February 24 - Empty Seat

The subway seat next to Malik's was empty. Across from him, a woman was sitting and her boyfriend was standing. Malik figured if he switched seats with the woman, then she and her boyfriend could sit together.
He got the woman's attention and pointed at her. Then he pointed at his lap and then back at her. When she didn't respond right away, he pointed at himself and then at her, and then he grinded his palms together which was a gesture that meant "change" where he came from.
But that was not the meaning her boyfriend got.
"Oi!" he shouted, towering over Malik. "I don't know where you come off, but ain't nobody talks to my lady like that, yeah?"
What had escaped the man, of course, was that Malik hadn't talked in any way to his lady or to anyone else for that matter. He couldn't. Malik had no tongue. To make matters worse, Malik couldn't understand English.
However, what he lacked in verbal articulation skills, he more than made up for in his ability to pick up on body language and other nonverbal clues. And it was clear that the man in front of him was none too pleased, though Malik had no idea why.
In moments of duress, the usually dormant corner of Malik's brain that controlled his vocal cords would spring to life and attempt vocal communication, but all that would come out would be moans and grunts. These were what accompanied Malik's frantic repetition of the hand gestures that had originally gotten him in trouble with the man. They didn't help the situation now. In fact, the only thing they did do was help the man's girlfriend understand why he was so angry. By now, they were both yelling at him.
The train arrived at the next stop and Malik decided to get off, even though it wasn't his stop. He continued moaning as he pointed at the woman and then at himself and then used his pinky to penetrate an opening in his fist, for that was how people apologized where he came from.
"Oi! Get off the train, you right perverted ponce!" The boyfriend showered Malik with fists as he scrambled to exit the train.
For several minutes afterwards, Malik replayed the episode in his mind, trying to figure out what had happened, but it was beyond him. Eventually, he left the station and decided to walk the rest of the way home, treating himself to a popsicle on the way to soothe his vocal cords.
While waiting for a crosswalk, he noticed a woman watching him eat the popsicle. Always a generous man, Malik offered it to her by pointing at her and then at himself and then miming the act of sucking on the popsicle.
The beating he got from her boyfriend was even worse than the one he'd gotten on the train.