"He parked in our driveway last night and slept in his back seat. It was really bizarre," Clyde said over the phone. "I saw him for about ten minutes before he left. Said he'd been staying at Eitan's while his roommates were out of town. I don't know where he's at now."
"Thanks for the info," I said.
"Welcome," replied Clyde, then added a wary, "I sincerely hope you're doing well, Milo," before hanging up.
Anxiously, I paced around the bus stop, formulating and re-formulating a plan in my racing mind. I was currently more than halfway to Niagara Falls, waiting for the bus to arrive for the last leg of the trip, and yet I was more confused about how to proceed than when I hopped on the first bus.
I stared at Ezra's number in my phone for the millionth time since embarking on this spur-of-the-moment, adrenalin-laced adventure. I'd already tried calling him twice out of desperation, but both times, the call went straight to voicemail.
He can't be that fast at declining my calls, I thought. Maybe his phone is off, or dead, or at the bottom of a pool because karma's a bitch. I shook my head a little. Stay focused.
I tapped his number one more time. No ringing, just voicemail.
It's possible he doesn't have service— if I'm remembering right, service was a little spotty around the falls. Maybe he's just hanging around in all the dead zones—
BEEP
The sound signaling the start of a voicemail recording jolted me from my thoughts. Reflexively, I started talking.
"Hi. It's Milo." I paused. "Obviously. I'm heading to Niagara Falls. Don't ask why— fuck, I don't even know why. I don't understand why I'm trying to find you, but I am. I don't know why. I don't know." The next bus began to roll up to the stop. "I... I guess I want to know that you're okay. But I'm still, you know, kinda pissed at you." The bus came to a halt and the doors opened. "I'm getting on the last bus now. I'll get to the falls by ten. Meet me at... uh..." If I assume he's hanging around the falls, then the most logical and specific place I can think of is... "Meet me at the place where you gave me a—"
"Young man!" The bus driver called out, making me jump. "You going to Niagara Falls?"
"Yes," I squeaked.
"Get on up here, then."
"Right." I moved slowly and kept the phone as close to my face as possible. "Meet me at the... BJ... spot. BJ's landing. The place with the beej. Okay-gotta-go-bye." I cringed, hung up, and hopped on the bus.
•
Upstate New York flew past the bus window in blurry autumn palettes, gracing my eyes with the best orange-crimson-yellow hues the east coast had to offer; meanwhile, I was using the gorgeous landscapes as a backdrop for my mental breakdown.
The big mystery of the moment was why, despite my stance that Ezra was conspiring against me, I'd bolted out the door and got on a bus without a plan as soon as I knew his whereabouts.
I started to piece things together. After talking with Vinny at his apartment— more specifically, seeing how easy it was for him to construe situations to make Ezra look no different than dirt under his fingernails— I questioned his perspective. Did Ezra actually try to force him to stay in town after high school? Or was Vinny just dead-set on viewing Ezra as a "loser"?
That line of thinking, however, changed my role in this debacle from Good Guy Just Trying To Protect Himself to Super-villain Who Yells For No Reason And Ruins His Own Life. I kind of wanted to be like Vinny, content to see Ezra as a conniving failure. I wanted to validate my rage.
VOUS LISEZ
Broken Carts ✔️
Roman d'amour(M/M, COMPLETE) After Milo is forced to drop out and work at his hometown grocery store, his jaded coworker becomes interested in him. Together, they lose themselves in the beginnings of their alcohol-soaked downward spiral.
