Keep the Cake

Trebor looks at the homeless man and the words of family members concerning the homeless come to mind at once:

They need to get off their lazy butts and get jobs. 

Let’s cross the street so that we don’t have to walk past them. 

Don’t give them money. They’ll use it for drugs and alcohol. 

Be careful, they’re probably crazy. 

They smell.

If they’re that desperate, they’d live in a shelter. 

They chose that lifestyle.

Something tells Trebor to ignore those thoughts but he listens to you instead.

Well, either you’re a grateful person, a people-pleaser, a cake lover, or a hater of wasting food but you’ve sent Trebor on his way to the bus stop with cake in hand. 

It’s hard to tell whether people are peeking out their windows to look at the cake-bearing freak or if it’s just Trebor’s imagination. Regardless, he’s feeling more self-conscious about this than he thought he would.

Trebor is so fixated on the fact that he’s probably ending up on somebody’s Instagram story that he doesn’t notice the small group of huge dudes hanging out at the bus stop until he crosses the street and is among them.

“Hey, you in a gang,” says one of the huge dudes.

“Me?” says Trebor as if there is anybody else around. His mind begins creating the worst possible outcomes to his situation. 

“Whatchu mean, ‘me?’” says huge dude #2. 

Why did I have to get the stupid cake? His regrets weigh on him with every passing second. If he had only left earlier, he would have blended in with a group of his peers. Now, he’s all alone with a bunch of huge dudes that are making outrageous claims about his gang affiliation that they know perfectly well aren’t true. And this cake doesn’t even look that good. What flavor is this? Only chocolate-frosted yellow cake is worth dying for. Maybe marble as well. Of course ice cream cakes, cheesecakes, and flan go without saying. But this? Nope.

“I’m not in a gang,” Trebor says.

“Yes you is,” says huge dude #1 as he steps closer to Trebor, and they all laugh.

“No, I is… am not.”

“Oh, you callin’ me a liar?”

If he grabs a hold of me, thinks Trebor, then I’m done for. 

This is a tough situation. What should Trebor do?