Anansi’s Coffee: The Truth of the Matter

Gary didn't believe in God, he didn't believe in anything except getting the highest grades and receiving every bit of extra credit he could from his Professors. The girl walked up to him, sat down, introduced herself, she called herself Tina. She seemed slightly familiar, he looked around at the other busy students and patrons and then back to her.

"We have Biology together, don't we?" Gary asked.

"Yes! Yes, we do!" She said, she looked down at her phone and then back at her. "Sorry, I just noticed you and wanted to say hi, I have to go."

"Where are you headed?" He asked, he wanted to think that he didn't particularly care but he did. This girl, Tina, was beautiful and grinned from ear to ear revealing a pearly white smile. If he remembered correctly, she had received a higher grade than him once. 

"A coffee shop west of here."

"But you could get coffee here, with me."

"Or you could join me." Tina said, "It's way better than Starbucks."

"Seeing is believing, I haven't found a better coffee place." Gary said, he closed his macbook, tucked it into his messenger back and left his cup of coffee out on the table.

"You don't think this is a bit weird?" She asked. They were standing out on the windy streets of Chicago, she looked around before she finally pinned down her car. 

"What?"

"Leaving with a complete stranger."

"We have Biology class together, besides, you're a beautiful woman. What's the worst that could happen?" He asked and smiled, and she smiled in return. He felt something other than the gnawing pressure to cram for finals that were a full two months away. Once they both were in the car and she was a few blocks away he spoke. "Are you from the area?"

"Oh, no. I'm from South America."

"The country?"

"The continent." She said and then laughed. Of course it was a continent. Why was he suddenly forgetting everything he learned, everything that made him graduate top of his class at one of the best private schools in America. "We immigrated to America when I was ten."

"Was it difficult?"

"Immigrating?"

"No, just learning all the stuff about this place."

"No, not nearly as difficult as you would think. I already knew English, French, Dutch and German along with Spanish and Portuguese." She said and pulled up to a quiet street, it was empty, devoid of any people, only a man standing in front of a shop tucked between two boutiques. "The hardest part was football."

"Football."

"You guys called it soccer."

"Oh, yeah, it's not nearly as big here as it is...well...everywhere else in the world." She said and then parked the car. They stepped out of the car and walked over towards the door where the man was sweeping. 

"And who is this?" The man asked, he smiled and put Gary at ease immediately. 

"Gary, we have a class together but I saw him at Starbucks."

"It was only a joke." The man said and then chuckled, he continued to sweep the same spot before finally resting the broom against the wall of the restaurant. 

"What?" Tina asked, she seemed both confused and upset with confused Gary. What were they doing here? 

"What type of person do you take me for?" He asked and then invited them both in. Gary was unsure what type of deal they had going on but it made him uneasy. He walked into the coffee shop and followed the man and Tina to the bar where two coffees were waiting. 

"You're not even a person."

"Argentina, you really shouldn't say such thing. Someone might get the wrong idea." He said.

"Can I just ask what's going on? Why are you two talking in riddles?"

"Pardon me, young man, I'm Anansi and this is my humble little coffee shop." He looked past both of them and to a corner of the restaurant. "And that back there is Tiger."

"What..." Gary said and turned around to see a fully grown tiger sleeping on a table. There was a chain around his neck and the chain was clipped to the wall.

"He woke up last time, was very upset with me."

"Anansi? Like the little spider man guy?"

"I am not nearly as boring or cliche was Peter Parker." Anansi said and took off his red apron. He was wearing a T-shirt, a customized T-shirt, a t-shirt with six holes for six arms. Gary swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared at the extra arms, they were as heavily tattooed as the two arms he had seen the man use to sweep. There was a spider design on his shirt with red eyes. "See something you like, Gary?"

"No...Yes...Ok." Gary patted the side of his own face as if he was trying to pull himself out of some fantasy world, it was a trick that he used when he could barely continue to study. However this wasn't a class, this was real life, and this man...thing...God... He wasn't sure what to believe. "What the hell is this? This girl just invites me down here and now you have like six arms and I'm trying to be reasonable and not freak out because there's a big ass tiger sitting in the corner. Is he your pet? Is he a God... Are you a... What is even happening." He stood up, took two steps towards the door and fainted. 

"It was just a joke?" Argentina asked, she rushed over to Gary, tried to help him up but he was heavier than he looked.

"You were really going to bring humans to sacrifice? I think I should be calling the cops, Argentina." Anansi said, from the short time she knew him he always seemed as if he was joking. Now it wasn't cute anymore.

"You said they'd be a servant, not a sacrifice."

"Servants sacrifice themselves to their masters." He said and peered over the counter to look at Gary. "He has no faith, and I am something he can't believe. You were frightened when you saw me, but he..." His third arm on his left side moved to scratch his head before he spoke again, "In his attempt to rationalize what he cannot understand he fainted. It's been a while since I've seen a fainter."

"So this is just a funny game to you?" She asked, she was still confused on why she even did it. She had never cared for Gary, he was rude and arrogant, had called her ignorant once in front of the class. In return she snubbed him and got the best grade, he was annoying and whatever Anansi would have done would have been warranted, right? She could just drop him off somewhere and pretend this never happened. Argentina could pretend that she hadn't almost led a man to certain death by a Trickster God.

"If I say yes, will you leave?"

"Why do you want me to leave?"

"Because I may have lied about that coffee and when Tiger finds out I drugged his coffee, he will not be happy to see me or anyone. And you're much too beautiful to be torn to shreds." With that he hurried around the counter, picked up Gary and rushed out the door. 

"And just why did you drug a Tiger's coffee?" Argentina asked, it was a phrase she never thought she would utter in her entire life;. Yet, here she was talking to an old God about slipping a Tiger a mickey.

"This broom, isn't it a nice broom? It sweeps so well." He said and picked up the broom, it looked old almost as if it wouldn't have any good use. The handle was chipped and the straw towards the bottom was blackened and frayed. She didn't have time to think about that and also didn't want to get into an argument about why he would do all that to steal a broom, she would question his sanity and then he would give her that knowing little smile and question her own.  Argentina moved to open the door and when she turned around Gary was nowhere to be found but Anansi was standing next to the car. 

"Where is Gary? What did you do with him?" She asked, what if he was hurt? What if he killed him or sacrificed him when her back was turned?

"Relax, princess, he's back at the Starbucks." He said and couldn't contain his chuckle. "You are such a funny human being."

"Maybe I should go kick that glass in so Tiger can tear you apart." She said, she hated being talked down to. 

"Are you upset with me?" He asked and then shrugged, "Unless you wanted me to do something to your beloved, Gary."

"He's not my beloved anything." Argentina said and then huffed. 

"Ah, relax, I'll see you soon. Chicago is much too small not to see each other again." He said, one moment he had been standing there and the next moment he was gone. Only a blackened spot remained where he had once been. 

"I'm losing my mind. That's it, finals are coming and I'm just losing it." She said as she drove home. She thought about Gary, cheap and expensive coffee, a homicidal tiger and finally the Trickster God, Anansi, that last thought brought a bitter smile to her face. When she arrived at her apartment there was a steaming cup of coffee sitting on the countertop. 

"This coffee yours, Stace?" Argentina called out.

"No, I thought it was yours. It was here when I got back." Stacey called out from her bedroom.  Argentina looked down at her bag with her laptop and two textbooks and then back at the coffee. "I'll continue to lose my mind after finals." She said and took a sip of the coffee, it was strong and rich with a hint of vanilla. It was perfect.

And she didn't die after drinking it.