What Lies Beneath

Nineteen

My first day at school—first day having my phone again—since I'd been grounded, and my mother was already clocking me. She expected me to be the trouble-free child I'd promised I'd be over the duration of my punishment, and come straight home like we agreed. But I wasn't.

Call me as soon as you get out of school.

I hesitated before dismissing the text she'd sent an hour ago. My wallet and house keys were tucked in the bottom of my bookbag. It'd take me an extra fifteen minutes to get to Ridgewood County, the town where Rahim resided, by train. I'd ensured I was equipped for the ride this morning; stashing some extra cash from my savings in my wallet, double-checking my ID.

If I wanted enough time to track Rahim, I had no choice but to exclude Patty from my plan. There was no doubt in my mind that they'd hound her for her answers. But the less she knew, the less of a chance they had of using her to figure out my whereabouts. All she'd have to offer is genuine confusion, keeping her out of trouble just like I wanted.

My leg bounced up and down, my eyes scouting the platform in search of my train. Arriving in two minutes, the dashboard read.

Hell, I couldn't believe I was actually doing this. A big part of me wanted to turn back the way I came and say to hell with it all. I'd never gone into another town by myself in search of a stranger, let alone disobeyed my mother in the way I was about to do. I always had her permission before leaving the house, whether I lied about where I was going or not. This time, I had completely shut her out. But it was too late to change my mind. I'd already bought a round-trip ticket for Ridgewood County, going and coming back.

And while I feared the outcome of my actions, my mind was set, and prepared to go through with my plan. My mother is going to murder me after this stunt, the wicked thoughts in my head taunted me. Yet another reason not to back out when I'd come this far. Because if she was going to kill me, I might as well get the answers I could before I met my fate. I'd say it was a win-win or probably a win-lose situation for me whatever the cost.

"The 3:45 train to Ridgewood County is approaching track two. Please steer clear from the edge of the platform. Let the passengers get off the train first," the station's manual operator announced the train's arrival. As the operator's voice faded, in came the loud noises blaring from the train's engines. Along with the several other passengers on the platform, I waited for the train to pull into a complete stop before opening its doors to us.

I kept my head down, avoiding eye contact with every passenger I passed, worried that they'd strip me down until my intentions were out in the open even though we were strangers. When I finally stumbled upon an empty seat, I slid into the very far-end beside the window. A low sigh escaped my mouth, and as I leaned my head against the window, I couldn't help but let my thoughts unfold. They were slow and torturous. Before I knew it, my eyes had drifted closed.

* * *

The last thing I recalled was falling asleep on the train only to be woken up by the conductor asking for my ticket, before falling back asleep. Then, just as I hoped, I slept my entire train ride away. The sun hadn't yet set in Ridgewood County which was great on my behalf.

What wasn't so great though, was that I had several missed calls from my mother, three missed calls from Christian, and a few missed calls from my father. There were also a few text messages sitting unread on my phone, each a little over ten minutes apart. I opened my mother's text messages first.

Tyler, where are you? I told you to call me as soon as you get out of school. It's 4:00 in the afternoon and I haven't heard anything from you.

I grimaced. It was now 4:30 PM.