THE NIKEL chapter 9

Amad saw Dob sitting at a table in the shop when Danielle came to take his order. Dob was still looking over the menu. "Ummmm...two scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, rye toast and orange juice."

Amad came up from behind him. "Don't you serve this man nothin' but some racquetball lessons." Danielle smiled and walked away while the two friends greeted each other.

"Hey there. What's goin' on businessman? The shop looks good. Did you just add this over here?" He pointed at the enlarged reading area behind the books.

"Yeah, on Saturday's now someone comes in and does story time for the kids so I made a bigger sitting area. Now if you were in here more often, you would know that. I did that a few months ago. Come check this out back here. Davis expanded the mural and added this over here."

"Go 'head. I like that. I'm gon' have to get her to come down to the building and see what she can do for A Brighter Way. She still single?"

"Hey man, I think so but you know I don't get in the middle of none of that."

"Who you think you talkin' to? I don't need you in the middle of it. I just wanted to know if she was still available. I should't have let her get away when I had the chance. So caught up in work and trying to get the school open...But anyway, I open up officially in less than a year now."

"Already?"

"Yep. I'm off track as of the day before yesterday. I love those kids and I'm gon' hate to leave, but this has been my dream for years. Twenty-four hour day care. Private school, pre k-6, free tutoring for students and adults. Something for the community. This year can't go by quick enough."

Amad had known Dob, whose full name is Anthony Dobson, for about three years then. They met at the coffee shop when he came in one day on his lunch break. The school where he taught was only three blocks away. He would ride his bike in. He said that it was the only exercise he really got. Except when he would join his students for recess. He loved those kids. Dob was the one who encouraged him to expand the coffee shop last year and add a bookstore. Since then business had been doing better. He had a lot of repspect for Dob. What you saw was what you got with him and Amad liked that. No games or hidden agends there. The two of them started playing racquetball together once a week. Shortly after they started playing recquetball he met Daivs at the shop. The two of them dated for just over a year. Then over lunch one day, it ended.