Revealed

43. Jeremy

Yesterday, Solie and I got to know each other better. We spent the whole day laughing and talking. I didn't know that she had never left the city before now. That must really suck. Being stuck in the same place your whole life. That's something I would have never been able to live through.

I told Solie about the time I found carnival tickets on a road and planned to use them, but the employees told me they were outdated. I ended up selling the tickets online to some old man who thought they were vintage.

Of course Solie had to make me look dumb by telling an even more interesting story than mine.

"When I was a freshman, I went to this singing competition at school. Mama Dee wasn't home so I had to call a taxi. When I called, they told me they would be ten minutes. So I sat at the door of my house ready to go. Twenty minutes later, they still weren't there and I was starving. So I went to the kitchen to make some toast. By the time the toast was ready and I was about to eat, the taxi had come and were honking the horn.

I unplugged the toaster oven and stuffed one slice of toast in my face before getting into the car and driving away. I left the other slice in the toaster and I went the competition. We didn't win but I had a lot of fun. Then, I got a call from Mama. She was very angry. Long story short, I apparently didn't unplug the toaster and it burned the toast that was in it into a crisp!" She laughed.

"If Mama wasn't there, my home would burned down and no one would have known why. But I'm telling you, I swear I unplugged it!"

Her story wasn't that amusing, but I know she liked it when I laughed at her jokes, so of course, I did. She talks about Mama Dee a lot. I can't blame her. She must be so grateful for her.

We both sat on top of the car. Eventually, Solie laid flat on her back, put her hands behind her head, and looked up into the sky.

"I love the sky. It's such a mystery. So many things up there," she said without breaking her stare. "Sometimes, I wonder what a cloud would feel like. I wanna see what the world looks like from up there."

I put most of my weight onto my left hand and looked above me. "What do you want to do when you grow up? What are your dreams?"

She placed one hand on her stomach and used the other to play with her hair. I wish I could've be playing with her hair. My mind wants to know if it still has that coconut and chocolate aroma. At this point, I was obsessed with it.

"I want to travel. I want to see the world. I want to gain new perspectives." She sat back up. "You already know that I've been at home my whole life. Getting on a plane and going to new places. Experiencing new things. Trying stuff I've never done or seen before. That idea, it's way beyond me. And I know it's probably not going to happen. But a girl can dream, right?"

How can she say that? She doesn't realize how fortunate she is. She has a full ride to an IVY League college for God's sake! Someone really important is going to see her and offer her a job. Then she'll get a ton of money and it's not like she won't be able to afford a ticket.

"Jeremy. Hello? Don't think about it too hard." She was smiling. I love how she can see the best in even the most terrible of things. "What about you? If you weren't stuck in this situation and you could do anything you wanted, what would you do?"

A million thoughts ran through my head. I never really took time to think about that. And now that I have to, it was frustrating and strange. What did I want to do with my life?
"Hey, if you don't know, that's okay too." She gave me an understanding look.

"Thanks."

We both laid back down on the top of the car and looked up into the sky. Solie was probably thinking about what she would want to do up there if she could. I, on the other hand, was trying to make out some shapes from the clouds. There was nothing interesting that I liked. I didn't tell Solie, but I have been on a plane before. It's not even that interesting. The pressure in your ears, the fact that you have to stay in one place for hours that feel like years, and the terrible plane food.

But I would never tell any of that to Solie. I would never try and kill her dreams like that.