Forbidden Territories

Chapter 21: Tombstone

Hours couldn't pass by fast enough. I passed out sometime after Scar had left my room but I woke up again before dawn. My mind was racing, to put it mildly. 

I didn't know what time Scar would stop by. We acted like secret agents at that point and we needed to sneak around my sister. It didn't really hit me in what kind of position I put Scar until that moment. She was risking everything for me. Her job, her relationship with my sister ... 

As much as it was her idea for all of this and I was beyond grateful, the nagging sensation of guilt in the pit of my stomach almost made me throw up. Or maybe, it was the pack and a half of cigarettes I smoked in the span of just a few hours. 

I heard Maya wake up and walk through the apartment but I didn't move from the window seat. The cool breeze blew my fair locks off my face and the ashes from the tip of my cigarette fell a few stories down, onto the sidewalk. I simply couldn't bear the idea of talking to anyone. Well, not anyone ... 

Once again, I received that feeling of missing a part of me. The only difference was that now, that part had a name and an address. I knew where I could find it again. It wasn't lost, it didn't disappear in a puff of smoke. It was real, I could touch it if I only got close enough. 

I swallowed down a sob and tried to focus on the positive thing that was meant to happen that day. 

Given that I didn't truly remember my parents, the thought of what my mom would say hardly ever crossed my mind. I was so used to having my sister around, she was the one taking care of me for a long time. But I didn't even have her anymore. Not truly. Not in the way I needed her. 

Before I could talk myself out of it, I stepped onto the ground and headed out of my room. I searched for that black bob throughout the living room until I heard fiddling in the kitchen. 

Maya was sitting behind the kitchen island, her phone in one hand and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the other. She was so busy texting, she didn't even seem to hear me as I walked in. 

"Morning," I said quietly.

Her head shot up, confusion flashing over her sapphire globes. "Morning?" she mumbled with a full mouth. 

Cautiously, I approached her and took my usual seat. I clasped my hands together, resting them on my lap to hide the fidgeting of my fingers. "I need to ask you something." 

Maya looked at me as if her life just flashed before her eyes, so before she could scold me again or act like she didn't have the answers to my queries, I shook my head. 

"Not about that," I said. 

She exhaled and took another bite of her sandwich, waiting for me to speak. 

"I want to know about mom." My voice was quieter then. Softer. "I want to know where they're buried." 

A scowl appeared on Maya's forehead. She took a few moments to chew in peace, setting down the remainder of her sandwich. It took just long enough for me to start worrying again whether this is another thing I wouldn't get the answers about. 

"It's about an hour drive," she then said, her features softening. 

Just then, just for that moment, she looked like my sister again. She looked like the Maya I once knew, the one I could trust and rely on. The one who was patient and loving and understood me. I missed that version of her. Even more so at that moment, when I saw it bubble back to the surface.

"Can you write down the address for me?" I asked, still cautious in the way I formed my sentences. 

Maya kept her gaze on me before she eventually nodded. "I can't drive you, I have to go to work in a couple of hours," she added apologetically.