The Nova Ranker - The Sword Almighty

Chapter 3. Airport Nonsense.

The date the plane ticket had written on it was the Sunday after I received the letter, and the flight was set to take off at about 11PM, and after an 8 hour flight, I'd be in Chicago at around 8AM. I think. Time Zones are confusing. Some shopping was in order. Mom bought us all we needed according to the list the Rankers sent in the letter. And that Sunday night I found myself in the backseat of my mom's car. My brother sat in the front seat, and we were being driven to El Dorado Airport. A part of me was certainly starting to miss Colombia already.

God, I hoped the people of Chicago knew how to make ajiaco. I was going to miss the Pegasus Farm near my school. No, even more, I was going to miss Mr. Ventolini's ice cream shop. Actually, I think what I would miss the most was my mom. It would just not be the same without her around to give me advice and tell me to stop being a drama queen. I guess my brother was there to accomplish that same function but it's not the same.

I could feel worry and sadness leaking out of my mother like a fountain, and that kind of set the mood for this entire car ride to the airport. She was proud of us for this whole thing, that was for sure, but she didn't want us to leave the nest just yet. We were just... her little boys. At least that was the way she saw us. She didn't want to stop us from chasing our dreams, but she worried that we might end up hurt.

"You boys remember what you gotta do once you reach the airport?" She broke the silence calmly, though I could tell how much it hurt her that we were leaving.

"Go straight to immigration, hand over our papers and wait for the guy to give us the okay." Andy piped in and not knowing what else to say, I nodded from my seat.

As we approached the airport, at around 7:30PM I looked over at my brother and tried to tap into his thoughts. A lot of the time, his head didn't have any interesting or particularly loud thoughts in it. It was like a safe haven in which my brain could rest free of any other negative thoughts. As it turns out, he did have his own worries in that big 17 year old head of his. His big, soft, gentle brain spoke about worries. Worrying about leaving mom alone, worrying about taking care of me, worrying about being unable to perform, worrying about his secret attraction to men being found out. I decided to step out of his brain for now.

We got to the airport, said goodbye to our mom and went to immigration. The airport is awesome by the way. Very organized, very neat looking. A few restaurants dotted in a few places, people entertaining themselves and others by using magic. People from every country walk around and chat.

My brother went over to the counter and gave his papers to the immigration agent or whatever they are called. As I waited for my turn, holding my phone in hand and answering emails from Franziska, I felt someone's thoughts boring a hole through my head. I could feel thick hostility towards my brother, anger at the fact he had a name that didn't sound American.

[... Can't believe they're letting this little scumbag into my country...] The voice of some guy from the USA echoed in my mind, from somewhere behind the counter. Now, the terms that he used were a bit more offensive, but I think saying those out loud would get your mouth washed with the most acidic soap you can find. Seemed like it was just some guy who didn't want anyone with a skin tone any darker than a single square of toilet paper to come into the USA. What a jerk. Soon, it was my turn to have my passport checked.

Oh god, I suddenly tensed up with realization. If it was up to this large gentleman I may never be able to leave Colombia and join the Rankers. So you could say that I was perspiring in every language on the planet. I stood in front of the fat yankee and handed over the tiny brown booklet that was my passport, as well as the letter I received two days ago, and of course, my ID. And for an uncomfortable amount of time, I stood there, looking at how this man glared at my documentation, trying my best to ignore the very rude thoughts that jumped back and forth in his brain.