I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

Hikari gets ketchup on her face. I mock her, and she stuffs fries in
my mouth to shut me up. Sony plays I spy with Neo. He ends up
eating about half his portion and giving her the rest. She eats like a
starving animal, her mouth a veritable black hole for hamburgers.
Just as Sony finishes chewing a bite the size of a tennis ball, she
screams.
“Are you okay!?” C asks.
Hikari instinctively reaches under the front seat. We brought an
oxygen tank just in case.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Neo yells.
“Look!” Sony’s greasy hands press against the glass as she points to
the building adjacent to our restaurant.
—
“Hi. Can I help you?” The attendant behind the desk has a single
nose piercing and trails of ink mapping his neck from jaw to collar.
He sits with a magazine on a crossed leg, his attention diverted to
the five nearly hairless people who just walked into his parlor.
“We would like five tattoos, please!” Sony exclaims.
“Um, okay,” the front desk man says, looking between all of us like
he isn’t sure whether we’re in a cult or just think military cuts are in
season. “Do you have any designs in mind? For the cost–”
“Oh no, we don’t have any money,” Sony says.
The man opens his mouth, and nothing comes out for a moment.
“But you want tattoos?” he asks.
“Yes!” Sony says. “We are tragically ill. Neo, this sickly young chap
here, he’ll probably drop dead tomorrow!”