All That Matters - A McCann Story

nine

nine

JASON

London and I both walked through the airport towards the gate we were both supposed to get on the plane at. She was squeezing my hand and she kept saying she had a small headache. By the time we actually got to the plane she looked pale and sick. The whole ride over to Salvador she was in my arms and I could tell she was fighting off tears. I can’t say I slept a wink though. But, the ride was nicer than I expected. There were two men on the plane with us but they hardly ever looked our way the whole time. The flight attendant was really nice and not at all hostile. They all seemed to have really good hospitality. I had yet to make my decision as to what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to think about it too much because I didn’t want London to know about the phone conversation between Esteban and I, I wanted to keep that away from her because the less she knew, the better off she was.  When we finally landed it was nighttime there and London awoke quickly. She looked panicked and scared and all I could do was kiss her lips softly, “Everything’s going to be fine.”

“I don’t know what to do.” She whispered as they opened the door to the plane and came across with the stairs. “I don’t know what to say, I don’t know where to go.”

“Hey, calm down it’s gonna be alright.” I smiled, kissing her forehead. She seemed to calm down and her hand found mine, intertwining our fingers and I couldn’t seem to complain.

“We’re ready for you.” One of Esteban’s men said. He turned on his heel and walked away from us and disappeared down the steps and into the night.

I turned to London, “Do you want me to go with you?”

“Are you crazy? I don’t want them to hurt you.”

“That didn’t answer my question.” I repeated, “Do you want me to go with you?”

“Of course I do.”

I stood up and held out my hand, “Alright then, lets go.”

“Are you going to get in trouble?”

“Don’t worry about me London, you mean more to me than anything else and if you want me to go with you then so be it.”

*

We pulled up to this huge house on outskirts of a town that took about forty-five minutes to drive through because of a party on the street. I danced a little to the music in my seat to lighten the mood with London but she was too scared to crack a smile. She just grabbed onto my arm and squeezed really hard, closing her eyes. When the car stopped a man was on my side of the car and opened the door for the two of us. I got out and held my hand out for London to grab onto. She gripped my fingers for dear life as we walked into the house. I wanted to reassure her, but I honestly knew I wouldn’t be able to do it. I knew she was scared and I guess she’s just going to have to go through the whole thing. Although, it did sort of make me feel like shit to know that I couldn’t do anything about it. We were lead into a big office type room and sat on the couch across from this big u-shaped desk. Then the door closed and we were left alone. London never let go of my hand and it was shaking in my palm. I raised her hand up to my mouth and kissed her knuckles. “I’m here, nothing bad is going to happen to you.”

“I know.”

LONDON

I jumped when the door opened and Esteban came rolling in. He had a huge smile on his face and looked as if he had just won the lottery. “Hello my child, welcome to my wonderful home. Can I get you anything? Something to drink? A snack? Are you hungry after that long plane ride over here?”