I bit into my wrap as we took a sharp turn around a corner. Carson was never that bad of a driver but right now I was slightly worried for many reasons. He was eating, had no clue where he was going, and was driving quickly. But for some reason I still trusted him with my life. When he had finished eating he took my hand again and held it tightly. It was as if he was trying somehow to keep himself calm. I could see him clenching his jaw though. I could see his eyes darting around more than a normal drivers would. I knew something inside him was hoping that his best friend would still be his best friend when we picked him up.
During the night Carson spoke of many things. Some I'd never known about. He told stories about he and Jack were having the time of their lives. I found it so wonderful to see him so happy reliving those memories. He would laugh about some of the times and others he would tell in the deepest of details. I was enchanted with him. When we pulled into the parking lot of a motel I noticed a car that looked like Jack's.
"So, it's this place and one other." Carson spoke taking a deep breath. We had scanned the parking lots with severe intensity at the many other places and not a single car looked like Jack's. It was nearing 4:00 in the morning. My eyes had grown tired and red. We each jumped out of the car and walked up to the solid green mustang. Surprisingly quite a few people had green mustangs around here but the license plate matched up with my memory of it. This was Jack's car. And now we had to find his room.
I followed Carson into the motel main room and jogged to the desk. I rang the bell furiously. A lady around her middle aged years trudged out to the counter.
"What can I help you with?" The lady said, without looking up.
"We're looking for our friend." Carson spoke.
"He's my brother. Please, can you tell us what room Jack Tyler is staying in?" I pleaded. She looked up just then.
"Tyler? Well, um, of course. Here let me find it." And she took off about how she knew someone in my family -I paid no attention only searched the list for Jack's name like she was."Aha, right here. " She pointed at the check in list and I read the number of his room. I yelled a thank you as I bolted out to the rooms, dragging Carson behind me. We arrived at the door to the room that he was to be in and i banged on the door.
"Jack! It's Hannah, open the door!" I yelled. Every inch of me hoped he would be rational. Carson held onto my hand as I knocked on the door once more. Slowly, the door nob began to twist. I let out a breath and waited as he opened the door and looked at me. The sorrow in his eyes made me drop Carson's hand and lunge forward to hug Jack.
He wrapped his arms around me too. I squeezed tightly against him, all to excited that he was okay.
"I'm so sorry, Hannah." He whispered to me.
"I'm sorry too. " I whispered back. And I wasn't entirely sure why I was sorry ,or what for, but I knew i was sorry.
It wasn't but an hour later that we had made it back to the house. Being as my parents' were leaving this morning, they were about to wake up. I would have to explain why we were all still awake. Or maybe we would just keep this story to ourselves.
We all quietly tip-toed in the door. Tubby was overwhelmingly happy to see us so we all shuffled to the carpet to keep her claws from making noise on the wood floors. I bent to pet her. I looked up at Jack and Carson. Jack gave me a small shrug and patted Tubby on the head before going off, obviously to check on Katie and let her know he was home. Carson and I sat on the ground in silence. We each pet Tubby quietly.
After what seemed like a year of silence, he pulled Tubby in his lap and began to speak just above a whisper. "Now, Tubby, " He began making me laugh as he spoke to the pug. "You've seen some things you shouldn't have seen. And I'm willing to give you bacon for the next week if you can keep your mouth shut. Do we have a deal?" He pushed up her fat rolls giving her to look of being smashed against glass or having a lion mane entirely of furry fat.
