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Sasha was fifteen years old when she slipped out of the window of her grandmother’s house to run away with Linc, her first love. But Linc had other plans. Sasha quickly found herself caught up in the deadly world of sex trafficking. Eight years later, Sasha comes home. The neighborhood has changed a lot since she left. Yet with the help of an unlikely collection of friends—a seventy-year-old diva, a six-year-old genius and a young cop who is madly in love with her—Sasha slowly starts to get her life on track.
This is not an easy task because Sasha did not return alone. She carries a load of guilt, regrets and so many ghosts from her past. On top of all that, Sasha bears a deadly secret that threatens to destroy the fragile new world she has worked so hard to rebuild. |
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She ran away from home for love and love nearly killed her...
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I was sure that none of these new neighbors knew about my past, though. I would’ve bet money on that fact…two days ago. But now I knew for sure, they all knew. The whole block knew.
Two days ago, I was making my routine run to the supermarket. I didn’t have a car so that meant I had to take two buses to get to the real market and not the corner store, where you had to brush off the mouse droppings to just to buy a six pack of cola—not Coke, plain old cola. Every couple of weeks, when my shopping list had grown long enough to make the trip worthwhile, I took the two-hour trip. The problem with waiting for the trip to be worthwhile was that it meant lugging a lot of bags from the market. And is it just me, or are those plastic supermarket bags getting flimsier and flimsier? Well, me and my flimsy shopping bags had made it halfway up the block when one of the bags fell completely apart, and all of my groceries spilled all over the ground. I cursed and scrambled to pick up the cans of tuna, Oodles of Noodles, and frozen dinners that spilled all over the ground before the cats ran off with them. “Need some help?” Before I could say anything, the helpful stranger crouched down and started gathering up my groceries. We tried to stuff some food in the rest of the bags, and what wouldn’t fit, he carried in his arms. “Thanks,” I said. “No problem.” He walked along side me to my house. “The name’s Dre. And you are?” “Sasha.” “Sasha,” he repeated, adding a little more spice to my name than the way I said it. “Yeah, I’ve seen you around the neighborhood a few times and kept meaning to say hi to ya but…” “But what? Your wife wouldn’t let you?” I had seen him around the neighborhood too. And his woman and two kids were never too far behind. “Wife?” He laughed, nervously, as he followed me up the steps. “Sh-she, she’s not…we ain’t married.” Well “hood married” then. That’s when a couple has been together so long, lived together, had kids together and did so much other stuff together, everyone thought they were married. “It’s okay. None of my business. Thanks for helping me with my bags.” “Hey. That’s what neighbors are for…” He walked inside and was smacked in the face by the heat. “Damn, it’s hot in here!” “I know. The ceiling fan is broke. And I can’t get the window open.” “Why didn’t you say so?” He put some of the groceries down to free his one hand and started pulling on the ceiling fan chain. It didn’t move. He studied it carefully. “Oh yeah, I can have this fixed in no time.” “You can fix stuff?” “They don’t call me the Fixer for nothing. Let me grab my tools.” He dropped the rest of the groceries on the dining room and started to leave. “Wait! How much do you charge? I don’t’ have a lot of money.” “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.” He winked at me and then he bolted. Wow, this dude must really love his job, I thought to myself. I had never seen someone so excited to fix a ceiling fan. I shrugged off that thought and went about putting the groceries away. A few minutes later, I heard Dre return and immediately start working on the fan. He was making a whole bunch of noise, so I turned on the radio. The Isley Brothers, Groove with You, was playing on the radio. I don’t know why, but I love the Isley Brothers. I think it was because they were my mother’s favorite group. And when she put them on, lit some incense and cleaned up her bedroom, I knew what was coming next: “Sasha, put your pj’s on!” Her boyfriend, Uncle Mark, was coming over to “spend some time with her.” And I would be spending the night at our neighbor, Miss Cassie’s house—which I didn’t mind. She had two daughters about my age and they had more dolls to play with than any girl could’ve dreamed of. I was really young when all of this was going on. I knew Uncle Mark wasn’t really my uncle, but I didn’t know anything about sex or booty calls. My mother worked really hard and Uncle Mark must not have lived close by, because he didn’t come over often. But when he did, my mother transformed! From stressed out, weary, single mom, to a vibrant, sexy woman. She even put on makeup. Sometimes I forgot how beautiful my mother was, but she really was gorgeous. And for days after a visit from Uncle Mark, Mommy practically floated around the house. That’s what I was doing now while I pulled out the ingredients for dinner. Floating. I floated into the living room where Dre was working and said, “You’re welcome to stay for dinner if you want.” “Aw thanks girl. You didn’t have to go through no trouble.” “Oh, it’s no trouble. Just a token of my appreciation.” He gave me a sly smile. “You appreciate me, huh?” “Uh huh.” “All right. I appreciate that.” Okay, if it seemed like I was flirting with Dre, it’s because I was. I flirted with him knowing that he was hood married. What can I say? He was fine. He had that tall, muscular, blue-collar thing going on. And I’ll admit it, I had my needs. I was feeling a little lonely and this Isley Brothers’ music had put me in a mood. But what happened next, even I wasn’t prepared for. I had the ground beef sizzling in the pan and had just added the Hamburger Helper, when I heard Dre say “Mmm! That looks good.” I had a feeling he wasn’t talking about the food. I let that roll off of me and said. “Did you get it working?” “Sure nuf!” “Yes! Thank you so much, Dre. You just don’t know…,” I said, so excited by the thought of not having to bake in that oven of a living room anymore. “Oh, I know.” I pulled out the chair for him at the kitchen table. “Okay, so why don’t you make yourself comfortable. I’m going to run upstairs and get something for you.” I ran upstairs and into my old bedroom. In the top dresser drawer, was where I kept my stash. The money that I saved for emergencies. I had about $120 saved. I didn’t know how much it cost to fix ceiling fan, but he had only worked on it for about a half an hour. So, I took out $20. It seemed like a fair price. If he pressed me for it, I might be willing to go up to $30, but I was hoping he would be happy with the twenty. Turns out that this fool would have been happy if I had come downstairs with a piece of gum. Nothing else. No clothes, no shoes, no panties, just butt naked with a stick of gum. Because that’s what I found with I came down stairs and back to the kitchen. The twenty-dollar bill slipped out of my hand, as I shouted: “What the…why are you standing in my grandma’s kitchen butt naked?!!” He gave me that sly grin again. “Huh? I gotta get home soon, so I figured we could just skip dinner and cut right to dessert.” “And you thought dessert was me?” “Yeah,” he slid back down in the chair, with his knees wide apart like he was expecting to receive something. But all I kept thinking was: You’ve got your naked black butt on my grandmother’s chair. I know she’s rolling over in her grave. Dre said, “Listen, I was talking to my boy, Craig. He told me about you. Said you were setting up your own spot here. And I said, ‘Word! That’s a great idea. I really admire women entrepreneurs. She got my support.”’ “You think I’m in the sex business?” He must have read the annoyance on my face, because he stood up and walked over to me then said in a soothing tone, “Look, it’s cool. You don’t have to worry. I won’t tell the cops or nothing. I mean, why would I want to shut that business down? I mean, all the fellas will be over here getting serviced.” “Serviced, huh?” I said, folding my arms. Inside I was heated, but that didn’t stop him from running his mouth. “You’ll probably have to bring in a few girls to keep up with the demand.” “I will, huh?” “And of course, I’d be happy to be your personal handyman.” His eyes lit up when he said this. “I can put in a couple of air conditioners, so your clients will be comfortable. I can even put in a stripper pole for ya. I’ve installed a couple of them. And them jawns are nice! I wouldn’t even charge you full price. I’d give you a special discount.” He leaned in close. I could feel his ding-a-ling pressing up against my leg and his lips inching closer to mine. I put my hand up and blocked his lips. He looked confused, until I smiled and said sweetly, “Can you excuse me for one sec? I just need to get something.” He kissed my fingers, which were still in front of his face. “Sure baby. I’ll be waiting right here.” He sat back down, legs wide open, ding-a-ling pointing straight up in the air. Then he licked his lips. His idea of being sexy. “I’ll be right back.” And I was. I was back in less than two minutes. But I wasn’t alone. I had Lady with me …and Miss Lola. “The devil is a liar! Boy, have you lost your mind?!!” At the sound of Miss Lola’s voice, Dre scrambled to his feet and scurried behind a chair to cover his goodies. “Miss Lo-I…uh, Sasha—” “Sasha, what? Sasha told me you fixed her ceiling fan. And when she went to go pay you, she found you standing in her kitchen butt naked.” Which was the truth. So, I stood by Miss Lola, nodding my head confidently. I wasn’t the least bit worried about him telling her I was a prostitute because I knew she wouldn’t believe anything that came out of a naked man’s mouth. Miss Lola kept ranting. “…I mean, you fixed my ceiling fan last year and only charged me forty dollars. Did your prices go up? Please, tell me now cuz I was gonna ask you to fix the leak in my sink. Am I gonna have to buy myself some rubbers too?” Dre laughed nervously. “That’s a good one, Miss Lola,” then he turned to me. “Why’d you bring her over here!” “Don’t you dare yell at her! Why wouldn’t she bring me over here? She’s a single woman, living on her own. The last thing she needs is some hound dog in heat, trying to hump all over her because she needs help.” The more heated Miss Lola got, the more Lady got heated too. She started in with that loud, deep bark that I was sure the whole neighborhood could hear her. “Aw, shut up, Lady,” Dre barked back. “You ain’t gonna do nothing but make a lot of noise.” I guess Lady took that as a challenge, because all of a sudden, she took off after Dre. He wasn’t talking so tough anymore. His voice got all high-pitched and he started screaming, “Get the dog! Get the damn dog!” The thought of getting gummed in the butt—or on the other side—by a toothless dog was enough to light a fire under Dre. He shot out from behind the chair, trying to scoop up his clothes and protect his private parts at the same time. Lady was right on his heels as he broke through the screen door. Miss Lola was laughing so hard, she couldn’t even call Lady off of him. The old dog ran out of energy half way down the block. But she had hung with him long enough to prove her point. She still had it. And the rest of the block knew she had it, because they cheered the dog on and laughed at Dre at the same time. I made a special plate of Hamburger Helper for Lady, my way of thanking her. I offered some to Miss Lola, but she politely said no. She was too busy scrubbing off the chair where Dre had planted his butt. “Gladys would have a fit if she saw that fool stinking up her nice kitchen set. It took her three years to pay this off.” When she finally finished scrubbing, Miss Lola glared at the chair, still not satisfied. “I don’t know, Sasha. You might have to burn this chair.” I looked at her, not sure if she was kidding. Then she busted out laughing. So, did I. I had to sit down, I was laughing so hard. All throughout the night, I found myself breaking into sudden laughter. I think when Misha came to see me in the middle of the night, she was laughing too. The laughter continued off and on throughout the morning and into the late afternoon. It had been years since I laughed so hard. Belly aching laughter. It felt so good. Until I heard the glass break. |
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Book Excerpt:
Chapter 5
A Flight to the Never Mind
A Flight to the Never Mind
“Everyone, meet Astrid,” Jax announced, after yanking open the door to the dusty blue van.
Astrid peered in. She saw three children, but only heard one voice reply, “Hi Astrid.”
The cheerful voice came from the little boy sitting in the back. He was about her age, small frame, with white blond hair and ocean blue eyes. “I’m Owen.”
She waived timidly.
Jax looked over his shoulder. He knew he didn’t have much time, but he didn’t want to scare Astrid any more than she already was by hurrying her along. “Go on, little one. It’s okay,” he said, kindly. “They won’t bite. I promise.” Jax held out his hands and Astrid raised her arms, allowing him to lift her into the van.
Now that she was fully inside, she could see the other two children. One, a girl—older, around ten. Painfully frail, with short bushy hair. The other, a boy Astrid’s age, round, plump with curly red hair. They looked miserably hot, like they had been riding around in that van for hours. And since neither of them had spoken to her, she decided to sit beside Owen. The only one who had said a word to her and the only one with a smile on his face.
She maneuvered her way to the back of the van, toward the boy with the beaming smile. His legs were really thin—too thin for the rest of his body. Just behind him, Astrid could see parts of a metal contraption that she assumed was his wheelchair.
As soon as Astrid sat down, Owen’s eyes turned dreamy. “You’re beautiful.”
“She looks like a boy,” the plump one said. “What’s wrong with your hair?”
“Shut up! It’s trendy,” snapped Owen. “Don’t listen to him, Astrid. That’s Grant. He’s a grouch.” He chuckled. “Grant the Grouch. That’s funny.”
“You’d be a grouch too if you’d been torn away from your family and forced to ride around in this big, dumb, stupid van.”
The bushy haired girl finally spoke, rather, she signed the words, “We’re all in the same boat.”
Astrid’s eyes lit up. She signed back. “You sign too?”
The girl nodded.
“That’s Lyric,” Owen added. “She can’t talk and she’s deaf, but she can read lips.” He looked at her purple cast. “You broke your arm?”
“Duh! No, she’s just being trendy,” said Grant.
“I meant, how…” Owen said quickly, feeling foolish for his choice of words. “How did you break your arm?”
Just then, she heard the door up front slam shut and the van grumbled to life. They lurched forward and were on their way. Astrid looked back and, through the small square window, she saw the familiar sights of Daisy Street begin to shrink from view. Waves of sadness washed over her. Already she was missing Uncle Russ, and the chickens, and the trees, and the mud pies.
A warm sensation found its way to her hand. She looked down and saw that Owen was holding her hand. “It’ll be okay, Astrid. I’m right here with you.”
Even though she didn’t know him, she felt comforted.
“Watch it, Romeo.” Jax warned, glaring at Owen through the rearview mirror. “Keep your hands to yourself.”
He quickly dropped Astrid’s hand.
“Aw! Let him hold her hand, it might shut him up,” said Grant. “I mean, he’s been flapping his lips ever since we picked him up.”
“I can’t help it if I’m friendly,” Owen said, not at all phased by Grant’s glower. “You want me to be all mean and yell at everybody?”
Grant thought it over. “Actually, yes. Yes, I would like that, Sunshine.”
The whole scene made Lyric snicker.
Grant didn’t find anything funny. He just groaned and declared, “I’m hungry!”
“Yes, child, you sang that tune to me already,” said Jax. “What happened to the fruit and crackers I put back there for ya?”
“He ate all of it,” Owen spoke up, with a little bitterness—the first note of any anger from this one.
“No way! You had some too!” said Grant.
“Yeah, me and Lyric had like four crackers between us. You ate the rest and the berries.”
Lyric signed along, emphatically agreeing with Owen. Echoing every word.
Jax sighed. “Hold on children. One more stop to go.” He made a hard right and they were are tossed to one side of the van.
The one more stop was to pick up twin boys. Blue and Teal. Born premature and blind, they had been at a facility for the past two years. Astrid would later learn that the kitchen staff had arranged for Jax to come and get them because the guards were so cruel to them. Blue and Teal weren’t identical twins, but they had the same shyness, the same quiet demeanor. The same dingy, gray, North Ward uniforms. The same scared look on their faces when Jax herded them into the van.
Owen, the social coordinator, jumped right in with the introductions, adding a little bit of backstory with each name. “…and this is the beautiful Astrid. She doesn’t talk with her mouth, but she says a lot with her eyes.”
Astrid shook her head, briskly.
“Yes, you do. See? You just did it right there. Your eyes are saying, ‘this boy is bananas.”’
Astrid started to laugh, but quickly caught it, by covering her mouth.
Grant perked up. “Bananas? I’d love a banana right about now.”
The van erupted with laughter from the other children, until they felt a subtle rocking, as Jax climbed back into the van.
“That’s it,” Jax announced. “Now, we’re ready to go.”
“Go where?” asked a very irritated Grant.
Jax bit his tongue, choosing not to answer that question again. Instead he swore and fought with the ignition until, at last, it revved up. They were on their way.
Thankfully, “where” was not too far away. Just a twenty-minute ride, over a very bumpy, twisting, narrow road.
Oceali Airfield North. Jax had to admit, he was glad to see the sign. Between the heat and the whiny kid in the back, he would be happy when this leg of the journey was over. He drove right past the gate. No need to show a badge or ID. Only a few planes used the airfield. Oceali was no longer a tourist hotspot. There were a few shipments and only a handful of medical personnel that used this field in any given week. Airfield East was slightly busier, used by the more affluent citizens of Oceali. Airfield South was exclusively for the royal family. And Airfield West closed down years ago, overrun by rising tides.
Airfield North should have been shut down too, due to lack of use. The Kassan family, one of the wealthier families on the island—and also very loyal to the Underground—bought the airfield to be used for their import-export business, which was really a cover for its true purpose. Jax only had to call them the day before, so they could fuel up the jet, falsify some documents and make the necessary arrangements to ensure safe passage.
It had always worked like clockwork. So, there was no reason to doubt it would be that way this time too. And it was.
There was a cascade of gasps and excited whispers when the children finally caught glimpses of the plane.
“Oooh! Are we going up in an airplane?” one of them yelled from the back.
“We sure are.” Jax pulled the van right up alongside the Cessna aircraft and started barking out orders. “All right, listen up little people…We just have a little further to go. Let me get us loaded up and we’ll be on our way, okay?”
They nodded in unison, hanging on his every word, just waiting for the signal. For him to say “go” and they would pile on to the magnificent machine.
“When I put you on the plane, buckle up and don’t touch anything. Ya hear me?”
More nodding.
“Good!” he said, sternly, then his eyes lit up when he said, “Now, who wants to go for a ride?”
The van rocked with cheers.
Blue and Teal climbed aboard first. They felt their way among the seats until they reached the last row and sat down. The plane was divided into three rows of two-seaters on the left side and three rows of single seats on the right. The twins took the two-seater in the back. Lyric took the single seat across the aisle from them. The other children waited outside for their turn to be seated, while Jax carried Owen and gently placed him in the next two-seater.
“Thanks, Mr. Jax.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Can you hurry up? It’s hot,” Grant complained. Now that they were out of the van, Astrid could see that his left arm was far shorter than the right. She had been wondering what his deficiency was—other than being annoying. “And this smell is making me sick.”
“It’s probably just the jet fuel,” Jax replied then mumbled, “Or all the crackers and berries you ate.” Then he turned and said sweetly, “Do you want to sit next to your new friend, Astrid?”
Astrid looked at Grant who was starting to turn green and then at Owen, whose lovey dovey grin was making her nauseous. A tough decision. She pointed to Owen.
“All right, in ya go!” He scooped her up and set her feet down on the carpeted floor of the plane.
Owen smiled and asked, “Do you want the window seat?”
That was nice of him. Astrid smiled politely and shook her head.
Last to get on board was Grant. Jax tried to help him, but the boy just brushed his hand away. “I am more than capable of climbing up three steps, thank you.”
Jax sighed, “Buckle up, everybody,” as he disappeared from sight.
Everyone seemed to manage their buckles rather easily, except Astrid. Even Grouchy Grant managed to stop complaining long enough to get buckled in. She had been able to buckle herself in Russ’ car, but, with one hand, this one seemed to be fighting against her.
“Here.” Owen reached over and managed to click it in two simple moves.
She mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Have you ever been on a plane before?”
Astrid reached into the blackness of her memory and couldn’t recall ever being on a plane. She shook her head.
“I have,” Grant interjected, as if someone had asked him. “Plenty of times. We used to take vacations all over the world.”
“All over the world? Really?” said Owen, pretending to sound impressed. He leaned into Astrid and tried to keep their conversation more private this time. “I was on a plane once. When I was a baby. My mom said they took me to this special doctor to see if he could fix my legs. She said I cried the whole time. Of course, I was too little to remember.”
“My parents flew the doctors in,” Grant inserted himself into the conversation once again. “Doctors from Asia, Africa—”
“Lunch!” Jax announced and Grant’s list was cut short.
Jax handed out white cardboard boxes to each of his passengers. “Blue…Teal…” One by one the boxes found their way to their rightful owners, who greedily tore them open.
Teal took a deep breath and said, “Yes! My favorite.” Just from its scent, he could tell the box contained thick slices of ham, cheese and apples. He turned his head in his brother’s direction. “What did you get?”
Blue waived his box in Teal’s direction and let him inhale the smell of steaming hot chicken pot pie. “My favorite.” How long had it been since he had had a pot pie? Now everyone was eager to see what was in their boxes.
“Tacos!” Owen cheered. “I love tacos.” He looked back at Lyric and let her read his lips. “Is that your favorite, Lyric?”
She nodded, her face already covered in strawberry ice cream.
Why hadn’t it melted? Astrid thought. It must’ve been sitting in that hot van for hours. Why was Blue’s pie steaming hot? How was any of this possible? Then she remembered Jax and his legs stretching and a shrinking as needed. Was he a magician?
Her train of thought was broken by a weird gurgling sound. She looked over at Grant, who was shoveling mounds and mounds of chocolate candy into his mouth with his dominant hand. She assumed that was his favorite.
“Astrid.” Jax set a box on her lap. Her heart leaped, picturing a pile of Uncle Russ’ cookies waiting for her to devour them. But they weren’t there. No chunky chocolate cookies. No cookies at all. Instead she found two yellow cupcakes, glistening with white icing. She leaned in a little closer and took a sniff. Lemon.
“Is that your favorite?” Owen asked, with a mouth full of chicken tacos.
Astrid shrugged her shoulders.
Owen replied, “It has to be. Everyone else got their favorites.”
“Who cares,” said Grant. “Eat it. Or will.”
Astrid took that threat seriously. She broke off a piece of lemon cupcake and hurried to shoved it into her mouth.
Delightful. Light and moist. Tangy and sweet. A tiny piece of heaven in her mouth. How did they know she would like it? —Love it. How did they know that this would be her new favorite? How did they know that she would finish off the first cupcake in three bites? How did they know? And who were they anyway?
Jax finished putting the last of the bookbags, suitcases and shopping bags onto the plane. Finally, he slipped Owen’s wheelchair onto the small space between the passengers and the cockpit.
When they saw him again, he was climbing into the pilot’s seat.
“You’re flying the plane too?” asked Grant.
“That’s why they call me Jax Offalltrades.” He fired up the plane’s engines and they could hear the whirl of the propellers starting to turn.
“Hey! Can I sit up there with you?” Grant asked, while licking the chocolate off of his fingers.
Jax smirked. Looking at the annoying boy, with the chubby cheeks and the chocolate covered fingers, he suddenly didn’t seem so annoying anymore. But the thought of going the next hour and ten minutes with Grant as his copilot, getting chocolate all over his dials and levers? “Maybe next time, kid. Maybe next time.”
Soaring among the clouds felt like a dream—literally a dream. Astrid fell asleep in Uncle Russ’ car last night and just a few hours later she was flying in a plane, for the first time ever, with a bunch of strangers, on her way to some unknown place. It was part dream and part nightmare, because she had no idea what was waiting for her when this plane landed. But Uncle Russ assured her it would be good, and she trusted Uncle Russ. Besides, no one else seemed worried. Everyone else was just enjoying the ride. Except Grant. He was nauseous from the moment the plane lifted off. All the candy he had stuffed down his throat was trying to force its way back up. He just leaned his head against the window and groaned the whole time. “Ugh! When are we going to get there?”
“Won’t be much longer now, kid. Hang in there,” Jax yelled over his shoulder. He passed a paper bag to him. “Here ya go. Just in case.”
Grant snatched up the bag. But he didn’t throw up, thankfully. He just moaned a little longer, until he finally fell asleep. Astrid almost felt sorry for him. If he hadn’t scarfed up the last bit of her lemon cupcake when she turned her head to look out the window, she would have definitely felt sorry for him. Right now, she was feeling quiet vindication. She went back to looking out the window.
Astrid regretted turning down Owen’s offer to sit by the window. The view was amazing. A vast expanse of ocean as far as the eye could see, with the occasional dot of land. She had read about it in some books and Uncle Russ had told her all about it too. The Shift. The climate shift. When temperatures grew warm, causing the icebergs to melt. Water levels began to rise. Barely noticeable at first. But over the past one hundred years or so, huge chunks of land had been swallowed up by water. It was fascinating to hear his stories: fleeing his home in a boat, the great storms that wiped whole towns away, watching his father’s truck get swept away by a rush of water, while he, his parents and his two brothers clung to the trees for dear life.
It was one thing to hear his stories, but to see the aftermath with her own eyes was simply stunning. Astrid drifted off to sleep with her head on Owen’s shoulder, dreaming that she was floating on a sea of lemonade, in a boat made of chunky chocolate cookies.
The next words she remembered hearing were: “Wake up, sleepy heads.”
Jax was still in the cockpit, pushing nobs and levers, but occasionally looked back to say, “We’re here. Get ready for landing.”
Here. Where was here? Astrid craned her neck to see out of the front of the plane but all she saw was white. No more ocean. Thick clouds had surrounded the plane and seemed to be escorting them to their final destination. She felt a sinking in her stomach. The plane was dipping lower. Her excitement was elevating. This was an adventure. A full-on adventure. Not knowing what was going to happen next was scary, but also thrilling because she was with people she could trust. Whatever happened they were in it together.
The plane jolted, jiggled and jumped, tossing everyone from side to side. Before the panicking and crying started, Jax took charge. “Just a little turbulence. The plane is dancing on the air, little ones. Relax. No need to worry.”
Grant completely disregarded his words, “Relax? We’re about to fall out of the sky!”
“Stop being dramatic, boy! You think I’d put you on a plane that would drop you out of the sky?”
Another jolt and the plane dipped some more.
Astrid looked behind her. Lyric’s eyes were closed and she was quietly praying. Blue and Teal were gripping the arm rests, tightly, like they were trying to stabilize the plane on their own.
Astrid tried not to panic. She wanted to believe Jax. But with each jolt, that was getting harder and harder to do. She heard another voice in her ear, soothing her. “We’re safe. We’re almost there,” Owen said, softly.
Him, she did believe. Astrid reached her right hand over her broken left arm and grabbed on to his hand. Better. She felt much better. Owen was a rock. He didn’t even seem to mind how hard she was squeezing his poor hand. He had the same sweet smile on his face, which gave Astrid permission to hold on until the plane touched the ground.
The first thing Astrid noticed when she stepped off the plane was the air. Warm, but not that thick soup of pollution and humidity from back at home. All around her was green. There were lots of green trees and grass on Oceali—at least she thought they were green. Not like this green. Deep and lush shades of green, like she had never seen before. Beautiful. That was the only word she could think of.
The only thing that wasn’t beautiful was the sound of Grant’s retching, throwing up on the other side of the plane. He had been doing that for the past five minutes, bringing up lemon cake, candies, crackers and berries, along with whatever it was he had for breakfast.
From out of nowhere, came the music, startling Astrid. She turned around and saw the band. Children with their horns and drums, playing a festive song. Above them was a sign that said Welcome in purple letters trimmed in gold.
As the band hit its final note, she emerged.
A statuesque woman in navy blue, pinstriped trousers and silvery white silk blouse. She looked like one of those women in the old-fashioned magazines that used to belong to Uncle Russ’ wife that he, for some reason, refused to throw away. The woman took a few graceful steps and stood right in front of this group of children, who stared at her, wide-eyed, as if under her spell.
“Welcome children. My name is Allison French and I am the Dean of Education at the Academy. Welcome to the Isle of the Never Mind.”
