Subjects

62 - City Of Scars

Alice's little family car was definitely not meant for this sort of long drives. It starts when they leave one of the gas stations and the car barely starts. After that, the entire ride is shaky, even when the road looks new. The car's poor state becomes indubitable when Alice breaks and they can all smell burnt rubber.

"How long has it been since the last time you had your car checked?" Emily asks Alice.

"I honestly have no idea," Alice says. She stopped caring about these kinds of things ever since they took Angie.

"I hope it's going to hold on till we get to the city," Emily says. "I can have my brother take a look at it when we're there."

And so their first stop is clear. They drive straight to the garage. Emily runs inside as soon as the car stops. Alice tries to fix her parking but the car gave out, it won't move.

"Chris! You there?"

Chris is not even that surprised to see his sister run at him.

"Is everything alright?" Chris lowers the radio so he can hear Emily talk.

"I need your help," Emily still isn't sure about how she is going to explain everything to him. Fixing the car is a start.

"I'm not a magician, Emilia," is all Chris has to say about the state of the car. "You can take my truck, but I need you to explain what have you gotten yourself into."

Chris examines the random group of strangers Emily brought into his garage. Two of them look strangely familiar.

"I will, I promise," Emily says. "It is a very long story and you are not the only person we owe an explanation to."

Then it clicks.

"Wait, I know who you two are," Chris's eyes widen at the sight of Ben and Eva. "You were on the news!"

"I told you, it is a very complicated story," Emily says quietly. "Please don't tell anyone they were here."

"Emilia..."

"I'm serious, fratellone," Emily uses the nickname she never uses around other people. "I will come back when there aren't so many people around."

Chris looks back at his workers, "alright. Come back in the evening."

"Um, excuse me," Eva intervenes. "Do you mind if I invite my father to come here too? I need to meet him somewhere private."

"No problem," Chris says.

As they all get into the truck, Eva whispers at Emily, "I didn't know you're Italian!"

Emily pulls on her shoulders. This is not something she usually shares. Having all of them visit the garage is strange enough as it is.

The next stop they make is at Max's house. Roger decided that if there's anyone he wants to tell about what he's been through, it's his best friend. Being Max's friend is not the easiest thing. Somehow Roger feels much closer with his newfound friends, but he does want to give Max a chance to be there for him.

Max is a bit suspicious when Roger comes over but he agrees to meet at the garage.

Ben is the most problematic of the four of them. Eva has to convince him to get his parents to meet him. He knows it will be easier if they don't keep looking for him but talking to them seems much harder than not. So far it's been him, no attachments to the past. It is easy this way. If he has to bring his parents in, that means he has more people to disappoint.

They get to Ben's house at six in the afternoon. Eva offers to come with him and Ben is glad he didn't have to ask. He rings the doorbell instead of using the spare key. It will be much weirder if he just shows up in the house.