It Begins

The rain pounds on the pavement as I sip coffee, sitting just outside the café with my backpack resting in another chair. Black, with no milk or sugar, the flavor attacks with bitterness. College years had kept me away, yet the smell of morning air and sound of droplets feel like yesterday.

"Brock. Looking good man," Justin descends upon me with a firm handshake.
“You too. How’ve you been?” He takes the second cup waiting on the table and gestures a 'thanks, but you didn’t have to'.
“Getting ready for law school, it’s tough out there but I think they’ll always have demand for corporate lawyers.” He grimaces to the hot and bitter coffee “Damn I need some cream in this...”, and off he goes inside the shop.

“Brock? Is that you? It’s Tommy, 10th grade US history, 94?” A total stranger.
“Sure, hey Tommy what’s up.” My obviously feigned recollection does not perplex him, his smile widens as Justin walks out.
“Oh what’s going on, Tom,” Justin doesn’t seem all too thrilled seeing him.
“Well I’ve been just great, my business is booming! You guys looking to go into business for yourself any time?” His eyes opened up some more and his feet shuffled like some crazed monkey-boy thing.
“Well... what are you offering?” Hell, it wouldn’t kill to ask right? I take a bigger gulp of the brewed black liquid.
“Ok fellas, have you ever heard of ‘Amway’?” Tommy’s whole face lit up, as if begging us to feel the joy, too.
“What the hell is that?” I feel all of sudden stirred by Tommy’s now apparent fat gut and the not-so-slick haircut.
“Ugh, isn’t that a pyramid scheme?” Justin does not even give him eye contact as he picks and lights up a cigarette, then offers me one.

And Tommy’s voice becomes drowned out by the stampede of rain along rush of the winds.

“You got me started on these cancer sticks, remember that?” Justin breaks the silence. Tommy is long gone.
“Shit man, I was a real screw up back then.” Recollections of bad choices fill me with disgust.
“Don’t worry about it dude, everybody makes mistakes,” and we both take a heavy drag and exhaled practically in concert. Feint smoke swims and disperses into the rain.
“You got any plans?” Justin continues, as I almost sink into another day dream.
“Yeah, I have a few ideas. Gonna do my own things man, I don’t wanna struggle for some bullshit wage. This 4 year degree doesn’t do much anymore.” Lots of ideas have crossed my mind, though none have yet to show any real promise money wise.
“It’s hard, I know.” He has always supported my ideas, and I can tell when he does it unenthusiastically.
“Nobody said life’s meant to be easy...” I hear myself citing, but a rain drop on the almost burnt cigarette caught my attention.
“Welcome back to town,” and we laughed quietly, reminiscent of the old times.