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I pump for what feels like hours but judging from the height of the sun it’s only around noon. The small cart’s insufferable with heat and my shoulders and arms burn in pain like they never have before. The sweat dripping down my face stings my eyes and when I turn my head to rub it against the already sweat damp shoulder of my shirt, I see a flash of green. At first I don’t know what it means. My eyes are blurry from the sweat that’s dripped into them so I can’t make out the words on the label under the green light so I step away from the handle and lean closer. The words come clear for my tired eyes and I let out a groan of relief. “Engine charged” might be the sweetest words on earth right now. My arm’s wobbly with exhaustion when I reach out and stab the button but I’m smiling as I feel the cart pick up speed that didn’t come from my pumping.
“Whoa! What’s happening?” Beck asks in concern.
I turn to him and breathe the words out. “The engine is charged. No more pumping for a few hours.”
“There’s an engine?” he asks.
I just nod and turn to the closest window. Now that I’m not pumping my mind can focus on the next problem. It’s so hot in the car that we’ve all been guzzling water like crazy. If we keep going at the rate of the last few hours then we won’t make it more than a few days before we’re out. There has to be a way to get air moving to cool the inside and us down. I run my hands around the frame of the window looking for a latch of some kind but all I find is two raised metal stubs on either side of the top of the frame that move towards the middle of the window but every time I push one it just bounces back without doing anything.
I feel Beck move behind me and his arms come around me on both sides causing me to tense and get ready to slam my elbow back into his stomach as hard as I can. What does he think he’s doing getting in my personal space? I brace myself to swing back when I see the window drop down an inch and my mouth drops open.
“You have to squeeze them together at the same time for it to lower.” He says against the side of my ear. His breath feels cool against my sweat dampened hair and a pleasant shiver runs down my spine, causing me to elbow him away anyway, just not as hard as I had originally planned. I tuck my lips in together to stop the smile that wants to form when I hear him let out an “oomph” from the blow and feel him back off.
I reach up and squeeze the springs together like he said and glide the window down as far as it will go. When I turn around and see the hurt frown on his face, I shrug.
“Thanks for the help. I just don’t like anyone in my space. Can you do that side of the cart?”
He gives me a disgruntled nod and rolls his eyes but I can see the small spark of humor in them so I just turn away and work on opening all the windows on my side of the cart. When I get to the front, I stand for a moment behind Glo and search for words to comfort her. Other than drinking from the jug, she hasn’t moved from her spot at the front window since this morning. At a loss for words, I finally just reach around her and pull her gently back against me. She stays stiff for a moment but then lets herself melt back into me.
We stay like that for a few minutes before I turn her around to face me.
“I have some things from Abuela that I’d like to share with you but first we need to make some decisions about...” I nod my head back towards our stowaway.
A tiny grin forms on her lips and she leans to the side to peek past me at him before ducking back.
“I like him! He’s really nice and it’s fun to have a boy around.”
I snort out a laugh at that. Living in a house of females has shielded her from all the annoying traits of “boys”. But she is right, he does seem to be nice so far and I have to admit, this whole crazy journey seems more manageable with another semi adult to share the load. I let out a sigh and muss up her hair.
“Well, let’s go see what the boy has to say for himself!”
She smiles but shakes her head. “You go. I have to watch the tracks so we don’t hit anything and I’m still watching for them to split like you said.”
I lean down and plant a smacking kiss on the top of her head. “I knew I could count on you! I’ll take over in a little while so you can rest your eyes.” She bobs her head and spins around to go back to her watch.
I turn to talk to Beck about his plans but the words catch in my throat when I see him with his head stuck out one of the windows. His eyes are closed against the wind our increased speed has created and I try not to laugh at the way his shaggy hair is whipping all around. It’s then that I realize that the temperature in the cart has dropped. It’s not cool by any means but it’s definitely more bearable than the hot box it was. I take a few steps towards him and give a yank on his shirt to bring him back inside. When his head pops back in, the grin on his face is one I recognized from our childhood. It’s the first time I see my old friend in him.
“This is amazing! We’re going so fast! I’ve never been in anything that moves with this kind of speed before. Can you imagine what it must have been like back when there were cars and trucks that went even faster? Or the sky trains? I read about them in a book once. That would be so incredible to fly through the air like that!”
I just stand there with a dumb grin on my face as memories of this boy come flashing back to me. I always loved how excited he would get about the things he would read about in his books. He would jabber at me constantly about technical marvels or faraway places with strange names, foods, and customs. He always said we would travel to those places when we grew up. And here we are, my old friend and I running away from home together.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks, as the excitement dims from his face.
I just shake my head. “Hi Beck, it’s good to see you again.”
His face fills with sadness and his eyes cast down to the floor. “Día, I’m sorry. Boyd would have found a way to hurt you. It was his mission in life to take everything good away from me. I didn’t want to see you hurt so when he shoved you that day, I had to stop being your friend for your own protection.” His eyes lift to meet mine. “It sucked not having you as my friend all these years. I missed you.”
I feel a sting of tears at the back of my eyes. The truth is, I missed him too. I never really had anyone to talk to after that day. As much as I loved Glo and Abuela, sometimes you just need a friend. I clear my throat and shove the feelings of loneliness away. I need to think about the here and now. The bottom line is, he’s not my friend now and I don’t know if I can trust him yet.
“We need to talk about where you’re going.”
He gives me a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, when and where you’re going to get off this cart.”