99 to Nowhere

by DOMINO

  FORTY EIGHT

  My third interview went better than I expected and I was offered the job on the spot. Mrs. Newsome told me I just needed to wait for the background check to come back, which would be two weeks, and then I could start work. She told me they would give me an additional three weeks to relocate and be settled in if I needed. I couldn’t thank her enough. I would be working for the cities local juvenile detention center and I was excited. I called Jo and Don and told them I accepted a job and I could hear them both screaming on the other end of the phone with happiness for me. I checked into a hotel room and immediately fell asleep, I was exhausted from the drive and from smiling so much, but I couldn’t complain about anything. I was happy.

  I decided to stay an additional day to look around and see the sights. I also needed to find a place to stay. I knew I would end up with one of the jobs and I got the one I wanted the most. I just had no idea I would start so soon. I went to several apartments and condominiums to check out the prices and see what Atlanta had to offer. I was pleased to find two on Peachtree Road that I absolutely loved. The condominiums were both smaller than my apartment in Florida, but I figured living in the city now would make everything expensive. I filled out applications for both condominiums and left them at the front desk so I could be considered. I didn’t have a doubt that I would be all right and it would be my decision on which one to accept. I smiled confidently as I walked up the street.

  I walked the majority of the day, trying to get familiar with everything. I was walking up toward the courthouse when I froze in place. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I stared at a man that resembled Rio. His hair was cut short and he had on a black suit. He was now clutching a black briefcase instead of a backpack and waving down the street. I could feel in my heart, it was Rio, but I needed to see his eyes.

  I dropped my cup of coffee into a garbage can and rushed up the busy street. I was waving my arm in the air when a taxi drove up beside him. He pulled ear buds out of his ears and climbed in before the taxi sped away. I was still jogging across the street to get to the place he stood at moments before.

  “Rio” I whispered as I tried to catch my breath.

  I looked all around me and took a deep breath to clear my head.

  Maybe I just wanted it to be him so badly that I made that guy look like him. I feel like a fool.

  I suddenly felt embarrassed and pushed my hair out of my face. I turned away from the courthouse and made my way to my car so I could drive back to Tallahassee.

  FORTY NINE

  “Happy Birthday!” Jo, Don, and Donyella yelled over the waiters that sang happy birthday to me.

  They drove from Tallahassee to celebrate with me. I was now twenty-seven and living the life I wanted.

  “So, how do you feel? You’re still a young buck ya know?” Jo teased.

  “I feel the same, no changes here. I don’t need a walker or cane just yet, maybe in three years when I’m thirty” I joked.

  I wiped cake icing from Donyella’s chin before I sat her on my lap. She was seven and a handful. I was her idol and she admired everything about me. I smiled down at her, amazed that I could be admired by anyone and kissed the top of her head.

  We enjoyed the rest of the evening and I was near tears when they packed up their belongings to drive back home the next day. I held tight to Donyella that clung to me as if her life depended on it, crying to stay with me. I promised her I would pick her up for the summer while I was on vacation and it made us all satisfied.

  I had been working nonstop for the past two years and Jo and Don helped me out with difficult cases. I made it a point to work with runaways, because I could understand everything they went and were going through. I managed to place many of them in loving homes and I made it a point to check in on them whenever I got a chance. I ended up getting an extra cellphone so they could call me on it if there ever was a problem, and the majority of calls I would get were to complain about them not being able to go to a party or not get their way. It was never anything serious. We would usually end up talking about why they were mad, and in the end, I could always make things better. I would smile while I was on the phone with them, happy I was making a difference in their lives. I would tell every one of them they were precious and made them believe it.

  Dating had been difficult for me since I graduated. I managed to squeeze in a few dates here and there, but my job kept me extremely busy. I began dating a nice man named Sean, he was gorgeous. Tall, dark curly hair, and brilliant hazel eyes, he made any woman’s mouth water, especially when he took off his shirt. We had been dating eight months, and for me, that was an eternity, considering most of the men I dated I found flawed in some way or another.

  I told myself I was an adult and I knew what I wanted and wasn’t going to settle for anything less, life was too short.

  Sean told me he was in love with me the second month we were together. I hesitated in telling him the same, but I did. In my mind, I was telling him I loved him as a person, but I wasn’t in love with him, because I felt in time, I would fall in love with him. He was a police officer in Atlanta and we met when he pulled me over after I made an illegal U-turn. Then we ran into each other once again the following day at a gas station and he told me not to worry about the ticket. We had been dating ever since.

  “So, I made plans for us” Sean announced from the couch in my living room.

  “Really, what type of plans?” I asked from the kitchen. I was busy cooking us dinner and focused on not burning our salmon.

  “Cruise, the Bahamas. Two weeks from now, so I need you to prepare for it babe” he yelled over the football game.

  I turned over the salmon and cut the heat down under it before I walked into the living room. He was sprawled out on the couch in shorts and a tank top. He was gorgeous and I sat down next to him and stared out the window at a gloomy gray sky. I never imagined it would get cold in Georgia, but it did, it reminded me of when I was homeless and trying to stay warm on the streets. I got up, turned up the heat, and waved him off when he began to complain about it being a sauna.

  “I hate the cold, I told you that” I frowned.

  “You didn’t say anything, about the cruise” He sat up and looked at me.

  I walked over to the window and stared out at passing cars. A picture of the chapel on 99th street flashed before my eyes and I wondered how many homeless teens were sleeping in it at the time.

  “I don’t know Sean, two weeks is not enough time for me to get my cases in order and—”

  “Maxx, you’ve got to slow down, don’t you think? I I rarely get to spend any time with you as it is. Between my schedule and yours, this really isn’t a relationship; it’s more like seven dates a month” He complained.

  “Then quit” I spat before I realized it. I suddenly remembered what a smart mouth and short temper I had.

  “What?” He looked at me confused. “Are you saying quit my job so we can have a relationship?”

  “I mean, if you think we don’t spend enough time together, yeah” I replied. “You’re busy just as much as I am, days that I’m off you’re at work, and vice versa”

  “I know this, Maxx, but I’m not telling you to quit your job” He stood up and shook his head before he rested his hands on his hips. “I’m trying here Maxx, I’m trying to make time for us, quality time, and sometimes I think I’m the only one trying” He picked up his sweatshirt and threw it on over his head. “I think you like things the way they are. I think you like the fact that you don’t have to invest your feelings, desires, or emotions, into a relationship, and that’s because you don’t want to for some reason” He shoved his feet into his shoes and grabbed his jacket. “I told you I love you and do everything I can to show you that I do. I don’t know what else to do here Maxx. Why don’t you call me when you figure it out?” He opened the door and walked out silently.

  I continued to stare out the window, unmoving, knowing I wouldn’t chase after him because I didn’t lov
e him the way he loved me. I sat down on the couch and buried my head in my hands. I cried until the fire alarm went off in the kitchen from the burning salmon.

  “Dammit, Maxx, what the hell is your problem?” I whispered to my empty apartment.

  I threw the burned food into the trash because I no longer had an appetite. I took a shower and pulled out my laptop to work on cases, but I couldn’t get chapel 99 out of my head. I looked up the phone number on the internet and punched the number into my phone. My heart was racing while it continued to ring; I hung up after I got no answer.

  I sat down at my small vanity and opened my jewelry box. I pulled out the heart locket Rio gave me and stared at it. I remembered when I broke the clasp and fussed out the jewelry store for taking more than a week to fix it. I put it on and the pearl earrings. I stared at my reflection in the mirror before I studied the empty bottle of perfume he got me. I didn’t have it in me to throw the empty bottle away. I shook my head at my foolish heart and crawled in the bed. I twisted my bracelet around my wrist as I closed my eyes, thinking. I made a decision to go back to Millington and see just how many runaways were being treated unfairly in the system there.

  “Yep, that’s what you’re gonna do Maxx” I whispered before I drifted off to sleep. “Chapel 99”

  FIFTY

  I handled most of my cases and it ended up taking me a month to clear up my schedule so I could make the trip to Millington Illinois.

  “One week before Christmas, perfect, all that snow will be waiting just for you” I frowned.

  I packed tons of warm clothes, shoving them into a small suitcase. My flight was already booked and I promised Jo and Don I would be at their place on Christmas day.

  I endured the four-hour flight into Illinois and rented a car to drive into Millington. The snow was getting thicker and heavier the closer I got to Millington, and when I finally reached the town’s welcome sign, I pulled over to the side of the road and stared at it. I turned off the radio and looked all around me, everything was so still. I closed my eyes and thought about everything that happened to me while I was there, Rio, Evan, Cory, Mr. Johnson, and the detention facility. I took a deep breath and rubbed the heart locket around my neck. I still felt Rio was protecting me when I wore it and I needed it to drive into Millington. I reopened my eyes and started the car to get back on the road. I knew I was only an hour away from the chapel and I planned on going straight there.

  Driving slowly through Millington, I realized years had passed, but Millington remained the same. A small town stuck in its own world, refusing to give into the outside world. There were a few new businesses, but everything else looked the same. The town Christmas tree was decorated in the town square and many people were scurrying through the snow that began to fall harder every minute. The large chapel loomed out before me as I drove up the street and I marveled at just how beautiful it really was. I parked in the chapel parking lot and stared out the window at it. There were a few cars in the parking lot along with mine and I wondered if Father McDowell was inside. Shoving my hands into my new red mittens, I jumped out the car and ran up the steps. The doors were open and I walked in to see a few people sitting silently on pews in deep prayer.

  Sitting down on the last pew, I didn’t know where to begin. I looked all around and studied the few people that were there, until a priest walked out and began to dust off the empty pews. I didn’t recognize him, but got up to greet him.

  “Father?” I extended my hand.

  “How are you my child, how can I help you?” He asked after he placed the feather duster on the empty pew so he could shake my hand.

  “My name is Maxx, is Father McDowell still here?” I asked.

  His eyes told me immediately what happened before he explained. “Father McDowell, rest his soul. He passed away seven years ago. My name is Father Thomas”

  I nodded and looked around before I looked back into his soft blue eyes. He appeared to be in his late fifties, but had a heartwarming smile.

  “I met him a long time ago. I stayed here when I was a teen, me and a few friends stayed here when we were homeless”

  He smiled. “That was a very important to Father McDowell. He wanted every child of God to know they were welcome here, and it is was with his dying wish, that we continue to do that”

  “You mean you still let runaways stay here?” I interrupted. “I’m sorry; I mean I know the city police can’t be too thrilled with you doing that”

  He motioned for me to have a seat on the pew beside him. “This is a house of God and we believe that God directs people to our door for a reason and that reason will be revealed at his earliest convenience” He chuckled and looked up at the large cross hanging over the podium. “Perhaps to give us a chance to explain that God loves them, regardless of where they came from or what they are going through. It’s our place to open our heart and door to them so they will know that God loves them”

  I nodded in agreement. “If I never came here when I was a teenager, I’m positive I would have died on those streets in some way or another. Coming here saved me in more ways than you will know” I said softly. “I met an angel here. He kept me safe and protected me from the world and myself. My angel didn’t have wings though” I chuckled. “He didn’t have wings, but he had the heart of an angel, and I’m so grateful that you opened your doors for us”

  He continued to nod and smile. “God has a way of looking out for every one of his children, one way, or another. Be it through the church, or someone you just met, he works his magic, and in time, to the believers, he instills faith and hope”

  I felt tears begin to form at his words. “Hope, yes” I quickly pulled myself together. “This place was a catalyst to everything that happened in my life, from the moment I stepped foot in here, this place—” I looked around it once again. “This place was the beginning for me. The beginning for so many things hopeful, but I couldn’t see it then”

  “All that matters is that you see it now Maxx. You know and believe in hope and have faith in all things God made possible” He placed a warm hand on my shoulder and smiled.

  “I came back here” I put my head down and fumbled with my fingers. “I came back here to see if there were any runaways. I came back for the homeless and the lost. I wanted to talk to them and show them that there is hope for every one of them. I want to tell them my story and let them know that this isn’t the last stop and they have to keep faith and stay strong. If it would be alright with you Father Thomas, I need to do it” I looked up at him and hoped his answer would be yes.

  “As I said previously, Maxx, God sends every one through those doors for a reason. You were sent here to instill hope into the hearts of the hopeless, and I will let you do God’s mission” He stood up and smiled down at me. “Come back after hours and you should know the rest”

  I stood up and smiled at him before I exhaled. “I’ll be here” I hugged my mittens to my chest and walked out silently.

  I walked back to my car through the snow, and no longer felt the cold, my heart was filled with warmth and hope, and not even the freezing snow of Millington could make it grow cold again.

  FIFTY ONE

  It was 10:00 p.m., and I gathered everything I thought I would need to take to the chapel. I purchased gloves, hats, mittens, and scarves. I didn’t know how many would be there, but I wanted to make sure they each got something. I was nervous as I lugged the large bag with me to the back of the chapel and knocked on the door. I waited a few moments before the door finally opened and a tall boy with bright gray eyes opened the door and looked at me suspiciously.

  “Can I come in?” I asked and dropped the large bag at my feet.

  “Never met you before, where are you from?” He asked and stood in the doorway to prevent me from entering.

  “Who is it?” Another young male asked and pushed the door open the rest of the way. He was much shorter and his black eyes twinkled deviously. “Wow, let her in. I rather look at her than you all
night” He smiled and pushed the tall boy out of the way.

  I walked in and dropped the bag of hats and scarves on the floor. “My name is Maxx” I said as I looked around the kitchen. Everything looked the same and there were five other faces looking at me curiously. “I brought soup and some things” I tried to make their suspicious faces smile.

  “Names David” The short one with the black eyes beamed. He began pointing at everyone and calling out their names. “This dufus here is Conman, nick name of course; we still don’t know his real name”

  “Hi Conman” I nodded.

  “That’s Donovan, Steve, Cliff, Joel, Brandon, and Clayton. Mike and Trent should be here soon, that’s who we thought you were” David said and clasps his hands behind his back.

  I made it a point to look at each one of them in the eye.

  “Who the hell are you?” Conman asked. I could tell he didn’t trust me.