Fifteen minutes later, both of them had finished their meals and were now enjoying pudding in small round bowls.
Dave finished his pudding first, taking one last spoonful, then placing his spoon on the plate.
"I knew it, the food here is really good! Especially the beef stew, it's so tender," he said with a small laugh and a sip of half a glass of ice water.
Zavi just nodded, slowly enjoying his pudding, wanting to feel its texture melt in his mouth.
"The pudding is delicious, isn't it!" said Zavi with a blank stare.
"Right? I come here often, only three times though," replied Dave with relief, seeing Zavi enjoying his food and feeling grateful to be able to share with others.
Dave stood up, wiped his lips, then put his hands in the pockets of his brown trousers. He took out his black leather wallet, took out some banknotes and coins and counted them.
Feeling satisfied, he stepped forward.
"In that case, I'll pay first," he said, glancing back to see Zavi nodding without saying a word.
At the counter, the woman who had served them was waiting. The two stared at each other for a moment before Dave spoke.
"The order was 5 Zen, 20 Pence, right?" asked Dave, ready to take out his wallet.
"Just a moment," said the woman in a panic, running to find her notebook.
Twenty seconds later, the woman emerged from behind the counter curtain carrying a fairly thick book with a silver grape emblem on the cover.
"Yes, sir. The price is 5 Zen, 20 Pence," she said with a sigh of relief and put the book in the drawer.
Dave glanced at her, thinking that the waitress was very negligent in her duties, but her negligence was compensated by her friendliness in serving a customer.
"Here you go," he said softly, handing her five banknotes and four silver coins.
Dave stood silently waiting for the woman to confirm.
"All right, the money is correct. Thank you for visiting us," said the woman with a friendly smile.
After that, he turned around, walked towards Zavi and sat in his previous place. The two looked at each other, and Zavi was still eating his pudding slowly.
Shortly afterwards, there was a commotion outside. They both immediately looked up, staring at the door.
Zavi was curious about what was happening outside, so he quickly finished the rest of his pudding.
"Want to go there?" he asked after finishing his pudding.
Dave just nodded, not answering the question.
Zavi's expression turned serious, he stood up, wiped the rest of the pudding from his lips before leaving the shop.
Ding...
The double glass doors opened, closed again, and rang the last bell. The two of them had gone outside and were walking towards a crowd not far from the shop, only two buildings away.
"What's going on?" Zavi muttered softly, seeing several men and women surrounding something, accompanied by angry voices.
"Maybe there's a thief," said Dave, who was walking beside him.
Zavi glanced at Dave, then walked towards the crowd, looking left and right.
They both noticed that the weather had suddenly changed. Grey clouds covered part of the sky, replacing the sunny weather with clouds. The rumble of thunder began to be heard, and several street lights were turned on, illuminating the increasingly dark atmosphere.
However, the darkness did not cause the crowd to disperse. On the contrary, the angry voices grew louder after the rumbling thunder.
"Justice..."
"Just die, you filthy rat."
"Hey, isn't that a bit excessive?"
The voices echoed throughout the streets, and from a distance, the two of them caught a glimpse of something unpleasant in front of a wall surrounded by several people.
"I was right!" said Dave, covering his face, unable to bear what was in front of him.
Meanwhile, Zavi was silent, not knowing what had happened to those people that made them beat up a fifteen-year-old boy until he was bruised and his shabby clothes were stained with blood.
Feeling sorry for the boy, Zavi closed his eyes for a moment, stepping closer to the crowd while hiding the unloaded revolver under his coat.
Dave noticed Zavi's movement, lowered his hand, and stared at his back from behind. He thought that Zavi wanted to do something, like save the boy or do something else.
Actually, deep down, he didn't want to get involved in other people's business. But after seeing what Zavi did, his heart began to move.
Dave shook his head with a small smile, then slowly followed him from behind, ready to pull the pistol from his brown coat pocket.
"Hey," Zavi said coldly, his sharp gaze fixed on the people standing before him.
Four men turned their heads, and one of them, a bearded man wearing a bowler hat, took two steps forward and said with a grin, "Are you trying to stop this? Don't be ridiculous, sir!"
"Is that so?" said Zavi indifferently, walking closer to the man and putting the muzzle of his revolver to the man's forehead.
"What are you doing?" asked the man in the hat in a panicked tone, holding his breath.
Hearing that voice, the others turned their attention to the man in the bowler hat, who stood frozen with his hands raised.
From their perspective, the three of them couldn't see what was in front of the man. It was only natural that the man in the hat was about 180 cm tall with a large build.
"Hey, what are you doing?" asked one of the curious men.
Two to five seconds later, they heard no answer. Curious, one of the men decided to approach the man in the hat.
Meanwhile...
Seeing Zavi trying to distract people, Dave knew what he had to do. He walked silently towards the boy lying on the ground, grimacing in pain. He intended to take him to a safe place.
Zavi turned to his left, looking at Dave with hope that his plan would work. "Be quiet, and don't say a word!" said Zavi threateningly.
But unexpectedly, a man walked towards the man in the bowler hat. His heavy footsteps were clearly audible, making Zavi a little panicky.
A few more steps and the man put his right hand on the man in the hat's shoulder.
"Why did you raise your hand?" he asked curiously with a serious face.
The man in the hat lowered his hand as Zavi ordered, his gaze straight ahead, without looking back, and said in a low voice, "Ahh... I'm talking, I mean, I'm greeting my friend."
Zavi was surprised by the man's words.
"Hey... What kind of excuse is that?" he muttered to himself, feeling that the man was unreliable.
Meanwhile, the man who had asked the question stood still, staring intently at the man in the hat's back.
"Hmm... So that's how it is," he said calmly.
The man in the hat nodded slowly, and a few seconds later...
Bang!
The people there were shocked, including several people passing by on the street and on the pavement.
Zavi's eyes widened, thinking that the shot came from Dave and that the sound was not far from where he was standing.
He put his revolver back in its holster and blended in with the people walking on the pavement.
On the other hand, the man was suspicious and immediately turned the man in the bowler hat around. The two stared at each other, silent, but that silence was the fear experienced by the man in the hat.
"What's wrong with you? You look very pale, are you sick?" asked the man in surprise after seeing the man in the hat's face.
"Don't worry about it," he replied, holding his breath. "And... was that a gunshot just now?" he asked, tilting his head back and staring at the grey sky.
The man turned around, looking behind him—just as he heard the gunshot.
The people in the crowd were confused by the gunshot, and when he turned around, he was shocked to see that the boy had run away.
"Where is he?"
"Damn it, does the previous gunshot have anything to do with this?"
"Find that guy as soon as possible!"
The crowd immediately dispersed, anger boiling over like a volcano about to erupt. About ten people, seven men and the rest women, scattered from in front of the shop, searching for the boy to hold him accountable.