The plane stopped in New Jersey almost a day later. What had been accomplished by Milford in the span of twenty-one hours was a big Dukes of Hazzard marathon, then sleep. Nothing else. Apart from that, nobody really talked to each other and just kept to themselves.
What mattered was that they had a fun airplane ride, albeit very long, and they were very close to home. Now the two adolescents had to be driven back home.
Pablo had the solution. They looked up old high school friends on their Facebook and found someone who lived in the New jersey area. They called them up and asked if they could drive him and his two cousins to Warwick. They agreed, wanting to catch up.
"What's their name?" Max asked.
"David, but call him Dave, or he'll hold a grudge on you."
When a light blue Audi pulled up to the airport on the sunny afternoon about thirty minutes later, the man inside looked shady, yet trustworthy at the same time. They were Hispanic, like Pablo, and had spiked up, greasy black hair. They were also wearing a grey hoodie, which was off-putting considering it was the summer time.
Dave took off their sunglasses and smirked, saying in a low voice, "You guys ready?"
Milford and Max were staring at them, looking awkward and like neither of them belonged there at all, but nodded quickly, including Pablo.
"Yeah... We are."
That pause from Pablo made it ten times more difficult to open the trunk and put the bags in for Milford for some reason.
Once they were inside, Milford noted that, from what he could tell, Dave was a metalhead. Not a stereotypical hardcore, from what he could tell off the CD's scattered across the floor, but someone who listened to Metallica, Megadeth, and so forth.
No music was playing then or for the entire hour and a half car ride. Instead, Dave decided to strike up a conversation with Pablo since they hadn't seen each other in a while. Dave actually spoke about their experiences after high school, and Pablo did too, but to describe his summer plans, he had to lie. A lot. He even made up the reason he was taking Max and Milford to Beijing and said it was because he missed them. According to Dave's facial expressions, this didn't sound like the Pablo they knew back in school. But, they believed him, and that was all that really mattered.
Milford guided Dave to his house like a backseat driver, and sighed in relief that his parents' cars were still there. It was like nothing had happened, which was good, because then he could act more casually with saying goodbye to Pablo and Max.
All three of them stepped out of the car to quickly say goodbye to one another so it wouldn't seem suspicious. Milford wanted to make it last longer considering that he would never see someone as nice as Pablo ever again and not see Max until September. But, all good things come to an end, no matter how painful. This was one of those things. Max and Pablo patted Milford on the shoulder and told him to take care of himself before heading back into their car seats and allowing Dave to drive out of Milford's flat, square driveway. Milford didn't consider himself a crying person, but he did shed just one tear out of his right eye. It was weirdly comforting in a way.
Once the car disappeared from his gaze, Milford sighed deeply and walked into his house like nothing had ever happened to him in his lifetime. A cold sweat appeared when he knocked, though his look was casual.
He looked at the doorknob in great detail only to notice it started moving. "Here we go," he thought.
His mother opened the door slowly, cautious. Her face was slightly interested in whoever was at the door, but she still looked like something was missing. Milford could easily confirm this, because he really knew his mom well.
Then, when she knew who it was, she gasped in the most frail and excited voice Milford ever heard. "Oh, my God!" She called his dad over, allowing Milford to walk into the house a bit more so he could be seen easier. His father looked even more surprised, but he didn't have any grey hairs to show it.
None of them could even contain themselves. They all started either crying, blabbering, or even both. It only lasted for ten seconds or less, but it was what they needed.
With a giant inhale, Milford's mom asked with tears of joy in her eyes, "What happened?"
This is what got Milford going for the next hour and a half. He didn't lie, he didn't keep any secrets, he explained exactly, point-for-point what had happened to him in his travels.
His parents were trustworthy people, and he didn't need to ask them if they were going to tell the cops or something, because he already knew they wouldn't. While some details were mentioned, Milford's mother nodded at him because of the revelation of her having to do with the Mondollions and the Rinchor.
When the story was finished, nobody knew what to follow off on. The family only let the silence grow.
Finally, as if to confirm a return to normality, Milford's father exhaled slowly then said, "Screw it, let's go out for dinner."
Both of Milford's parents were perfectly okay now, and he was the happiest he could be with that. "Where are we going?" He asked, smiling.
His mom grabbed her car keys off the nearby table. "Anywhere."
All of them had their shoes on their feet, for one reason or another, so they all walked out the door to have a fun night out.
And so, all worry had disappeared for a good, long while.
