Chapter 13
Rafe
Rafe went from worried to full-blown panic attack in their cab. He imagined several possibilities, none of them good, some of them ending up with him winding up in jail for some reason. He had Eamonn call his phone, but nobody pickedup.
“Do you have a tracker onit?”
“No. Because I’m an idiot.” Rafe smacked his head against the cab partition. “Someone has my phone. They’re probably downloading all of my personal information, and they’ve probably stolen my identity as thispoint.”
“Calm down. There is only one Rafe. I assure you of that.” Eamonn rubbed his shoulder, which Rafe couldn’t even enjoy at thismoment.
“What am I going to do? Should I file a policereport?”
“Are you sure you werepickpocketed?”
“Yes. That bar was packed. Someone in the crowd easily could’ve swipedit.’”
“We’ll call the bar in the morning. Maybe you just dropped it isall.”
Rafe didn’t have as much faith as Eamonn, but he hoped he was right. Eamonn seemed to sense this, because he said next: “And if the bar doesn’t have it, I guess we can file a policereport.”
“Youguess?”
“It’s not going tohelp.”
“A crime wascommitted.”
“Yes, because amid the murders, abuse, arson, hit-and-runs, and armed robbery, Scotland Yard will dedicate a full team of constables to your case.” Eamonn softened. “Sorry. Wrong time for sarcasm. The police have bigger cases. They’ll take down your information, but they won’t do anything aboutit.”
Rafe didn’t say anything for the rest of the cab ride. He was thinking. Thinking of what to do next. He honestly had no idea, which upset him as much as the pickpocketing. What did one do when one needed a new phone? He was on a family plan with his parents. He had pointed out which iPhone he wanted, and they bought it. He hated that memory now.I barely qualify as a fuckingadult.
When they arrived back at the dorm, he hugged Eamonn good night and went to his room. “You need help?” Eamonnasked.
“No. I have this.” It was time to figure out shit on hisown.
He Googled “what do I do if I lost my iPhone.” It told him to go to the cloud to activate a lost iPhone app, which was supposed to lock his phone and emit a loud beeping sound until it was returned. It also disabled all credit card information on the phone. Rafe tried it and waited for a few minutes. Nothing happened.Whoever pickpocketed me probably knows about this app and already has aworkaround.
“Okay, I also need a new phone,” he said to himself, working through the steps of his dilemma like it was a word problem. He went on Verizon’s website to look at new iPhones, but immediately exed out.No. If I do that, my parents will find out.He couldn’t let them know about this. He wasn’t going to have them swoop in and save the day. He wasn’t going to get a lecture about beingcareless.
Some further Googling pointed him to prepaid phones. He could get a new phone and pay for service as long as he wanted. He blanched at the price, until he scrolled past the nice smartphones and found the most basic models.Okay, I can get by with just texting and calling for three months.Party like it’s 2005.He found a store in town that sold prepaid phones that allowed you to “top up.” He nodded to himself in his window reflection.You gotthis.
Before he went to bed, he emailed hisparents:
Dear Mom andDad,
England is wonderful! Unfortunately, it’s so amazing that it fried my phone. It’s been on the fritz, so to be safe, I’m getting a prepaid phone for the rest of my time here. We can talk via Skype and email, and I’ll send you the new number when I get it. Just wanted to give you a headsup.
Love,
Rafe
Rafe feltthe pumping of endorphins bringing an excited smile to his face, like he just completed some massive class project. Tonight was not the end of the world as he knew it, and he feltfine.
Eamonn
Eamonn heard Rafe stirring in the kitchen the next morning. He thought about him last night, and not just when he wanked off before he went to sleep. He believed that underneath all the babying from his folks, there was someone wild waiting to get out, and Eamonn wanted to release him. He went into the kitchen, but it was Louisa he heard, notRafe.
“Have you seen Rafe this morning?” heasked.
