Seventh Journey – Side Story – “Broken Down” Part 2

“…And did you notice anything out of place or stolen?”  Emerson seemed thorough.

“Everything was out of place. But I think the only thing missing was Jacob’s computer and some of his crap from his office. I didn’t notice anything of mine missing…it was just thrown all over the place.”  I was never going to make my train.

“Ok. Well, thank you very much, Anna. We’ll be in touch if there is anything further.”

“Ok, great. Thanks…but I don’t think I’m going to be able to make that train now. It’s going to take at least fifteen minutes to hail a cab.”  I turned around and started to gather my things.

“Which train station are you going to?”  Officer Emerson put away his tablet and smiled.

“Union station…why?” I sheepishly asked.

“Well, we have to swing by the station anyway. We can give you a lift…as long as you don’t mind riding in the back of a cop car.”  He laughed.

“No, actually…that would be really nice of you. People don’t usually go out of their way for me,”  I responded.

“It’s no bother at all. Come on, get in. We’ll put those bags in the trunk for you.”  He was being so friendly; maybe I’d misjudged the guy.

“That would be great, thanks.”  He opened the trunk, and I put my stuff in the back. It felt weird getting into the back of a cop car…the steel cage separating the front from the back seats; no door knobs; no controls of any kind to adjust. I instantly felt like prisoner at their mercy.

The feeling reminded me of my current life situation…as if I had trapped myself after being in a relationship for over seven years. We’d grown so used to each other that we wound up taking each other for granted. We knew everything about each other, and now it boiled down to whether we actually wanted to stay together. Now that we knew all the intimate details about each other’s personality and habits, did we want to continue?

My mother used to talk to me about earning potential. I remembered the many ways she used to manipulate my father into doing whatever she wanted. He’d buy her whatever she wanted, and she would joke right in front of him and us about the earning potential your husband should have. She was so materialistic…so arrogant and full of herself.

I’d never wanted to be like her, yet my sister — who was almost identical to my mother — was treated differently in every way. She was the perfect one who could do no wrong, while I was the black sheep simply because I had different views on things…not because I would do bad things to her or anyone else. I was always thought to have less potential in life…in finding a husband, in finding a purpose, or a good career path…and of course, in being a mother.

My father tried to balance out my mother’s raging after she hit that second bottle of wine on any typical day in the week. “Just ignore her,” he’d tell us. That’s all he’d ever do. He wouldn’t confront her or challenge her, and she’d just walk all over him, spending his money, manipulating him constantly until she got bored and started drinking. But that was how she chose to express herself, and this was the example she laid before us:  simply use your powers of manipulation with men to get whatever it is you want out of life. Deny them their simplest pleasures, and guard your sexuality.

Those were the lessons we walked away with, and if I hadn’t met Jacob, I didn’t think I ever would‘ve changed my point of view. But we talked through many of those issues, and there was even a point in our relationship where we felt there was nothing we couldn’t get past,  nothing we couldn’t sort out. I hadn’t counted on him shutting me out like this…I hadn’t counted on him meeting other women.

“Union Station is just up by the next block, Anna. You shouldn’t have any problems catching your train.”  Officer Emerson’s voice brought me back to the here and now.

“Thanks, Officer. I really appreciate this…you have no idea.”

“Not a problem… we’ll swing around the south side so you can just run in.”  He picked up his pocket PC and began fiddling with it.

“Thanks again, I really appreciate it.”  And I did, too. For some reason, I needed to get away…I needed to be on this train. I’d booked it a few weeks ago, and it would have been such a pain to try and change it if I was late.

It started to rain heavily as we turned the corner. The water crashed down out of nowhere making Officer Lewis fumble for the windshield wiper switch.

I looked at my watch; it was eleven minutes to ten. We pulled up beside the main entrance to Union, and the officers got out opening my door and grabbing my things from the trunk.

“Thanks very much, guys, I really appreciate your help. Have a good night!”  I grabbed my things and hurried toward the building entrance.

“No worries…have a good night. Take care.” Emerson replied as he got back into the car.

I walked into the massive complex, and immediately the smell of wet polyester hit me. Everyone was packed in like sardines, soaked from head to toe. I pushed my way through the mass of people, trying to get closer to the electronic billboards that would, hopefully, tell me my train was on time.

It was, and would be arriving on Track 5A shortly. I managed to bore a hole for myself through the crowd and up the stairs to the platform. My leather boots were soaked, along with everything else. The storm had come from out of nowhere, and it was harder than anything else I’d seen in a long time.

The weather situation had been getting worse and worse over the past few years. We’d had flash floods, intense hurricane seasons, volcanoes erupting, tsunamis, tidal waves, earth quakes…you name it, it had happened. It was unbelievable. I couldn’t remember any of this type of stuff happening back in the 80s or even 90s. But it just seemed like we’d been consuming all of our resources, doing nothing to support sustainability in our environment, and look what we had as a result?  Flash freezing, and all manner of disasters happening all over the place.

 

To Be Continued…

 

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