the Army stationed Arthur in Fort Benning, Georgia for his last duty station. Kalini and I moved with him. After adjusting to life stateside, Georgia became home sweet home for us all.
Kalini died years ago in a car accident. I offered to have Arthur live with me, but he refused. “Koa, your spirit is too wild for an old man to tame,” he says even now, and he is not wrong. I hate that he isn’t with me day in and out, but the life I lead isn’t really the kind of life he needs.
Looking at my phone, I note the time and take off for the open road. I’ll make a pitstop at the Four Points and see if I can find someone looking for work. Just a maid will do. Once I wrap that job, I’ll get to the hospital for Arthur. Two tasks handled in one trip; I like the productivity. If I’m lucky, maybe today he’ll know who I am again.
Either way, I’m sure Evan the prospect will never fucking forget.
We are the Kings.
Four
Talia
“Your future self is watching you right now through memories. Do yourself a favor and make it something worth watching.” A sign on a bus station wall. My future self is simply happy to be alive, Talia.
Hearing the brakes screech, I’m alert. Feeling the mechanics work to bring the locomotive to a stop, I give Katie a nudge.
“Time to wake up,” I explain readying my body to be on the move.
Sometimes, on rides, I wish I had a watch. It’s silly to most, I get that. Things I once took for granted, like keeping track of time, mean so much more now. Day in and out, I don’t know from one moment to the next the official time. I simply have to follow the sun, the moon, and my instincts. I don’t always know the exact day of the week or the date on a calendar. I no longer remember birthdays or holidays. The hardest thing is I have no control. This lifestyle, I don’t know from one stop to the next where I’m headed most of the time.
Currently, neither of us know if we are stopping somewhere on the West Coast, in the Midwest, or on the East Coast. The only thing I know is we are still in the United States. Trains can’t carry us over oceans, and customs is a nightmare, so I know we are within our native borders somewhere.
As a kid, I remember when waiting five minutes for a snack or to play outside felt like a lifetime. Now the minutes, the hours, and even the days pass without me feeling any level of excitement or anticipation. I have gotten on boxcars before and the night passed by without me knowing it. Inside the car, the lighting is limited in general regardless of the daylight outside. It makes each stop a new adjustment.
I nudge Katie gently again. She shakes her head as if to shrug off the sleep groaning softly. It takes her a few moments to gather her bearings.
Yes, she’s definitely a rookie.
Life on the rails doesn’t slow down. There isn’t an adjustment period. The wrong move can mean life or death.
This level of deep sleep and being unaware of what’s going on can get her killed. I need to get her home. This isn’t the life for her. She begins to speak and my heart races. I signal for her to remain quiet and in place. The train has stopped and by now I know either the engineer or the conductor is doing their rounds to check each car at the hitch and each door. One by one, the conductor checks the boxcars, opening the doors and closing them. The closer he gets to our boxcar the louder the noises are. Only when I’m fairly confident he’s completed his checks near us do I climb from my location with Katie following me. With practiced ease, I get us both free from the boxcar and rushing into the nearby woods.
“What do we do now?” she asks looking around with trepidation.
I remember my early days, alone, scared, and clueless. As soon as I confirmed I was out of North Dakota I sighed thinking this was it. Even now, I’m not safe and this is far from ever being it. Leaving the way I did makes sense even now. I just haven’t figured out how to put the pieces of my life back together and it’s been years. Does