Send a Prayer Up Above

Chapter 1

It's like I never left.

If anything, even this part of Bushwick seemed to have couple graffiti's less than four years ago but other than that, it was still the same. My favorite bodega, fittingly called Bushwick Food Centre Inc., was still there, right across from Professional Hair Care Salon and the J-train still gave out it's old and screeching roar two blocks back, above us on green steel pillars. The cold autumn breeze picked up trash from the ground and I wrapped my hoodie tighter around my torso, as I fished out a cell phone from my backpack and pressed call next to a name who I hadn't seen in ages.

"Indeed, I am Finn," I replied with a smile. "Right outside."

Soon I heard a creaking sound above and when I craned my neck to see, Finn's grinning head had popped out the window of the rundown brownstone and was motioning for me to come in already. He disappeared back inside, and the door buzzed open two seconds later. The air was damp inside and smelled of grandma with chipped yellow paint on the walls, and cracked floor tiles underneath my boots. I dragged my suitcase behind me, it scarcely fitting in the narrow and crooked staircase. Soon though, I heard a heavy set of shoes thumping down the wooden stairs and Finn emerged waving again at me, this time to step aside.

He grabbed my suitcase with ease and with much less effort from my part, we continue to the fifth floor, end of the hallway, to the right. He talked excitedly the whole time about how much I had missed, how much he had missed me and the lots of plans he had already made for us. Once we walked into his apartment, I thought it was cramped but homey. Plants and pots on the wind sills, some more on the fire escape that was outside his bedroom window. His bed was unmade but a futon was laid out at the end of his bed, with sheets folded neatly and a pillow on top of them.

"I can't thank you enough, Finn. I promise I'll find my own place soon. I already have a couple of apartments I'm going to see today." I hated vague people who ended up couch surfing for months and did nothing about it. I knew Finn knew I was independent and responsible but . . . still.

"Rey, relax." Finn gave me an arched brow and an amused mouth. "I offered, I wanted you here."

I flashed him a smile back. "Thank you. I'll owe you one."

"Great, I'll cash it in tonight!" He said with a look that almost made me expect to see devil's horns coming out of his forehead.

"Oh, no. I know that look. What, Finn?" I asked worriedly as I flung my suitcase onto the futon.

"Well," he started and paced into to kitchen to get a glass of water, "you completed your bachelor's last week, now you're here- "

I see, I know where this is going. "Finn, I'm not going out clubbing."

His face dropped, and he threw his hands up, "Why, Rey!? Come ON, this is huge! This is your graduation party! You have to make it to your own graduation party."

Eyeing his excited form suspiciously I asked with a slight hint of defeat in my tone, "Even if the party consists of just the two of us?"

"Three. Poe's in too." His face winked at me clumsily, telling me there was perhaps something in it for him too. I gave a deep sigh of my accepted fate. Cleary, he was going to drag me out of the apartment in any case. He could be persistent when he wanted. I appreciated it but at moments like these, I didn't exactly cherish it.

"Atta girl. We'll have fun, you deserve it. Drinks are on me!" Finn declared and smirked proudly.

After Finn was convinced of my consent to go out, I unpacked and got ready to go see the two apartments I had spotted on Craigslist. Unfortunately, both ended up being disappointments. One of them was just a futon in the middle of a kitchen, and the other one's occupant had pizza boxes and half-finished Chinese take-out boxes crowding every single surface, and some of the floor. It smelled disgusting and I bet it was cockroach heaven. On the train back to Finn's I rested my head against the window as Brooklyn passed by and sighted. I was bone tired. A seven-hour flight from San Francisco and being back home was both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time, if that's even possible.