Black Eyes

Chapter 5: Smoke It Away

"So what exactly happened, Iris?" Bruce Wayne eyed me suspiciously in the driver's seat of his fancy red car. I knew nothing of cars, only that it looked fancy and incredibly expensive.

"I thought I could make it home on my own... Must've taken a wrong turn." I tried to keep my lie as short as possible. People who lie tend to add too much to their stories.

"Why didn't you just take the bus?"

"I lost my bus pass... I think I left it-" I froze in horror when I realised where I had left it. I had stuffed it hurriedly in the side pocket of my back pack; which was in the bus that the Joker had taken. My mind let out a dozen curse words aimed at my stupidity. I had only hoped the Joker had it safely tucked away somewhere, but I didn't think for a second he'd care about my backpack. I just knew it would be burning with the rest of the bus. I was sure he would do something like that to evidence: douse it in gasoline and light it on fire. It actually sounded quite fun, if it weren't for the thought of my backpack and school work burning along with it.

"Iris?" Bruce's voice snapped me out of my mental lecture. I sighed in response and neither of us said a word the whole ride home.

My hand would slip into my coat pocket every now and again, twirling around what felt like a rectangular piece of card stock paper in my fingers. My curiosity was driving me crazy.

We finally made it to the manor. I made it up the steps and flung open the door, a frazzled Alfred at the entrance. "Oh, hi Alfred."

"You made it Miss. Wayne. I thought the Joker had gotten you." I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. No pun intended, really.

"I-I what makes you say that?" I stuttered. Bruce Wayne came up behind me and closed the door, looking at Alfred confused.

"As soon as you had left, Master Wayne, every news station reported of the Joker highjacking a bus and taking people hostage. He had every single person jump out of the back of the bus while it was still in motion. Only 2 people survived and they are in critical condition. The rest either died on the way to the hospital or immediately upon hitting the pavement. The bus must've been moving over 100 mph." Was it really going that fast? "Worst part was, it's last stop was at Gotham University. If it weren't for your phone call I'd have thought for sure you'd be among the dead, Iris."

Well way to lay on the facts, Alfred. "Wow, um..." I tried to compose myself while sputtering, "It just so happens I had lost my bus pass today, so I tried walking home. Imagine if I hadn't lost it..." I pretended to be in a daze thinking of what could've happened, when I was really thinking of everything that had happened. "Well I'm exhausted so I'll be off to bed now." I made my way to the bottom of the stairs when Bruce called to me. I sighed heavily and kept a straight, patient face on.

"Look, I'm sorry about our fallout the other day... I want to make it up to you. I know I can't make up for lost time or missed opportunities, but if you would let me, I'd like to start over with you. Forgiveness won't come easy, I understand that, but there are and were reasons for my absence." He paused, collecting his thoughts. How cute, I could tell he had practiced this. "Maybe one day you will know why I did what I did and why you didn't have me in your life, but that day isn't today."

"Hey, it's okay. I was a bit harsh. It's not like I had built up a bitter heart towards my so called dad who I never saw or heard from... But I suppose I can't stay angry forever." I had a slight hint of sarcasm in my voice. I wish I meant every word, but I simply couldn't envision a reason for him not to call or to not check up on me... Deep down, I knew he didn't care. "Maybe we can talk more over dinner one of these nights. For now I need to catch up on some sleep." I simply said what he wanted to hear. I had no intentions on building a real relationship with him. He lost that chance years ago.

Bruce Wayne forced a smile in response as I turned to face the flight of stairs before me. I tried to look as patient as possible as I climbed each step, fear and curiosity burrowing itself deeper within me. I opened the door to my room and closed it softly, reaching into my pocket and pulling out what looked like a Joker playing card. I noticed something scribbled on the front: bus stop 9:30PM tomorrow.

I turned the card over which had another note: burn this. I sighed and grabbed my lighter from my purse, which I used solely for emergency pot smokes when I was feeling stressed. Don't judge. I opened the window, letting a cold breeze play with my hair and invade my room. Looking down at the card one last time, I set it ablaze and watched the ashes flutter away violently.

After taking a moment to compose my thoughts, I went to go find the weed I had stashed in my still-unpacked luggage. I'd say this was most certainly an emergency.