“Why don’t we go for a ride in your car?” The man said, while he played with the keys. Dumbfounded, is how I felt hearing him speak to me in a semi-joking tone. “My car?” I muttered, realizing I hadn’t questioned him about his claim of being my friend. Something in my head told me that he was right, like I knew him more than I wanted to remember, or I felt desperate to have any sort of person to guide me to who Kaine Odun was.
So, I ended up in “my” car with him in the driver’s seat and me in the passenger seat next to him. He drove us around town. I looked inside this car, something smelled horrid in there. But as quickly as it bothered me, it relaxed me immediately. The next second, the copper-like smell was surprisingly nostalgic. Then I looked at him, he was calm and relaxed, like this was his daily routine to drive me around. “I should have asked, but, what’s your name?” I finally asked him after staring so long at him. When he looked at me, his face, my stomach dropped in a second as I saw how unrecognizable it was, blood was dripping from his mouth, which was sewed roughly and sloppily together, his skin blue and paler than normal, asphyxiation. I looked at his eyes, which were filled with redness, emptiness and puffiness. It made me twitch and close my eyes, tightly where I could feel my own eyes tearing up.
“One Price.” his words hit me, but there was another voice saying something in the words of “I’m rotting.” I opened my eyes immediately like a reflex, but his face was back to his sharp features, only a few holes around his lips caught my eyes, how didn’t I notice it before. I shook my head a bit, and he laughed, looked back at the road and spoke again: “I know that name is silly, but you gave it to me when we were young, so I took it.” I was too anxious to answer him, the sight of his mouth sewed up in my mind. Did I hallucinate for a moment? Probably some of my medicine made me a bit sick, probably? I shook my head again and muttered: “I named you One Price?” One giggled: “Yep! Because I usually got the first prize in everything we did when we were orphans.” I was an orphan? I gulped, but in a way I had to ask: “Did we ever get adopted?”. One’s face became grim, and he just sighed, while he drove through some forest path. “No, nobody wanted a kid with burns like yours and a kid with heavy scars like me.” he answered and looked at me with sorrow this time. Burn marks? I haven’t really looked at my face since I woke up. Maybe I was scared of what I would see. Would I even recognize myself? One looked at my worried face and pulled down the rearview mirror. I hesitate but look at myself. The man looking back at me. He seemed to be stoic with emptiness in his eyes. I couldn’t recognize myself. The burnt scar on my right cheek was almost black with a few spots of pink flesh, because of my dark complexion. Long dark curly hair to the point it looked tangled, I had a bit of a beard on the left side of my face, but it was a complete mess. “Don’t worry, you still look amazing. Like the last time I saw you.” One complimented me, but I don’t see what he means by amazing.
Then he stopped the car. He turned to me and smiled. “We are here!” he said.
© Adrianna Kljestan 2024-04-27