When The Time Comes

chapter 14; Ben

Omar slips out of his shoes, one foot at a time. He swipes his hands over them, briefly before putting his shoes back on. I avert my gaze back to the soap between my palms, washing it off just as he finishes up as well.

"What was that about?" I ask him, following him out of the men's bathroom.

He shrugs and lets me walk ahead of him, giving me a wet slap on the back. "I'll be right back."

I watch him walk away into one of the connecting hallways of the airport until he disappears completely. Lib is still sitting on the bench, guarding our backpacks. When I approach her, she looks behind me and then at me with a slanted eyebrow.

"I don't know, he just said he'll be back."

Through the tall glass windows and doors of the airport, cars and taxis line up for passenger pickup. It's raining but only slightly. A pattern of colorful umbrellas make it past my vision outside on the curb like flowers. I watch them open and curl shut. To the right, taillights glow through the glass until finally, they shrink away.

A short time passes and Omar reappears through the sparse crowd. We gather our things from Lib, walking towards the exit.

"Where'd you go?" I ask, randomly.

He shrugs. Again.

"Nowhere," he answers, nonchalantly.

"Shall I book an uber?" Lib asks, oscillating her phone screen at us.

"No, I'll do it," Omar tells her. "I know the address."

I space out in the taxi except for the times my hand reaches for my phone in my jacket, checking to see if Michael has replied. He hasn't. And I'm getting nervous.

The ride is short and the smell of Lib's shampoo fills the car. I'm sure she doesn't mean to but with all three of us packed in the back, it's hard to avoid her hair falling all over me. The guy drops us in front of an auto shop that has nothing close to it except a Sunoco gas station sign in the distance.

We look at Omar, our faces readable as, what the fuck?

He holds his phone up to his face, unlocking it with the face scan feature. "It's a six minute walk from here."

"To where?" I ask, bewildered. When I say we're close to nothing, I mean it. I don't see any stores or apartments, just the cold breeze swooping past as cars speed on the main road.

He starts walking so we follow him, walking through empty plots with dirt that looks like sand spraying past our shoes. I kick a couple of stones and try Michael's number again. When he doesn't pick up, I take a minute to observe the Baltimore I see in front of me.

It's quiet, though I'm not sure if it's always this way. I try not to think about how much money I've wasted on this trip so far. I wanted to travel but not here. Nobody vacations to fucking Maryland. Yet here I am. My life on earth is limited and I am in Baltimore with two people I barely know.

Omar leads us to a denser, more residential area, making me forget the wasteland I've just seen. My arms hurt with all the anxiety that's been circulating in my body since we left.

On the opposite side of the street, a woman in a cheetah print skirt and sheer leggings, walks her dog. It's one of those terrier breeds that I'll never understand how people find cute let alone live inside their apartments. It breaks into a fit as we pause at the crossing. Of course it had to. At this point, I wonder why it doesn't march over here and chew my leg off. It would be an omen except we don't need any. Dark times lie ahead of us. Whatever that might end up looking like.

I walk behind Lib and Omar with not as nearly half the energy of either one of them. The smell of chicken sweeps in as we walk past a small restaurant on the corner. It has bright yellow walls, bushy plants lining the exterior and a hefty amount of people waiting in line. It screams overrated but damn, do I still want a sandwich.