Squeezing my hands, I felt the spark of the flame start before quietly keeping my hands to myself. Maggie caught it out of the corner of her eye before looking around. She wore an oversized red t-shirt that said FRVR ATL plastered across the front, and black shorts that you could barely see underneath. You could see the blood still embedded in her nails but the moment her hair began to seep into its natural white color from the roots on down, it all but confirmed she was nothing like the woman in the desert.
“We need to get back to the school,” she said. “At least to the train station.”
“Okay so how do we do that? You have no shoes,” I pointed. She held up a pair of old sneakers she grabbed from her childhood home before shoving her feed inside. Tying her hair up, she leaned in close with her gaze as sharp as ever.
“We are going to run,” she whispered.
“Run?”
“We’re literally stealing clothes,” she motioned frantically at what we were wearing. “I don’t have a dime on me. Do you?”
“What is a dime?” I asked, knowing very well it was the currency, but she had to know it was ridiculous to even ask me in the first place. She rolled her eyes before grabbing my hand. We locked fingers, both of us inhaling at once as we knocked three times. Nothing. It was just the music from the store and chatter from people nearby. Maggie sucked her teeth as she quietly slid the metal latch open and peeked through the cracked door. We slowly pushed it back to see a woman staring at us while she grabbed clothes from a neighboring room. The music was louder than ever, and another woman walked by with a pile of clothes of her own before slamming the door shut in another room.
“If y'all wearing that, you know you gotta buy it,” the girl said with an attitude as she pointed a hanger at us. I looked to Maggie, squeezing her hand before she let go. I didn’t even bother to look back before taking off.
“Security!?” Someone shouted. “We got two runners!”
“There’s blood in the fitting room!” Another shrieked.
Maggie and I bolted for the entrance of the bright store, moving in and out of racks filled with colorful and sparkly items. I was in awe and almost wanted to stop and look at some of the dresses draped on the wall until she called my name, snapping me back at attention.
“This way!” Maggie shouted. We were out of the massive brightly lit store and turned the corner into a shopping plaza filled with stores, windows, and decor.
“Is this a mall?!” I blurted out with excitement before gasping.” Is this a real mall?!”
“Yes now come on! Marta is just outside!”
“Ohhh! Can we please stop and look at some of the clothes?! What about a food court!?”
“Ayira!?”
I followed her out of the store, still running as we crossed a back street where there were cars parked underneath a leveled lot. I watched her stop someone to speak briefly before continuing on. I, on the other hand, looked up at the building wishing we had the time to explore the way I wanted. Maggie finally slowed down as we entered the lot of what seemed to be a train station directly across from the mall.
“We have to find a way to the school. She said it’s about 9:30 right now and I think the games are just about to start if I can remember the schedule. Good news is, we’re in Atlanta. I’m home.”
“What about your parents?” I asked. “Don’t you want to see them?”
Maggie paused before making a face I couldn’t read.
“I need to see Namir first and the crew. They have to know we’re okay.”
As much as I wanted to run around the city and experience everything, we had a job to do. Maggie and I came up on the doors that let you inside the train station but neither of us had a way in. There was hardly anybody around to ask for help when Maggie attempted to ask to use a phone. We looked like we hadn’t slept in years. Our hair was a mess, face distressed and our clothes didn’t make any sense, to me anyway. That’s when I heard the soft meow coming from behind us. I turned to see a cat sitting on its hind legs with a slow whip of its tail looking at us. Looking around, nobody seemed to notice the cat except for me but it made me think of home, causing me to instantly smile.
“Oh how I miss my Minka,” I cooed. Just as I was about to go towards it, the cat stood up, turned and walked off. Only to look back at us as if it were waiting for us to follow.
“Maggie?” I hissed.
“Unless you’re about to tell me you have an idea on how to jump this damn gate without the Marta police seeing us…”
She turned to look back, seeing the cat before glaring at me.
“I think we’re supposed to follow it,” I said with a smile. That continued to walk until he slipped underneath the gate as the barriers opened. Maggie and I shared the same expression before rushing to pass through just as they closed shut for the next card user. He stood directly in front of the elevator and waited until the doors opened. It was pitch black. Nothing like the elevator I saw at Drew Collins in one of the academic buildings. There was no floor, no walls, nothing. Just darkness and as soon as the cat walked in, he disappeared. Maggie grabbed my arm without hesitation and we both stepped in, being warped into the air before appearing on what looked like an empty train. The seats were dark red, and everything on the walls showed a map of the Underground and the multiple stops. The lights were dim, but it was enough to see with the help of the lights from outside that burst through the windows every few feet.
“This is it,” Maggie said as she began to walk up and down the aisle. “This is our train.”
“It is?” I questioned. “Then why are we not moving?”
“I don’t know… but this is the train that goes to Drew Collins…to Cedar Park. See?”
