(short story)

‘I. Hate. You.’ Max heard his friend’s heavy breathing as they intuitively ran around the corner of some unknown building.

The boys found themselves in the courtyards of some old high-rise buildings (thank gods, there are many of them in Mykolaiv) and stopped near huge lilac bushes growing near a small playground. A group of teenagers was sitting on a swing.

“I. HATE. YOU,” repeated his friend, who put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath from the active running: ‘I’m never going out with you again in my life! You are an idiot.’

‘I’m so sorry!’ Max replied irritably, having recovered his breath: ‘It wasn’t my plan to tip off the police about that street gang instead of playing basketball, you know!’

‘Tip off?’ asked the other guy, ‘You hit him in the head with your ball and it shot some big bad guy from another gang. You’ve just plunged our city into a street gang war! The police came at once…Oh, and now we’re just being chased by two dozen armed street toughs because they think we’re mobsters 47. It’s just nothing,’ he added casually, picking at his fingernail.

Max groaned as he sat down on the ground. ‘Where’s the big, pumped-up Chuck Norris who will save us?

‘Right behind you.’ came a whisper from a dark place in the lilac bushes.

‘AAAAAAAAAAA!’ both guys screamed in fright. The teenagers on the swing got ready to run away looking around with animal angst.

The grinning girl who had come into the light rolled her rad eyes.

‘If you keep yelling like that, assholes, you’ll be killed before I can explain what’s going on. I know the local peeps and you don`t…So either follow me, or send me that final air kiss,’ she smirked, pointing at the boys.

They looked at each other: Max was so frightened by the sudden appearance of a ‘gutsy gal’ that he ended up in his friend’s arms.

The other guy was equally surprised, so he suddenly dropped his arms and Max fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

‘Jesus, why am I so lucky?!’ the other guy continued to grumble as he followed the ‘chill chica.’

‘I love you too, moron…Thanks God for this frosty feifei,’ Max purred as he rose rapidly from the ground and gave a once-over to their bootylicious lifesaver.