"Mom, where exactly are we going?". I asked her and almost regret asking the question. I get that cold silence which still answers the question in a way.
It was obvious that she was startled by my question but she quickly composes herself and almost immediately, her grip tightens on the steering wheel as she drives faster.
Even though I didn't expect her to give me a reply to my question earlier, she did anyways. "You'll see when we get there". She gives the fakest smile you can ever think of and frowns precisely three seconds later
trust me, I counted 3 seconds
.
I could tell that she wasn't having any more of my questions and so I just turned to face the window. I wound down a little bit but that earned me a glare from my mother and I try to ignore the glare.
Instead, I put my right hand outside trying to take in some of the fresh air. "Young lady! You have to wind back up. There's no space for dirt in my car. You can see how dusty the road is", she says with a little frown but not turning from the wind screen.
The road is actually quite dusty and that even makes me question where exactly we are heading to in my head. I eye the dirty old Mazda as I do as she says. "It's not like it's worth the pamper", I murmur to myself for the fear of receiving a knock on my head if she had heard me.
"But I want to feel the air on my skin...", I whine as I say the 'skin'. As usual, she stays silent and naturally, I understand that when I get the cold silence, I'm supposed to mind my business. I sit back comfortably into the passenger's seat.
I go through my bag that is tossed on the carpet beside my feet to get my phone and I see that it's 2:37p.m. I still do not understand why we had to move out of our house. We only packed a few necessities in the wobbling old car. Mother didn't allow me to get most of my stuff because the dirty old car couldn't take them all.
Truth be told, the red pale Mazda had done a lot than I could think of and I feel guilty for appreciating it less. I take a quick glance through my phone and see a "where are you?" text from my best friend
she was literally the only thing I had closest to a friend before now
.
Until mother told me not to tell anyone that we were leaving. In fact, she promised to seize my phone if I did speak to anyone. Come to think of it, what are the odds of moving to a new neighborhood? What's the worse that could happen? It's not like I'm going to hell.
This is me trying not to overthink it. I remind myself that this is a new beginning for me. Perhaps, there's one good thing in stock for me in this new life. I feel deep down that this is another chance to redeem my self.
What if it's not?", my subconscious whispers to me and it took all that I had in me to shove the thought out of my head. There's no room for pessimism.
