PART TWO
July 1st 9:46pm;
I’m back and I’m sure you’re wondering where I am and why I’m in the same room with this kid. Well, his name is Ronnie, and he’s 14 years old. He’s here for the same reason I am…kind of. His brother, who is trying to sleep next to me, is here for the same reason and Ronnie had to come with him because there was no one else to watch him. Joshia is a year older than me and a sophomore in college at the age of 19.
I haven’t had time to write because on the plane Ronnie, Joshia, and I spoke about how our parents met and what little we knew about the situation and yesterday we were out all day exploring our new home for the summer.
That Friday while I was saying goodbye to Auntie Ess and Nana I heard a car horn, and I thought it was Uncle Dev so I ran out the door and stopped about one foot from where Joshia stood. My face must have given me away because he said, “You must be Elizabeth.”
“Just Beth, but yes, and who are you?” I asked him.
“I’m Joshia.” He extended his hand to shake mine. I ignored him in my confusion so he continued to explain himself while grabbing my bags and walking towards his car. It was a blue Chevy truck, parked next to the Beetle. “I got a call from your Uncle about an hour ago saying that he told you about your parents and you wanted to go to Europe, too.”
“‘Too’… as in you also want to go?” I asked.
“Yes. I have begged him to tell me I can go many times before today. Finally, I am able to go because you weren’t going to take no for an answer.” He was quick at packing up the truck. He opened the door for me and I sat in the front seat. All the while, I’m trying desperately to figure out who this guy was. How did he know my Uncle? How did he find out about his parents? Did he get a note, too?
“Hi!” I heard from the backseat. I turned quickly and found a little boy eating cheese puffs staring at me. “I’m Ronnie.” He paused and after he checked me out he started, “ Dammm--“
“Ronnie, don’t say it.” Joshia cut him off and turned to me. “So, we have about 2 hours before our plane leaves so I figure we can drive to the airport, check in, and wait for the plane. I’m sure there is plenty to keep us busy.” He laughed.
“Yeah,” I said dazedly “I guess so.”
I used the mirror to put on lip gloss and found Ronnie staring at me with a smile. “Joshia, who is he?”
“That’s my brother Ronnie. You can just ignore him.” He replied nonchalantly.
That began my trip to Europe. We did get to the airport on time and had about 15 minutes to spare. Joshia explained that his Mother and Father have been acting suspicious since last summer so he took matters into his own hands. He started by taking their phones and tracking numbers and realizing the area codes weren’t from the United States so he asked questions. They refused to answer him because it was “nothing to worry about” so when he found Uncle Dev’s number under the name “Good Source” he called and asked what he offered. Uncle Dev tried to cover himself but Joshia came right out with what he wanted to know. Which was what were him and Joshia’s parents doing on all these phone calls. Joshia told him that his parents didn’t know that he knew about Uncle Dev so they could meet secretly. They met last month and when Joshia was shown his own note that sounded similar to mine he began to ask to come to Europe to fight this battle himself.
I had to explain that there was no battle but we were going to find our parents and help with the case. His only reply was “Or we can solve the case ourselves.”
So here we are now, in Europe for the second night. We’re in a hotel on a busy street in London that only hasone queen and a single bed. Ronnie begged for the single and because he snores and kicks in his sleep and Joshia promised to keep to his side of the bed, so I agreed to share a bed with Joshia.
Tomorrow begins our journey. We have talked strategy and explored the back streets of London in a taxi cab. Whoever threatened us can’t know we’re here so we’ll have to outthink him. We know that our parents will call us daily and we’ll answer to cover ourselves. Of course it will add a lot the money on our phone bill but they won’t see that until after we catch the true murderer of Kahi Macer. We can worry about the bill when we get back.
For now, Joshia is complaing that the light is still on.