Being Theo Fernandes

Chapter 7

"Why not?" asked Din, as though that was the most obvious thing in the world to do.

"Because," began Theo, but coming to think of it, he couldn't name too many reasons not to. But still, just to prove his point he said, "My uncle comes tomorrow."

"And we go tonight."

"No, we don't."

"Yes, we do."

"Shut up, Din," said Theo, annoyed, thrusting his cap into his duffel bag with more force than it called for. "We don't even have money."

"We don't, but I do." Said Din, and that's when Theo looked up.

Din reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a neat set of bills, tied together with a rubber band. "Now that," he announced proudly, "is what my life's worth."

"Oh my god, we are actually going," muttered Theo, unable to take his eyes off the stack of bills, which could easily go up to a few hundred dollars.

Theo felt a kind of happiness he had never felt before. A kind of escapism, you may call it. A run away from reality. But then, that's what every teenager wants. Or at least that's what they want to want.

"How'd you get the money, Din?" Theo asked suspiciously.

"Worked for it, my guy. Cleaned toilets, polished shoes, cooked stale food, God knows what else. No, I didn't steal it," He added quickly, reading Theo's mind.

Now Theo found a lot more motivation to stuff his belongings into the duffel bag, eventually joined by Din, who, apparently didn't have much to pack, as most of the things that made his room livable was donated to him out of pity, or had been rescued from garage sales or trash trucks. He stuffed a few clothes into a bag, kept the bundle of notes safely in between, and deposited the rest of his clothes on top. The boys worked wordlessly, both brimming with the absolute excitement of freedom that might just be possible.

Now, the room was empty apart from a few dusty wall hangings, an empty almirah, and a single cot bed.

"You can sleep a few hours, the bus only leaves at eleven," muttered Din, collapsing onto the bed after a few hours of packing. "If you don't want dinner, that is-" he added with a grin.

Theo was so tired he didn't need to be told twice. He climbed onto the bed, pushed Din's legs a bit to make some room, tossed a pair of dirty underwear he just found under the sheets over to the pile of packed bags, and crawled up for the night, making sure to consume only half the bed. He could hear his heart beating over the sound of the ticking clock. What seemed impossible just hours ago now seemed almost inevitable. They were so really close, to what surely seemed like, freedom at midnight.