(Tristan) Kai Has Disease

What the HELL was THAT.

Was that… was that a TOOTHBRUSH? Oh hell no. Who drilled a whole through my Bablo Batisse painting? Who’s responsible? WHO DID THIS?

I heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Scanta looking on with a content expression

Oh. I knew which bastard did this.

“You like it? It’s a new art installation.” he grinned.

I wanted to throw up. “No. It’s an art violation”.

I was shaking. UNACCEPTABLE, BARBARIC, ATROCIOUS, DESPICABLE, NEFARIOUS.

“You asked me to redesign the café. This-” I pointed to the clock (or whatever the hell it is) with all my vigour “-is RUINING my artistic VISION”. I stomped my foot, “What the heck! What kind of monster just drills a hole through a painting!?”

He let out a slow chuckle. I was two seconds away from slapping his disgustingly bald head.

“Tristan, you should maybe get your vision checked.”

One second away.

“Rika Park herself donated the piece to the café. She insisted on it,” He gave me a cheeky smirk.

Oh for pete’s sake. I can’t even get rid of it now. Or else-

“She’ll tear up the entire café if I remove it.”

That smug, bald, eagle looking maniac. I won’t forget this.

I glared at the clock. And then I noticed something disturbing…

The glass. The blue glass from the vase. Shoot. How did that get there? Maybe I shouldn’t say anything. If he doesn't mention anything, I won’t either.

His expression suddenly turned somber.

Oh no.

He switched up so fast it gave me whiplash… What was he plotting? Am I in trouble?

“Tristan. The reason I’m here is...” he placed his hand over his mouth. Why so dramatic? I held my breath.

“We must hold an employee meeting immediately.”

Huh? “But I thought we already did this months superlati-”

“Nono. It’s not about that.”

“Wait. But I’m the only employee at the store right now… Where’s Wabong?”

“Tristan! Stop interrupting me. This is important news.” He cleared his throat and took a deep breath,

“Kai has disease.”

“...Ok? What do you mean? Did you mean A disease? What kind of disease?”

He wiped away a fake tear, “It is better left unsaid.”

“Alright then.”

“C'mon Tristan! Show a little sympathy! A little compassion!”

I stared at him. What is this? A movie?

He huffed and rolled his eyes at my lackluster reaction. “Point is, the only employees left are you and Rahim. Ben also got fired. Permanently.”

Great. I’ve never even met the dude.

“Oh and Wabong,” he added. But can we even count him?”

His somber expression turned to excitement, “So! We’re taking new hires. Please design a poster and put it in the front window.” He slapped me on the back. “Also, get everything ready for today before Rahim gets here, since you showed up early.” He disappeared into his office.

I wonder what he does all day. Where does he even live? According to the architecture of this place, there is an upper floor. I guess that’s his home.

I sighed. Nothing good ever happens when I come to work early. Or so I thought.

“Aw, cheer up,” Lolita’s sweet voice rang through the café. In the spot that Scanta was standing earlier, was now Lolita looking pretty as ever in a dark blue dress, frilly style as usual.

I blinked. “Wait. How are you here? The café hasn't even opened yet.”

She flicked her wrist adorned with beaded bracelets, “Oh don’t worry about it. What’s important is that I got to see you.”

Her smile really made my day.

And then Scanta decided to ruin it once again. He barged into the main floor, “TRISTAN! STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF.”

Lolita had disappeared, she was nowhere to be seen.

Damnit. She hid because of him again. I didn’t feel like fighting this bald eagle today, “Sorry, I’ll get on to designing that poster right away.”

He strutted back to his office picking up a muffin on the way.

I drafted a quick flyer and taped it to the window. I should offer a public apology for baiting any poor soul into this café. But if I must suffer, I suppose others should as well.

-------------------------

Three difficult weeks went by with no word from any applicants. I basically shouldered 70% of the shifts but Rahim still ended up winning the best employee award. We had one guy walk into the café to apply, but Scanta took one look at him and denied his application. He said that apparently, “We already have someone. We’re just waiting for them.”

Sounds like his usual bullcrap to me.

Another two weeks went by as the weather got a little warmer. The plants bloomed outside and Scanta used the café scissors to steal flowers (they were more like weeds) from the public displays to put in the café as “decor”, as he described it. I was running on 4 hours of sleep. At this point, Rahim and I spent more time at the café than anywhere else. It felt oddly empty without Kai though - and Wabong, even though he’s never here anyways.

The café’s bell rang to signify that someone had entered. It was a slow Tuesday afternoon and there were very few customers scattered throughout.

Suddenly Scanta, seemingly materializing out of thin air, came to welcome Maisha who had just walked in. He attempted to shake her hand but she snatched it away. As she should. Cooties.

“I’ve been expecting you,” he clasped his hands together.

She stared at him. “.................................Ok.”

She handed him a neatly stapled stack of crisp papers, “Here. It’s my resume,” she took a deep breath, “I want to work here.”

Rahim burst into the main floor, “WAIT REALLY? For real?!” his eyes went wide as he beamed.

She nodded. Rahim looked like he wanted to say something, but Maisha was fixed on the resume in Scanta’s hands.

Scanta leaned against the counter and flipped through the pages, pretending to read them. Should I tell him they’re upside down?

“Um, Scanta-” I interrupted, “you’re holding it u-’

“No one asked Tristan.”

Well then. Nevermind.

Rahim clutched his hands in anticipation. Scanta smiled and handed back her papers.

“Why do you want to work here?”

Maisha shifted around awkwardly, “I... just want to try something new. That’s all.”

That’s all?

Scanta’s face morphed into a frown, “I’m really sorry to say but, that was a lame answer soooooOOOO…” he held his breath dramatically, “We can’t hire you.”

“Oh. Ok.”

Rahim’s face dropped.

Scanta let out a boisterous laugh, “Just kidding! You’re hired.”

“Really?” Maisha questioned.

“Really!” Rahim exclaimed, his smile was back. “YES! It’s gonna be great! I can show you around!”

Scanta smiled expressively “Yes! I know I can count on Rahim, my most exceptional employee!” He gave me a pointed look.

Ok, screw you too Scanta.

“You’re in charge. I’m out!” He pointed finger guns at Rahim and turned to leave.

“Where are you going? This is your café.” Seriously, he always does this.

He completely ignored me, as usual, and headed for the door, humming.

“Wait! No proper interview?” Maisha asked.

Scanta, without turning back around, put up his hand and said, “Nope!”, and just like that he was gone.

We all stared at each other. “..... Now what?”

“I guess Rahim’s the new boss,” I said.

“Oh!? I am?” he smiled cluelessly. I can’t hate him. The kid was just happy to be here. “Ok, then I’ll give Maisha a tour of the place,” he dragged her away towards the baking equipment.

--------

Scanta unfortunately eventually came back the day after to give Maisha a proper schedule and hours. Rahim spent the rest of this week showing Maisha each and every kitchen appliance owned by the café. He spoke very passionately about our state of the art Byson Convection Oven. Genu would drop by sometimes as well, and he seemed kind of happy to see both kids working at the café.

This was actually great for me. Maisha was an even more average employee than I was so maybe I’d be spared this month from Scanta and his superlatives.

But one thing I wouldn’t be spared from, was Rika’s wrath. She decided to drop by today, AGAIN. Coco was with her as usual.

“Hey!!! Nice to see you again!” Rahim exclaimed. Maisha handed Coco a plate of frog bread from the display case. He gave her a small thanks and waved timidly to Rahim. Woah, his whole demeanour had changed.

“WHERE IS THE OWNER?” Rika demanded as she snatched the plate away from Coco.

Scanta came rushing towards us from his office, “Rika! How nice to see you here. What can I do for you?”

She set down the plate and handed him a brown envelope...This seemed super shady. Was I witnessing a crime? We all watched suspensefully as Scanta took out papers from the envelope.

What the heck.

They were some kid’s drawings. Scribbles of green and pink that were probably meant to be frogs with hearts above them. Some family portraits too except it was just stick figures of Coco and Rika I’m assuming. It was cute I guess. But it wasn’t real art.

“THESE ARE PRECIOUS AND VERY VALUABLE DRAWINGS DONE BY THE ONE AND ONLY COCO-CHAN. CHILDHOOD ART OF A GLOBAL CELEBRITY.”

Coco turned away to hide his face out of embarrassment.

“I’M GRACIOUSLY DONATING THEM TO BE PUT UP IN THE CAFÉ. THE DECOR, APART FROM THE CLOCK, IS TERRIBLY BORING. CHANGE IT. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST.”

Ah. So I AM witnessing a crime. And I couldn’t even object.

Scanta grinned, “Of course! I’d be more than happy to!”

Yeah, I bet you would, you bastard.

“And oh my gosh, I totally agree about the current decor, how about we put up these lovely drawings right over here?” He taped a drawing to my expertly crafted painting wall, which was now defiled by children’s art projects. Rika nodded in approval then went to sit at one of the tables with a cup of tea.

Scanta continued blatantly disrespecting my artistic vision by layering the “frog” drawings over the Ban Ba Vinci paintings right in front of all the customers. I sat during my break and watched in horror, unable to prevent this human rights crisis. Maisha and Rahim were (unwillingly) helping him, while no one was managing the rest of the café. Typical.

“New art installation?” said a voice from behind us.

I jumped and turned to see who had just walked in.

Oh great.

As if this day couldn’t get any worse. My lookalike who was (allegedly) more attractive, decided to show up. He flashed Rahim and Maisha a smile. Rahim returned it, Maisha did not.

“Hey! If it isn’t the better looking version of Tristan!” Scanta shouted for the entire café to hear. “What can I do for you?”

Trevor laughed awkwardly. “Oh, I’m just here to-” he noticed Maisha’s employee name tag “Hey, you work here now?” he asked her.

“Yep. Why are you here?”

“Oh, I’m just picking up some pastries. Half a dozen lemon bars. It’s cool you work here now. I’ll drop by more often.”

“Don’t.”

Before I could offer to get his order, Scanta interrupted, “TRISTAN and RAHIM, I need your help here.” He looked expectantly at Maisha.

She sighed, “Alright I guess I’ll get them for you.” Trevor followed her to the front counter. They chatted while Rahim and I did Scanta’s bidding.

He had just finished putting up the last of Coco’s “art” when he paused dramatically. Scanta took a step back and stared at the café door. What the hell. This is creepy. He held his chin in a thinking position and finally turned to us with an unfittingly somber expression. Then his eyes went wide. I was not prepared for what came out of his mouth next.

“GUYS! GENU BROKE HIS KNEE!”

“What?” Rahim and I said in unison. Wait, how exactly does he know that? Maisha and Trevor’s chat was interrupted as they snapped their attention towards a hysteric Scanta in its natural habitat. The people in the café also listened in. I guess everyone around here knows Genu somehow. And I mean everyone.

“What’s going on?” Pimmy (that singer from the café event) asked. The 3 girls surrounding her also looked concerned.

“YES, EXPLAIN.” Rika demanded.

Scanta gestured a punch. “He got jumped by a teenager!”

“What does that mean?” I asked. And how exactly do you know this???

He huffed, “Tristan. Like I just said, he got into a fight with a teenage boy! It was all like AAAAHHH and WHOPHAAAA and BAMMMM!!” he explained, wildly flailing his arms around.

“Scanta. Please explain the situation clearly. What has happened to Genu Tibia?” Anastasia, the detective lady, questioned.

“That kid, the highschool one, he asked for information on Jessica Lemoteur, but Genu refused him business. And then that kid got mad and then went like AAAAHHH and WHOPHAAAA and BAMMM!! And then Genu fell to the ground and broke his knee. The end.”

….What?

“And who exactly is this kid who attacked him?” Trevor asked.

“He goes to Elohssa High. The ‘comedian’.” Scanta made air quotes with his fingers as he said “comedian”.

Rika snapped her fingers, “IS IT THAT RIDICULOUS BOY THAT CAUSED A SCENE AT THE TALENT EVENT?”

Trevor and Maisha gave each other a look.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Maisha grumbled, while taking out her phone to call someone.

“Anywho. Long story short. Jimothy wanted info and he didn’t get it so he attacked Genu. Genu’s in the hospital. Poor boy can’t fight. Unlike me. That reminds me, one time in the Arctic, I-”

“We should visit him immediately.” DJ McDizzle interrupted.

The others nodded in agreement.

One by one everyone filed out of the café and towards the hospital. It was instant, as if everyone agreed it was the right move.

Scanta shut down the café, deciding that “This was an emergency.”

Trevor went home while me, Maisha, and Rahim caught the bus to the hospital. Scanta rode his bike there. Yes, I said that correctly. His bike. When I made fun of him for it, he said he’d race us there.

As we approached the room we heard Scanta’s voice chatting enthusiastically with Genu.

What the hell? How fast did this man peddle?

We went inside, and I noticed right away that the room was HUGE. I ducked back out and saw that the door said VIP. How did he afford this??? Wasn’t he a college student like me???

Scanta was sitting by his bed on the other end of the room, chatting up a storm. “You are truly a crucial part of our community and you’ll be missed. Thank you so much for all the resumes.” Scanta winked at ‘resumes’.

Wait a damn minute-

Jessica, who I assume Maisha had called earlier, walked in at the same time as us. I kept forgetting that Jessica and Genu were actually friends.

We placed our gift of Rahim’s butter tarts on the table beside Jessica’s gift, which looked to be a Bossil Watch.

We sat down as Scanta continued rambling. “Genu my boy, this is an injustice. I was so shocked when I heard the news-” how did he hear the news? “-I cannot believe that silly pest did that to you. It was Jimothy right? My sources are reliable, usually, but I am asking because I don’t want it to be true, and the reason is, although that boy is a complete buffoon he pays me a hefty sum in order to use our stage for his late night comedy sets each week, and you see, as much I despise him for doing this to you, I wouldn’t want to fire him.”

Scanta paused. Genu, catching on, nodded in affirmation.

Scanta continued, “So it’s true, isn’t it. He really did this to you. Like I said, I am enraged at his behaviour, so I will make sure to raise his fee for using our stage. This offense cannot go without consequences, I insist. Oh, I am so glad you understand about not firing him, I knew you would. After all, you wouldn’t want this café to go out of business, right? I know how much you love this café, I hope you know how much we appreciate you as well. I will have you know that we are all standing with you in this difficult moment, and you are not alone.”

Scanta finished his little speech (finally) and looked at Genu expectantly.

Genu looked at our faces, and then around the huge hospital room. “Who is ‘we’? Are there others coming?” he asked. Just as he did, Rika and Coco walked in.

Rika strutted towards the hospital bed and shoved us all out of the way. She pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to him.

“MY APOLOGIES, THIS WAS QUITE SUDDEN. I COULD NOT GET ANOTHER GIFT. PLEASE ACCEPT THIS INSTEAD. IF IT IS NOT ENOUGH I HAVE MORE. I CAN ALSO SEND MY SUBORDINATES TO FOLLOW THE ONE WHO DID THIS HORRIBLE THING TO YOU, JUST SAY THE WORD.”

One of the nurses came into the room and asked Rika to quiet down since she was disrupting the other patients.

“JUST SAY THE WORD.” She repeated, slightly quieter. Coco nodded awkwardly behind her.

Genu nodded. Apparently that was him turning down her offer.

“LET ME KNOW IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND.”

Genu graciously took the fat stack of cash. Man… maybe I should break my knee. Whatever’s in that stack could definitely pay off my tuition. Rika and Coco went to sit on the numerous chairs that lined the walls. How many guests were coming??

Just as I began trying to number how many café regulars knew Genu, someone familiar walked in.

Are you freaking kidding me?

Wabong? He wouldn’t show up to work, but he’s here at the hospital???

He fist bumped Genu, “Yo man… sorry about your knee, that’s tough.”

“It’s all good.”

Wabong noticed everyone else's gifts scattered around the hospital room. “Oh uh, sorry I didn’t get you anything. Ah, damn...” he rummaged through his bag and pulled out an energy drink, “Yo! Look at that! Happy birthday bro,” he said, handing him the can.

Genu laughed, “Thank you so much. Best gift ever.”

I never noticed it before, but those two were very similar on a … spiritual? Psychological? Whatever… They understood each other on some higher level.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. DJ McDizzle and Anastasia were both outside. McDizzle jumped a little when he saw Anastasia, but meekly wobbled after her anyways. He weaved his way through the others to stand as far as away from her as possible. They had both brought gifts as well, that they set down along the wall.

Anastasia spoke first, “My condolences about your injury. I swear on my family name that I will find the fiend that did this. You will have justice!”

Genu laughed and shook his head.

“So you mean to say you already know who did it?” she exclaimed. How are they all interpreting his gestures so well? “I see, I see. It makes sense, you were the one who he engaged in the fight. If you say so, young man. I won’t bother going after him.”

Genu nodded. “He’s just a dumb kid. It’ll catch up to him at some point.”

Jessica piped up, “Jimothy is actually the biggest idiot on earth, it’s tragic that you got done in by him of all people.” Maisha nodded in agreement. “Hope you get better soon,” Jessica said, smiling.

“No worries bro. Thanks a lot,” Genu responded. I wonder if she knew that Genu broke his knee protecting her information. The thought was interrupted when more people started filing in, filling up the room.

John Doe came in, and gave Genu a signed copy of his new CD, “Mysterious Intentions”. Lucky and her whole family came too, with an expensive crockery set and a crate of tropical mangoes. Kulsum gave a separate gift - a shiny, polished mud ball, carefully set inside a Biploc bag. Then came Maruto and his mother, with Maruto’s gift of a custom Shadow Master Maruto figurine which he had seemingly made himself with plasticine. Even that suspicious guy I always see loitering around the café came. He gave Genu a scrap of paper with a “secret family recipe” written on it, which was clearly just the recipe written on the back of every Bellog’s Rice Crisper box.

After that, Scanta clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Ahem, ahem...so, you may wonder why I’ve gathered you all here,” No, it was pretty obvious why. And of course it was Scanta’s idea to crowd a patient.

“Genu here has experienced a very tragic event today, so I insisted we all come here together to say a few words of thanks so that Genu knows how much we care for him. An attack against Genu is an attack against all of us!”

Everyone cheered.

“We all gotta stay frosty for Genu,” Wabong announced. “Cuz like, everyone here owes him.”

Everyone cheered again. Scanta snapped, and confetti fell from somewhere. Then, everyone began giving their thank you messages.

“THANKS FOR YOUR HELP IN ENSURING THE MEDIA ‘COOPERATES’ WITH COCO AND I. THOSE RATS HAVE NOTHING ON YOU,” said Rika.

“They have nothing on you, Miss,” Genu grinned.

“Yes, you’ve been such a helpful source for leads on my detective cases. It is shameless of me, but I hope you will continue to help me after you’ve recovered,” Anastasia smiled.

“Ofcourse. Glad I could help.”

“I would also like to express my thanks as well,” DJ McDizzle stepped up, “You are very reliable. I must say I quite appreciate your prolonged cooperation with my search for the artifacts- I mean, the uh...DJ remixes. Yes. I am an excellent DJ. But of course, only with your help.”

“My pleasure, dude.”

“Thanks for all your great advice!” Jessica added.

“Any time, bro.”

One by one, all of the visitors said thank you to Genu. It was pretty nice actually. It kind of...felt like I was part of something. We were all connected to the café and we all owed Genu something. Even me. Whenever Trashlord8 makes his sporadic appearances at the café, I always see Genu appease the tyrant before he snatches another tea set from our stash. For that, I am forever grateful.

After my turn, a few other people went, and then it was time to leave.

“Hope to see you back at the café soon!” Scanta said, and he made his way out. Of course, Wabong and I were tasked with cleaning up the mess that was made because of Scanta basically throwing a party in a hospital room, so we stayed behind.

A few moments later, while we were finishing up, we heard another knock. Someone was late to the party, I guess. Pimmy walked in and the 3 girls I didn’t recognize at the café followed behind her.

She dropped a giant gift bag, walked up to Genu and shook his hand, “This is so unfortunate. I’m sincerely appalled. There’s a get well package in the bag and you can contact my agent if you ever need a favour. I’m definitely indebted to you.” She dropped her voice but I could still vaguely make out what she said, something along the lines of “Thank you for the location tips.”

What does that mean?

Pimmy chatted with Genu for a bit, and then went out to the hallway in search of “souvenirs” after hearing that he (whoever that was) had been here earlier. The three girls I didn’t recognize stayed behind. They also offered their condolences, and gave him a gift. Before they left, the one with dyed blonde hair said, “Thank you for keeping her secret.”