Pink Walls

The Carmosinos [Part II]✓

“Maybe you shouldn't have brought me along.”

The air conditioning in the car was on, the vents on full blast despite the fact that snow was falling persistently from the dark clouds that bordered the early morning horizon. A crescent moon hung low in the skies, listless and pale like a dull bulb. Its shine did not brighten the spots where the street lights didn't reach, and it didn't help melt the ice that would need to be shovelled out of the way come sunrise.

It was just there as a pretty sight, and was one I was tired of seeing. It only reminded me of how early it was right now.

There was barely anyone else on the road other than us and despite Ron and Alex both having personal drivers, I was the one they asked to drive them to the meeting.

Some days I enjoyed having the power to go wherever I wanted without having to walk or pay for a ticket. Some days I didn't.

Today was one of those days.

With every second that passed, lethargy seeped deeper into my bones. My mind was as sharp as ever but my body just couldn't seem to keep up. Each motion I made seemed unnecessarily slow, like my limbs were being dragged down by the weight of the world.

How poetic. I thought and tried to shake off the feeling, but it only smothered me harder until all I wanted to do was crawl under the covers of a bed-any bed-and fall asleep forever.

I sucked in a mouthful of the extra cool air and made a right turn down another street whose name I had forgotten.

The city was like a maze when the morning was so dark and dreary; all the houses looked alike when every rooftop was blanketed in snow. If I hadn't plied this route so many times, I would have needed to stop and look up directions.

That was just how lost I was right now. I was driving on autopilot.

When another wave of fatigue hit me, I brightened the headlights to counterbalance my dimming vision and tightened my grip on the steering wheel.

C'mon Kay. I bit hard on my lip but the pain did nothing to wake me up. Maybe I should have had a second cup of coffee while I had the chance. Maybe I shouldn't have that one hour of good sleep after all.

1, 2, 3. . . The atmosphere in the car did little to liven my thoughts. Silent tension emanated from the backseat in waves. My passengers were just a wrong word away from starting an argument, I could feel it.

Because of them, I didn't dare reach out for the radio to play music. I didn't know what would ignite whatever it was that was going on between them, but I didn't want it to be me.

I didn't have the strength to handle that kind of workplace drama.

Through the rear view mirror, I watched Alex place a cigar in his mouth and hold it there without getting out a lighter.

I had never seen him smoke before.

Ron sat beside him, nearly melding herself with the door to put as much distance as she could between her body and his. The contrast between her pained expression and Alex's blank one almost made me laugh but I was able to hold it back.

I cleared my throat instead and flicked on the wipers when I could no longer see through the blanket of snow that had piled up on the windscreen. As usual, it was up to me to destroy the silence. If I didn't, they wouldn't say a word to each other till we got to our destination.

I flexed my fingers on the steering wheel and watched my breath puff out in front of me. "Why do you two have to be in the same car again?"

With the side mirror, I took a look at the hatchback following us closely from behind. At the moment, we were the lead car in a line of six vehicles. Normally, Saffron would have been in an armoured Jeep smack in the center of the convoy, and Alex wouldn't be here at all since he never went out unless he had a job.