The Movement

Chapter Four - Part 5

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It was morning. The sun peeked above Oakland's jagged skyline as Troy approached the highway exit. He parked his car on the fifth floor of a large parking garage. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he peered over to see Kim passed out cold, reclined in the passenger seat with a blanket wrapped around her legs.

She's still sleeping. I'll just wait until she wakes up and then we'll get a hotel, he thought.

Exhausted from the previous three days of driving, he laid back his head against the seat's headrest. Several hours later, he rolled over in his seat. Realizing the uncomfortable, suffocating temperature inside the car, Troy squandered the energy to open his car door. He flopped out onto the concrete floor, breathing heavily. The lukewarm afternoon air breezed against his moist, salty skin. Wiping his sweaty forehead, he picked himself up from the shadow-chilled pavement to check on Kim.

She was still sound asleep. She unwrapped herself from and discarded the blanket to her feet during Troy's nap inside the hot vehicle. She lay there in an innocent peace, ignoring the suffocation despite the sweat wetting her hair to a dark black.

"Kim!" squeaked Troy, discovering the sandy dryness of his throat and tongue.

He tried hard to wet his palate by swallowing, but to no avail; it only made the back of his throat stamp to his mouth, causing even more thirsty distress. He squeezed his body back into the car and reached across the driver's seat to tap Kim, resulting in moans and a turn away from him. Determined, Troy backed up and went to her side of the vehicle. Losing patience, he grabbed her shoulder and shook her body violently.

Suddenly wide-eyed and alert, Kim snapped up into an awakened state.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up. Where are we? Are we there?" she blurted loudly without a pause.

"Yeah, we're here. We've been here for," said Troy as he checked his watch. "We've been here for 4 hours already? How did you sleep all that time, Kim?"

"I'm not sure, I guess I was tired," sniggered Kim, shrugging it off with a wide stretch.

"Kim, it's twelve o'clock in the afternoon!" said Troy, raising his voice and his seriousness.

"And..." she waited for an explanation.

"My interview is in one hour! We need to hurry up!" shouted Troy.         

Troy raced around to the back of the car to grab his suitcase from the trunk. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he hastily walked towards the hotel doors.

"Kim!" yelled Troy from across the parking garage. "I'll call you when I'm out!"

"Alright!" replied Kim, shaking her head with a lipping smile.