by Laura Mae
“Police! Open up!”
A rumbling barreled down the hallway, and their bedroom door swung open. Giovonna and Raoul burst in with anxious looks.
“Oh my god. They’re back!” Giovonna whispered, gripping Sydona’s hand.
“It’s alright Gia, just calm down,” Sydona said. She wanted to bolt out of the back door, but they could be waiting there. The fact was, they couldn’t answer the door. It had to be Silas. The three looked at him suggestively.
“Alright, alright. I’ll get it. I’ll just tell them I don’t know anything,” he sighed but stood up quickly.
“Good plan!” Giovonna said.
Silas slipped on pants over his boxers and threw on a wrinkled tee. They knocked again, and Silas bellowed back.
“I’m coming!”
As he stomped his way up to the door, Giovonna collapsed down on their bed in a full-blown mental breakdown. She sobbed harder than Sydona had ever seen her cry before. She kept mumbling how mad her parents were going to be and how she felt horrible for putting Sydona in jeopardy. She went back and forth for what felt like an eternity.
“Just breathe, Gia. It’s going to be fine, okay?” Sydona said, making breathing motions with her hands.
“Yeah, you don’t have to worry about them. Silas will make them go away, and then we’re gone!” Raoul said, helping with the motions.
“But they’ll keep coming back! And if you’re caught because of me, I couldn’t live with myself, Syd! I just couldn’t!”
“Breathe. I’m sure it will be fine,” Sydona said with a smile. She took her own advice and breathed deeply over and over.
Giovonna shook her head. “It won’t....” She stood up and wiped her tears. “We’ve already come too far to have me be the reason it all goes to shit.”
“What do you mean?” asked Sydona.
“This is just something I have to do. For you. For the Sparrows. For our people… I have to leave.”
“What?” Raoul gasped. He buzzed around, unsure of how to feel. “No, Gia! We’ll figure something else out!”
“Gia,” Sydona grabbed her arms and tried to calm her down. “Listen to me. You don’t have to leave. And you’re right, we have come too far. Too far to let you go.”
Giovonna began to sob again and hugged Sydona so tightly it caused her to cry, too. It was all happening much too quickly. Giovonna couldn’t leave. But she already made up her mind. Raoul joined in the hug.
“What will we do without you?” he said through sobs.
“I’m sorry guys…” She let go and took another deep breath. “I have all of my things packed. I’ll continue working on the bracelets. Here’s my home number if you ever need to call, okay? I won’t really be gone.” She smiled through her red, soaked cheeks.
“Be safe, Gia,” Sydona said.
Giovonna nodded with a sad smile.
Sydona took one last look at the teenage girl who changed her life, unaware of when she would ever see her again. She wasn’t dying, but it hurt just the same.
The police and Silas were getting loud, and Giovonna was back in her room packing up[SD262][LM263][SD264]. Sydona had a feeling it wouldn’t be as easy as Giovonna simply turning herself in. If they knew Giovonna was hiding there, they might think she was too. She had to hide.
The voices became instantly louder, and Silas could no longer keep them outside.
“—she won’t mind if we ask her a few questions then, right?” said a man with a much deeper voice than Silas.
Sydona panicked. She gathered up a dirty pile of clothes and threw it to the side of the bed facing the door. She squeezed under the bed, scraping herself on the dirty carpet on the way, and then hooked the clothes under the bed to disguise herself. It wasn’t the cleverest idea, but it was the quickest, and she hoped they wouldn’t search too hard. They were getting Giovonna back; it was the reason they came by.
Her knees tucked into her belly[SD265][LM266], but her back felt so exposed. She hoped that more clothes littered the ground on the other side of the bed. Willow couldn’t complain about them being too messy now; it might save her life.
A whiff of dirty clothes and body odor invaded her nose, and she was forced to plug it. Muffled voices spoke in the living room and hallway.
“—We have to look, sir. She was the last person she was seen with. She’s a danger to Ms. Carr, and she’s a danger to you. We’re just trying to do our job.”
“Bullshit! That man is a damn liar! She saved lives,” Silas lashed out.
“Whatever your opinion, sir, it’s irrelevant to the real danger. Now, please let us look. And if you don’t calm down, we’ll have to—”
“Yeah, I know. I’m calm…” Silas said and lowered his voice.
Sydona swallowed hard. She heard someone enter the bedroom and mumble to himself. Silas tried to talk to them as they began to pull items of clothing from under the bed.
“Just gonna find more clumps of clothes. Bit of a slob…”
She smiled. It seemed to work, and they stopped and stood back up. She heard their joints pop. Giovonna talked louder than usual, answering their questions with attitude. She told them the time her parents saw her at the house was the last time she saw Sydona and that she just hated her parents and wanted to leave. She didn’t give them exact details, but she was smart. Giovonna knew not to say too much.
A small section of the clothes gave her a window into the hallway. She could see feet walking past. [SD267]It killed Sydona to be hiding under a bed when Giovonna was on her way out. She could only see her poorly tied, black and white shoes and hear a backpack clanking with materials.
But Giovonna whispered into the room, knowing full well Sydona was in there. Her voice was cracked and empty. “Goodbye.”
The front door soon slammed shut, and Sydona felt her face get hot with tears. “Bye, Gia[SD268][LM269]…”
Chapter Fourteen
A clap of thunder made Sydona jump. The sky darkened, and she hadn’t even noticed. It was as if the universe knew her hurt and wanted to cry too.
“Come on, let’s go inside,” Raoul said. “Willow should be here any minute.”
Sydona slowly rose to her feet and slumped indoors. Visions of Giovonna’s face clouded her mind, making it hard to see anything else. She missed her already.
Knowing they still had a long journey ahead of them, she made everyone breakfast. It also helped to keep her mind occupied. She cooked up scrambled eggs with peppers, onion and mushrooms with a side of turkey bacon. [SD270][LM271][SD272]Lacey, Devon, Jet, Harold, Knox and Avani were also on their way, so she tried to make enough for everyone. Silas was kind enough to make coffee, and she slipped a bit of Jet’s leftover vodka in it. It tasted awful, but it numbed her sadness.
Two vehicles pulled up to the house, and Sydona’s heart dropped. She took another swig of her coffee.
The front door flung open to reveal Willow in all her army gear and a shot gun in hand. “Y’all ready to go huntin’?!” she bellowed as loud as she could. She strutted inside the cabin, which quickly filled with people. Her nose was high in the air that was pungent with frying fat, and she grinned.
“Aw, you cook all this for us, Silas? So sweet.” Willow ruffled his hair.
“What? No, I cooked it, actually,” Sydona answered.
“You did? Wow, I’m surprised, princess! You must be in a good mood. Can’t imagine why.” She elbowed her arm enough to hurt.
“Gia’s gone.” Her words were short and still.
Willow’s face melted into a gaping mouth. “What?”
“About two hours ago… She insisted.” Sydona gulped down more vodka flavored coffee.
“It’s ‘cause her parents?” Willow asked.
“That and she didn’t want to risk me getting caught.”
The group got closer in the kitchen, but Devon spoke up. “She’s gone? For good?”
Raoul shrugged. “We don’t know. I hope not, though.”
Devon looked down to the flo
or.
“Do ya think we could still get her back?” Harold asked from behind the group.
“She won’t come back. Her mind was set,” said Silas.
Sydona looked up at the wood ceiling to clear her eyes, then turned back around to serve breakfast. No one spoke, but Sydona could tell Willow was clearly upset. Harold squeezed her tight. Knox and Avani didn’t know Giovonna as well but still comforted each other. In the living room, Devon sat on Lacey’s lap with his head on her chest and played with her necklace. His mouth moved every once in a while, and Sydona knew he was talking to Lacey about his feelings. Her hand stroked his back while he wiped his nose.
She pushed the fork around the eggs on her plate, thinking of the last words Giovonna spoke. So alone. So small. But certain. The entire meal passed in silence; no one looked at one another. Raoul didn’t eat a single slice of banana. A dark mist invaded the empty space, and they were the rain.[SD273] It was all she could think about.
Sydona gulped her coffee hard enough for it to burn on its way down. After half an hour, people were finally starting to talk. She knew they needed to get a move on. They had Jubilee, and every second mattered. At last, she spoke up.
“Harold. You said you knew where he lives?”
“Yeah, uh, he’s on a beach front in California.”
“Is it large?” Sydona asked.
“Yes, ma’am. Reckon it’s ‘bout forty acres or so. Lot of security.”
“I think we can handle it,” Knox said with a smirk.
Harold drew out a rough sketch of his house and the layout. It had been a while since he visited his ex-boss’s vacation home, but his memory was spot on. He even knew where most of the guards frequented and where to hide.
“You never been sexier to me than you are right now my bugga lugga,” Willow said in a baby voice and kissed Harold passionately.
Everyone scrunched up their faces with disgust, except for Avani who thought it was adorable.
“Enough of that,” Jet said with a swig of his special coffee. “We good to go now?”
“What about niñito?” Avani said. “He’s coming with us?”
“He wanted to come,” Lacey answered.
“If this turns into Eagle Lake though… he could be in real trouble.”
“He’ll be fine.” Lacey narrowed her eyes at Avani.[SD274][LM275][SD276]
Avani saw this and snapped back. “Okay, but you’re responsible for him, chica. If he messes up our plan--”
“Stop talking like I ain’t here!” Devon yelled from the kitchen table with a squeak in his voice.
Everyone turned their heads toward him and stopped bickering. Devon’s personality was slowly leaking out of him each day, and Sydona respected him more every time.
“Well, if we’re all set, we should get the cars loaded up,” Knox said. He folded up the map and put it in his long, black trench coat.
“Oh, um, actually I was thinking instead of driving there, we could fly,” Sydona said shyly.
“Fly?” Raoul asked. “What about the other day when you shot us down when we tried to help?”
Sydona glanced over at Silas, still feeling guilty about that day. “This whole–thing--is bigger than me. I’m pushing my stubbornness away. It’s the fastest way, and we need to get Jubilee back, right[SD277][LM278][SD279][LM280]?”
Raoul perked up with a smile.
Suddenly, Willow chuckled like a nervous school girl.
“Nooo, no. No, no, nononono. Absolutely not. Not in a thousand years am I flyin’. No offence to y’all, but I would rather have a hive of bees sting me all over than fly.”
“I gotta say, I’m with Willow on this one,” Harold added. “I’m scared ta’ death of heights.”
“What a shocker; the two rednecks don’t wanna do nothin’ but sit on their asses and chew tobacco,” Jet said in a mockingly southern accent.
“Excuse the piss outta me?” Harold huffed, walking over to Jet who took another drink of his coffee.
“You’re the only two who seem to have a problem with flying, you racist mother--”
“Jet, stop it!” Lacey yelled.
“This ain’t a race thing, boy,” Willow made her way over to Jet. “It’s a ‘I don’t want to be thousands of feet away from the ground and worry about fallin’ on it’ thing, ya prick!”
Sydona interrupted, not sure how the conversation got away from her so quickly. “Hey, no, I just thought it would get us there quicker. Driving is going to take too--”
“--ever since you joined us, you took Willow back to her old roots. She was better off without you, Harold.” Jet whiplashed back.
Willow and Harold both stared at him with murder in their eyes. Willow answered, “Who do you think you are telling me who I am, Jet? You barely know me, you drunkard. Go on, take another drink!”
Sydona stared wide eyed from the kitchen. Taking another drink didn’t sound like a half bad idea. She gulped down more coffee and added more of the special ingredient.
“That’s enough, Willow!” Lacey cried out. She was holding onto Devon who opted out of the conversation a long time ago. They, along with Knox and Avani, exited to the porch.
“Guys, come on!” Raoul flew into the middle of the fight. “We need to be on each other’s side!”
Jet waved his arms around. “Exactly! We need to be on each other’s side. Harold is a Vulture! Did you all forget that?”
“He knows where Malik lives, Jet. Why would he do that if he was on their side still?” Silas argued, getting as upset as the rest of them. “And where the hell have you been this whole time? You sit there in the background like you don’t even exist, and you only come out to start shit?”
Jet didn’t back down[SD281][LM282]. “He was a Vulture, Silas! A Vulture! How the fuck are you all trusting him right now? How do you know it’s not just a set up? Especially you, Sydona! I was told you were the hardest person to get to trust, and here we are only, what, a day later? And you give him permission to have us all killed?”
Sydona furrowed her brows. “What?! No! I trust Willow, so I trust Harold! Why is this my fault now?”
She caught Willow giving her an approving smirk.
“Because I guess you’re the leader of this gang of misfits, and you’re calling the shots on what we’re all doing.”
“I’m not the leader; Knox is!”
Jet shrugged. “Doesn’t really seem like it.”
Her words fell short. Was she the leader now? She only wanted revenge on Malik. Everyone else coming wasn’t really in her original plan. All she knew was that she wished Giovonna was there to lighten the mood. She would just start singing or dancing or something silly to stop the fighting.
Silas spoke up. “Knox is the leader of the Sparrows. But this isn’t a Sparrows mission. This is something she needs to do... It’s something we all need to do.”
“And we can’t spend all day fighting about it,” Raoul said. “I trust Sydona with every bone in my body. And if she trusts Harold, then I trust him too. Now everyone just shut up so we can go already!”
For such a small creature, he sure had a way of capturing an audience. Jet slammed the screen door open and stormed down the wooden stairs. Willow rolled her eyes and huffed at his behavior. Harold and Willow both caressed each other, but Harold caught Sydona’s eyes. He held his hand out with a closed mouth smile.
She took his grimy hand and shook it.
“Thanks, Sydona. I appreciate you havin’ my back.”
Her stomach did flips. As much as she did stand up for Harold, Jet’s words stuck with her. Maybe she did trust him a little too quickly. But there was no turning back now. She needed to keep two eyes on him, just in case.
“You better not be lying about this place,” she whispered out of earshot from Willow.
Harold shook his head but gave no verbal answer.
The response made her uneasy, but there was nothing to be done about it now. Flying to California was still a question floating in the ai
r.
Raoul took his position on Sydona’s shoulder as they faced Willow and Harold. “With my dust and everyone else here, you both would feel so light you wouldn’t even feel like you could fall.”
Sydona smiled wide. “It’s a feeling unlike no other. I know you guys would love it.”
While they were discussing the flying situation, the rest of them out front were strapping things to themselves. Sydona joined them and saw Devon with a huge grin on his face while Lacey helped suit him up.
“Are you excited to fly with us?” she asked and crouched down to his level.
“Yeah! I’ll be like Superman!” he exclaimed.
When his excitement showed through, he reminded Sydona of Joseph from the farmers market with his unstoppable energy and positivity. She admired children who could experience such traumatic events in their short lives but still have a sense of wonder and curiosity. The tragedies he went through would never go away, but the fact that he didn’t let it keep him down long was admirable.
Lacey side-eyed Willow and Harold who soon came out with everyone. “See, even he’s looking forward to flying with us. We’ll all be like Superman.”
Willow laughed and noticeably gave in. There was no winning an argument about flying with[SD283] a whole group of fliers.
Sydona grabbed her black backpack and green tote and secured everything as best she could around her back. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jet get in Harold’s face and accidentally overheard his threat.
“You make one wrong move or even look at my girl wrong, I will personally make sure to watch you as you fall back to the ground.”
Harold hacked up something from his throat and spit it out near Jet’s boots. Their noses almost touched as Jet challenged him.
“That would never happen. I got everyone here on my side now, and they wouldn’t let me die. Plus, I’m the only one who knows where we’re goin’. You kill me, this whole thing was for nothin’ and y’all still be in the dark. Best to stay away from me, kid.”
