An Average Day at Laminax

Chapter 14

We were silent as we got closer and closer to the city of Albuquerque. And as if the bright lights of the city in the distance getting closer and closer wasn't a clear enough sign that we were in Albuquerque wasn't good enough, the second we got off the highway and onto the main road, Emilio said "Welcome to Albuquerque. First time here?" "Well, yes, of course. Albuquerque, let alone New Mexico was never in my mind as a place to visit." I said. "Well, it should be. There's plenty of things to do here, in the good ol' land of enchantment, as they call it." Emilio said. We drove downtown, where the flashing lights of the businesses and stores illuminated the inside the car in an array of multiple colours. Soon after, we entered the Albuquerque suburbs. We drove past houses of many different styles, from pueblo and adobe houses, craftsman style and late Victorian houses. After a few more minutes of driving, Emilio pulled into the driveway of his house. In the driveway next to our car was a small, purple Volkswagen Beetle, which I assumed was the babysitters car. "Here we are, 1143 Ortega Drive Northeast, also known as my house." He said. As always, I hid myself from view in the back of the car while Emilio took care of things.

Because of my improved hearing, I could hear the footsteps of Emilio as he approached the front door. There as the muffled sound of a doorbell ringing, and a young woman's voice saying "Oh, hey, Emilio. He was great this time, he packed away his Legos without me asking, well, most of them... and he cleaned his plate as well. I just put him to bed about half an hour ago, make sure to be silent and not wake him up." Emilio then said "Yeah, thanks so much, Jessica. Usually, it's difficult to find a babysitter who's willing to look after him overnight, but... yes, thanks again." A few seconds later, I could hear footsteps walking around the car, before the footsteps stopped. The Volkswagen car door opened and the engine started. She backed out of the driveway and drove away. Emilio quickly approached his car, opening the back door and motioning me to get out. I quickly got out and ran inside the house. Emilio closed the door behind him and turned on the hallway lights.

Looking around the house, I noticed the framed photo of a younger Emilio with shorter hair, sitting in a park on what looked like a picnic blanket. He was sitting next to a beautiful woman who had a tan skin tone, long brown hair and light green eyes. In front of them both was a smiling baby, who had a light tan skin tone and visible wisps of black hair on his head. I stared at the photo for a few more moments, before asking "So, Emilio... when does your wife usually get home?" "Oh, around 6 a.m., sometimes later, depending on how busy she is... and usually it gets pretty busy at work, bless her..." Emilio said as he walked into the kitchen and turned on the light there as well, getting out a can of Fanta from the fridge. He opened it and began taking small sips from it as I walked around the house. It was a well-maintained house, other than the pieces of Lego that Emilio's child didn't put away on the red carpet in the lounge room. Next to the dining room was a glass sliding door, which led out to a grassy backyard and an outdoor patio with a barbecue and a glass-top table with wooden chairs surrounding it. In between the lounge room and the dining room was a long, dark hallway, with closed doors visible from the sides of the hall.

I stopped in place, trying to think about what to do now. Here I was, in an incredibly unfamiliar state from what I was used to in Indiana, Massachusetts and Texas. "So, what do we do now? You do know that Laminax is actively looking for us right now?" I said. "We can worry about that later. I just thought that it would be good to relax for a bit." "Relax? How could I possibly relax, Emilio, knowing how wanted I am? How wanted we are?" "Oliver, just... calm down." "HOW CAN I? They tracked us down to that hotel, there was security cameras outside the reception room and God knows where else, that means they managed to get your car's license, or, or... something! Have you even considered the consequences of what would happen if we were caught? You have a family!" "So do you!" "A family who thinks I'm dead! But I'm not! I wish I were, though. I'm confined to this body for the rest of my life, which I consider to be the next 24 hours! Maybe less!" I yelled. A door creaked in the hallway, and a small black haired boy in pajamas walked down the hall, towards us. I froze in place, and Emilio slowly put his drink down. "Uh, hey! Marco, buddy..." He said. "Papá, what's going on? Why is there yelling?" Marco said, rubbing his eyes. He slowly turned his eyes up to me, and his half-mast eyes suddenly became wide open as he realized that I was here.