James, driving off, couldn't help but look back one last time before speeding off. He made his way to Shady Street; he had to slow down because this area had a lot of homeless people. He couldn't afford to get in any trouble.
After stopping at a certain building with a few supposed homeless people, he knew better. Every other homeless person was staying far away from the building. After paying the supposed homeless person, he went inside.
Coming out five hours later, he was able to sell most of his stuff and got about half of what he expected to earn. Scanning around, he had no plans of staying here; after all, this was a bad neighborhood. After buying a few essential things, he saw the sun approaching; it was now morning. After packing most of the stuff he bought, he had to go pick Lucy with him.
One hour later, James was at Lucy's house with bags under his eyes, waiting for Lucy. Meanwhile, Lucy was just about ready to leave.
After all, she prepared a letter for her mother. She couldn't tell her the reason she left, but at least she'd let her know she was okay and would send a letter once in a while.
Taking a breath, she took a bunch of stuff she could sell if they needed it. She knew James probably could get enough money for it, but she didn't wanna be just a burden to him. She also had to help him when it came down to it.
After making her way downstairs, she left the letter on the couch somewhere her mom could easily spot the letter. Taking one final look, she closed the door. Spotting James, she waved at him; he waved back with a smile. They quickly made their way on the road.
The silence in the car was heavy. Lucy looked at James, asking, "So, where we going?" James just looked over, "Well, we have to get new IDs and passports so my parents and yours shouldn't be able to find us, and so we're meeting this guy; he does these types of things for a living."
"Oh, ok." Looking over at James, she saw him dozing off. "Hey, James, are you ok?"
Yawning, James nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, just missing a few hours of sleep." Seeing James in his tired state, Lucy offered, "You know, I can always drive if you're that—" James was mildly surprised. "You can drive?" Lucy looked over, "Well of course, my mom made me practice just in case." He looked over, "But are you ok with driving?" "Yeah, I can manage, don't worry, you get some rest."
After stopping, they switched seats. "Thanks, Lucy, I'm just a little tired that's all. This is where we're going; wake me up in 2 hours." As he closed his eyes, he heard Lucy say, "What does this thing down here do?" Instantly his eyes popped wide open. "Wait, what did you say?" Lucy started laughing, "I'm only kidding." James, annoyed, flicked her head, "Don't make jokes like that, I'm too tired for that." Rubbing her head, Lucy pouted, "Ok, you have to admit it was funny." A light laugh came from James as he fell asleep, "Just a tiny bit." "Remember this," Lucy couldn't help chuckling. "Things were really different back then, isn't that right, old man?"
Suddenly, a silence ensued as Lucy looked around. She realized their house was on fire; everything caught fire. She tried to recall what happened; her memory was foggy. All she could remember was talking to the old man before an explosion sent her flying away out the window.
As she looked around, she realized she couldn't see James anywhere. Her eyes turned to the house blazing into flames. "No, James!" As she tried to get up, she found her legs twisted in ways they weren't supposed to be. "No, no, I have to help him, he's still in there!" Lucy shouted, "Someone help, please! We need you!"
Quickly a few people came over, pulling her away from the burning house. "No, please, we have to go back in! My husband's still in there, he needs my help!" "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous right now, your whole house is on fire. I don't think anyone who's in there is alive right now." Losing her strength, tears came down her eyes. "No, there's still time!" As if on cue, an explosion came, sending debris all around.
A man shouted, "Shit, everyone get away, move now!" Soon Lucy lost consciousness from the sight in front of her.
The next morning, Daniel took a look outside, realizing it was the next day. He quickly grabbed his backpack. Seeing Kevin was still asleep, he left a note and walked, left the basement, passing through the kitchen. Kevin's mom spotted him. "Leaving already? Can't you stay a little longer, dear? After breakfast, I can take you home," Ms. Parker asked as she prepared breakfast.
"Yeah, I gotta get home; I can't stay for too long. My dad and mom are going to be pretty worried, so no thanks." She sighed, "Just be safe out on your way."
As Daniel passed through the room, he spotted a man laying—it was Mr. Parker, Kevin's dad. Daniel planned to greet him but realized he was sleeping; he probably just got back. As he passed through the living room, he couldn't help taking a few steps back because, in the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar view. Turning back, he realized his house was on the news.
A ton of questions popped up in his head. Soon the questions were answered as a news reporter was reporting on the situation. "We are standing in front of Fish Street where a house seemed to have exploded. Authorities don't seem to know the exact reason, but most people here seem to think it was caused by a gas leak."
Without waiting any longer, Daniel made a run for it, quickly going through the front door. Daniel grabbed his bike, pedaling as fast as he could. He just had one thought in his mind—he had to get home as soon as possible.
He then saw his house in the distance, surrounded by police officers, news outlets, and a bunch of people. Wasting no time, he pedaled like a madman who had no concern for his safety, but because he was moving at such speed on his bike, soon his brakes broke. He came flying through, crashing into the neighbor's grass face first, bruising himself.
The officer, seeing this, was on alert, ready to pull out his gun. Realizing it was a kid, the officer calmed down, letting go of his gun. He walked over, picking him up by his arm. "Hey kid, are you alright? That was a pretty bad fall. What were you doing going that fast? You could have had a bad injury."
Feeling the pain of the injury, he tried to stand straight only to start wobbling, just to be caught by the officer. "Wait, sir, officer, please, where are the people in this house? They're my parents. Yesterday I went over to a friend's house, I wasn't around. Do you know if they're ok and where they are? I heard that our house blew up. Are my mom and dad ok? Please, sir, I have to know."
Seeing the kid's disregard for his safety and injuries, the officer was a little shocked. "First of all, I have to confirm your identity quickly." The officer ID'd him. "You're Daniel, right?" He nodded his head. The officer was just about to say something but stopped himself. "Don't worry, I can take you to your mom, kid."
Daniel questioned, "Is she alright, sir?" The officer just shook his head. "She should be just fine—just a few broken bones here and there. And plus, we gotta get you stitched up; that was a really bad fall for your face."
"Thank you, sir." Deep within Daniel's heart, he knew something was very wrong. The officer hadn't mentioned his dad once and how he was doing. Deep in Daniel's heart, he knew something happened, but he ignored that little voice.
On the way to the hospital, soon they went through the main entrance. Quickly Daniel was looking around with visible concern. "Officer, do you happen to know what room my mom is in?" The officer just nodded, "I do know, but before that, we have to get you patched up in case you broke something."
After getting patched up, the cop led Daniel to a room on the far east side of the hospital. As Daniel reached for the doorknob, he felt all sorts of ways. He was tense as a board; even a part of him didn't want to see what was inside. He felt a hand touch his shoulder—it was the cop. He had a smile on his face as if encouraging him to go in.
Taking a deep breath, he walked in. Looking around, he spotted his mom sitting, looking outside the window. The room had a sort of serene silence. She looked back, realizing someone was at the door. He went up to her, hugging softly, embracing her. Half a minute later, he slowly let go, looking at her, scanning her up and down. She had a bunch of bandages and casts all over her. Looking at this, it seemed she broke most of her bones with a bit too many bruises.
Daniel embraced her even more. "Mom, I'm so glad you're ok. I heard what happened on the news, I thought you died."
If Lucy could, she would also embrace Daniel if she could move anything. "I'm fine, son, for the most part; it's not as bad as it looks." Seeing his mom ok, Daniel sighed, "I'm just glad you're alive. By the way, where's Dad? I thought they had you both in the same room."
Hearing this, Lucy went silent. "Daniel, uhhh, your father, he's—" before she could finish, Daniel walked out of the room looking around. "He surely has to be in the next." Seeing this, Lucy just stayed quiet; she couldn't say anything.
After running around the hospital, he came back sweating. "Mom, I've looked all over; I still can't find him. He's probably paying the medical bill; I'll go over to the front counter to ask them." Before he could make his way, she called him with a stern voice.
Daniel turned back with tears, his voice breaking out, "Mom, come on, I gotta find him and make sure he's ok." Seeing him like this, she too couldn't help tearing up. "I'm sorry." After getting Daniel to sit down, she explained, "I don't think your father made it. I don't know the cause, but as an explosion threw me out of the house, breaking most of my bones," she sobbed, "I tried to get a few people to help him, but I couldn't. An even bigger explosion destroyed the house. After that, I passed out. Next thing you know, I was in the hospital. Daniel, I don't think your father survived."
Hearing this, more tears streamed down his eyes as he stood up. She called out to him, but Daniel just kept walking. "I'll see you in a bit, Mom." "Daniel, wait!" she tried to stop him, but other than calling his name, she couldn't do much.
2.6 years later, Daniel stood in front of two graves with a bunch of flowers. One was of his father and the other was his mother. He looked up with a tired expression, just sighed. After all, he should have seen this coming. After his dad's death, she seemed to always be out of it, almost as if she lost her will to live. They weren't really talking as much as they used to.
"I guess she just wanted to make sure I'd be ok before she left the world, huh." Because after his mom took her own life, Daniel was feeling a bit suicidal himself. Lucky for him, his parents left him enough money to get by till he turned 40.
After talking with Kevin for a bit, he recommended he go see a therapist. After talking with a therapist, he recommended getting a few hobbies to distract him and talking to and making friends. Same bullshit he heard from other people.
Four months later, despite not needing a job, he got a job in the same restaurant as Kevin. They mostly spent their time goofing around since the store never had a lot of customers. The pay was decent even though Daniel never really cared about the pay. It was more so about distracting himself. He needed some sort of purpose to keep his mind from wandering where it shouldn't go.
As Daniel was throwing a trash bag, he couldn't help but sigh. Despite doing as the therapist said, he still found himself stuck. It's like he never truly moved on from the last 3 years. Going into the store, he found Kevin cleaning the table. Daniel and Kevin were in charge of closing the store; usually, the manager would always leave early. He would simply ask they drop off the keys to his home, and his house happened to be a block away from the store. Plus, whatever was left, they could have it, so they never really hated the idea of closing.
"So, D, any plans?" Daniel looked over at him, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you don't plan on working here your whole life now, do you? So what's the plan?"
Scratching the back of his head, "Well, what you plan on doing, Kev?"
"Well, I plan on going to college. Now I've saved enough; my mom and dad said they would cover all college tuitions but no living expenses. So I've been saving up for a minute just so I don't have to work as hard when I get a job in college, and so I can get my own car just in case, you know?"
Kevin signed to Daniel with his eyebrows. Daniel got a grasp on what he meant. "Anyways, you wouldn't care about that now, would you, since you still got your girlfriend, isn't that right, D?"
Daniel just shook his hand off, "Yeah, I don't talk to her anymore, not after what she did."
Kevin's ears perked up, "Wait, did something happen with you guys?"
"Well, it's just safe to say I don't want to talk to that bitch ever."
"Wow, I didn't know it was that serious between you guys."
"Yeah, I prefer not to talk about that. Anyways, you said you're joining a college. When are you applying? I can apply with you. After all, what type of father would I be if I didn't come with my son?"
Hearing this, Kevin frowned, "Alright, buddy, you're pushing it."
"Hey, I'm not the one who lost a bet years ago."