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“Esther in love?” he said when he finally returned the phone to his lips. His voice was much softer now. “That girl wouldn’t know love if she ran right into her soulmate. Unlike some other person I know. How painful was it this time?”
The irony of him asking about my pain as he sat in pain wasn’t lost on me.
“It wasn’t painful. Get some rest. Don’t worry about her.”
“I’m not just worried about her, Malachi. If you’re her cousin, it makes you my grandson. I’m worried about you.”
I snickered as I walked into my bathroom. “Don’t get all sentimental, that’s something someone says as they go quietly into the night.”
Silence.
“Alfred?”
“Your heart dropped a little bit there, didn’t it?” He snorted as he chuckled.
This old… “Goodb—I’ll talk to you later, Alfred!” Hanging up I stared at the screen which glowed with the option to delete his granddaughter’s number…my new cousin apparently.
“Crazies flock together,” I muttered as I hit save.
ESTHER
Why was I like this?
An introvert some days, an extroverted the next. Which would have been okay if it didn’t keep adding to the mountain worth of inconsistencies I tended to find in myself. There were days in which I hated winter and days in which I loved it. I loved the sunshine but I also loved the rain. I liked all the colors in the rainbow. Some days I loved the smell of coffee but there were other days when I couldn’t stand to drink it. I could be a vegetarian for a year and then wake up one day and eat a whole stack of bacon. Religion? I’d done almost all of the most widely practiced religions and enjoyed them. I could fight some days, not just any fighting but kickass Mortal Kombat-Karate Kid-Eye of the Tiger-style fighting, and then the next I would find myself tripping down a flight of stairs and unable to do anything right! It was so frustrating! I didn’t know who I was. Not like what my name was or who my family was, but who I, Esther Noëlle, was on the inside. If I was a little bit of everything didn’t that mean I was a little bit of nothing too?
What was wrong with me?
“You ready?”
“Huh?” I sat up and quickly wiped my eyes.
He froze at the glass door of his cabin-styled home as he regarded me with his contemplating his blue eyes. He was wearing dark blue jeans that were tucked into black boots, and a black leather jacket over his green and blue flannel shirt.
“I cry a lot,” I said much quicker than I wanted and I felt like kicking myself but tried to save face by saying, “My grandfather says my tear ducts are loose and so my eyes tear up even when the wind blows. HA!…So how far is the police station I really hope they can find my stuff—”
“The report is simply for insurance proposes,” he said as he walked down the first few steps of the house. “Your things are most likely long gone by now.”
“Right.” I should have figured that.
Without another word he kept walking until he stood upon the driveway and I followed expecting to see a car when he lifted the garage door. But instead, sitting in the middle of the oversized garage was a pure black Harley. He headed past it and picked up a helmet from the counter at the back of the garage before coming back and handing it to me. The helmet that was supposed to protect my skull…though I wasn’t buying it.
“Would you prefer to walk?” he asked as he kicked his foot over the motorcycle and sat down.
“You just got over a fever and—”
“Last chance.” He started the bike.
Taking the helmet from him I put it on before I nervously climbed onto the bike. I sat behind him unsure of what to do with my hands but he reached back and placed my hands around his waist. “Hold on tightly. And don’t worry, I’ve never fallen before.”
“You’ve never ridden with me.” I reminded him. “I’m a klutz now.”
The corner of his lip turned up as he kicked the stand up. “I thought you said you retired?”
Before I could reply he launched the bike forward and I closed my eyes and held on tighter, as my hair flew up and all around me as we cut through the wind.
“Open your eyes!” He hollered at me.
“I’m good, thanks!” I yelled into the wind.
