His Game

Chapter 10

This morning, I actually woke up before everyone else did and I wasn't woken up by cold ice. It's probably because I was anxious about our plan that we were going to enact this morning. I decided to use this time to take a quick shower before I woke up the others. Slowly, I rose out of bed and went to the dresser to get some clothes. I decided on wearing a long sleeved shirt and long pants for today. 

A couple minutes later, I was standing in the shower washing myself. Even taking a shower felt different than before. I felt more empowered than I was before that I couldn't help but smile at this small growth of myself as a person. Durst appeared in my head with the same smirk he wore. This time, I noticed the small dimples that I didn't notice at first. It made him a little more attractive than before, but even if they weren't there he would still be a gorgeous man.

I turned the water off and quickly hopped out the shower. I needed to escape those thoughts I was thinking. He was the enemy and the enemy he will always be. I quickly got dressed and pulled my hair into a ponytail after I found a hair tie. Giving a last look over myself in the mirror, I nodded my head in approval of what I saw in the reflection of me. I saw a fierce black woman in the mirror ready for anything with her hair pulled back into a low ponytail and her chocolate eyes shining with eagerness.

When I walked out the bathroom, Nia and Angel was still asleep. I decided to lay on my bed and give them a couple of more minutes of rest before I woke them. As I laid on my bed chilling, I thought of Silvia.

We were sophomores in high school and one day after school we went out to an ice cream store to eat ice cream. We got the usual, her a chocolate chip cookie dough cone and me dutch chocolate with whipped cream. This time we sat at a table near the window so we could watch people. We had this thing where we made up stories about the people that passed us. 

A businessman hurriedly past the store carrying a phone to his ear and his eyebrows was creased. I poked Silvia and nodded my head towards him before he could get away.

"Looks like he's running late for a meeting," I snickered.

"Maybe he's upset cause he couldn't get the playground built at his job that he worked all night to create a design to put on a PowerPoint," Silvia giggled.

I held my hand in front of my mouth as I giggled with her. "He even made a physical model of it to show what it would look like."

"That's good!" She turned to the window and pointed to a woman this time. "What about her?"

I followed where she was pointing and saw a woman across the street peer into a little dress store. She looked at the dresses displayed in the window before going inside.  She didn't come out for hours.

"Wow, she's been in there for a while," I said taking a bite out of my ice cream that was almost gone now. "Is she buying a new wardrobe or something?"

Silvia nudged my shoulder. "Look, look!"

I turned just in time to see a man storm in there. A couple minutes he pulled out the same woman who went in there hours ago as her arms were reached out to the store. He was pulling her gently by the arm away from the store until they disappeared out of view.

Silvia and I both laughed so hard that we were choking on our ice cream. People around us looked at us with concerned looks on their faces but we ignored their stares. I loved Silvia more than she knew. She always knew how to make me feel better when I was feeling down. We shared a similar sense of humor and we would always send each other funny pictures or videos we found hilarious to one another. Although she was the only friend I had, I didn't mind because she was all that I could ever ask for. She was enough for me. I didn't realize how much I missed her.

Someone nudged my shoulder and I opened my eyes seeing Nia. I smiled and yawned as I sat up.

"I must have dozed off while waiting to wake y'all," I started to apologize.

She shook her head and smiled. "Don't worry about it. We're all going down in a couple of minutes. We're just waiting on Angel."

She pointed over her shoulder to the bathroom where Angel was.

I pulled my knees to my chest and patted the spot in front of me so she could sit.

"How'd y'all wake up?"

She smacked her lips. "Durst banged on the door until Angel yelled at him that we were up."

"He did?" I frowned.

"You sure are a heavy sleeper," She giggled. "I was woken up by Angel's screams though. That girl sure does have a voice on her."

"I got that from my dad," I said quietly thinking of him.

"Is that who you got your smart brain from too?" She joked gently nudging  her shoulder against my knees.

I chuckled and shrugged. 

I sighed after we sat there for a couple of minutes. I'm grateful she didn't ask any questions to further the conversation. I wasn't comfortable yet to open up about my parents and didn't think I was ever going to be able to open up in for a while.

"We should probably get some paper," I stood.

"How many do you think we should grab?" She asked.

I shrugged. "It depends on the size of the checkpoint. We can't make it too big so Durst won't notice it if he takes us out for more of his challenges. It has to blend in very well to the ground, but not too small where we can't see it ourselves."

"What if we dug a small hole and stuck a small stick in the middle of it. When we cover it up back with the dirt we can have a tiny piece of the paper sticking out?" She suggested.

"That's a great idea," I said. "That way we can save paper and save time. Good idea, Nia."

She bowed a little and giggled. "Your smartness is just rubbing off on me."

Giggling to myself, I shook my head at her. "You are a mess!"

Angel cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest. "What's going on?"

At the same time, Durst knocked on the door and opened it standing in the doorway. "Y'all want breakfast or not?"

I turned and faced him. "We'll be down in a sec."

His eyes lingered on us before shutting the door behind him. I waited a couple of seconds before pulling a single sheet of paper out of the desk and turning to Nia and Angel. I tore the paper into what I thought would be a decent size before handing it to them.

"Nia will fill you in on the way down," I put my paper in my pocket. "Remember, no word of this to Durst and go as far as you can. Don't forget to leave a checkpoint and pick up whatever you need on the way back. Okay?"

Nia nodded smiling as she patted the pocket of her shorts. I turned to Angel who slid her paper into her pants pocket hesitantly.

I patted her shoulder. "You got this. We're all in the together. You can do it."

I turned and took a deep breath. Thinking, I reassured myself that I could do this too.