The man who walked up to the gangster came back quietly to his seat and sat down. Soon, he and his partner left the shop as well , leaving Malee and her friends as the only group of customers besides the owner who was still shaking by the corner of the shop. George walked up to the owner and whispered a few words to him, which seemed to have soothed the old man.

“He is ok now.” said George upon his return to the group.

“Who were those men?” asked one of them to the collective shrugs of all of them, including Malee and George. It would be better for them not to know than to explain to them, Malee thought.

“If we are done here, lets go shopping! A new mall opening in the central square.” said another. All nodded.

“You think they will come back?” whispered Malee to George as she picked up the goodie back from the ceremony.

“They won’t be back.” smiled George back to worried face of Malee before following the rest out of the shop. He would take care of them. His determined face relaxed Malee. The boy she used to know had become a man in front of her. She ran quickly to catch up with the rest of her friends and they walked out towards the main road to the bus stop. George paused for a while at the entrance to the main road to see a black car still following him and quickened his pace towards the group.

The bus stop was full of passengers waiting for the bus and they had to wait second bus before they could aboard the bus towards the mall. It was hot, humid and noice with children crying in their mother’s hands. George was surprised by how bad the living conditions were. He had, of course, seen them on documentaries before but to be with the poor and under privilege was a new experience for him.