Chapter 11: The Silent Train [3]

As I was walking downtown with the old man, I gradually began to realize just how lively and rowdy the place had truly been.

I had almost always walked there, during busy afternoons after work and occasionally during morning walks, to hopefully relieve my pure boredom. I usually avoided going downtown and took a shorter route during the mornings on my way to work, though. Try as I might, nothing I did would ever alleviate me from that borderline-detestable state of indolence.

Really, the only reason I didn't truly hate it was because of the numbing of my emotions. I couldn't hate anything, much less love anything. Dislike? Null. Like? Barely. It felt as though I was controlling a robot, or maybe it was the other way around, I think.

The things that I enjoyed doing, the people that I previously despised, and the people that I grew to admire and hopefully aspire to be like. I could only do nothing but blankly stare and forget about who or what they were about and why they had ever been relevant to me or my life at all. Irene was the only exception to that new sentiment.

But for the first time in what felt like years, walking downtown was somehow... refreshing. Even with the lingering numbness and my everlasting apathy, I could feel something slowly changing within me.

I never paid much, if any, attention before, but now I definitely was. With the snap of a finger, my world had once again changed, if only for a short moment this time, as the feeling eventually abated.

'Is that what it feels like to feel something again? Definitely feels more alive than jerking off.'

And before I could monologue even further, the voice of an old man inured from experience, an old man the age of an ancient hermit, suddenly expressed aloud, "Alright, kid. We're almost there. Just keep following me for now, and remember what I told ya. Don't ask meh any questions."

I merely nodded my head towards his remarks. Quite frankly, I wasn't paying full attention, though that was no reason to not at least pretend to listen.

As we continued to arrive ever so slightly to our destination, I took a momentary peer at my surroundings.

'Just this once.'

The downtown city of Haywood looked as busy as ever.

People of all ages were forming lines among themselves, seemingly trying to get a look into or, at best, a regular visit inside the city's most revered restaurant. Cars were dawdling everywhere, and no noisy honks were polluting the crystal clear sound of stability that the ambient mood had set itself up for.

Individuals of all ages formed in groups, either working or settled inside small businesses that were situated next to each other, from one end of a block to another.

'Wow, that boy spilled his ice cream, but he's not... reacting in any way?'

'And over there are teenagers walking around seamlessly like they actually care about putting on a show in front of strangers? Dafuq?'

'Back to the Future 30th-anniversary celebration? What the hell is that movie anyways, and why do they still care enough about it to show it in theatres?'

"Hey there, boy! Ya want some ice cream refills?"

Out of nowhere, the old man that was barely ahead of me walked up to a boy who unfortunately dropped his ice cream. Gazing at his steps, I finally noticed how nimble his mannerisms were.

'So the old man's obviously old enough to be a senior citizen, but at least he ain't a senile son of a bitch. That's good, at least.'

Once he stopped at the boy's head, he slowly and gracefully offered his hand. And without saying anything, the little boy, who made no attempt at reacting whatsoever from before, finally reacted.

"No! Don't wanna!" he exclaimed.

Smacking the old man's hand away, he eventually turned to run away in the opposite direction before settling back inside what looked to be an ice cream parlor, the place I assumed he got his ice cream.

'Wonder where his parents are, making him walk alone like that... Not like I have any myself.'

Instead of making an attempt to follow him into the store, the old man just simply shook his head.

"Kids these days. They'd much rather spend time inside than be nice to a handsome old man like meh," the old geezer cried.

Standing up and turning to face me, the old man went and asked me a simple question, seemingly hurt by the boy's actions in the process. "Tell meh, boy. Do I look good to ya? Hmm?"

Looking at the old man with an insouciant expression, I immediately shot down all of his hopes. "Well, I'll put it this way. Your haircut does make your nose look big, and you're definitely not as dumb as you look, old man."

"Hahahaha. Thank you, boy. Wait..."

A devilish grin almost appeared on my face, but I held myself back rather easily. I did feel somewhat blank at the moment, but seeing him pause for a second to think about what I said made me feel a certain sense of satisfaction on the inside. I did want to hopefully pay back the old man someday for saving my life and offering me ice cream, but I could only hope that my little comments weren't too hurtful for the time being.

"Never mind, boy. Just come with meh and get ice cream already."

His demeanor instantly changed. A somewhat pensive look remained on his face, and his happy attitude from earlier slightly wavered. Nevertheless, he didn't look all that hurt or offended by what I said to him.

'As expected of him, the old man isn't that soft. Or maybe he is, but it's not like he's a little mad or anything, right?'

By the time the old man and I arrived at the entrance of the ice cream parlor, I took note of the store's exterior details, as well as some of the things that were printed on the store's glass windows, like its closing and opening times for the week.

[Ice, Ice, Baby]

Yes! We're Open!

Opentimes:

Monday - Friday (10:30 A.M. - 5:30 P.M.)

Saturday - Sunday (10:30 A.M. - 8:30 P.M.)

'I fucking hate working on Sundays. Not sure why I never even bothered to try some ice cream downtown until now.'

Disrupting me from my thoughts was the old man's voice.

"The hell are you staring around for? Get in here if ya want some ice cream already!"

"Ahh! My bad," I clumsily said.

I had been gawking for a little too long at something seemingly inconsequential.

'Classic me.'

I merely sighed at myself for making the old man wait for me. Not my fault I was this meticulous. Stepping inside of the ice cream parlor, I noticed how enticing its interior kinda was. It looked neither too ambitious to the point of trying too hard, nor was it so simple that it looked incredibly minimalistic.

It seemed as though it hit the sweet spot between being fancy and fundamental. I suspected that this was for the sake of attracting even more customers. People probably wouldn't have liked it if it looked too manageable.

I had a decent idea of what people were generally attracted to, anyways.

As for the store's customers themselves, it was packed with a good amount of people, mostly formed in cliques. A surprising number of them were teenagers around my age, but I could also spot some families with adults and other children.

It was certainly quite dynamic, seeing them around with a bunch of smiles on their faces. What impressed me was how well-behaved they all were. No one was pulling off any shenanigans, and no one was doing anything that was incredibly distracting, like talking very loudly for no apparent reason.

The store smelled rather pleasant. It seemed to have invoked a few very familiar emotions: Nostalgia and Sentimentality, but I could clearly tell the difference. One was an emotion that I was more than accustomed to (especially now), while the other was an emotion that reminded me of the time I spent in Irene's home.

Looking around, I tried focusing on the young boy who dropped his ice cream a while ago. And as I did, I noticed he was sitting on one of the ice cream store's laminate benches, all by his lonesome. He looked to be holding what I assumed was an Amazon Fire tablet in his small hands.

The old man casually walked up to the front of the store's counter that only three other people were currently occupying, doing their jobs and serving customers. I was quick to assume that he was the owner of this place, or at the very least held a job here and was filling his shift.

The former was the far more likely option, seeing as he could somehow leave the ice cream store intact for as long as he did. He then asked me something in a voice that was loud enough for me to hear. I had been near the center of the room, and the counter was meters away from where I was standing. "So, boy. Whatchu want today? It'll be all on me for now."

I had just neared the gap between us when I decided to stare at the man curiously, but I could easily feel him outstaring me with his unintentionally fierce gaze. Just when things were about to get uncomfortable, I nervously responded, "Can I get cookies and cream ice cream?"

"Ya want that on a cup or cone?"

"What the fuck's the difference?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"The difference... boy, is that ice cream served on a cup is more versatile cause it allows you to taste multiple flavors, all in a spoonful. You can do that with a cone, but it don't come in as big a serving," he calmly answered.

"Oh, I see..." I didn't, actually.

"Sigh. Ya still get a long way to go, I tell ya. It seems your mouth is pretty dirty as well, so ya might wanna clean it with some of muh divine ice cream."

"I suppose," I gently nodded.

"So, what's it gon' be? Cup or cone?"

"Fuck it. Let's go with the cup," I said.

"Hahaha, wise choice. In that case..."

The man suddenly pulled his sleeves and shouted to the other employees in a reasonable voice, one that reminded me of his seemingly boundless energy. "Eduardo, Elliot, and Anne! Mind helping this boy out for me while I go and talk to my guest?"

As if they were in unison, the three pairs of ice cream slaves each responded in perfect clarity, their voices overlapping each other. They were all dressed appropriately with the right hats as well as the right aprons that displayed the name of the store. All of them except for the old man.

"Yes, sir!" they said a bit nervously.

"Now, how big do you want yer ice cream to be, boy?" The old man asked me, a smile once again forming on his face.

This time, I made sure to smile back when I answered him, forcing my smile in the process. I was still not used to it, but I couldn't tell if it looked really awkward or not. I'd never willingly smiled at anyone before, so I was made rather unaware of how I ought to properly do it. Seeing as the old man didn't comment on it, I took it as a job well done on my behalf.

"How about... 3 scoops of Cookies N' Cream?" I took a short guess, with my smile of course.

"Okay, 3 scoops of ice cream coming right up!" he shouted to his workers.

From what I could tell, they looked to be no older than I was. Couldn't quite get a good grasp on their faces, though. They were all wearing cloth face masks clad in black, made of tightly woven fabric. The workers quickly got to work, and the old man stepped out of the counter, lifting up a wooden slab. With the same smile still on his face, he once again worded, "Let's talk about that story from earlier again, yeah?"

"Okay...?"

I let the old geezer walk right past me as he tried to find a place to sit. Before that happened, though, I heard the voice of one of the 3 'slave' employees that worked to serve me my ice cream. "Cookies N' Cream for our wonderful boss' guest," he said while also handing me a black spoon.

"Thanks," I firmly replied. I then turned my head in the direction of where I last saw the old man, who finally found a place to sit comfortably.

As I walked up to him, I stared at the ice cream in my hand and then at the young boy from earlier who was holding the tablet, sitting opposite of the old man. He looked neither too happy nor too sad at the moment. Compared to the other kids that made up most of the store's customers, nobody was all that close to him, and the boy looked as if he'd already seen plenty of things in life.

The old man told me to sit down. I made the conscious choice to sit next to the boy, who was already near the seat's corner, with his right elbow just about to touch the marble wall.

"Hey. You want my ice cream?" I asked him.

"..."

There came an awkward moment of silence and blank exchanges between us. It didn't take long for him to refuse my offer as he went back to looking at his tablet. I still wasn't sure where he last picked it up, as he didn't have it on him when I saw him drop his ice cream earlier.

"Hehehehe. Don't worry about him. He's probably still sulking from earlier," the old man teased.

"Does he even like ice cream in the first place?" I asked.

"No idea. Haven't seen the boy long enough to know if he really does or if he was just really hungry," he answered.

"Fine. Then I'll just have to eat this for myself."

Shame I couldn't give my ice cream to him. I would've preferred a pizza for now, but Cookies n' Cream was my favorite flavor, so it's not like--

"C-can I... pwease?" The boy pleaded in a whisper as he grasped onto my sleeve with his tiny fingers. I was quick to respond to him. "Oh shit, you actually want my ice cream... Welp, I guess you can have it all if you want. I mean, I'm hungry, too, but I can always ask for more. Right, oldilocks?"

"As much as ya want, boy. Remember what I said earlier? You can have as much as ya want today," he happily added, not paying any attention to the strange name I gave him.

"Cool," I nodded.

"I... can have this? R-rweally?" The boy gaped at me with glistening eyes.

"Just take it. I'll just get more ice cream," I said to him.

"Okay!"

The old man's expression dwindled upon seeing the two of us get along well with each other, as what replaced his usual grin was that of a closed smile. Nevertheless, I could easily tell from his demeanor that he wasn't any less jovial. If anything, he may have been a lot happier.

Before I could ask for more ice cream, however, the old man would say something important again, "So, let's get on with the story."

Squinting my eyes as I looked at him, I cautiously asked, "Sure, but isn't the story supposed to be a little too mature for this little fu-- I mean, little guy?" I nearly choked on my words, but it seemed as though I had 100 Luck for the time being, as the boy ignored everything I was saying. He was already eating the ice cream in pure elation, not paying me or the old man or even his tablet any mind.

'Looks like I really do need to try the old man's 'divine' ice cream.' I thought, gaining a certain desire to roll my eyes at the mention of that particular word, which I didn't actually do.

"Ehh... it's only just you. I already tried telling the fella my story, but he fell asleep midway through what I was tryna say. I even shortened everything and made it all simple, hahaha."

'So they knew each other beforehand. No wonder why the old man offered his hand earlier.'

"Okay. I guess I'll sit here and continue listening. I did prioritize your story from before, anyways," I said to the old man, while also glancing at the employees from before, who were having no trouble serving the customers at the moment.

"Very well, boy. Let's keep at it then," he said. A look of solemnity appeared on his face the moment he said those words. And so, for a while, I stayed seated and listened to the old geezer finish his story.