by L C Smith
The screaming stops for a second as the planes slides to the side, the pilot trying to correct it, sends us the other way. My eyes slam closed and I start shaking.
We slide one last time and come to a full and abrupt stop at the terminal.
Breathless and stunned, we sit in total silence as the plane connects to the walkway. Not one person moves, no one says anything, we stare ahead waiting for something else to happen, but nothing does, just total silence.
“Please do not move until the hostesses call your row.” The pilot calls over the intercom, his voice nervous. The only thing breaking the silence, is the little girl who was swinging her legs has crawled onto her mum’s lap and is sobbing into her neck, her tears leaving a dark wet spot on her shoulder.
“Please stay in your seats until we get to your row,” barks the blonde air hostess. “You will all get off the plane, but it moves much faster if we do it in order, and not all surge for the door.”
She eyeballs the faces of those standing and anyone who looks like they might be about to follow their lead. Even if I wasn’t inside of someone, I wouldn’t be able to stand up. I can’t even understand what the hostess is saying. I can hear words, but it’s not making any sense. I feel like I’m going to be sick.
Chapter Sixteen
“Row thirty we will start with you,” she orders. “One row at a time. Move quickly but orderly. Do not remove your overhead baggage. It will all be collected and taken to the terminal in due time.”
She stands aside as row thirty neatly files out looking only ahead, avoiding eye contact with her wherever possible. I don't know if Nathan can feel it, but my whole body is trembling.
He steps out into the aisle when the hostess calls our number from behind us. We march back into the terminal and get moved swiftly through the silent and empty customs area. There is no one around; not even customs officers. They herd us through the now-open gates. I don't know who they are, and I can't see anyone. We are walking more or less single-file, following the people in front of us.
Ten at a time, they take us up in the elevator to the Departures area, bypassing the Arrivals hall.
“Flight one eight zero, your assembly point is over there,” a man calls out. “You need to wait until you have been checked off before you leave that spot. Please,” He emphasises, “don’t leave after you have been checked. We hope to have the flight reassembled and taking off again as soon as possible.”
All the soldiers are standing loosely near the front of a group, but none of them are together. Major Matherson is off to the side of the group yelling quietly into his phone. His face is growing redder the longer he listens to what the other person is telling him.
“Yes,” he hisses down the phone. We turn away before I can see what he is talking about.
A robot moving toward us catches my attention, how can it not? Nathan must have seen it too, because he moves up to his toes to get a better look.
“Oh, no!” I shriek, and Nathan looks around. No look back. But I can't say anything, not now, he can’t think about me and this at the same time. It’s my bag.
I have to get out of here. My head moves around as far as I can see. There are people everywhere. I go to rub at my face, but my hands are shaking so hard I miss my skin without noticing.
My hands flutter up to rub at my face again, freezing just under my eyes. My bag is lying on the ground, surrounded by screens. Ripped to shreds, everything inside it completely destroyed. Tears run down my face. My hands don’t move.
The last thing mum wrote was a post-it. She stuck it on the fridge the morning of my first time in swimming squad, ten hours later they were gone. “Don't forget your swimming gear.” Scrawled quickly across the paper. I kept it with me, in my bag all this time. Tears ooze out of my eyes.
The robot wheels toward a group of men who are talking, but not looking so serious. Another team of people come in from the side and start taking the screens down while someone sweeps up the remains of my bag and drops it into a plastic bag.
The last lot of ten people from the plane reach us.
“We will move you through to the departures lounge,” someone official-looking from the airport says. “There will be people asking you a few questions. Please answer them to the best of your ability. Thank you.” He moves off to speak with someone else.
I have to get out of here. I have to leave. I push on the man's insides, leaning into his back. I can't get out. I can't move him.
I shove on him. “Let me out,” I sob. He looks around. “No. In here, you idiot.”
He flicks his head around. Why won’t his body move? Why won’t it let me out?
We march toward the departures where the customs staff are assembled, speaking in hushed voices and looking at each of us like we could be the horrible person that left their bag unattended.
How stupid can I be? How can I just run after some random person and leave my bag sitting under the table?
We stop while everyone else continues on, the staff moving into action, taking people aside and questioning them. I can probably guess what they want to know. “Have you seen a girl about this high, wearing dark blue jeans and a green hoodie?”
I can hear a whole bunch of other people.
“Breathe, Reid. Just breathe.” I tell myself when Nathan stops walking.
He moves his head around.
Ah, crap. “Breathe, but shut up so he doesn't know your name.” Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! I scream silently in my head.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Nathan pauses to ask one of the important-looking people.
“No, it all looks taken care of at this point. But thank you.”
“Any time.” We smile and walk off to the side, waiting. I. Do. Not. Want. To. Wait. I want to go far, far away. I turn around and around inside of the man waiting for the airport to open. Then finally, after waiting for so long, I sink down, sitting on emptiness, this way I can't see the clock. The big giant clock with big ticking hands that move every second, ticking off a little closer to the next minute.
Can't someone mute it? It sounds like the tick has been connected to a speaker, making it boom across the empty space. I stand up when I hear Major Matherson start talking to someone near us.
“There was nothing in the bag,” the major says. “While yes, I understand you need to take things seriously—”
“There was a girl.” He cuts Matherson off.
Major Matherson stops. “They could be totally unconnected. For all we know, the girl was simply late for a flight and was running. Not everyone moves around an airport in an orderly manner.”
“We have to check.”
“Like I said. We know you have to be thorough, but we need to get to where we are going. Soon.”
“I understand.” The speaking gets quieter as they move away.
Nathan’s body sways forward gently.
“Time to go,” Peters says.
The airport doors open. Finally. It's open. I pull myself up to see where we are going. I need an escape route.
“Over there,” I say just loud enough for him to hear without it sounding like the voice in his head is speaking again. He walks closer to the entry door, and the second door opens, letting in a flood of people. I throw myself out and into the crowd. Tripping, I stumble forward and hit my knees. Stunned, I look up and then scramble to my feet, and sprint for the door.
Nathan does nothing. For a second. I'm out the door before I hear. “Hey, stop! Stop that girl!”
I look back quickly. It sounds like there is more than one person calling after me. Someone is banging on the glass. I don't want to see who it is. I jump on the handrail and slide the rest of the way down. Hitting the ground, I stumble again, but push myself on faster, still running.
“Where's the bus stop?” I shout at a man holding his suitcase.
“That way I think,” he says, confused, but points past the building anyway.
I drop my head and drive my legs faster in the direction he
pointed, watching only the ground so I don't trip again.
People. I can see legs. I command myself to look up, and when I lift my eyes, I see a bus.
“Stop! Stop!” I sprint alongside a bus that is pulling out.
It slows down, I match my pace with it and glance back. I can't see anyone chasing me. Surely I didn't outrun Nathan.
“Can I help you, Miss?” The driver says.
“Yip.” I gulp in as much air as my lungs will let me. I hold up my pass.
“Sorry, Miss, wrong line. I don't go to town.”
“Do you go to central?” I gasp.
“Yes.” He says
“I'll connect from there, then.” I climb onto the bus quickly getting out of view, leaning in half, trying to breathe again.
“It will be fifteen dollars,” he says.
“Fifteen? It's only going to take twenty minutes.”
“Sorry, it's the airport.” He shrugs apologetically.
I pull out my wallet, hand over a twenty, holding my hand out for the change watching people around the bus station. I turn my back. Is that him?
“Keep the change.” I hurry to the back of the bus where most people are sitting.
Ah, no. A man that looks like Nathan is walking through the people at the stop. I duck down so he can’t see me. The driver looks around to see if anyone else is waiting. I cough loudly an he pulls slowly into the traffic, and I lift myself up again.
Chapter Seventeen
“Keller? … Is that you?” I answer my phone, my heart racing. I don’t really want to have this conversation in front of all these people, but right now I’m happy just to hear his voice. Because he wants to, not because I have gone to see him. He wants to talk to me.
“Who else would it be? It’s not like you leave me alone long enough for it to be anyone else.” My face flames red. John must have told him I went to the store yesterday.
“Sorry.” My voice chokes off, lots of people are already looking at me and I can’t say anything else without crying.
“I don’t really want to hear it okay? Just stop. Stop coming round here. I don’t know why you came in the first place. Just leave me alone, I have a girlfriend, and it has nothing to do with you. Go back to school and deal with your own stuff all right. I don’t know how I can be any clearer. Don’t come to see me again. I do not want to see you.” I twist my face around to look out the window so no one can see me cry. But he’s talking so loud I’m pretty sure they can hear him.
“Fine.” I whisper.
“Don’t give me that crying. Just … argh, Just go away.”
“Okay.” It shakes with my voice.
“Don’t be just bumping into people I know either. Leave and don’t come near me again.” He spits with disgust at me. I hang up the phone when he does without saying anything else.
We pull into the central bus station. I was going to catch a bus back in to town to see if I could see Keller one last time before I left, but I want to go home. I’m so glad I wasn’t at school when he called.
I stay on the bus until there isn’t anyone else. Finally the driver calls out to me when we get to the central bus station. “Sorry Miss, but you have to get off, or pay another fare to somewhere else.”
“Yes, thanks.” I feel so tired, my legs feel like they are filled with concrete and I just want to go to sleep. My eyes are so sore.
“Hi.” I stare at the server behind the counter at the ticket counter. “I need a ticket to Arling.” She looks at me like I’m missing something.
“When would you like to go?”
“Oh. Sorry, today.” I don’t know how to change my expression. At least I have four hours to figure out how to smile before I face aunt Kelly.
I remain with the same expression while she taps on her keyboard. “Is it a return?”
“Um, Yeah I guess.” A fresh wave of tears burn at the back of my eyes, stinging my throat as I force them back.
“Okay,” she says slowly.
My heart pounds and my breathing comes in short gasps when my phone starts ringing in my pocket. A few people who were on the bus with me look in my direction. I slowly pull it out of my pocket. Keller is pulsing on the screen.
Why is he calling me back? What more could he have to say to me. What could there be left to say. Maybe he dialled the wrong number. The ringing stops abruptly. His name disappears and it beeps, telling me I missed a call.
“Your ticket.” The lady holds two rectangles out to me. “You need to hurry, the bus will arrive in five minutes. You need to be waiting at the right stop when it arrives.”
“Okay.” She narrows her eyes at me, and starts to say something, then stops.
“Have a good trip.”
That’s impossible. Beyond the realms of possibility. Cannot happen. “Okay.” I respond.
I shuffle to the café to get myself something to eat. I’m not hungry, I feel like I’m going to vomit. But I might get hungry latter and the ticket says it’s an express trip, only one toilet break.
I stare numbly into a glass case of muffins.
“All travellers going to Arling are asked to report to their stop, your bus will be leaving in five minutes.” The loud speaker announces.
I thought she said it would be arriving in five minutes, not leaving.
I shuffle back to the exit. I pass a vending machine. I’ll get something from there I tell myself. Go back to it.
I only have three dollars and eighty six cents, which narrows down my choices. I think I need a chocolate bar.
“All travellers to Arling need to report immediately to their stop, departure is two minutes. This is the final call.”
I fumble to get the coins into the slot, then seconds tick by as the bar slowly tumbles to the door and I shove in more for a granola bar.
I carry them both out to the bus, pausing near the door, I consider going to yell at the lady who served me for leaving me no time to eat. But I’ll miss the bus so I settle for staring her down on my way out.
“Are you going to Arling?” The bus driver asks when I walk up the steps onto the bus.
“Yes.” I’m confused. This is the bus to Arling isn’t it?
“You’re late.”
“I know.” I think he expects an excuse of some sort.
“You’ll need to get your bags in the luggage compartment.” He sighs, digging himself out from behind the steering wheel.
“I don’t have any.” I state.
“Oh. Well, take a seat then.”
I can’t think of the right thing to say, so after a minute, I just go find a seat, but there aren’t any by themselves. I have to sit next to someone.
Agh, I have to sit next to a guy. Who is smiling at me.
I look back at him. Nothing in my expression, not even dislike, just nothing.
“Hi, I’m,” I don’t care already. “Steven.”
I nod my head. “Do you have a name?” He prompts.
“I do.” I reply.
“Would you like to share it with me?”
“It’s Reid.”
“That’s quite cool.”
“Maybe.”
My phone rings again, and my blood gushes through my veins, pounding in my head. It’s only Sara, I think. But the pounding continues.
“Reid. Hey, where are you?”
“On a bus.” I work on sounding slightly more normal.
“Oh.” She stops surprised. “Why aren’t you at the airport.” Just hearing the words starts the shaking again.
“It got closed.”
“Really? What happened?”
“Someone left their bag, and I guess they thought it was a bomb or something. I never made to it to the plane.” I simply state.
She stops, knowing something is wrong with me. “Keller called looking for you.”
My blood stops moving, instead turning to thick sludge. “Yeah he found me.”
“Oh, okay. I was in class before so couldn’t call, but it sounded urgent.”
&nbs
p; “Yeah, it was real urgent.” My ears are ringing. A hallow, metallic sound.
“Good, then. Um. I’ve gotta go, but call me when you get there okay.”
“Yip.” I have to keep my words short. She will know how bad I feel if I speak in full sentences.
“Um.” She pauses again, and I can imagine her with her hand on her hip, while she bites of the side of her lip.
“I’m fine.” I lie quietly.
“Call me.” She says.
I sit silently staring ahead. I don’t have a book, or anything to pretend like I’m busy.
“Sorry, are you okay.” Steven asks.
“Yip.” I keep watching the back of the seat like something depends on it.
“Okay.”
This is going to be a long five hours. Actually, I think alarmed, on a bus it’s probably more like six. Maybe even more with a break. At least there’s only one, and it’s short.
“So what’s taking you to Arling?” Steven asks after exactly eight minutes of staring at the back of the chair. I know this because I am still grasping my phone.
“My aunt.” I whisper, my throat dry, preventing any more sound.
“Sounds exciting.”
“Mmm.” I look at the words on the screen of my phone again. Missed call, Keller. I run my fingers across them to see if they will disappear.
“You going for the long weekend?” He asks after I’m silent again.
“I am.” I hold my finger on it, pressing until my skin is white.
“Have any plans?” I lift my finger off and it’s still there.
“Nope.” If he asks me if I want to do something I am going to jump into him and ask if he still wants to even sit next to me.
He looks like he’s thinking about saying something else, but he gets a book out of his bag instead and leans against the window. I can feel him looking at me past the pages.
I think I’ll give him a post-it. ‘People who stare lose their eyeballs.’
To ignore him, I unwrap my chocolate and keep holding onto my phone. I don’t know why I’m holding it, I don’t want it to ring. It doesn’t matter though, I don’t need it to make sense. I chew on the end of the chocolate, letting the slick sweetness coat my mouth, staring at the screen.