Memories

II

THIS CITY

'This city's gonna break my heart
This city's gonna love me then leave me alone
This city's got me chasing stars
It's been a couple months since I felt like I'm home
Am I getting closer to knowing where I belong?'

⥎
 ⥐ 

Driving the car was exhilarating. Thalia couldn't help but laugh to herself as the music played loudly, overruling the sounds of screeching cars and police car sirens. She turned the corner and widened her eyes. Thalia switched her foot to the brakes as quickly as she could and waited for the impact of an airbag. It never came.

Three police cars blocked the road with doors open and officers standing behind them with guns pointed at Thalia. There were tire chains spread out in front of the cars, and she'd only narrowly missed hitting them. Looking in her mirror, Thalia saw the cars that had been chasing her slow to a stop behind her and sighed.

"Step out of the vehicle with your hands in the air," an officer with a loudspeaker said. Thalia tried to come up with a plan to get out of this mess, but came up blank. She unlocked the door and raised her hands as she got out of the car. This was standard procedure. She'd been asked to do this many times.

Two officers ran forward, guns still aimed at Thalia's head, and cuffed her hands together, pushing her up against the car. 

Back at the precinct, Thalia waited in the interrogation room for the officer she knew would be there. Despite living three hours away, he always managed to make it.

"Ah, hello there officer." Thalia said with a manic smile on her face. The officer didn't look as excited to see Thalia as she was. "Long time no see, Pig. How're the kids?" it was a rhetorical question, and officer Higgins knew Thalia well enough not to answer the question. He sat opposite her and looked wearily into Thalia's eyes.

Officer Higgins had helped Thalia through the rough weeks following the night she was found, and had kept an eye on her ever since. She found it annoying, but that wasn't why she did the things she did.

Running was like a drug to Thalia. She'd ran away from fourteen foster homes now. She'd been caught each time, but Higgins refused to give up on her, even through the illegal acts she'd committed. Thalia had gotten over her fear of courtrooms, as she'd appeared in them a few times. Higgins always testified in her favour, claiming she was 'a troubled kid who just needs the right support'. Thalia knew it meant jack shit.

"Thalia, this is the third time you've stolen a car." Higgins said. "Get more creative with your methods of running away. Next time you might actually try running instead of driving. It's much less obvious." Thalia laughed. Their banter was something she could find humour in, though Higgins just sounded tired. 

"Why do you make the drive every time I get brought in, Pig?" Thalia asked while Higgins looked though a file. He looked at her over his glasses, and Thalia gave him a look that said she was being serious. He sighed and closed the file, taking off his glasses.

"Thalia, I want to help you. But I can't do that unless you let me." he explained. Thalia wasn't really listening. She just wanted to move on from the topic of her current arrest. "Your foster parents aren't pressing charges, even though you scratched up their car real bad. We're keeping you here until we can rehome you."

Thalia groaned in annoyance. She just wanted the year to be over, and she wanted to go live on her own somewhere far away from California.

Higgins took Thalia to the holding cells and left her there. "Y'know, you could really be something, Thalia. If you just tried." She didn't respond to that, and Higgins just walked away.

⥎
 ⥐ 

A knock at the front door got Thalia's attention, and her foster mother yelled at her to answer it. Thalia sighed and stood, walking over to the door and opening it. A big man with tattoos on his arms stood next to a younger, much shorter boy with brown hair an odd look in his eyes. 

"Can I help you?" Thalia said, voice bored. The life had drained out of her in the past seven months, and the escape she had been planning had gone out the window when officer Higgins told her she had to stay at this foster home or she'd go to juvie.

"Yes, I'm coach David Wymack of the Palmetto University Foxes." the man introduced, obviously hoping to get a reaction from Thalia. "Are you Thalia Warden?"

"Who's he?" Thalia deflected the question and nodded her head to the boy. David Wymack looked to his side then back to Thalia with a polite smile.

"This is Neil Josten, one of my players." the man said. Thalia still wasn't impressed. "Can we come in?" Thalia stood to the side and threw her arm out to the side, inviting the two men in. "Thank you." David and Neil entered the house and Thalia closed the door behind them.

"We have visitors," Thalia called out. She stuck her hands in the pocket of her hoodie and stood by the wall, carefully positioning herself so that her back was to the wall. Shouts came from the living room and footsteps made their way to the entrance hall.

"Hello," the woman who'd taken care of Thalia for the past seven months said as she smiled at David. "What can I do for you two young men?" Thalia crossed her arms, uncomfortable with the situation, but glad she could see the whole thing unfold from her position.

"I'm David Wymack, coach to the Palmetto Foxes Exy team. I was hoping to speak with Thalia about playing for my team." he looked between the woman and Thalia. "I heard of her talents over the airwaves and had to come see for myself. I hear you're eighteen in a few months?"

"Two months. I've graduated already." Thalia said cryptically. Wymack nodded. The woman smiled at Thalia and nodded, turning back to Wymack.

"Well, as long as Thalia's alright with it, I'd love for her to have that opportunity," she said happily. "Although, hasn't the season begun already?" Wymack sighed.

"Yes, but unfortunately one of our players passed last week, and we need one more player. I've heard that Thalia is a great one, and would love to have her on my team." Wymack turned and nodded encouragingly at Thalia. 

Thalia realised that it would be her escape. She threw out the original plan that had been culminating in her mind, and stood tall, putting a smile on her face she knew the people in the room would think was real.

"I'd love to," she said. "As long as I get a bed by a wall and the chance to study art, I'll play for you." Wymack laughed, thinking that Thalia was joking. She wasn't. There was no way she could ever sleep if her back wasn't pressed against a wall, and the only way she'd been able to express herself was through art. She let out her anger in exy, but art was what gave Thalia the tools to escape reality for a while.

"Well, I've drawn up a contract and brought it with me, so if you'll read it over and sign it, we can get you to Palmetto in a little under two weeks." Wymack said. The woman clapped her hands together and smiled brighter than ever.

"Wonderful. I'll get a pen. Thalia, darling, you start looking over that contract." she hurried out of the room and Thalia let her smile drop a little. Wymack handed her the paper and Thalia looked through it.

Everything seemed fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that would force Thalia to reveal parts of herself she didn't want to. And most importantly, it was an out from the hell she was living in.

When the woman came back, Thalia took the pen from her and signed the paper, handing it back to their visitor.

"Thank you. I'll send an email with your plane tickets within the week. I'll see you at Palmetto, Thalia Warden." Wymack smiled. As she took them to the door, Thalia eyed the boy the coach had brought with him. He'd been quiet the whole visit, and when he looked back at Thalia for the last time, she gave him a sickly sweet smile and shut the door in his face.