Moon Tower

29.

this chapter has been edited and updated. enjoy!xx

There's a certain kind of heaviness that sets on your shoulders when you have a bad day. After leaving Harry's house this morning, I was feeling better, the cloud that seemed to be lording over my head when I woke up started to break away as I drove towards the on-ramp.

I should've known that luck was not on my side today, taking my mood as an omen and not something that could be eradicated with the snap of my fingers.

The clouds came back in full force not even ten minutes into my drive to work, the lingering effects of a car crash clogging up the freeway and bringing traffic to a standstill. I was gridlocked, and half an hour away from work. Merry Christmas to me.

Sighing, I rested my head against the steering wheel, resigning myself to waiting an indefinite amount of time for cars to start moving again. I turned off the radio, electing to listen to one of my favorite Dirty Heads CDs to drown out the cacophony of horns that were blaring. Who people were honking at, I couldn't say. I never understood why anyone felt the need to honk when in bumper-to-bumper traffic, your horn wasn't going to make traffic magically start moving again, so what was the point?

I sat idly in my car, easing up on the brakes to move up in my lane inch by inch. By the time I was more than halfway through the album, I'd still barely moved. Coming to another complete stop, I shot a text off to my boss Georgia, explaining the situation to her. I knew she would most likely understand, we lived in LA after all, things like this just happened. Still, I couldn't help the seed of worry that had been planted in the pit of my stomach.

I wanted to call Harry, his voice had this remarkable ability to calm me down. But I knew he was most likely taking another phone call or on his way to Burbank for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Instead, I rang my brother Tico. I haven't spoken to him in a while, and I suddenly had a unique window of time.

My brother answers on the first ring, his voice sounding chipper "Luz! How's it going?"

"I'm stuck in traffic," I groaned into my phone's speaker. I talk to my brother for a little bit, trying to pass the time while I slowly inch forward on the freeway.

Tico tells me what he's been up to, about some of his regulars at the bar he works at and how he's been training his dog to surf with him. I do the same, telling him everything I've been doing these past few weeks. It felt good talking to Tico, we've always been able to balance serious and not so serious conversations anytime we spoke. I think it was because we were only about a year apart in age and spent most of our school years side by side. We just kind of got each other.

That's why I wasn't all that surprised when I was the first person he told about getting a Master's degree in teaching. Well, that and the fact I'd brought it up to him in the first place.

"You think so, Robertico? That's great! Good for you," I told him excitedly, and I meant it. Tico was incredibly intelligent. It felt good to see him taking all that knowledge and channeling it into something like teaching.

"Thanks. I mean, I still have to apply and get in, and then there's the money thing," Tico says, sounding the tiniest bit unsure, which was very unlike my brother. "But for the first time in a while, I have a clear plan, and that feels pretty good."

I affirm my younger brother, assuring him that it was a good thing. Tico changes the subject soon after, never one for overly sentimental conversation. I let him, going over when the two of us will be driving home for Christmas. I planned to come home the twenty third, and Tico agreed he'd do the same.

By the time Tico says he has to go, traffic is starting to move again. Hanging up the phone, I slowly start to press my foot on the gas, weaving through lanes and picking up speed where I could.