Below the Sky

Chapter 22: Lila

Mama dropped a duffel bag at my feet. It landed hard, shaking the floor slightly. I peered inside, and noticed all of my essentials, like my clothes, tooth brush, and anything else I might need to travel.
To travel? I was confused, very confused. Why had Mama and Papa packed a bag for me, as if I was going away, then it hit me.
"You're leaving," Papa said, his tone harsh.
I felt another round of tears threatening to spill over. This couldn't be happening, I simply didn't believe it. My own parents kicking me off the property I had lived on my entire life was next level horrible, worse than shaming me for loving someone of the same sex.
"What about Riana?" I asked, my voice wobbly. I stared at the ground, glaring at my packed bag. I blinked rapidly, struggling to contain that tears that so desperately needed to be free of my eyes.
Papa's reply to my question was dropping another packed duffel bag at my feet. This one was filled with everything Riana owned instead.
"She's going with you, if you love each other so much, you'll be able to survive just fine if you have one another."
I stole a glance up at my father. What I saw shook me to my core. His face was void of emotion. There wasn't even a hint of sadness from him kicking his own daughter out of his house. Then I looked at Mama. What I noticed in her face was even worse. Her face spoke of immense loss, and she too seemed to be holding back tears. I knew then that this was not her decision. No matter how much she despised my relationship with Riana, she never wished for it to come to this.
"But, where even is Riana?" I mustered enough courage to ask.
"I have no clue, that's your problem. You can go find the 'love of your life,' then tell her what's happening. I don't wish for either of you to ever enter this property again," Papa told me.
I was devastated. I had thought of so many ways my parents would react when they discovered I was in love with a women. This was not one of them. I simply did not think it could be true that someone would kick their own child out of their home, for what, loving another human?
"Can't I say goodbye?" I requested. I figured that if I was leaving, maybe I could tell Oliver and Maya that I loved them one last time.
"Go find Maya and Oliver, and say goodbye. If I catch you or Riana on this property after sundown, well..." Papa stopped mid sentence, lost in thought. "Let's just say your punishment will be much harsher than what you two are already getting."
I gulped, fear engulfing me. Papa kicked the two bags in my direction, and I picked them up. They were heavy, but I didn't want to show weakness, so I lugged them to the barn door, and took one glance back.
I couldn't bring myself to look at Papa, so instead I glanced towards Mama. I tried to tell her that I loved her, and that I was sorry, through my eyes. If she understood I would never know, because then Papa cursed at me to leave the barn, and the door was slammed in my face.

Over the next hour I searched for Riana. Where could she be? I stumbled through tall grass, and dirt. Through mud and muck, and still I did not find her. The sun was about to sink below the horizon, when I finally thought to look somewhere I hadn't yet.
I hurried towards the edge of our property, not far from the lake. There was a big tree that grew right there, a tree that stood solo and valiant. It wasn't surrounded by other trees, no, it grew alone.
I ran over, and stopped when I about fifteen feet away from the base of that tree. There was a person, curled up in a ball. Their body was shaking, and they looked frail and small. I looked closer, and realized that it was Riana.
"Riana, Riana! Get up," I ran to her, dropping to my knees, shaking her shoulders. She groaned, but did not awake. "Come on Riana, please, we need to go," I begged her.
Finally, Riana rose from her slumber. She saw me leaning over her, trying to shake her awake, and smiled. "Hi Lila," she mumbled, brushing a tear from my cheek.
"Riana please stand up," I cried, "we have to leave, now."
Delight from seeing me quickly turned to worry. Riana stared at me with confusion, but then she realized why we were going. She understood, why we had to leave.
"Okay, okay where should we go?" She asked.
"I'm not sure, we just have to get off the property before sun down. That doesn't leave us much time," I glanced back up at the sky, panicking when I noticed that the sun was gone. Darkness had fallen.
Riana soon realized too that if we wanted to make it safely away, we had to move now. So she grabbed my hand, took her bag and swung it onto her shoulder, and led me away. "Let's just get through those gates then we can worry about what's next," she said.
So we hobbled away from that lone tree. We were both covered from head to toe with dirt, and there were tear stains trailing down our cheeks. Our hair was a tangled mess, and internally we felt weak. But still, we trudged along, ignoring any wants to stop.
We made it to the gates at last, battered but alive. I pulled Riana past my old home, and onto the road.
"What now?" Riana asked.
I assessed our situation. The little food we did have was what Mama had packed for us. We were messy, exhausted, and weak. Our chances of making it much farther from this point were slim, and then I realized our only option.
"We have to go to Luke's," I whispered, already feeling sick just at the thought of it. It was the only chance of survival though.
"Wait, Lila, are you sure?" Riana turned, grabbing my hands. She stared into my eyes, trying to depict any resistance of my idea. She searched my face, but didn't see any emotion worth noting.
"I'm sure," I replied, squeezing Riana's hands. I leaned into her, kissing her. For a moment all the stress fell away from me, but when we broke away from our kiss, I remembered all the events of my day.
"Okay, let's go," Riana said. We picked up our backs, and started. Tracking towards Luke's house.
Normally, Luke's home wasn't actually that far away from my old one. However, me and Riana were exhausted, carrying heavy bags, and hungry. Therefore when we finally made it to Luke's house, it had to have been at least midnight.