the morning of august 14 2021
the first thing i remember was receiving a text from my dad on a new series of text messages. i didn’t think anything of it because he has changed his number before for work stuff.
Send mom a billion for me would you, she deserves it.
Dad
I read the message over and over again. Maybe it’s a typo and he meant a million,
that would be more reasonable right?
I sent my mom the lump sum through a service that had unlimited credit.
I checked the clock to read 7:24AM and
I wondered why Henri had not come into my hotel room yet. I looked at the bed next to mine. I wondered why he was even in a different room when there’s an touched bed in this room.
I got up and went to the 7th floor to the other room on our reservation. Walking in I passed one 3 twin beds on my right, 2 queen beds on my left with a wall dividing my bed. The third queen. I hopped in and for cozy under the covers. A liftman from the hotel approaches me. She told me she never received her three dollar tip from my mother and was told to ask me for it. She showed me the request form and it was only for 1 dollar. I told her that I had used all my credits for the day and that she would receive it tomorrow so she would leave me alone. she turned away and stomped out like an upset child.
The next few hours become a blur as fear is beginning to slide down my throat to for my breastbone to absorb. I vaguely remember being harassed by a short husky man with black hair and pale grey skin. I was trying to escape him and out of frustration i started running into the middle of intersections when i finally loosened his grip hoping to find help and get somewhere safe where i wasn’t being monitored or followed. I was hoping for an authority of some kind. I managed to stop traffic and as soon as I saw the ice blue and cherry red lights I felt like i was getting somewhere. he pulled over to the side of the road and told me to sit on the curb. Some comfort of my mine arrived and we three sat together as the cop took my vitals. The man and one other stand on the other side of the cop car.
Aren’t you gonna do anything about those guys? they’ve been chasing me around for hours.
Not if they haven’t inflicted any visible harm on you.
i started to feel hot in the face
my two friends were my comfort and their two friends which I had never met before were under suspicion. we went to my house where there was a cop parked outside. I wanted to feel safe, but after last night there was no way I could.
my two new friends stayed outside as i walked in to grab a phone and reach my neighbor who I knew would be able to help me.
we all walked down my street to the end where one of the girls lived. She ended up separating from us and the rest of us left to a party at the end of the street. we all sat down and when i felt myself starting to sweat so i excused my self to the bathroom where I could send a text without the group knowing, but the most familiar face of the two i didn’t know from the group stood up long enough to get me to think she wasn’t following me. i turned quickly into a nook where some people were sitting at a wobbly table and sat underneath it. I whipped out my phone and struggled to find my neighbors contact. I kept typing the wrong thing and getting autocorrects. i think i had gotten the idea out enough before the girl came to get me knowing i wouldn’t be able to contact. she felt so ominous.
Don’t be stupid let’s go
we all walked back to my house, somehow i managed to get ahead of everybody hoping that cop would still be there. And she was
staring out the back window with her head relaxed and her eyes low and dry.