Venice; Money Heist [2]

BIENVENIDOS

Venice

Finally, European soil. Finally, no more stinking fish tankers or dirty trucks. Finally, Spain. Days have passed since we set out. At some point, I lost track of time, but the Professor made sure to keep me informed. Since Berlin's death, we've developed a strange kind of friendship. Even though we hadn't seen each other for two years, I feel connected to him, like the big brother I never had. The whole thing with Rio also played a part in this. Sergio seems to feel responsible for me, even though it's not his fault and Rio and Tokyo are to blame for themselves.

I glance through the gap in the trailer doors of the truck we're currently in and notice we're slowing down before coming to a complete stop. I turn to my bespectacled friend, giving him a questioning look.

"This is our stop," he explains, and I start to open the doors. I jump out and quickly scan the area before opening the door for the others and helping them out. I take Monica's son so she can climb down, then hand him back to her. Once everyone is out, I close the door and walk around to the driver, banging loudly on the cabin, signalling him to drive off. I turn around again and notice a small ruin. It looks like it used to be a stable, but there's not much left of it now. Behind it stand three small trucks.

"Here." Sergio hands me two keys. "I need to head out again and I'll take one of the trucks with me. I want you to stay here and behave." He gives Denver and Tokyo a stern look. "Venice is in charge. Don't draw attention to yourselves," he says, checking his watch. "I'll be back in exactly one hour and twenty minutes. We won't have much time, so I expect you all to be ready to go by then."

With that, he gets into one of the trucks and drives off. I look at the others and shrug before getting into one of the trucks. Nairobi and Helsinki run after me. Helsinki immediately jumps into the driver's seat, and Nairobi slips past me into the middle of the front bench. I sit by the open door and watch as the others spread out into the other truck. And so begins a painfully long hour of waiting.

***

"Okay, do you have a hair tie, or should I use one of mine?" I ask Robi, who's sitting cross-legged in front of me on the driver's cabin bench.

"I've got one, here," she replies.

For the past thirty minutes, I've been meticulously braiding Robi's hair into several tight rows that converge into a bun. All the while, she's been telling me funny stories and finally confessed her feelings for Helsinki. I'd suspected for a while that she had more than just friendly feelings for my best friend, probably even before she realized it herself. A few tears were shed when we confronted the sad truth about Helsinki's sexuality... You finally find someone who makes you happy, and he turns out to be into men. Why are the best guys always gay? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against it, but it's frustrating... Love is unfair. A knock on the door pulls me out of my trance.

"Are you ladies ready?" comes the gruff voice of my friend. "The Professor should be here any minute." I tie off the last strand of hair before responding.

"Yeah, all done."

"You look really good, Nairobi. Venice has real talent. If I wasn't bald, I'd ask her to do my hair too," he jokes. "Maybe you'll find a couple of cute hostages like Denver did— with your looks and charm, that shouldn't be hard." He winks at us before hopping in. I lean out of my window and call out to Denver.

"Hey, numbskull! Get your ass in the truck, or I'll kick you in there myself!" I grin at him. He turns to me and flips me off. "Watch it, Denver, you're a dad now. Don't teach the kid any bad habits!"

"Shut up, Venice!"

"Hey, did you forget who's in charge here? Professor's orders!" I wink at him and turn back to the two idiots next to me. "If I'd known how much fun this is, I'd have asked the Professor for this position sooner!"