“I’m Arri. A-a-arri Cedar. But umm…” You look directly at his hand. “A-a-are you a hobo? No offence, but I-I-I don’t shake hands with hobos.”
He laughs. “A hobo? Do I really look that rustic? No, I’m not a hobo. So don’t worry. And more importantly, don’t leave me hanging.” He moves his hand up and down slightly.
You reluctantly give him your hand for a quick shake and then immediately put it back in your hoodie pocket. “Then w-w-what’s with the fire?” You ask.
“Well, you need a fire to make stew!” He says, rather enthusiastically. “It’s not for me though, I already ate before I came out here. I’m going to give it out to the actual hobos and the homeless who live around here. You know, just to help out those who may be down on their luck. You’re welcome to some too if you’d like.”
“So you j-j-just give it away? D-d-do you get anything in return?”
“In return? No... nothing physical anyway. I do get the satisfaction of having helped someone out though. Not much better than that. I couldn’t bring myself to ask for anything anyway.”
“O-oh.”
“Don’t act so surprised! It’s just a little bit of cheap meat and some vegetables. It’d feel weird to ask for something in return.”
You’re silent for a moment.
“You know t-t-that this *is* illegal right? The f-f-fire. It’s like… vandalism.”
“Pfff. Technically yes, it is. But I know the cops that would even bother patrolling the park at this time and they know what I’m doing. They’re actually supportive! They only ask that I’m careful, which I always am. So you don’t have to worry about getting in trouble for hanging around with me.”
An awkward silence follows.
“So did you want to sit down?” He says after a couple seconds.
You shake your head.
He shrugs before sitting back down himself and taking a couple handfuls of cubed beef from a bag near the fire and dropping into the pot.
“You could probably guess it, but I really enjoy camping,” he says. “I try to make some time a couple times a month to just take a day and hike up into one of the mountains nearby.”
“B-b-by yourself?” You ask. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Usually, and it’s not dangerous so long as you’re not stupid. Once or twice I’ve brought a friend but they’d all rather spend the weekend binge watching television or playing video games. Which I totally get. There are some good shows out these days. But I can only stay inside for so long before I start to get… what’s the word? Fidgety?”
“Restless?”
“Yeah, that’s better.” He puts a lid on the pot and seems to haphazardly place it half inside the fire and half on the surrounding rocks.
“I-i-is that how you’re s-s-supposed to do that?”
“Nah not really at all. Normally I’d put up a couple stakes and hang the pot above the fire but I forgot them today so this’ll do. I’ll just have to rotate it and make sure it doesn’t boil over or anything. Should work. Maybe.” He looks up at you. “So Arri. What do you do?”
“W-w-what?”
“Like, what do you do? Do you have a job? Hobbies? Stuff like that.”
“Oh… Umm… I work at the MR’s Convenience store.”
“Ok...” He waits for you to continue. “And that’s it?” He says once you don’t.
You nod.
“No hobbies or anything?”
You shake your head. “I-I-I don’t h-h-have the t-t-time.”
“Really? You’re in school, yes? Is that load pretty big then?”
“No, n-n-not really. I-i-it’s just a bunch of m-m-memorization. I umm… I h-h-have a lot of chores to do.”
“Ah, yup. Parents can be like that sometimes. I lucked out that my family could afford a housekeeper to take care of all that stuff for us. The most I’d ever have to do is clean my room.”
“Must be nice.” You say, mainly to yourself.
He raises an eyebrow at that. “I suppose… but, like, they make you do chores mainly because it helps them. One of them probably has an eight hour work day and it’s nice to come home to a clean house. Right? They do a lot for you, so you should do something in return. That’s how I see it anyway.”
“B-b-b-b-because my p-p-p-parents have d-d-d-d-d-done SO much for m-m-me!”
...
“S-s-s-sorry…”
“N-no. You’re… fine. If anything I’m sorry. Guess I struck a nerve there… Not in good relations with your folks?”
You slump down next to the fire and nod.
Thomas slides a little bit closer. “You get in a fight with them?”
You shake your head. “O-o-orphan.”
“Oh.” His voice is somber. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”
“I-i-i-it’s just that the only thing they’ve done for me is-is-is just give me away,” You feel tears begin to build up behind your eyes. You almost say more, but you stop. Thomas is looking at you, waiting to see if you'll go into more detail. He looks like… like he cares. It scares you. “W-w-what time is it?” You ask.
“Umm…” He lifts his sleeve to glance at a watch. “A little after ten thirty. Why?”
“I-I-I-I-I have to go. S-s-sorry.” You stand up.
He looks somewhat disappointed for a second. He then stands up and reaches into his pocket. “You have a phone right?” He pulls out a smartphone.
“Y-y-yeah…?”
“Would… uh… would it be alright if we swapped numbers?”
