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“I guess not.”
“Guess, nothing, now let’s get out of here before they throw us out.”
Taking up our cases and backpacks, we headed out of our dorm, and into the big scary world.
“It’ll be a while before my sister gets here. She’s picking me up at the café just off-campus if you’d like some caffeine. My treat.”
“Sure!”
Nerves calmed; it was time to call Mom. Using Brenda’s phone, the only one of the two to hand, that actually had any battery left, I waited as the bell tolled.
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, nothing really. The college is just closing down for a while, because of Covid, and I need to come home.”
“Of course, honey. You know I’ve moved since you left, but I can give you the address. I’m working the late shift tonight but I’ll be home first thing in the morning. When do you have to be out of your dorm?”
“Tomorrow, it’s cool. See you tomorrow.”
The lie burned like poison. I just didn’t want her to worry or do something to jeopardize her job. She needed the money, and I didn’t want to cost her anymore. It was part of why I worked so hard to cover as many of my expenses as I could through student funding. I was too young to do much to help when Dad died.
I want to get an after-school job, but Mom insisted I focus on school and go to college. I’d be the first person on the side of the family to do so, more because of opportunity than anything else. Talent and intelligence meant little without the resources to back it up.
“What are you going to do tonight?” Brenda asked.
“No idea, I’ll figure it out though.”
“Atta girl,” Brenda encouraged, punching me playfully in the shoulder.
No hotels would accept my student credit card. Most were full up anyway. People getting off the street before the lockdown, which was going city-wide. No one but essential workers even able to leave their house, except to go get essentials. There was the option of trying to break into Mom’s house. It was mostly a matter of chronology anyway. Still, could cause a lot more trouble than it was worth.
I had my car, beater that it was, and there was a campground, just outside town, I’d gone to on family vacations. It didn’t cost much and should do for the night. At the very least it would give me a legal place to park while I slept in my car.
Brenda’s sister came and whisked her away. Alone in the world, at least for the next several hours, I put the cases in the trunk of my car, planning to buy several more blankets on the way to the campground.
They were open. All the way out there, the dread crept further. Trying to argue the park was only a summer spot that was closed between September and May. Despite clear memories of going there in early October, after the summer rush. Logic won out in the end, unnamable fear scuttling back to its dark, creepy corner.
The bars appeared like an omen from the gods. The store also carried car chargers, so I splurged part of the remainder of my scholarship for the semester on one. In addition to the pile of blankets partially obscuring the backseat.
It looked like a nest, at least as close as human could get with blankets. A warm place to sleep and movies on my fully changed phone. What more could I possibly need?
Chapter Four - Nate
As the rooster crows. Not literally, but close enough. Nearly five years living on a farm will do that. The memories were misty, but still very much there. Especially the smell and the sounds. The scent of wet horse and sound of morning rooster crows, tattooed into my memory. Coming back up from time to time, occasionally at an opportune moment. The tendency to wake up at the crack of dawn was merely one of the more practical effects.
Cold stabbed with a thousand pin pricks, bracing me back to full wakefulness. I had to study and required all of my brain function. There was no time to both finish the book and go for my morning run. Triage logic dictated the run was more important. A key part of my role on the team, pretty much the only reason I was at university at all. There was a compromise, however. There usually was when you looked for them.
The digital version was much easier to come by than the print copy, and the audiobook was just as easy. There were options in terms of production and reader. And I had chosen the best, as according to the available samples. It was expensive but more than worth it to keep me in my scholarship. Like an investment.
Ben Kingsley’s lovely voice in my head, I set off, starting out with a gentle jog, planning to work up to a more intense run as I went. It was important to warm up.
