REBEL GRAINED

VANILLA ICE

Thulile opened her eyes at 5 am on the dot only to realize she hadn't dreamt of her hospital stay.

The woman sat up and began to trifle with the plaster holding the needle. Thoughts bustled; she could take out the drip, get dressed, go and make a couple of coffees till 9 am. She would slip back into bed without anyone knowing teen-late-for-curfew-movie-style.

"Don't even think of it."

Her gran's voice killed the noise. Thulile sighed, fell back on the bed, and closed her eyes. Palesa was aware of the situation. She told Thuile she would ask her eldest daughter to help her make tea to go with the snacks.

Thulile agreed there was no use depriving Palesa of any income as small as it was.

Lars woke up at 6 am, like the day before the man had an irrepressible urge to drink coffee. He prepared himself with a slight remix. He showered and chose an outfit that wasn't pajamas in disguise.

The man didn't even interrogate himself to understand why he buffed himself to buy coffee.

"Okay, let's go," he said to his reflection in the hall's mirror before leaving.

There was no rain or clouds; Lars felt grateful. It had been a while, there the man was glad to know he would have the privilege to drink Thulile's coffee. Just the thought of watching her make it made him bubbly.

Lars found a space to park and got out. Something was off; where was the queue? He jogged along and crossed over to the truck's side of the street.

No one, not one soul in sight, yet the truck was open.

"Hi."

"No coffee," Palesa replied blatantly before the man even asked.

"Pardon."

"I said there's no coffee today."

A black hole opened under Lars' feet, and the man saw his happiness barometer drop below zero.

"Why?" Lars looked behind Palesa; another woman with braids that stretched down below her buttocks stood behind her.

"Where is she?" The man pursued.

Palesa eyed him up and down. Her lips deformed to welcome her sneer, "Hey, mister, are you her controller? I said there's no coffee, but we have snacks and tea."

Lars slid his head back and blinked, "eh," he didn't know what to think of her reply, which almost sounded insulting. Palesa constantly tried to intimidate him. Lars leaned forward, making Palesa believe he wished to whisper, "when you say there's no coffee does it mean all day?"

"Yeah, there won't be no coffee today."

"How about tomorrow?" Lars rebounded in a tone more desperate than he expected.

Palesa shrugged, "maybe."

"Why maybe, can't be more accurate. Give me an hour or something?" Lars stopped realizing how crazy he looked and sounded. He continued despite himself, "did something happen?"

Palesa frowned; what was wrong with this man?

She wished to add even if something did occur, what is it to you? Instead, she opted for what she estimated to be a muted response, "Mista, the coffee will be here when it's here. Palesa accompanied her question with a head movement from side to side, "for now, we have tea, so do you want tea or not?"

Palesa's daughter stood mouth agape since she turned and saw Lars. She wiped her eyes; she was probably sleeping and dreaming a sexy man stood in front of the run-down truck. There was nothing worse than waking up at 5 am to help her mom, but the sight of Lars compensated for her efforts.