Chapter 3 No Matter Where You Run To

What the hell was I thinking? I suddenly had a change of heart, turned around and shouted at him. Where are you going? He heard me, stopped in his tracks and turned around. Home. He was shy. I could tell that his shoulders were tense. He never took his hands out of his pockets. Could you walk me home? I havent been back in Oak Park for 5 years and Im a little nervous. I dont even know if I really remember how to get home. He didnt say anything back right away which made me extremely nervous. Then he nodded his head, grinned and agreed to walk me.

I walked towards her with my head down so she wouldnt see me grinning like a fool. Ive only known this girl for about 5 minutes and all ready she has me riding a roller coaster. We were at 950 S Oak Park, the blue line exit that headed towards the historical town. We walked through town slowly and got to know each other. My mother used to be a history teacher in the further western suburbs and thats where she met my father. He was a well-respected historian and has written books, been on television, all sorts of things. They had him guest speak after school one time and I guess they hit it off. So he begged her to marry him, she begged him to move her here because shes always been so in love with this town. She paused and looked down at her feet. She glanced back up looking forward and said, I once loved it too. I was lost for words and there was an awkward pause for a second until she asked what my story was.

Well, moved here when I was 10. My father is American - from Chicago. Soafter my mother had left, he wanted to move back. He really didnt want anything to do with Belfast after mom. She left? Yeah, I guess you could say that. She looked over waiting for me to elaborate, but I just wasnt ready. I didnt mean to be evading, but it was still a touchy subject. I just met the girl and Im not going to get into my traumatic family past. So I quickly had to change the subject, Have you heard about the Marilyn Monroe sculpture downtown? No, I havent. She smiled. Tell me more. Success. Now the conversation was a little bit more light-hearted and my anxiety dropped immensely. We had a great talk. He made me laugh and it calmed my nerves before I had to walk into my childhood home. It started raining half way, but instead of getting all pissed off about it, we laughed. Dont worry. I bought an umbrella at the airport. I dropped my big bag on the ground and moved shit around until I found it at the way bottom of my bag. At that point, we were already drenched. I looked at my umbrella and realized it wasnt big enough for the both of us. I think I accidently bought a kid size one. He just laughed as I watched raindrops fall down his nose and drop from the ends of his hair. Even though he was squinting his eyes due to water falling on his face, he kindly responded, Its quite alright, its all yours. It was great to run into someone that was just nice after all the things I have been through. I felt, for once - calm. My calmness however fell short when I looked over and noticed a large crowd of people in front of the Frank Lloyd Wright Studio and Home. What caught my eye the most was a woman holding a taxi drivers hand who escorted her out of the

taxi. With navy blue heels, floral dress and a khaki raincoat, she smiled so bright and said thank you, thank you! Her husband smiled, took her hand after being helped out by the driver. The chivalry, the rain, the woman, and the taxi lead me to the night I left Logan. It was just minutes before I was waiting in the London Underground. It was raining extremely hard, and I had been crying all day. At this point, it was starting to get late and the sun was going down. I went to flag down a navy taxi that I saw coming towards me to find myself tripping over the sidewalk ledge and dropping my purse. I saw a few receipts, a lipstick, and 20 pounds fly away. Usually, I would have chased after the 20 without a care of what I looked like, but I already felt like a fool, not to mention very weak. That was the only cash I had in my purse. I sat down on the ledge with no umbrella and pathetically pouted with my arms crossed, holding myself from getting too cold. Another navy taxi came by and stopped in front of me. I looked up, shivering and confused. He rolled down his window. Do you need some help, love? He shouted sweetly. I dropped my purse and lost all my money. I looked back down holding back tears. Well where do you need to be? Heathrow Airport. He hesitated to say anything. I knew it was because Heathrow was over an hour drive out of London. Listen, sweetheart, get in. Ill take you to the nearest subway entrance. Ill give you clear directions, Ill even give you a tenner to buy a pass. Are you sure? Please love, its getting colder outside. He jumped out of the taxi and opened the back door for me. Hurry, hurry.

I just remember thinking My god - good old London. I will miss you dearly.