The Guadeloupe Squadeloupe

Chapter XII: Perry

"Normality is a paved road: it's comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it." ~Vincent Van Gogh

I have noticed that I have been able to wake up earlier now. It could be the outdoors and the fresh air, or it could be that I feel there isn't time to waste. Whatever the cause, it has been benefitting me.

Sitting up and stretching, I notice that I'm not the only one conscious. Bob sits a few feet away, playing with the aglet of his shoelace.

Before I can greet him, he whispers, "You should wake the others. If you're going into the city, we need an early start."

I think of a sarcastic comeback, but keep it to myself; no reason to pick a fight.

Diana is closest to me, so I shake her awake. Her hair is sprawled out across her arm, and her hand rests in the opening of her shoe; she must have taken them off last night. After we traded our other sleeping bag, the twins decided to let Diana have the remaining one. Honestly, I think it was for the best.

"Just five more minutes," she whines, as if I was waking her to get ready for school. It makes me laugh, thinking about something as normal as school.

"We're going into the city today," I whisper in her ear. "You have to get up now."

She sighs in defeat, and sits up to stretch. I move onto Alice, who's curled up comfortably next to her sister.

"Alice," I say in my best morning voice. "Time to get up."

She moans softly as her eyes flutter open. "Hey, is it morning already?"

I laugh. "Yeah, we're getting ready to go into the city. Could you wake Janis for me?"

She nods, and slaps her twin. "Get up, you butt!"

Janis rolls away from Alice, but still gets up. The girls, well, Diana at least, persists on doing her hair before we leave. Yes, because there will totally be someone there she has to impress.

We say goodbye to Guad and Bob, who decide to watch over our camp. The walk is probably only a mile, but Diana complains about our early start.

"Time is money," Alice says matter-of-factly.

The walk is calming, unlike his the city looks from here. It's in a valley, and pedestrians roam through the streets.

I didn't notice when we entered the town; it's as if we were always here. There are a few cars that rattle down the road, but mostly people on foot.

"We should split up," Janis declares. "I'll go with Alice to find out where the closest airport is."

I don't burst their bubble to tell them we don't have enough money to fly out of here.

"I'll go look for food with Perr-," my sister says, but I cut her off as my phone vibrates.

"Guys, I think I have cell service!" I say louder than I should. Holding my phone, I can see texts pop up from the past week, each with it's own vibration. Lots of the texts are from my parents, but there's a large chunk from the kids on the tennis team.

I look at my missed calls. 387 from my mom. 387. She's gonna kill me.

"Go call Mom," Diana says. "I'll be able to find food on my own."

I nod, even though I should probably stay with her; what kind of bodyguard am I?

Diana takes off down a street with several food shops, and Alice and Janis roam the streets, trying to find anyone with an intense knowledge of airports. I find a spot on the streets away from the crowds, and dial my mom's phone number.

It rings twice before she picks up. "Hello? Perry is this you?" I can hear the hope in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah it's me, Mom," I say, unable to keep a smile from my face. "Listen, our plane crashed, but Diana and I are fine. We're on our way home; I honestly don't know how long it will take."

"Perry, I was so worried something happened to you! Why didn't you call me back?! I called you 387 times, and you never bothered to contact me before this! I can't-"

"Mom, I haven't had cell service until now. Trust me, I called you as soon as I could."

"Are you hurt?" She asks, and I hear something, glass, break in the background.

"What just broke?" I ask, and I hear more shattering glass.

My mom screams. There's pounding footsteps. My dad yells something. Someone is talking in the background, but I can't make out the words.

A scream. A gunshot. Another scream.

"Mom!" I yell into my phone, and receive odd looks from people on the streets. "Mom talk to me!"

The phone thuds; I think my mom dropped it. I'm overwhelmed with frustration, I need her to talk to me and tell her what's wrong.

Talk to me, mom, I can't read your mind! I think, and begin to pace nervously. Talk to me!

The phone goes dead.

I don't know whether to me mad or sad. How could she not have talked to me? What if that was the last thing I got to say to her? Why couldn't she just have told me what was happening.

I scream in despair, and chunk my phone across the alleyway. Why did I do that?

My common sense isn't working. I lean against the cool brick wall, and try to calm down.

Focus in your surroundings, Perry.

There's a puddle of water beneath me; I'm thankful that a didn't sit down. I watch as several small trees dance to the rhythm of the wind, bobbing to the right. People walk past, but none of them pay attention to me. My face is wet, but I don't think it's rain; if it were, I could wake up from this nightmare.

"Alice, I found him!" Someone, probably Janis, shouts, waking me from my thoughts. I try to come back to reality, but everything is unclear, as if I'm standing underwater.

Another person approaches. I wipe my eyes, and get a clear look at the twins. They lean over my phone, examining the damage.

"How the flipping flippers?" Janis mutters, and picks up what looks like chips of broken glass glued together. She walks over to me, and holds it to where I can easily see it. "What did you do to this thing? It looks like it got run over by a truck!"

She's right, it looks pretty bad. There's two giant cracks that run down the majority of the screen, and tiny cracks branch out from those, like roots of a tree.

Mom is gonna kill me... I think, but the bad choice of words sends me into another wrenching sob.

"So you wanna explain why you threw your phone at a brick wall?" Janis says sarcastically.

I nod, and wipe my eyes again. The three of us sit down a few moments into my explanation (which takes, in total, about five minutes, mostly because it's hard for me to talk without crying). If it were Guad I were talking to, I would feel uncomfortable; I know that Alice and Janis won't judge me, with the loss of their father.

"Maybe we should call our foster parents," Alice says, taking my hand. "They would probably want to know we're okay."

Janis nods. "I'll call them when we get back to the camp," she says in a kinder voice than before.

I lean my head back against the brick wall, and stare at the puddle to my right.

IF ONLY I COULD BE A DROPLET OF WATER, THEN I COULD EVAPORATE AND LEAVE THIS REALITY...