The Professor

13: Drey

Me: Hey my flight just landed. You here?

I grabbed my backpack out of the overhead bin and exited the airplane. I was returning from my spring break study abroad trip and I couldn't wait to tell Aaliyah all about it. Europe was absolutely beautiful. We visited Denmark and explored the country. We got to meet the Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen. I got to try all these new cuisines and visit tons of historic sites.

It was a phenomenal experience but I was excited to get back home to my baby. I paid for an international plan on my T-Mobile line so that I could have service and data while I was over there, but we were so busy that I only got to talk to Aaliyah at night when we went back to the dorms.

When I got off the plane, I got a text message from Aaliyah. "12:31pm: Babe, something came up. I can't get you from the airport." What the fuck got mean you can't come get me? The message was green too. Why the fuck isn't her iMessage working? I checked the time. 2:01pm. Why is this message just now coming through? I had in flight wifi. I clicked the phone button by her name to call her. Straight to voicemail. What the fuck?! I looked around the airport to see if I saw any of my classmates still.

I walked over to baggage check and while I waited for my luggage I called her again. "Fuck!" I yanked my luggage and headed outside to see if she was outside. Surely this had to be a joke. This was hella unlike her. When I didn't see her car outside, I took my phone back out and called her once more. This time leaving her a voicemail. "Li-Li, where the fuck you at? How am I supposed to get home? Are you okay? Answer your phone!"

I ended the call and opened up the Uber app to request a ride. "Is everything okay?" a familiar voice said.

Me: Hey Professor...
Professor Montgomery: Reneé...
Me: I got a weird text from Aaliyah that she couldn't pick me up and she's not answering her phone. It's fine. I'll just catch an Uber home.
Professor Montgomery: Do you think something is wrong?
Me: I don't know...I just spoke to her before we took off and she said she'd be here when we landed. Something is off.

I pulled up the Find My iPhone app and tried to track her location.  Location unavailable. "What the fuck?!"

Professor Montgomery: Well hey...my sister's pulling around. I'll have her drop you off. No use in spending money on an Uber.
Me: Nah, it's cool.
Professor Montgomery: I know she wouldn't mind. You're just around the corner from me. There she is! Come on!

Her sister pulled up in a white BMW SUV. Reneé walked to the back and opened the liftgate and tossed her suitcase inside. "Angie, you remember Andreyuh, my student, would you mind dropping her off? She's just around the corner from me." "Sure! Tell her to come on!"

Reneè: See! Come on! Here, give me your luggage.

She tossed it inside.

Me: Does she know about us?
Reneé: No. Get in.
Me: Aaliyah?
Reneé: It's fine...get in the car!

I reluctantly climbed in the backseat. She got in on the other side. There was a teenaged boy in the front seat. "Hey auntie, Né," he said looking back at her smiling. "Hey Devin!" I assumed Devin was Angela's son. They made small talk the entire ride home. Angela asked me how I enjoyed the trip and if I thought I'd take another one. I engaged in the conversation so as not to be rude, but I was calling Aaliyah back to back trying to figure out where she was. I was getting worried now.

We pulled up at my apartment complex about twenty five minutes later. Aaliyah's car wasn't there. I thanked Angela for the ride and told Reneé I'd see her in class Monday and went inside. I called and texted Aaliyah a few more times before giving up. I called a few of our friends to see if anyone had heard from her. Nobody had spoken to her. I called her mom and asked her. Still no.