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Gabe left in the morning like he said, all his belongings packed up into a few suitcases. He'd bought a car with a loan from the bank, headed God knows where, having fabricated the story about his aunt being sick.
He'd accepted that he needed out of this place, he needed to escape, he needed to leave the past in the past. He felt awful for leaving Stevie like that, probably indefinitely, but it was for the better.
He'd left them letters, which they'd probably find sooner rather than later. They weren't hidden beyond belief but were hidden enough to the point where they wouldn't come over and try and talk him out of it before he left. He wouldn't be able to leave if they talked him out of it.
They couldn't depend on each other, especially Gabe. He'd been thinking about this since he was a preteen. It was his time to escape while he could. He wanted to leave things on good enough terms before fleeing to wherever the road took him. Hopefully, far from this shit hole.
The radio, playing Foo Fighters, drowns out the outside noise. The engine of the '93 truck rumbling down the highway, the wind blowing by between the door and the cracked open window, the air conditioning blowing in his face.
Ray was the first to find his. It'd been tucked away in his backpack, Gabe snuck it in when he left it with him during a gas station break the past day. He flipped it around in his fingers, then opened it cautiously due to the blank, white cover blanketing the actual letter.
He unfolds the paper, reading the following.
"know it's for the better. take care of fuckshit and stevie for me, they need you. dont let them fall back into it all again. i love you so much, man. go chase your dreams, go be a pro, go travel the world. do it for me. i'm not coming back, i'm sorry. i needed out, i've been planning this for years. don't blame yourself. i'll see you on mtv someday. -miles/gabe"
Ray's smile fades from his lips, turning into a frown as he holds back tears in his eyes. He sighs, having almost expected this. He and Gabe talked a lot about getting out, he just hoped he'd be okay all alone out there. He'd never been outside that little rinky dink town, Ray had a right to worry.
He slowly stands up from the foot of his bed, making a beeline for the telephone. He presses the buttons on the phone before holding it to his ear.
"Did you get a letter from Gabe?" He asks to the boy on the other line.
"Letter?" He asks, turning around to look at the surface of the living room. "Why? Should I have gotten one? Did he mail them?" The bleach blonde runs a hand through his hair.
"Check around your backpack, around your room if not,"
"Okay, I'll call you back,"
Fourthgrade hangs up the phone, quickly walking back to his room through the empty house. It was sweating hot, considering his father couldn't afford the air conditioning right now.
