Elder Benson is dead.
He had a gift of taking pictures in a surreal manner and didn't care people thought he was strange.
When his body is found with a bluish substance in his system, everyone concludes that he overdosed on drugs.
And no one cares...
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The shuttle in which Simi sat made grinding noise on the way, its exhaust pipe pumping more fumes than necessary and finally broke down on the way.
As the passengers got down, there were mumblings all around them. A shuttle breaking down in the middle of its journey was stressful, not to the driver and conductor, but mostly to its passengers.
Simi kept a straight face and got down too, she didn't have time for mumbling and complaining, she had to get Julia Benson as fast as she could and keep her company.
She stood on the pavement of the highway with the other passengers, waiting for another shuttle that wasn't full to pass by and pick them up. A few passed by and they were all full until as if it were a miracle, an empty shuttle with just one passenger approached them.
When it got to where they stood, all the jilted passengers on the pavement clamored to get into the shuttle including Simi. Unluckily for her, the shuttle got full just as it was left with only her. She harrumphed and watched the conductor give her an apologetic smile and hit the side of the shuttle to tell the driver that he could move.
Simi stood there for almost 20 minutes waiting for a shuttle that wasn't empty. It was as if some force of nature didn't want her to go to Julia. She'd almost given up when a shuttle that was almost full honked at her.
Simi quickly raised her right hand to indicate that she was waiting for a car. When the shuttle stopped a few meters away from her, she rushed and climbed in.
Half an hour later, she got down at the bus stop nearest to the neighborhood she shared with the Bensons. As she walked to the Julia's house, Simi contemplated going to her own house to say hello to her parents. She hadn't seen them in a long time and had missed her dad's huge embrace.
She remembered back when she thought Elder had gotten killed because he wanted money for her. With the facts they had now, including that Bahija was also a victim, she wondered if it was really true. Whether El had really died because of her. Stop thinking of yourself, a voice in her head chastised her.
Simi got to the Benson house and without stopping to check her surroundings or the house, she rushed up the stairs to the corridor and knocked on the front door.
Almost immediately, Julia opened and embraced her in a hug. Her eyes were puffy and red, indicating that she had been crying.
She held on tighter to Simi and said, "Thank you for coming Si, thank you."
Simi brushed her hair with one hand and whispered, "Always Jules. Let's get you inside."
Simi was about to enter the house after Julia when a certain chill gripped her and she turned to check out if anyone was watching her. In that moment, Simi could have sworn she saw Elder standing on the road shaking his head. She blinked and he was gone.
She followed Julia into house and shrugged what she'd seen off to stress. Julia was now sprawled on one of the couch in the living room.
