Sheltered

Chapter 22

Savanna and Oli arrive at a small, graffitied ice cream shop, panting and sweating.

"You're pretty fast." Olivia says between heavy breaths.

"You aren't too bad yourself." Savanna replies, out of breath.

"Can I get you something?"

The girls look up to see a skinny, bearded man, probably in his sixties, staring down at them from behind the counter.

"Oh, yeah. Uhh... Sav, what do you want?" Olivia asks casually.

Sav takes a minute to scan the tubs of cold desserts. It's been a while since she had ice cream.

The last time was with Steph when Mrs. Garcia picked us up early from school...

Savanna tries to erase the thought from her mind.

"Um, just chocolate. Please..." she finally replies.

"I'll have the same thing." Oli says, handing over a five dollar bill.
"It's her birthday, is there some kind of discount?" She adds with a bored tone of voice.

The tall, intimidating-looking man glares down at Olivia, making direct eye contact.

"Does this look like the Ritz Carlton to you?"
He asks slowly, gritting his teeth over each word.

"Definitely not..." Oli mutters, chuckling. "Never mind!" She exclaims, trying her best at a wide smile.

The man turns away with a grunt, and sloppily scoops their ice cream into cones.

Without a word, he thrusts the cones into the girls hands, and turns away with the five dollar bill.

Savanna gestures toward the door with her head, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

When the two girls step outside, Savanna finally speaks again.

"It smells like a gas station bathroom in there."

Olivia scrunches her nose. "Well, that's what you get if you don't want to get caught."

Savanna stops walking, then jogs to catch up to Oli.

"Caught?" She asks curiously, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"Yeah, that's where most of the gangs and stuff go for ice cream." She laughs. "That old guy in there can't tell the difference between real money and counterfeit." Olivia shrugs casually.

Sav stares at the slowly melting ice cream clutched in her hand.

"Where'd you get counterfeit?" She asks cautiously.

"Again, not important." Olivia states.
"Oh and... don't tell anyone. Ian's caught me using counterfeit before, let's just say it doesn't make him too happy."

"Sure. I wouldn't tell." Savanna replies hastily.

"Thanks, Sav... Hey, happy birthday."
Oli smirks, and winks at her.