Its weird how humans communicate. Vocal chords in our throat vibrate to form different sounds. These same sounds represent different letters among the twenty six alphabets. The letters put together form words. Several of these words put together form full sentences which convey some sort of idea, some concept-however vague and unfinished. The entire concept of communication was so strange when he sat down and thought about it.
Right now, Anirudh was trying to convey something to Alex. Alex heard every single sound that came out of his throat, his fully functional brain pieced it together and made full sense of it, but nothing registered. It just lay dormant in his mind, yet to be absorbed and understood.
The breeze seemed to intensify, the salt in the air stung a bit. Cars continued to rush by, the tiny rocks at the edge of the road continued to jump and vibrate in response to the cars on the freeway. The weeds on the side of the road continues to dance in the wind, lake Michigan shone and beckoned. Neither of them said anything.
"We should get going." Alex finally said.
They wordlessly clambered into the car, Alex returned to the wheel of the silver Subaru and they resumed their journey down the road. Nothing had changed about their journey, they were both still singing to their all-time favorites, windows down, air ripping through the entirety of the car. Underlying thought was the undeniable tension building between the both. Conflict breeds conflict.
They were at a gas station when he finally let the dam break.
"So why are we going on this road trip then?" Alex finally said something related to the impeding topic.
"I thought it'd be a good way to see you off." He replied, reading the label off a pasta can. What kind of person reads the ingredients? Anirudh. Anirudh does.
"You're the one leaving."
"You get what I mean." He put down the can.
"No, I don't." Alex could feel a rush of frustration within him. People always told him he got overly agitated with simple things because he tended to keep unresolved issues for longer than he should have. Either way, this wasn't a simple thing. His roommate's mother died, and he was leaving, and he didn't think to tell him earlier?!
"I don't understand why you thought this was a good idea. How did you even think that driving all the way from Detroit to campus was a good idea? It's six hour drive! And you're not even going to college? Did you even think this through? What the hell are you doing?"
"Alex..." Anirudh started "I know what I'm doing, I thought things through-"
But before he could finish his anger exploded.
"Just like you thought things through my telling me your mom died and that you're leaving the country a few minutes ago? Well damn, that must be going real good for you. I thought we were friends man! What kind of friend doesn't tell his own roommate that his own mother died! Do you have no regard for loyalty, for our friendship? What the hell do you want me to do when you leave?"
Anirudh watched him lose control. Usually he could see Anirudh's face darken and eyes glisten when he got too harsh, but this time there was a mask of calm. He was just waiting for him to finish. Again, this was not something he was used to. He felt so powerless.
After a minute of yelling and making some excellent points, and thrashing a few Cheetos packets from the gas station, he was done, panting and leaning on the shelf to the right.
"You done?" He asked, shaking his head. He felt...embarrassed. Something he was not used to again, today bore a lot of unexpected fruit. They had almost switched roles, Anirudh was being the rational one while he painted the walls of this gas station with the blood of his enemies.
Intense? Yes. Something he'd do? Yes.
"Yeah, let's go." He nodded. "I should probably pay for these packets though."
"You definitely should." He agreed. "I'll wait in the car."
Alex shrugged and picked up the packs of ruined Cheetos and headed for the counter feeling the eyes of the everyone in the store bore into him.
Alex clambered into the passenger seat and buckled in.
"I'm leaving because I have to, not because I want to." He said. "I hope you understand that."
"I do." Alex slumped into seat. "I just don't understand why you didn't tell you me before. Your mother died Anirudh! I know its messed up to be so direct about it, but death is death unspoken or not"
"I'm still dealing with it." Anirudh looked away. "You deal by shoving I deep into your subconscious and blaming yourself for everything."
"True." Alex chuckled. It was a long standing inside joke.
"I deal by pretending it isn't big deal." Anirudh said.
They sat in silence for a few moments, letting it sink in a bit. He was leaving. His mother died. He was leaving. His mother died. There was nothing he could do to change it. No way around it. There was no solution. He was leaving. This wasn't his fault. His mother died. He was leaving. He wasn't coming back. He ran his mind out over it hundreds of times within that the short span. But no matter what route he took, he couldn't see a viable solution out of it.
This was happening. There was no escaping it and he knew that. He also knew he wasn't done dealing with it but he didn't want to ruin the drive now. Suddenly the whole reason behind the drive made sense to him. Under normal circumstances Alex could have just run away, not face his roommate until it was too late. But out here, in the middle of nowhere, too far from anything, they had to talk this through. There was no other option. And the best part? It didn't have to be as bad as two people simply in a room. Like this, they were just two friends in a car, on a trip, with the destination still yet to be decided. Anirudh had actually thought this through, he was impressed.
"I don't even have a goddamn roommate now." Alex shoved Anirudh. "I am not rooming with Trijal man. I can't live off microwaved food and with a bucket of bugs in the closet."
"I know." Anirudh laughed. "You don't have to!"
Alex shook his head in disapproval. "You have a lot of explaining to do, this isn't enough of an explanation-just so you know."
"I know." He said "That's why I thought driving to school would be good."
"Meh." He shrugged.
"Okay, I will agree to this on one condition." Alex said.
"There's nothing to be debated-" Alex didn't let him finish.
"One condition" He repeated.
"Hit me." He replied, knowing this would go nowhere otherwise.
"I get to tell people you pissed on the Defense Minister, so you were deported."
They both burst out laughing. It was pure, tension reliving with nothing underlying. The end was still impending, but in that moment, they could breathe. Even if it was just that small, unnoticed moment between the millions of other moments that existed, even if it was as simple and forgettable as a tiny rock in between the cracks on the infinite freeway connecting thousands of places; this moment would live on forever.
The windows buzzed down. The unmistakable sound of The Bleacher's hit single from their 2016 album "Don't take the money" blared from the speakers as the silver Subaru pulled away, bustling down the freeway, headed onwards.
And in the burst of dying light from the setting sun, there was hope that for better or worse, things would be okay. They sky turned a brilliant orange at the horizon, as if the sun had blown the heavens back to the start. Neither felt the gravity of the impending change, racing down the road with temper grace, knowing there would always be someone to catch them if they fell.
All that mattered were the moments they had left in the Silver Subaru.
The End.
