Upon impacting the lunchbox, Mrs. Olsen fainted, lying on the ground like she was dead. My whole body trembled like I was having seizures. If she was dead too…
I kneeled beside her. Mrs. Olsen wasn’t dead because she still breathed. I pulled my hair with both hands. Now I’d committed two crimes: murdering a man and assaulting an old woman. They’d send me to the electric chair. It seemed to me all the neighbors were appearing at their windows, wanting to know what was going on. My hearing had just turned ultra-sensible and I could hear several of them dialing the 911.
I rushed into our trailer and surveyed it in less than a second, locating the stuff I needed. First, I grabbed Yago’s money from a jar in the pantry. Second, I pulled Laura’s sunglasses from under my pillow and put them on. Third, I retrieved my cell phone that lied on my bunk bed. Last, I searched for Mom’s little green notebook, which I’d left in a drawer. I frantically checked all the pages until I found grandma’s name. I scribbled her address and phone number on my palm and exited the trailer running into the night.
One idea was fixed in my mind: to find Fulton Drive and the Greyhound station, and take the first bus to Abbeville.
July 2, 1:36 am
Around me, everything was dark and I felt cold. Somebody patted my cheeks. “Boy, wake up. You can’t stay here. Wake up.”
“Hmm?” I groaned. I felt so drained. I wanted to go on sleeping forever. Besides, the person was addressing a boy, not me—a girl.
Whoever it was patted my cheeks again. “Boy! Are you okay? What are you doing here?”
“Jenny? Is that you?”
The voice wasn’t Jenny’s. Still, I wanted it to be hers. It’d have been lovely to wake up and find her by my side after a night spent in her bed.
“No, I’m not any Jenny. My name’s Edward. God, you’re really cold! Are you feeling okay? You’re not suffering hypothermia, are you?”
I moved a little, feeling about. He held me in his arms, strong hairy arms, but it made no sense. Why should an Edward I’d never met before come to my bed and lift me in his arms? He’d just said, ‘sleeping out here’. I couldn’t figure out what he meant.
“Why are you wearing sunglasses if it’s dark?” he asked. “I need to check if you’re okay. Here, lemme take them off.”
I felt his hand removing my glasses. Instantly, an alarm inside my skull signaled something was wrong. For the first time ever, I’d worn them in bed. If wearing the sunglasses all day long was sorta freakish, I had to admit that sleeping in them was beyond freakiness.
Note to self: Schedule a talk with myself about excessive use of the sunglasses.
I opened my eyes a bit, a narrow slit. Dim light hit them. Edward shook me. “Boy! Wake up. Now!”
Boy? Couldn’t he realize I was a girl? I opened my eyes wide. To my right stood a coupla buildings, houses maybe. To my left, the street and I’d been lying on a sidewalk. The dim light came from a streetlamp. Stars shone in the sky above it on a black background halfway splashed with clouds.
The mental alarm buzzed again. I couldn’t figure out the reason why I’d been lying on a sidewalk instead of being at home in my bed. The whole situation scared the hell out me and I yelped, “Where am I?”
I sank my fingernails into his arm as I struggled to sit up. Edward held my hand and pulled my nails out of his flesh. A cold surge traveled my body and I started to shiver.
“Here, have my jacket.” Edward put it on my shoulders. “No wonder you’re freezing, wearing only shorts and a t-shirt.”
“Where am I?” Anguish crept inside me like a swarm of insects.
“Don’t you know, boy?”
Boy again. I was no boy. “Like, no! What time is it?” Pain struck my head. I might have hit it but had forgotten exactly when. I massaged it with a hand. “Ouch!”
“Are you hurt?”
“It’s my head.” I glanced around. How had I ended up in downtown? Nothing was making sense. Worst of all, this guy asked too many silly questions and didn’t answered mine. I stared straight into his eyes and demanded, “Where am I?”
I shouldn’t have done so. As soon as Edward fixed his Starbucks espresso-brown eyes on mine, his body froze and all his muscles tensed.
“Not again!” I cried. In the middle of a very unsettling situation, the only person around who could explain to me what was going on had just fallen into a trance, spellbound by my eyes. It was enough to drive anybody nuts.
“Why’s so much fire in your eyes?” he asked out of the blue. He stared at me like an angel stood in front of him, speechless and with his mouth half opened.
Now, it was the first time ever somebody gawking into my eyes explained what made them stare in awe. I wanted to know more. “Where’s the fire? In my eyes?”
He cocked his head and squinted. “Yes, that’s what I said.” His pupils dilated. “There’s so much fire inside your eyes. And more things. I can see fire and the universe.”
“The universe?” Learning all this accelerated my heart beat. I couldn’t image how the whole universe could fit in my eyes. The fire, though, I’d felt it within when Jenny and I had made out in the restroom at school.
“And I can see stars, millions of stars.” He sighed very loud. “It’s awesome.” He stopped breathing.
Edward stood motionless for what seemed an eternity, stiff like a wax figure ready to come to life but neglecting to do so. He should be around 17, too young to turn into a zombie. Down his sideburns to his chin, a faint stubble decorated his face—he’d certainly scratch any girl kissing him.
“What else can you see?” My voice trembled, what he was saying was so very intriguing.
He didn’t answer. Edward stood breathless for a long time. Not seconds, but minutes. He wasn’t gonna answer. Not in 1000 years. I’d seen others just like him mesmerized by my eyes. They only drooled and gawked. That upset me, so I snapped my fingers in front of his nose. “Hey! Tell me where I’m at.”
For some seconds, nothing happened. I picked my dark sunglasses from the sidewalk and put them back.
Edward came out of his daydreaming with a start and rubbed his eyes. “Sorry. I’ve got distracted. We’re on some downtown street—dunno exactly which one. It’s about half past one in the morning. I was looking for the Greyhound station. You know, I need to catch the 2:30 bus to travel back to my hometown, but this town’s a maze. I’ve been looking for the station for over an hour.” He raked his ebony hair with his fingers. If mine resembled a soldier’s haircut, his resembled one even more. His jaw tightened. “Not that I’m lost. I never get lost. A retarded guy gave me the wrong directions.”
The Greyhound station. The memories popped in my mind like a camera’s flashlight illuminating a dark scene. “Like, I was looking for the Greyhound station too but got lost and walked all night long.”
“How ‘bout your folks?” Edward asked.
My parents. Ha! As if he knew. I shrugged and mumbled, “Dunno.”
He scratched his head. “Don’t you know where your folks are? Are you a street boy?”
Well, I had a sort of idea of Mom’s whereabouts. “Lau—I mean, Mom, she left me. Gone forever to Orlando with a new boyfriend some days ago.”
A car passed sending a gust of air toward us, which made me shiver again. Edward scratched his head once more and narrowed his eyes. “And your old man?”
“Dead, since I was four years old, give or take coupla months.”
“But, if your mom went away and your dad’s dead, who do you live with?”
I sighed. Whom do I live with? Only if the last days could be called a life. “Mom’s boyfriend.”
Edward grimaced. “Boy, how do you expect me to figure out your problem if you’re telling me nothing? Like if you say you were looking for the Greyhound station, why were you sleeping on the sidewalk?”
I was getting tired of the ‘boy’ game. How could he think I was a member of his sex, if we stood so close? I could have corrected his perception, but I suddenly realized
I enjoyed being mistaken. Like how it brought me closer to Jenny. The answer to his question was exhaustion. I finally fell asleep after I wandered all around town trying to locate the stupid bus station. All my energy drained after tonight events. To recall them was like awakening a swarm of bees that began to sting my mind viciously.
“I… I…” I couldn’t tell him what really happened. I gulped and brought my legs to my chest and hugged them. I also curled my toes. I was barefoot—that explained why my feet were freezing. “I don’t wanna talk about it. Like, I need to find my grandma, that’s why I need to get to the Greyhound station.”
His look told me my incomplete explanation was not satisfying him. “Where do you live?”
“In a trailer park by Route 133. Mom’s boyfriend owns a trailer there, or I think he rents it.”
He pursed his lips into a thin ruddy line. “I saw a huge trailer park from the bus when I arrived in Somerset a week ago. I’ll walk you back home.”
“No, I won’t go back!” Anything before going back home and face whatever would wait me there. I sank my nails in his arm and bit my lip. He hastily grabbed my hand and removed it off his arm. Then he massaged the spot where I’d just clawed him.
“Well, we can’t stay here either, pal.” He glanced around. “Doesn’t look like a safe neighborhood. Why can’t you go back home? What happened?”
How could I explain it to him without telling him I’ve just killed a person? Maybe if I only gave half of the truth…
“Yago, he’s my mom’s boyfriend. Was. He kicked me out of his trailer and… and he said I can’t come back. That why I need to go to my grandma’s.”
At that moment, a huge Greyhound bus rushed by on the street. Both of us coughed because of the gasoline fumes. Edward’s gaze followed the bus until it turned right at the next corner. Suddenly, his eyes sparkled, his eyebrows rose and his mouth turned into a wide grin. He snapped two fingers. “I know how to find the station. Can you wait here for a few?”
I nodded. I had little energy left to go elsewhere anyway. Edward deposited me on the sidewalk, leaning me on a wall by the alley’s mouth. He bolted down street in the opposite direction of the bus. I sighed. My head ached, my arms ached, my feet ached, my legs ached. Actually, my whole body ached, like somebody had beaten me. I pressed my eyes with my thumb and index fingers until I saw stars.
Stars? Stars and the universe? Edward said he’d seen stars and the universe in my eyes. It made little sense because the stars are too many and the universe is too large to fit inside a girl’s eyes. Had he really seen that? I once read the eyes mirror one’s soul. Did it mean my soul was made out of stars and pieces of universe? Confusing, to say the least. I sighed.
Dashing out of the dark, Edward returned a coupla minutes later out of breath. He squatted by the backpack he’d left by my side and took a deep breath.
“The bus station’s three blocks away, pal. Come with me.” It was a command, not a suggestion. “But not barefooted. You’ve walked barefooted all night, but not anymore. Not on my watch. I’ve got a second pair of sneakers.” He opened the backpack and his arm dived inside. “They’re at the very bottom, the right place to pack the bulky stuff. If you place it there, then your back won’t ache. Bingo!”
Edward produced a pair of black, large sneakers inside a transparent plastic bag. “When you pack a traveling backpack, the footwear must go inside plastic bags otherwise they’d soil the clothes.” He unfastened the knot closing the bag, took the sneakers out, folded the bag and returned it to the backpack. The sneakers were several sizes bigger than my feet but neither of us cared. I just welcomed wearing something on my frozen feet.
“Come on, stand up.” He pulled me to my feet. “Now, come with me.”
I followed him down a gloomy street. Half of the street lamps were blown and the other half cast a dying glow.
“Watch your step. You’re wobbling like a drunk. It’s annoying these streets are so dark. I would have found the station earlier, but I couldn’t read the street names in the dark. I told the guy at the motel’s front desk I was in a hurry to catch the 2:30 run and he told me how to get to the station, but I bet he gave me the wrong directions on purpose. He called me ‘son’ as if I was a kid. Bet he found fooling me funny. Some adults are so twisted, they enjoy making fun of teenagers.”
I tripped and Edward held my arm. “Watch your step. Where does your grandma live anyway?”
“It’s out of town. Here, she lives here.”
I placed my open palm right in front of his eyes. Edward grabbed my wrist and moved it back crossing his eyes. He read aloud, “39 Lincoln Drive, Abbeville. Abbeville? I live there. I’m actually traveling back to Abbeville tonight. I know Lincoln drive, and number 39 should be between Madison and Hoover, because it’s 10 numbers per block, starting on Main. Two old ladies live on that block, one should be your gram. Is this her phone number?”
I nodded.
“I think you’ve got the wrong area code. Tell me, have you gotten any money? How do you plan to pay your fare?”
“Yeah, I’ve gotten money. Three hundred bucks, give or take.”
He raised his eyebrows and whistled as if $300 came close to having Bill Gates’s fortune. I needed his help to find the station. If he was traveling to Abbeville like me, he represented my only chance. I had to make sure he’d take me with him. I’d get down on my hands and knees and beg if necessary.
“Help me get to the station,” I whined, joining my hands as if praying, “and I won’t trouble you anymore. I promise.”
Edward placed a protective arm around my shoulders. His touch felt reassuringly. “Don’t you have any friends? Maybe you can go to some friend’s place and tell his parents what happened. It should be better than traveling alone in the middle of the night. They can call your grandmother for you.” I shook my head. He grimaced. “Are you sure? No friends?”
“Mom and I used to live in Montgomery, but we moved here 3 months ago. That’s why I have no friends, I know anybody besides Jenny. She’s my girlfriend, but she’s out of town. Then Mom dumped me with Yago and his kids, and Yago kicked me out tonight. I need to stay at my grandma’s until Jenny’s back.”
I lowered my head. I couldn’t be sure if he was gonna take me to the station with him. If he wasn’t, I was doomed. I closed my eyes and prayed. Some more tears streaked my cheeks. I whispered, “Please, take me to the station. I can pay you if you wish. Told you, I’ve got money.”
He stood silent, staring at me. Then I thought of something else. It had to work. I ripped the sunglasses off my face and raised my head, making eye contact with him. He stopped and, for a few seconds, he seemed to be as mesmerized as before. His trembling hand reached out and cupped my cheek. His thumb wiped my tears away.
With a start, he backed off one or two steps. “Sorry! Dunno what’s happening to me. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Bewildered, he squeezed his eyes shut and counted up to 10 in a whisper and then started to talk like in a rush. “Sorry, boy. Dunno what’s going on with me tonight. I had one hell of a day. You know, my soccer team and I arrived in here a week ago to play in the Intra-High tournament. We won the championship today. Well, it was actually yesterday. Coolest thing on earth. Four to nothing. We crushed them. The couch threw a party but I couldn’t stay long because my Boy Scout troop is going camping tomorrow. We’re the Wolves, and I’m the leader, so there’s no way I can be a no show. But I’m also the team’s captain, so I couldn’t miss the celebration either. So complicated! Now I need to catch the 2:30 run back to Abbeville or I’ll never make it on time.” He paused for air. “I can’t take money for helping you. I’m an Eagle Scout.” He stood tall, thrusting his chest out. “I’ll do more than take you to the station. I’ll take you all the way down to Abbeville to your grandma’s.”
My legs almost folded when the strain vanished all of a sudden. It didn’t matter anymore if he’d mistook me for a boy, or if he was bossy. I wanted to jump and yell, bu
t all I could do was sigh. “Thank you.”
Edward looked away, avoiding my gaze. Like he was David Copperfield, my sunglasses appeared in his hand and he fitted them back on my nose. “Don’t say thanks, boy. ‘A scout is helpful.’ It’s my duty to care about you. Duty comes first, self goes second, as my old man says. Come on, the station is only two blocks away.”
July 2, 1:59 am
The Greyhound station: few people, a small waiting room, and a tickets counter. Edward said he’d purchased our tickets. I gave him a 50 dollar bill. Midway to the counter, he turned and pointed a finger at me. “Stay there, I won’t take long.”
It wasn’t difficult for Edward to get the ticket girl talking. She was about his age and smiled a lot. Because of her dreamy stare, I bet she pictured Edward as the last drop of water in a desert. When she handed him the two tickets, he grabbed her hand and winked an eye. So pathetic! He didn’t release her and they chatted a bit. Before he left the counter, he pulled his cell phone and took a coupla notes. I’ll be damned if it wasn’t her e-mail and Facebook address. Rage crept inside me. She was flirting with Edward only because he was hot without her actually knowing him. Girls could be so stupid. My experience with Mom’s boyfriends was that a girl couldn’t trust a guy despite how hot he might look. For one moment, I wanted nothing to do with Edward so I got up, moved to a far corner and sat on the floor. I leaned on the huge window facing the buses’ dark parking lot, crossed my arms and snorted.
Edward grabbed some food and two cups of coffee from the station’s vending machine. When he realized I was no longer where he’d instructed me to wait, Edward frowned. He craned his neck and glanced everywhere before he found me.
“You shouldn’t have moved from where I left you. Always follow my instructions: it’s for your own safety.” He parked himself on the floor beside me. I wanted to tell him to get lost, but then he handed me a cup of coffee and continued as if we were old pals. “Here, drink this, you’ll feel better. It’s hot coffee. Be careful. You don’t want to burn yourself.”
Amber Eyes Page 5