Break All Ties

Chapter Three

There were many reasons for which I took the bus.

First of all, I didn't have a car. There was an Aston Martin in my garage, but I'd sooner die than take it out for a spin. I had access to money that I wouldn't take. Therefore, I couldn't afford my own car. I tried to live by my means and how a normal person my age would live.

But I had to admit I'd missed it all. I missed the purr of a smooth engine and the growl of something old. I even missed the leather seats of a motorbike.

Then there was the people. I didn't trust people, so it was rare for me to let many in. But I liked watching people. I liked listening to their normal conversations. It helped me play pretend. Even now I was listening in.

I liked listening to Mothers lecturing their children and pretending I still had contact with mine.

"What about those boys over there?" One Mother asked her teenaged daughter as I listened and watched.

"Mum—stop. You're embarrassing me."

The Mother huffed.

It was little things like that I missed. Sometimes, I wondered if they ever thought about me. I never got to say goodbye. At least not to Mum and Dad. One minute, I was at home collecting chicken eggs, the next I was gone, snatched in the night at the petrol station.

I wondered if my bedroom was still the same. I wondered if they missed me.

"What are you always looking at on your phone?"

I even missed my Mother's ridicule.

"I'm looking at the news."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

I watched the daughter tilt her phone. The Mother huffed.

"What is it this time? Pothole abundance? Council tax raises?"

My Mum would've been complaining about similar things.

"There's something about a prisonbreak. I didn't think those kind of things really happened."

"They do in poorer countries. The security's not as good in some countries as it is in ours."

I could hear the daughter's frown. "Yeah, but this is Italy. I thought Italy's a fifth world country."

I felt a churning in my stomach. Something akin to sickness. I had definitely heard that wrong.

Besides, she was right. Italy was too developed. Erica- my friend from work- said it was a mass breakout. Something like that wouldn't happen in Italy.

Thankfully, my stop was the next one, so I didn't have to contemplate it for long. I was done with thinking for the day. I'd meet up with Reese and let him distract me. Then I'd go home and sleep it off. There was nothing to worry about.

Reese's family's gym was one of the best in our area- or so word had it. Really, I wouldn't have known since I did my hardest to avoid gyms. Training sessions bought back bad memories. I preferred sporadic, spontaneous exercise.

The building was tall and modern looking, bringing Reese and his Dad a sizeable profit. They were pretty much set for life.

He was outside taking a breather when I arrived, cooling his forehead with an icepack.

When he spotted me, he grinned. "Hey Charlie. You made it."

I shrugged. I wasn't as excited to be here as he'd want me to be.

"Well you asked me to come so here I am."

"How's your day been?"

"I met with Ava and Katia for breakfast. Other than that, same old. You?"