“Hey, Mister! Would you like to buy some lemonade?”

I had crossed to the other side of the street and was doing my best not to make eye contact, but she had spotted me anyway.

“Little Lily’s Stupendously Stupefying Lemonade Stand,” the hand-painted sign read. “50 cents per cup”

Wandering over, I pretended to pat my pockets down for spare cash.

“Sorry, I don’t have any change,” I lied.

The little girl’s brow furrowed.

“For somebody without any change, your pockets sure are jingly.”

I laughed self consciously.

“My money don’t jiggle, jiggle, it folds,” I said, repeating some line I’d heard the kids saying recently.

“You’re way too old to be on TikTok. Cough it up, cheapskate. This is for my college fund.”

The girl drove a hard bargain, I’d give her that.

“Ahem, you said twenty five cents a cup?”

“Fifty.”

I dug in my pocket and pulled out a fistful of change. To be fair, I was saving it for the washing machine. It’s hard to find coinage these days.

I handed over two quarters and she passed me a paper cup full of pink liquid with ice.

“Small cup,” I said, taking a sip. “Tastes pretty good, though. What’s in this?”

“Lemon juice, sugar, water, and my special stupefying ingredient.”

I drained the last of the cup and forked over two quarters for a refill. It was really, really good. Just what I needed on such a hot, humid day.

“What’s the secret ingredient?” I asked.

She looked around nervously.

“I can’t talk about it out here. Someone might overhear. Come on out to the backyard, my older brother is mixing up a new batch right now. He’ll tell you our secret. We could use a business partner. Maybe you’d like to invest?”

I followed her to the backyard, curious. I’d always wanted to get in on the ground floor of a big business investment. This could be the Microsoft of lemon-based drinks.

When we got out to the back of the house I was shown into a shed where little Lily’s brother was working, grinding something with a mortar and pestle.

“Another one, huh, Lily? Good job. Dad will be happy.”

I looked to see what her brother was grinding up and saw they were pink-coloured pills.

That was why the lemonade was that bright, cotton candy shade, I thought to myself, my eyelids feeling heavy.

“Why don’t you lie down over here, mister,” little Lily said, taking me by the hand and leading me over to a brown, soiled-looking mattress.

“Go to sleep. When you wake up, you’ll be part of daddy’s business. You’ll be even more important than an investor.”

“What’s your dad’s business?” I mumbled, my eyes closing, collapsing onto the disgusting mattress.

“Papa runs the best meat pie shop in town!” She exclaimed. “No one can figure out why his pies taste so special. But we know! And soon you’ll be in on the secret too!”