Black to the Past

Chapter 25

Wilson couldn't sleep. He'd been trying to reach Halle for hours now. He'd taken Jalen home then arrived home himself. His parents asked him about his evening but he was careful to leave out any details from Professor Harold. He kept it simple and told his parents that it was an important project he was working on. He told them about making the kids laugh with his suggestion of Black to the Future. His father thought it was very creative. His mother asked him if he thought time travel was possible.
    She always had a way of knowing something was deeper when he wanted to make light of it.
    "I don't know," he'd responded to her honestly.
    His sister being the kid she was had said of course time travel was possible. She said people did it all the time and wished she could find a time machine to use. Her father wanted to know what she'd use it for but she just wanted to go back in time to her last birthday party. Typical.
    After he felt it was a safe enough time to disappear, Wilson headed to his room. He rarely sat at his desk but he cleared it off and set up his laptop. He sent yet another text to Halle before googling time travel. There were all kinds of hoaxes online. Stories of cell phones being inculcated into hieroglyphics and pyramids in ancient Egypt. There were fake 911 calls that people used to provide proof of time travel but none of it seemed real.
    Wilson's eyes were exhausted from reading online so much material but finally he found something that stood out as possible. Einstein's theory that time is relative. Einstein believed that the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion. That very statement gave Wilson pause for thought. He wished Halle would text him. He wished she would call but she hadn't and it didn't make sense for him to call her or text her anymore. She probably just wasn't feeling him the way he felt her.
    If time travel were possible, and if the professor had a time machine, they would find out soon. In the meantime, he needed to focus on when they would go back and warn the great doctor as the professor had referred to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Wilson crawled into bed at midnight but not before checking his phone one last time to see if Halle had bothered to message him back.
    Lo and behold, there was a new message awaiting him.
    -sorry family crises. At the ER with my family. Talk tomorrow? - Halle
    -Halle, what happened? Can I come help? Were you hurt? - Wilson
    -I don't think so. I wish you could. Meredith is here- Halle
    -I can come too. What hospital?- Wilson
    -The clinic - Halle
    -Be right there- Wilson

Wilson debated whether to tell his parents or just try sneaking out but he only had keys to the Dodge and there was no way his parents wouldn't hear him leaving the house. Hoping his father was still awake he went to their door and peeked inside. Sure enough his dad was awake. There was a late game on and his father loved watching sports in the quiet of the night.
    "Dad?"
    "Wilson, what are you still doing up?"
    "A friend is in the ER. Can I please go and see about her?"
    "Her, huh? Who is it?"
    "Halle."
    "The judge's daughter," his father asked, sitting up higher in bed.
    "That one," Wilson confirmed.
    "What happened, Wilson."
    "I don't know yet dad. We were texting. I was waiting for her to respond all night and she just got back to me. Something bad happened. Her friend Meredith is up there with her too. Dad, please, can I go?"
    "Are you two a thing?"
    "Dad, not important," Wilson said pleading with his eyes the importance.
    "Listen, you can't drive this late. If you get pulled over, which you will, something bad could happen."
    "Can you take me, please?"
    "Yeah, sure," his father conceded.
    "What's going on," his mother pushed herself up in bed.
    "Nothing, ma," Wilson didn't want his mother getting involved.
    His father was getting out of the bed and tugging on a pair of jogging pants. "Where are you going," his mother asked.
    "The hospital. Wilson's friend is - well we don't really know what's going on but Wilson wants to show his support for his friend. We'll be back in an hour after we check on her."
    "Her? Who is it, Wilson?"
    "Ma, it's Halle Blackmon."
    "The judge's daughter," his mother asked disbelievingly.
    "Yes."
    "Call me if there's anything you need me to do, babe."
    "I will. Try to go back to sleep."