Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
More and more memories of that night come flooding back to me, and I have to look away. It’s all just so much, and I wasn’t anticipating having to think about all this right now, especially on top of what just happened with Iris.
The top step cracks under my weight, and I nearly fall as I step down to the yard. I go around to the back of the house, but that just makes things worse.
Everything I once remembered is gone. My bike that I put so many hours into working on must have been stolen once people realized my family wasn’t coming back. The miscellaneous tools I had lying around that I knew would be safe for the night if I left them out are gone. So is my mom’s clothes drying rack and my dad’s barbecue. Even the stump that Iris used to sit on and watch me while I was working on something has withered and rotted away into nothing.
The whole place is like a faded memory of its former self.
I turn, and from this angle, I can see the window to my bedroom. It takes a lot of strength, but I’m able to force myself to walk over to it and gaze inside.
There it is—the bed where I was sleeping when my father came in and woke me up to tell me we were leaving.
“Jameson, wake up,” he told me. “I need you to get up, get dressed, and get your shoes on. We’re leaving.”
“Leaving?” I replied, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I was so confused. “What? What’s happening?”
“There’s no time, Jameson. Do as I say. We’re flying to Albania.”
“Albania, Dad?” I said as I sat up. I still remember that moment clear as day. My blood started pumping as my heart began to pound in my chest. I was sure he was playing a prank on me, but then I saw my mom pacing quickly through the hallway behind him, and when I saw the look on her face, I knew it was no prank. “Dad, where is Albania? What are you talking about?”
“Come on, get up,” he said, pulling the covers off me. “We have to go now. Don’t argue with me.”
“And I can’t pack anything? What is going on? How long will we be gone?”
“A week. Two weeks tops.”
He turned and marched out of the room. I’d never seen my dad so on edge before. I quickly slid into a pair of jeans and raced after him into the kitchen.
“A week or two? Oh my God…” I turned to the front door and moved to push it open, but he quickly stopped me. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve got to go tell Iris I’m leaving! She’ll be so worried–”
“You can’t, Jameson. Not right now.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. My head was whirling. Nothing my dad was saying was making any sense. He was behaving like another person. “Mom! What’s going on?”
But my mom didn’t answer. It was like she was scared or something. In fact, she didn’t even come out from the back of the house. It was just my dad and me, and when I looked into his eyes, I knew there was something going on. But all I could do was listen and do as I was told.
“Jameson, it’s late,” he told me. “Iris is asleep. And if she isn’t, it’s just easier this way. You have to trust me, okay? We’re going to go outside, the three of us, and we’re going to get in the car and go to the airport. Now do as I say.”
I wanted to argue. I wanted to ask more questions. I wanted to scream. But I knew it wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Because I’d seen that look in my father’s eyes before. And when he got like that, there was no point. He could be as tough as nails when he wanted to, and I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. I had no choice.
So I followed him outside and got in the car. Thirty seconds later, my mom joined us, and we drove to the airport.
And then my whole life changed.
I step away from the window and walk slowly back to my car, feeling as though I’m leaving a piece of my life behind for the second time.
I shouldn’t have come here. I really don’t need to be reliving that night on top of everything that just happened with Iris. My mind should be on her and her alone—not me and my past problems.
I get back into my car, but somehow I can’t manage to pull away. I just sit there thinking about Albania, about my parents, about how I’m going to make things right with Iris and how our lives could have turned out differently if my dad had never dragged me away from her to begin with.