Janet Norton - On the Other Side. The Fall

“Well, I do. While I’m free, I hope we’ll have time to buy something for your friends at the orphanage. What do you think?” James asked, looking at Farai with a smile.

At first, it seemed like Farai could not believe what he had just heard, and then he smiled and nodded so hard that James could not help laughing.

“Great, then we’re going to the cafe,” he said, switching on the navigator in the control panel and choosing the nearest place.

When the Alchemist Cafe sign appeared outside the window, Farai looked at James again, as if waiting for permission to leave the car. With an approving nod, James got out of the car, carefully examining the street and leading Farai under the building’s porch.

As soon as he opened the doors, they were met by the sweet aromas of baking and coffee. Past the rows of tables was a counter, covered with a variety of culinary masterpieces from small cupcakes and donuts to cakes and a whole range of ice cream with different fillings. Farai ran to the counter and stared at the confections, completely forgetting about the café owner. A plump grey-haired man in an apron saw the child and immediately waved his hands at him.

“There’s nothing for you here! Get out! Shoo!” He screamed, but when he saw James, he turned to him with a sorrowful face. “Officer! Get this ragamuffin out of my cafe! He’ll scare away my customers!”

Farai stood disappointedly beside James and bowed his head with a guilty look.

“You seem to have scared them off successfully without his help,” James said, looking at the empty restaurant, surprised by the seller’s behaviour.

“I don’t serve the poor!” the grey-haired man shouted, adjusting his glasses on his nose. Unkindly snapping his differently-coloured eyes the man began to fiercely wipe the dirty marks from the glass counter left after Farai.

“Go find a seat…” James said softly without looking at Farai and pushing the boy lightly toward the tables.

“Hey! I told you! What are you doing?!” The seller was indignant. In response, James touched his glasses, quickly scanned the man’s face and smiled ironically.

“I must say, you’ve lost a bit of weight, Mr. Erol Wilfrid,” James said, examining his profile photo in the police database.

“Apparently, additional income reduced… drug distribution?” James asked rhetorically, turning off the data display on the glasses and mockingly smiling. “I think I smell something suspicious. You live one floor up, don’t you? Mind if I check out the premises?”

“What? How dare…” Wilfrid mumbled, staring at James with fear in his eyes. Then he hissed as he bent over the counter. “I haven’t traded for a long time!”

“Then it all depends on you. What do I smell, spices or drugs?” James said tranquilly.

“Sit d-down, please,” Wilfrid said taking the menu from the counter. James smiled and sat down at the table next to Farai. The boy still looked upset, but immediately forgot about the incident when he saw the menu. After placing their order, James leaned back in his chair and noticed the TV in the upper corner.

“Could you turn up the sound?” James asked pointing to the screen where the evening news had begun. Wilfrid turned the sound up using the remote and went back into the kitchen.

“…about politics,” the news anchor said. “The upcoming regular session for the General Assembly of the Alliance of Product and Energy Politics is the most anticipated event of the year for APEP, as many well-known world media headlines say. Such wide attention is due to the assumption, that for the first time since the year 2000, a fundamentally revised resolution, known as the ‘Millennium Declaration’, will be discussed at the congress, and it would change the APEP political environment…”

Returning with the tray of tea and rolls, Wilfrid laid all the saucers and plates on the table in front of Farai and James with a demonstrably displeased look.

Meanwhile, the television news program went to a reporter working at the Alliance’s border.

“…Yes, as you can see, the refugees live in inhuman conditions,” the reporter said standing against the backdrop of rows of tents and southerners crowded nearby, looking with caution at the media staff. “The camp formed on its own when the Alliance border troops blocked the checkpoint to prevent terrorists from entering APEP territory disguised among the civilian population…”

James did not pay attention to Wilfrid’s gloomy face and only nodded to him in gratitude while staring at the TV screen. Wilfrid snorted and returned to the counter to prepare the rest of the order. James continued to watch the news intently. He sympathized with the people affected by the war, but as soon as he got a glimpse of APEP military guarding the high fence that separated the refugee camp from the border point, James immediately changed expressions, turning noticeably gloomy.

“Many politicians have already made statements that given the current military conditions, special measures will be needed to achieve peace, which is desired by all the parties in this conflict, but which is also impossible with a disjointed approach to resolving the issue. Yesterday during the press conference, the Alliance participants agreed that mutual assistance is needed not only from governments, but also from international companies and organizations. Under the current military conditions with terrorist groups spreading their influence near APEP borders, the issue of humanitarian assistance to the affected population becomes first and foremost on the agenda. Strong criticism of the brutal military operations has the opposition and national…”

“My dad is somewhere out there,” Farai said sadly, holding a roll in his hand. Recalling something in his mind, the boy stopped eating. James pulled his attention away from the TV screen which showed a close-up of the Innogen Charity Fund leader at a press conference on the happenings in the south. The woman’s honey-coloured eyes were full of confidence and she spoke in an imperious tone, but James did not listen too carefully, glancing at Farai’s sorrowful face.

“He wasn’t allowed in, was he?” James asked.

Farai nodded.

“I wouldn’t have been allowed in either, except I was sick and someone from the charity fund felt sorry for me,” Farai said.

With a sympathetic smile James pushed a cup of hot chocolate toward Farai.

“Innogen Charity Fund. My sister works there,” James said.

“Then you’re both good,” Farai said confidently, warming his hands on the cup. And then, raising a timid glance at the still grumpy café owner, he added, “It’s too bad there aren’t so many like you here.”

After completing the entire order, Wilfrid put a bag of rolls and other sweets on the counter for James to take with him. James got up from the table and went to the counter to pay the bill. He then led Farai, who had eaten every last crumb, outside giving him the bag of sweets for the other children at the orphanage.

They got into the car. James pulled away from the cafe while punching up a short message about the suspicious seller on the control panel communicator display. Noticing the text of the message, Farai smiled in surprise. James winked at the boy and sent the message to the nearest police station.

“It can’t hurt to check,” James said with a smile. “Now it’s time to share the sweets. Where do you live?”

Farai told James the address, and half an hour later they were in one of the most crowded immigrant quarters. Not surprised by the embittered reaction of the passing immigrants to the marked police car, James drove to the door indicated by Farai and opened the car door to let the child out. At the same time, a frightened-looking dark-skinned woman ran out of the house to meet them. Grabbing Farai, she spoke to him in her own language. But James could understand from her surprised brown eyes that she was asking about the policeman’s visit, the scratches on the boy’s face and the cafe bag. Deciding that the boy had been met by the mistress of the orphanage, James stood by and waited for her to make sure that the child was okay.