Thursday, August 5, 2010 Chapter 6

Nicholas walked into his room and over to the open window. A sharp gust blew across his face and his hair danced in melody with the wind. His thoughts were interrupted when his phone rang and he picked it up to see Michelle. He didn’t waste a second pressing the green button and put the phone to his ear.
“Hello?”
“HI NICK!!! GUESS WHAT?!”
He chuckled, “What?” He asked.
“I’m coming back tomorrow!”
“Tomorrow?” He asked eagerly.
“YES TOMORROW! I can’t wait!”
“And you decide to tell me the night before?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise!”
“I’ll pick you up from the airport…” He continued discussing the plans for tomorrow. He wanted to spend time with her and get out of this hell-hole. As he laughed like he hadn’t for what seemed an eternity, a mysterious listener smiled on the other side of the door.

********

Nicholas woke up looking forward to this day. He jumped out of bed and put on his usual long trench coat with tie and stuffed some casual clothes into his bag. He was on his way out of the house when he was stopped by his mother.
“You’re in a hurry,” She said curiously.
“Ah...” He found himself lost for words.
“Something special?” She inquired.
His smile was the reply she needed.
“Well don’t forget your lunch,” She handed him a packet of food which was refused.
“I’m going to eat out,” He said and rushed out the door, leaving his mother with a puzzled look.

************

Nicholas walked down the same street as the day before. He walked into a restaurant and asked them to make a reservation for this afternoon. The restaurant had a homey feeling; it was small, almost like a hut. Every table had a red-rose and a wooden menu, which he personally liked. After making the booking he walked out only to find that he was being followed by a little person. He stopped only to see that the girl following him had stopped too.
“You know, you’re being quite obvious.” He said blandly.
“If I was try’na hide i woulda,”
Nicholas turned around, “You think I wouldn’t notice you?”
“Ya didn’t notice me inside the restaurant did ya?”
“What do you want kid?”
“Nothing.” She shrugged, hands in the pockets of her somewhat torn, baggy pants. She looked up at him. Nicholas observed the weird kid for a little while, was she retarded? She was following a random guy who she had never really talked to. Yet she wasn’t vulnerable. She had messy brown hair and was trying to look indifferent. Nicholas turned around and started to walk off.
“Hey man! Wait up!” She ran after him.
“Look kid, I’m out of cash right now, I can’t give any to you.”
“I don’t want cash,” She watched as he gave her a confused look, “I wanna talk ta ya.”
He waited for a response.
“I ain’t meant ta, ya know, talk ta ya and stuff, papa don’t want that, but I needta tell ya man”
“Wait, you have a father, and you live on the road?”
“Didn’t you do that too? When you were a kid?” There was a moment of silence and Nicholas looked at the kid suspiciously. How did she know?
“How do you know?”
“I can’t tell ya.”
Nicholas wondered what else she knew about him. He needed to know her sources. If she knew who he was and what he did, she could be a danger.
“Kid, are you hungry?”
“Maybe,” she smiled a little.
“Walk with me.” She followed him down the street, kicking a soft drink can all the way, “What’s your name kid?”
“I don’t got one.” She replied.
“I’ll call you Hilda.”