The Tissue Packet Is Law

It sat alone on the table — a single packet of tissues — and no one dared touch the seat. This is 'chope', and it is more binding than any lease. The owner returned twenty minutes later to a table held sacred by strangers.

The gum was legal where he bought it and frowned upon here. He carried it through the airport with the guilty sweat of a smuggler, and offered a piece later in a whisper, glancing around, as though we might be arrested for minty freshness.