A Good One

Javier climbed down from his fifth-floor apartment on Walton Avenue. He picked up a newspaper and flipped through the pages as he made his way up the Grand Concourse toward Juan Carlos’s coffee cart.

He stopped at 159th Street and read a message from Mariano Rivera.

“I’m disappointed and I’m upset,” Rivera told reporters after last night’s loss, “but tomorrow is another day.”

Javier smiled and ordered the usual.

“Regular coffee with two sugars,” he shot. “And I’ll also take that donut with the sweet frosting and chocolate sprinkles.”

“That’s a $1.50,” Juan Carlos said.

Javier dug out the money and handed it over before ripping into the donut.

“Yum,” he said with a grin. “It’s got jelly filling.”

Juan Carlos peered out of his cart.

“Hey,” he yelled. “That shoulda been $1.75 with the jelly donut.”

“Nope,” Javier said. “All sales are final. That’s a rule.”

Juan Carlos relented.

“Okay,” he said. “The jelly filling is my treat.”

“Nope, again,” Javier fired. “It’s Mariano’s treat. He said: ‘tomorrow is another day.’ It looks like a good one so far.”