I Want To Be Free

26. Elijah

CHAPTER | TWENTY-SIX

"No. Freaking. Way. What kind of human being would do that?!" Joselyn exclaimed.

The taxi driver, Robert, nodded. "Aye, it's true. My mama would tell me that on every Día de Los Muertos."

"But is the story true?" Joselyn asked, her eyes wide with interest.

Robert shrugged. "No one knows for sure, señora. Some say it's true, some say its bullshit. It's always been a mystery."

Joselyn leaned back in her seat, astonished. "I want to visit Mexico for sure now." She declared with a nod.

We have been stuck in traffic for more than half an hour due to some incident, and now we all were stuck, listening to ghost stories told by Robert. I was getting that bad apprehension feeling that I wouldn't make it back in time before Max and others. If he ever found out, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't live past my twenties. I rested my elbows on my knees and leaned forward, rubbing my face worriedly.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll make it back in time," Lucas began, as if he read my mind, "Joselyn and I gave them a list of things we wanted, so I'm pretty sure they won't beat us."

I leaned back, crossing my arms over my chest. "Hopefully we do make it in time."

"Yeah, chill, Kelly," Joselyn chimed in, looking back at us, "I told Mandy to get me specific things, so I'm damn well sure they won't get there before we do. Well, unless there is a zombie apocalypse then we are fucked 'cause we are pretty fair from the motel."

"Thank you for the reassurement, Joselyn. I'll pray that there isn't a zombie apocalypse."

Joselyn just grinned and returned to her conversion with Robert, asking for more stories as we waited.

I sighed quietly and looked out the window. It was raining only a little bit, but it was enough for people to walk faster to avoid the rain. Cars honked loudly behind us, dogs barked at unknown objects, children jumped into puddles, mothers smiled, fathers conversed with other people, and teenagers looked down at their phones, bumping into people as they walked.

So this was what the city life was like, I thought to myself. Granted, it didn't bother me much, but it was still interesting to see how different the city life was. I was use to just seeing familiar faces out in the streets but in the city, it was a completely different story.

Since I've moved here, I was never able to see a familiar face whenever I went out. It was so weird at first and even frightening, but I slowly got use to it. I slowly got used to the weird smells of food and piss mingled together. I slowly got used to the train and bus systems. I slowly got used to everything in the city, and it eventually became my home for six months.

But even then, it didn't feel like home. I was use to waking up in the morning with birds singing out my window, not with police sirens and cars honking. I was use to meeting up with Joselyn in the mornings so that we could walk to school together. I was use to seeing the obnoxious football players running the halls as they hollered and fist pumped the air with cheerleaders following them like obedient dogs. I was so used to everything there that I didn't realize how much I missed it until now.

Looking back at the small things made me feel hollow somehow. I rubbed my chest, hoping it would go away.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, worry lingering in his voice.

I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded. "Yeah, just feeling a bit hungry is all." I lied, not really wanting to talk about it.

"You feel hunger with your chest?"