Brian parked his BMW carefully. He liked to pick a spot that wasn’t too crowded. If it was spacious enough, no one would be tempted to slam their car doors against his BMW. Maybe money wasn’t an issue anymore, but that didn’t mean that Brian shouldn’t be wise and careful with his purchases.
Now Brian had to look for his uncle. Brian didn’t expect his uncle to recognize him because of his discrete clothes and shades. This might take him longer than finding his cousin. Maybe he would find her in the process of trying to find his uncle. No such luck though.
Brian’s uncle was a bulky man in his fifties. Like most members of Brian’s family, he had aged well and he was just as hyperactive as Brian was. He had a striking, loud personally in his midst, and that’s why Brian couldn’t go out with him very often. If they drew attention to themselves people may recognize Brian and charge.
Even so Brian spotted his uncle first, somehow his uncle managed to get to him first. Brian’s aunt Margery was with him and Brian could tell that they were distressed. Before Brian could say a word to them, his uncle cut him off.
“We’ve looked everywhere Brian! I swear, it’s almost she’s not here at all!”
“When…”
“We checked the lobby, the desks, the planes…”
“The luggage compartment, the parks…” Margery continued for him.
“She’s nowhere to be found!”
“Well, how did she get lost?”
“I was talking to this nice old lady about her cats and when I turned around “poof!” she was gone!” His uncle put his hands around Brian’s shoulder. “It’s so kind of you to come and help your own blood in need, especially on your day off.”
“It’s no problem, really. I haven’t seen her in ages either. There’s only so many places she can be! Where exactly were you talking to that lady?”
“Right by this door, next to the vending machines,” Margery replied.
“All right, how about this? You guys go on to my mom’s house, give me your cell number and I’ll call you when I find her, okay?” Brian whipped a notebook out of his pocket and Margery gave him the number.
“You’re an angel Brian, an angel,” his uncle smiled down at him.
“Okay, now I’ll really have to find Candice because otherwise you’ll have to take that back!” Brian waved goodbye to his siblings and walked inside the door. It opened automatically for him. Brian dug in one of his pockets for a picture of Candice. He intended to ask everyone he saw about her, hoping that no one would recognize him.
“Excuse me,” Brian said to a tall woman in her thirties, “have you seen this girl? She took off from me awhile ago and I can’t find her anywhere.”
“Oh sure, I saw her over there just ten minutes ago,” the woman pointed to her right. Brian thanked her and made his way over to where she pointed. He wondered if that was a good sign; that woman was the first person he asked and he had gotten an answer. That hardly ever happens. But Candice was gone. How far could a five-year-old wander in just ten minutes?
It turned out that most of the people Brian had talked to had seen her, but minutes before the fact. Strangely, she was no where to be found. When he arrived at the airport, it was mid afternoon, and while he was looking, that had suddenly turned into night. Still optimistic he thought, when I find her, I’d better get her to a hotel.
It took him an hour, but he finally found her, sitting in the lobby with a paper pulled up to her face. She could have been sitting there for a while, but he didn’t notice her until then.
“Don’t you know that it’s safer to stay in one place when you get lost kiddo?” he asked her.
At the sound of his voice, she ran to him and hugged his legs as tight as she could. Brian picked her up so that they were face to face. Suddenly her face turned from ecstatically happy to solemn.
“Some girls were chasing me Brian. I was so afraid, then I kept running and running. I must have been running forever, but somehow they always caught up!”
“What did they look like?” Brian was concerned. Who in their right mind would assault a cute little girl like Candice?
Candice squinted and looked around the room. “They looked like that.” She pointed at two teenage girls.
Suddenly both of the girls turned around and started a brisk walk towards them. Brian knew exactly what was happening, and made a beeline to his car, with Candice in his arms. The two girls ran after them, screaming Brian’s full name and causing more girls to follow. Luckily, Brian got to his BMW before they did and was able to take off safely, without hitting anyone.
Brian realized that his mom must have been worried sick. He looked longingly at the cell phone on the dashboard and set off to find a pay phone instead. To the left of him…open road, to the right of him…open road, in front of him…open road, behind him…gringe city. Gringe city it was then. It was as close as anything to a real civilization, so hopefully he could find a pay phone without having to go too far into the place. No such luck though.
All of the pay phones Brian found were completely destroyed. After an hour of searching, he parked the car, grabbed Candice just in case, and went to ask store managers. He had to beg and plead with them, but they still wouldn’t let him use the phone. They had seen this type of burglary before they said, go get a motel room.
It was hopeless. All of the store managers he talked to were paranoid. When he saw that Candice was getting tired, he got back into his car and went in search of a motel. He forgot to ask the store manager where one was and he wouldn’t dare stop and ask streetwalkers for directions. He wasn’t trying to be manly about it, he just didn’t want a death sentence.
Finally, they approached a run down motel. It was the kind that looked like it hadn’t been maintained the whole time it was up, but Brian wasn’t picky. Besides, this would be a new experience for him, since he was used to the best hotels.
Part 3
Back To Table of Contents