Operation Holiday Cheer - A Spy School Story

Chapter 30: Day XIV (Settling the Matter)

Georgetown

Washington, DC

Oakwood Apartments

December 31st, 2015

2300 hours

Ben POV (flahsback)

After the fiasco with Erica, I actually stayed at the cafe for a little while. Over two hours, I drank hot cocoa and ate pastries—seriously, that French family is good at making this stuff—though it wasn't a great amount, just over a long period of time.

Thankfully, nobody commented on the outburst that took place, with the staff simply taking my orders without muss nor fuss. Though, the friendly old lady ended up putting an extra chocolate croissant in the pastry bag "by mistake," refusing to take it back because "it had already been touched by a customer."

Like my mother, she seemed to strongly believe in food being something with healing powers. That, or she really put in an extra croissant by mistake.

Chip and Jawa showed up at one point, saying that they too wanted more food and drink, and sat with me. They seemed pissed about something, but I wasn't in any mood to press. Honestly, as much as it would've been nice to be alone, I did enjoy their company. Though, after a little while, I let myself fade into the background, deep in thought and Chip relegated tales of redneck mishaps.

As I thought over my mother's words and what Erica said, it occurred to me that my idea of what to do next... well, it didn't exist.

My pondering was interrupted by the rambunctious brothers-in-arms, who insisted on carrying out some crazy actions with me in tow. Wait, scratch that, Chip was the one leading the charge while Jawa insisted that it was a "dumbass decision..." though he still went along.

We proceeded to walk to Book Hill Park, rent some sleds from the same sled-man we met in Chapter 24, and race each other.

You'd think it'd get boring racing down the hill over and over again, right? Well, not only did we sled down multiple hills, but Chip threw in several other elements of chaos—in particular, he threw snowballs at Jawa and I as we plummeted down the slope. At the bottom, Jawa and I teamed up on the large southerner.

Though, what we didn't realize was that some of his throws were so powerful, they ended up going far enough that they hit another group of kids. Before any apologies could be made, snowballs were hurling back at us, becoming a full-scale snowball fight between us and seven middle and high school-aged boys, who were led by a large, muscly jock in a Bruins jacket.

"C'mon, you wanna go, son?!?" Chip taunted.

"Finally, a worthy opponent! OUR BATTLE WILL BE LEGENDARY!" Hockey Boy had bellowed in a Bostonian accent.

"KEEP BACK, BOYS! THIS ONE'S MINE!"

Their snowfight was so ferocious, the rest of us called a truce and began cheering on our own titans. Finally, it came to a point where Jawa called for a ceasefire, suggesting a gentlemanly duel instead. Each boy rolled up a snowball, began back-to-back, and walked ten paces counted off by me.

Despite Chip being from the land of damn near no snow, he nailed Hockey Boy right in the sternum faster than anyone could blink. As cheers and boos erupted from the crowd, the titans laughed off the whole thing, shaking hands in respect. And right on cue, the seven had to leave, wishing us a Happy New Year before running back to their cars.

"Well, Chip ol' buddy, I think you may have just met your match," Jawa laughed as we walked back to the apartment. "You finally gave a northerner some respect."