Tumble One by One

Sitting in the back patio of a coffee shop, I sip herbal tea, listening as Shane talks to Tyson, who stirs his coffee nervously with one hand, flicking his eyes back and forth from his swirling cup to Shane's blank face.

I wait silently, dunking my teabag repeatedly in my mug, making the tea darker than anything I would drink. Just as the bag begins to tear from the aggravation of being moved around so much, Tyson makes his plea. "Do you have anything?" he asks, with just a hint of desperation seeping into his carefully controlled voice. I look up at Shane, see the way his eyes narrow just a little as he takes a long drink from his coffee, considering. He sets his cup back down and breaks into a smile. "Yeah," he says reassuringly. "Yeah. What do you need?" I look back down at my tea, watching the leaves tumble one by one from the torn bag.

Two minutes later, Tyson walks away, pleased with himself, and Shane and I are alone out here again. He leans all the way back in his chair and looks over at me, still fiddling with the string of my teabag. "What are you doing to your tea?" he asks, sounding genuinely concerned. I shrug my shoulders. He nods as if I've just confirmed what he suspected, then drinks the last of his coffee, turning the paper cup upside down on the table when he is done. We both stare at the cup, waiting for something to happen.

He taps on the cup like it's a little caffeinated drum. "You wanna get out of here?" he asks. His rhythm picks up as he finishes his question. I shrug again, but stand up, watching the way he cocks his head to the side, looking at me out of the corner of his eye as we leave.