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It was after 4 p.m. when the phone started ringing, and after two or three rings, Maximus answered. —"Tell me, Tommy."—
—"Hey, Mom's taking us to the mall. Do you want us to pick you up.?"— The boy asked, and a couple of laughs could be heard in the background.
—"Okay, what time are they coming.?"— Max replied.
—"We'll be by in 10 minutes.!" — An older woman shouted. It was the unmistakable voice of Regina, Tommy's mother.
—"Okay, I'll be ready when they get here." — Max replied, before ending the call. After that, the boy left his bedroom and ran to his parents' bedroom.
Upon entering the bedroom, Max went straight to his father's closet and his eyes fell on the sweatpants, his father had bought before Christmas, which he never wore.
The boy immediately changed into black sweatpants with white stripes down the sides, followed by a jacket of the same color, a white shirt, and white sneakers to match the outfit.
Although there are several perfumes on the vanity that his father used, Max doesn't like strong scents; he prefers a more subtle scent, like something citrusy or sweeter.
Beep-beep.
The horn honks in front of the house. Maximus grabbed his cell phone, followed by the $50, and ran down the stairs to the living room. As he opened the front door, he shouted. —"I'm coming."— Then the boy went outside and locked the door before heading to his car.
The car is a gray 2022 Chevy Marabú four-door. It belongs to Regina, Tommy's mother. The boy waves to Max through the passenger window. Regina is driving and waves back as she peeks her head around the side.
Max waves back with a bright smile, as he approaches the car. Tommy's girlfriend Sandy gets out of the back door.— "Come on, get in."— The girl says, somewhat annoyed.
Max ignores Sandy's terrible attitude and gets into the car without greeting Sandy, but finds another girl in the back seat who looks Max up and down with a big smile. —"How are you, Max.?"— Regina asks as Max gets into the car.
—"Great, ma'am."— The boy replies, settling into his seat before looking at Tommy. —"How are you, Tommy.?"—
—"Great, the new Elder Scrolls game is out and I'm dying to play it."— Tommy replied, even turning to look at Max, a little excited.
—"Good, good, tell her when we get to the mall. Now sit properly and fasten your seatbelt." — Mrs. Regina says, then points to the girl on the left. —"This is Paola, Sandy's friend." — With that, Mrs. Regina rises slightly from her seat and shows her cheek. —"Now come and give me a proper wave." —
—"For God's sake, Mom, we're not kids."— Tommy complains. On the other hand, Paola smiles, and Sandy rolls her eyes.
Max, for his part, leans between the seats and kisses Mrs. Regina's cheek.
As he sits down, Paola approaches and places her hand on the boy's thigh. —"Hi, nice to meet you, my name is Paola."— The girl says, and without waiting for an answer, she approaches and kisses Max on the cheek.
The moment the girl sits down, her skirt rises, revealing her thighs. Then the girl asks. —"So, Max, do you have a girlfriend.?"— After Paola's question, Sandy's voice is heard on the other side of the seat, complaining. —"Hey, what are you saying.?"—
But all the women in the car instinctively look at Max, including Mrs. Regina, who waits for the answer and looks in the rearview mirror.
—"Mom, why aren't you driving.?"— Tommy asks.
—"Oh, sorry, I got a little distracted."— The woman says, and immediately starts the car and tries to kill time, adjusting her mirrors, looking both ways, and waits for the car to warm up a bit until she can hear Max's answer.
—"In theory, I do have a girlfriend, and her name is Daniela."— Maximus answers, and then adds.. —"But she asked me for time because she wanted to meet other people."—
—"So, right now you're a free agent," Paola concludes, to which Maximus nods and finishes. —"That's correct."—
—"And even if you weren't, Paola has no problem with that."— Sandy comments, laughing. —"Hey, don't say it like that."— Paola chides, somewhat indignantly.
Sandy lets out a hearty laugh and adds. —"But it's true."—
To which Paola finally nods. —"Yes, that's true."— Then the girl laughs alongside Sandy as if they're hearing the best joke.
Mrs. Regina lets out a sigh as she watches Paola's hand move up Max's thigh in the rearview mirror, before looking at her side mirror, and starting to drive.
It didn't take long for the Chevy Malibu to pull into the mall parking lot, and the girls immediately got out, followed by Tommy, who shouted and waved goodbye to his mother. —"See you later."—
Max and the girls waved their hands so as not to interrupt Tommy's goodbye to his mother.
—"I'll be back in a couple of hours."— Ms. Regina shouted before setting off.
The four kids waited for the Chevy Malibu to pull out of the parking lot before making any plans. —"Let's go at the arcade."— Tommy said, to which the girls immediately refused.
—"No, no, no."— Sandy repeated several times.
—"I'm hungry, and I vote for some food."— Paola said, rubbing her stomach.
—"I can buy the burgers, fries, and soda."— Max added.
Paola immediately clapped her hands and then grabbed one of Max's arms. —"Let's go."— The girl says, and Sandy rolls her eyes at her friend's attitude.
The only one who wrinkles his mouth in disgust is Tommy, but the boy eventually gives in. —"Fine, let's go get something to eat and then we'll all go to the arcade."— He finishes with a smile.
Max remains silent, and the two girls accept the proposal, heading toward the escalator to enter the mall.
Inside the mall, it's crowded, but the aisles are wide, with clothing, sneakers, and other types of stores on each side, where people walk by and others look in the windows, pointing out the items they like.
Tommy clung to Sandy's arm, as Paola clings to Max. While the former look at the different stores, Paola asks Max countless questions.
The questions range from very casual to the most intimate, like how many girls have you dated? Are you a virgin?
Maximus smiles somewhat awkwardly, but answers each question one by one until he hears Tommy's voice warning him. —"Hey Max, over there's Bryan and his friends."— Then Tommy points toward a clothing store, where four boys are looking at sportswear.
—"So, I don't have a problem with them."— Max replies, not paying much attention to the boys in the store.
—"You don't have a problem with them, but they do with you, or have you forgotten Daniela.?"— Before Maximus can answer, both Sandy and Paola turn to look at Max's face.
The boy finally explains. —"Daniela was my girlfriend, and Brian was her former suitor. They had a fight over a girl and broke up. Then, as revenge, Daniela went out with me and Brian went out with the girl."—
—"What a drama."— Sandy comments with a laugh.
—"That's over, and it has nothing to do with us."— Paola says, somewhat indignantly, but this made Sandy laugh even more. Just as the girl was laughing, one of Brian's friends recognized Max walking down the aisle and discreetly nudged Brian in the side with his elbow.
Brian turns back to see his friend, and the boy nods his head down the aisle.
After seeing the four boys, Bryan nods, but continues staring at the clothes as if nothing had happened.
Tommy, Max, Paola, and Sandy continued walking down the aisle, looking at each store as they headed toward the food court where the restaurants were located.
Before entering the food court, Tommy glances back and says in a low voice. —"I don't think those guys saw us."— This comment makes the two girls turn around , and they nod.
—"Right."— Paola says and presses her chest against the boy's arm. Meanwhile, Max continues to drag his feet somewhat lazily, ignoring Tommy's comment as he enjoys Paola's breasts.
—"Let's go to the burgers."— Sandy shouts, and Tommy follows her, while Paola drags Max by the arm into the restaurant.
Three of the kids wait for Tommy to place his order and pay at the register.
—"Here, Max, it was $28 for the four of us."— Tommy says after paying for all four orders.
The four kids line up to each receive their order. (burger, fries, and soda. ) They take a tray of food after each person's name is called.
After each of them receives their tray of food, the only thing left to do is find a place to eat. That's when Sandy sees an empty table for four and walks up to it.
Before Sandy can take the table, a couple of kids run over and sit down, while one of the kids raises his hand and says. — "Come, it's free."— This stops Max, Paola, and Tommy in their tracks.
Sandy wrinkles her face in disgust and upon recognizing who those boys are, she turned around to look for another place to eat, but just at that moment Bryan crosses Sandy's path and the food tray crashes against Bryan's chest.
—"You're an idiot."— Bryan angrily reprimands Sandy, then raises and opens his hand, ready to slap the girl. But before his hand can hit Sandy's face, Maximus's hand catches Bryan's mid-way.
Both boys turn to look at each other, and out of inertia, Bryan tries to free his hand from Max's grip, but Max's gripping power is far greater than Bryan's.
—"What the hell do you think you're doing.?"— Bryan asks, anger evident in his voice.
—"I'm keeping you from doing stupid things."— Maximus replies, letting go of the boy's hand.
Bryan takes advantage of this moment to try to slap Sandy, while saying with considerable pride: —"If I want to slap, there's no one who can."— Just then, Max catches Bryan's hand mid-strike again.
—"When I say no, it's no, no debate involved."— With that, Max forcefully throws Bryan's hand to the side.
In response, Bryan first looks at his two friends at the table and they nod knowingly, then the boy looks to his side where his friend Alex is and this boy also nods and shouts. —"Let's do this."— With that, Alex lunges at Max, while Bryan raises his hand forming a fist in front of the incredulous looks of Paula and Sandy.
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