you to stay here with my grandma. What if she wakes up?”
“And what if she doesn’t . . . and then you don’t return? Then what?”
“Then you’re on your own.”
Naima left the window and sat down at my desk. “You really think she’s gonna come out of it so soon?”
I shook my head. “No, but I’d like to stay positive about it.”
“Okay, I’ll stay and keep an eye on her,” Peaches said. “But you better return.”
“I’ll be back.”
I went downstairs and pulled my grandma’s Buick around to the front of the store. I put Sally, my one and only, between the seat and the center console. Naima was waiting by the curb when I pulled up. I popped open the passenger door, and she got in.
“Nice car. It’s big.” She pressed down on the seats with her hands. “Comfy.”
“It sucks actually, but thanks.”
Peaches stood inside the bookstore and waved us off. The disappointment of being left alone again was evident on her face.
I made it halfway down the block before I turned around and went back.
Peaches was still standing where we’d left her. I rolled down the car windows.
She came outside and asked, “What is it?”
It was a bad feeling that came on suddenly as I had pulled away. That’s what it was. And the message was clear. Whatever you do, don’t let her out of your sight. Don’t leave her behind. I’m the awful disfigured creature in your brain that produces terrible thoughts. And I’m telling you, if you leave her behind, you’ll never see her again. Muhahaha.
But of course, I wouldn’t tell her that.
All I told her was, “I changed my mind.”
I gave her the keys to lock up the bookstore and then she hopped in the backseat. I restarted the car and then pulled back onto the road.
Halfway down the block, she asked, “Why did you change your mind?”
I said nothing and kept driving.
We were the only moving car on the road.
Chapter 14
“Now would be the time when you tell me where you live?”
The question was for Naima. I knew where Peaches lived, or used to live before the shit hit the fan. Shady Villas trailer park. I hadn’t forgotten what Officer Robinson had said. That Shady Villas is a shady place. Uh-huh. And the last thing I wanted was to chance running into Bad Moses again, if he wasn’t already incapacitated.
“Oh, sorry,” Naima said. “I was distracted.”
“Just let me know when and where to turn.”
I couldn’t blame Naima for being distracted. The farther we got down the road, the more fucked-up things began to look. It reminded me of War of the Worlds , where everything just shut down, only this time it was mostly just the people that stopped working. The street had become one big parking lot where everyone decided to stop and take a nap, suddenly for some, evident by the number of accidents, and the utter cacophony of screaming car alarms. Many of the cars were still running, others had either run out of gas or shut down after colliding with the car in front of them. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard to maneuver through the crowd. The soldiers in the humvees had successfully coerced enough people to stay indoors. Still I drove slow, gliding along at twenty miles per hour, taking it all in.
“The lights aren’t working,” said Peaches.
She was very observant, even from the backseat. “No power. No lights,” I said, and drove through traffic light after traffic light without stopping, but not without looking out for other moving cars. The last thing I needed was to be sideswiped by some other moron out cruising our little ghost town. I did, however, spot some people who didn’t have their head on the steering wheel or face down on the sidewalk. Some people like us. Still moving. Still aware. Wondering what was going on. They poked their heads out of windows, just as I had. They hid in the shadowy alleyways between buildings. They peered down from rooftops. They stared at us as we drove by, and we stared back with the same confused look
“And what if she doesn’t . . . and then you don’t return? Then what?”
“Then you’re on your own.”
Naima left the window and sat down at my desk. “You really think she’s gonna come out of it so soon?”
I shook my head. “No, but I’d like to stay positive about it.”
“Okay, I’ll stay and keep an eye on her,” Peaches said. “But you better return.”
“I’ll be back.”
I went downstairs and pulled my grandma’s Buick around to the front of the store. I put Sally, my one and only, between the seat and the center console. Naima was waiting by the curb when I pulled up. I popped open the passenger door, and she got in.
“Nice car. It’s big.” She pressed down on the seats with her hands. “Comfy.”
“It sucks actually, but thanks.”
Peaches stood inside the bookstore and waved us off. The disappointment of being left alone again was evident on her face.
I made it halfway down the block before I turned around and went back.
Peaches was still standing where we’d left her. I rolled down the car windows.
She came outside and asked, “What is it?”
It was a bad feeling that came on suddenly as I had pulled away. That’s what it was. And the message was clear. Whatever you do, don’t let her out of your sight. Don’t leave her behind. I’m the awful disfigured creature in your brain that produces terrible thoughts. And I’m telling you, if you leave her behind, you’ll never see her again. Muhahaha.
But of course, I wouldn’t tell her that.
All I told her was, “I changed my mind.”
I gave her the keys to lock up the bookstore and then she hopped in the backseat. I restarted the car and then pulled back onto the road.
Halfway down the block, she asked, “Why did you change your mind?”
I said nothing and kept driving.
We were the only moving car on the road.
Chapter 14
“Now would be the time when you tell me where you live?”
The question was for Naima. I knew where Peaches lived, or used to live before the shit hit the fan. Shady Villas trailer park. I hadn’t forgotten what Officer Robinson had said. That Shady Villas is a shady place. Uh-huh. And the last thing I wanted was to chance running into Bad Moses again, if he wasn’t already incapacitated.
“Oh, sorry,” Naima said. “I was distracted.”
“Just let me know when and where to turn.”
I couldn’t blame Naima for being distracted. The farther we got down the road, the more fucked-up things began to look. It reminded me of War of the Worlds , where everything just shut down, only this time it was mostly just the people that stopped working. The street had become one big parking lot where everyone decided to stop and take a nap, suddenly for some, evident by the number of accidents, and the utter cacophony of screaming car alarms. Many of the cars were still running, others had either run out of gas or shut down after colliding with the car in front of them. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard to maneuver through the crowd. The soldiers in the humvees had successfully coerced enough people to stay indoors. Still I drove slow, gliding along at twenty miles per hour, taking it all in.
“The lights aren’t working,” said Peaches.
She was very observant, even from the backseat. “No power. No lights,” I said, and drove through traffic light after traffic light without stopping, but not without looking out for other moving cars. The last thing I needed was to be sideswiped by some other moron out cruising our little ghost town. I did, however, spot some people who didn’t have their head on the steering wheel or face down on the sidewalk. Some people like us. Still moving. Still aware. Wondering what was going on. They poked their heads out of windows, just as I had. They hid in the shadowy alleyways between buildings. They peered down from rooftops. They stared at us as we drove by, and we stared back with the same confused look
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