MARIEL

26~ The Red Dot ~

Chicago, IL

February 15th, 2020

3:36PM

The incessant ringing and buzzing of her phone would not stop. Face down in her pillow, Esther opened her eyes. The late afternoon sun flooded her vision, and a strange sense of deja vu crept into her senses. Groaning, she reached for her phone and wiped drool from the corner of her mouth as she answered it.

"What, Dad?" Opening the bookstore had been exhausting. After that, dance practice, while successful, had also been exhausting. She just wanted a goddamn nap.

His voice held a level of aggression. "Esther. I need you to do me a favor. Go get your brother, and beat his ass."

Rubbing her eyes, Esther sat up. The half-assed bun at her neck tickled her skin, and she felt dried saliva stuck to her cheek. "Huh? Why? I thought he was helping Grandma at the bookstore."

"Nope. I put Life 360 on his phone. Guess where he's headed?"

Esther flopped back onto the bed. "The rally."

"Yup! I'm going to murder him."

Her parents were slightly dramatic. "Dad. I'm sure he's fine. Just let him do this thing, promote his little project, and then you can 'beat his ass' when he gets home so I don't have to do it. I'm sure Phil's 'prediction' video is nothing more than an attention call, that's it." Esther spoke the words, but didn't fully believe them herself.

"Esther. What're you doing? Napping? It's not like you have big plans."

"Thanks, Dad. Because I don't like relaxing once in a while." Frustrated, she closed her eyes and massaged her forehead as if it would take the negative emotions away.

"Esther."

"I'll go. But you owe me."

"Thank you, squirt."

Rolling her eyes, Esther tumbled from the bed and glanced at her new phone. She'd done her best to refrain from getting her hopes up after sending Tira her new number. Still, she felt crushing disappointment when she didn't see a response. She wondered if she'd ever hear from Officer Mysterious again.

"Guess I'll make a trip to Russia if I don't have fucking uterine cancer," she scoffed, and reached for her shoes.

Her family didn't know anything. Hell, the doctor didn't even know anything yet. Esther still held onto hope that it would be a scare. Regardless, she didn't intend to tell her family anything until she was ready. She'd barely gotten by with the lie that she'd changed her phone because 'a weird guy from school was stalking her'.

Esther wished, however, she could tell Tira. She wished she could just see her again, even for a moment. Or, talk to her on the phone. Anything would be better than the radio silence.

"How do you even get to this place?" Esther muttered, speeding down the suburb road while staring intently at the GPS on her phone. Her father was insane. There'd be no way to park right now. Not anywhere close, at least. She was tempted to drive downtown, grab a coffee, and wait for the rally to end, but even that was stressful to think about right now.

Seriously. She'd just wanted a fucking nap. So much for self-care.

The sky was extraordinarily blue as she made her way closer downtown. After listening to a selection of angry rap music, she decided to take the subway to get to the rally. She'd never make it if she attempted to find a parking spot. Once she made it to the subway station's parking garage, Esther attempted to call her brother for the eighth time. Again, it went to voicemail.