Intrepid Hearts

15: Soldier Girl

ZARA'S POV
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.
FEBRUARY, 2022.

Getting the security guards outside the apartment to adhere to my request wasn't a hard task. I am there favorite person in the entire block after all. The last thing I needed was having people over at the moment, that too my supposed friends from the army. I've already had enough of their lovely faces for so many months. Now that are on break why the hell can't they let me breathe in peace?

I thanked the guards one last time before heading over to my brand new 2019 C300 Mercedes Benz. I purchased it since New Year's Eve back when I was still at the barracks. I had been saving for so many months just to get it and I don't regret it one bit.

I adjusted my clothes before stepping into the car. I was dressed in an electric blue sweatpants and sweatpants with white Nikes enclosing my feet. A black veil was carelessly wrapped around my face.

The moment I was in the car, I inhaled the new car smell for the thousandth time this week. Revving on the engine, I pulled over from our driveway and hit the highway.  I wasn't a rough driver nor do I drive like my sixty nine year old neighbor——are people of that age even permitted to drive?

My eyes were fixated on the store I knew were always opened 24/7 and have good customer service.  Impolite people and I don't always get along and I'm not one to lose my cool easily.

I dropped four packs of treasurer aluminum gold cigarettes in front of the cashier with a  smile perched on my lips. "Thank you...and oh, your hair looks lovely!" I smiled even wider than before because her hair really did look amazing. She seemed to be lost for a moment before she was back to reality and was able to digest the compliment.

The lady didn't look like someone that knew how to take compliments because she was still too stunned to respond. I gave her one last smile then sauntered out of the store with what I had purchased.

The moment I got in my car, I shuffled through the little nylon until my fingers found a cool metal box. I pulled it from the denom and flicked the cap. My thumb ran itself down the side of the box. A small flame exoploded from the top. It swayed in the air daring to cause harm. However it only found its way to the end of a cylinder. The smells instantly danced around me. The sent of thick smog enveloped my every sense.

Like puzzle pieces, the cigarette seemed to sit between my thin fingers with ease. The smoke trailed upwards creating an art piece. I touched it to my soft lips letting the art flow into my breathes. The breathes grew relaxing. With every inhale followed a soft exhale of wondrous patterns. My eyes closed with ease. I continued to breathe in the silence. The smoke found its way with the wind.

It made me feel more at ease than I already am.

My teammates say I'm addicted but I think otherwise. It's not addiction but something that just hasn't found the perfect word fit for it in the dictionary.

I've been doing it for about four years now.

Sometimes I ask myself how I came here and what has become of me, then I recall the tragic day from fifteen years ago that changed my life forever.

It is still rather a miracle that I am alive. How I survived through it all? It's still a wonder to me.

Sixteen years ago, on that unfaithful day, Aaron and I reached the Fixed Based Operator, where our parent's private jets are located. I wasn't in a good mood since we departed from home and I had already began rethinking the whole trip. I didn't want to travel anymore but there was no going back. Even as a five year old, I was smart. When I had parents like Maryam and Ibrahim, I ought to be.