“Yeah, you’re right.”
I get up and grab my things, feeling absolutely defeated by this day, but I have to move on… I have to keep going until I’m home.
“Okay, so… yeah. I’ll see you around, I guess?” Trey says when we reach the hallway I need to take to get back to the garage.
“Yeah… maybe we should, uh, hang out again soon? If you’re ever in my area, since you travel often?”
There’s a goofy smile on his face. “Yeah, that would be great. Don’t be a stranger, okay? Text me.”
“I will.”
He gives me his back and takes two steps before I call his name.
“Trey!”
He looks over his shoulder at me, raising a brow. I walk to him and throw my arms around him. “Thank you.”
“Oh, uh…” He laughs, hugging me back. “No problem.”
He relaxes into me, and I hold on to him for far too long.
Trey has always been someone that I was comfortable with, and not having seen him for so long, I wasn’t sure it would be the same. But despite the anxiety I had over this weekend, Trey was still a comfort for me. He was a support. Even if he doesn’t know it. I don’t want to have the conversation with him and explain it all, so this is the least I can do. Try to let him know in other ways that I appreciate him as a friend.
“Text me,” he says firmly before stepping away and heading back to TSA. I stare at him as he goes, and he doesn’t lookback even once. But his shoulders are hunched and he’s walking quickly. I don’t think it’s because he wants to get away from me, but maybe he’s stopping himself from turning around?
But why?
I didn’t think this day could get any worse, but hey… it did.
The rental car is small, but it fits me and my things in it. I only need it for a couple hours, so it’ll be fine, but it’s not ideal. I am not a small man, and the least I could be is comfortable while I drive. Not in this. The problem is the rain has started and the alert I just heard on the radio is about the storm that I’ll be driving into any minute.
I consider stopping and waiting it out, but it’s supposed to last a while, and I don’t have time to wait. I need to catch this flight to get home. I need to go home.
The rain picks up the further I drive. Everyone on the highway is going no more than twenty. I can’t see more than five feet in front of me, and all I have to go by are the damn taillights ahead of me, because I can’t see the ground.
I’m white-knuckling the steering wheel, the wipers are on high, the radio is off because I don’t need any more bad news, and I am in full-focus mode. I keep going though, because I just want to get there and be done with this day. I want to be home, in my bed.
But then the unthinkable happens because of course, why not throw some more shit onto my shit mountain?
There’s a dull pop, the car swerves, and steering it becomes difficult. The screen behind the wheel has a flashing tire on the little picture of the car, and I am certain I won’t make it through the rest of this day.
I pull over slowly, merging into the breakdown lane, my chest aching. I put the car in park and just sit, trying to breathe, but I fucking can’t. I can’t breathe, and I don’t know what to do. I know how to change a tire, but I can’t change a tire right now—not in this rain and not in this mental state—if this go-cart even has a spare to begin with.
I take deep, shuddering breaths and release them slowly, but each one gets harder to pull in. With shaky hands, I reach for my phone, needing something to distract me before I go into full-blown panic mode. It hasn’t happened in a long time, and I really don’t want it to happen right here.
I need something…
I need—
I tap on Trey’s contact and press the call button.
“Hey, Huds. You make it already?”
I grit my teeth, wanting to speak, but nothing comes out.
“Hello?” he says. This time I open my mouth, but no sound comes out. “Helloooo?”
I might be having a heart attack, my chest hurts so badly.
