed; Tyler could see it. But then the kid noticed Tyler, the only student who stopped to look at him. The joy filled his eyes again, and he waved the cups toward Tyler. 

“Do you want some lemonade?” He yelled from the other side of the street. Tyler didn't answer, and they stared at each other for a few seconds, looking each other straight in the eyes. Tyler stared for a few more seconds, not saying a word. He then put his head down, turned back, and kept walking.