When It's Time to Move On

Door 4 - Chapter 46 - Feelings Hour

Farms and plantations zoomed past. Harris regularly checked the rear mirror, but he doubted anyone had been following them since avoiding the shootout. Amidst the hysteria, he'd resolved not to put his foot off the pedal. Now he deeply regretted his decision, having no idea of their whereabouts, and was even more bemused by the boy's behavior. He was now comfortably seated next to Harris, casually humming a tune while drumming his hands on the dashboard, enthusiastically taking in the sights.

"Could you not do that?" Harris finally asked, figuring the boy would never break the silence. "It's really annoying."

"I would but I have no idea what it's from, so I keep humming to remind myself."

"That's easy it's..." Harris paused, he was sure he'd heard the tune but couldn't recall the name. "...Never mind that. Just stop."

"Are you always such a buzzkill or is today an exception?"

"Speaking of killing...what happened back there!?"

"Looked to me like that farmer was killing his cow, but that kind of stuff doesn't really bother me-"

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Harris burst out in frustration.

"Yeesh, take it easy, man. What's gotten you so uptight?"

"Oh, I'm sorry if I'm not being the ideal road trip candidate. I just ran off with a kid who was being shot at. So please excuse me for prying but I'd really like to know what was going on."

To his surprise, the boy relaxed even more upon that inquiry.

"Ah, that's what you're talking about." He sat back comfortably in his seat. "Don't worry, they won't be bothering us."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because it was all a freaky coincidence. I was trying to pickpocket one of them but he saw me, so I tried to scram using your car. Turns out I picked the wrong guys coz they turned out to be gangsters or something."

"So I drove out here when all I could have done was taken a circle around the block and lost them?"

"Hey, that's your doing, pal." The boy said unapologetically.

"I thought you were in trouble," said Harris, feeling annoyed by the lack of appreciation. "So let's turn around and head back."

"No! Are you for real?!" The boy attempted to grab the steering wheel just as Harris was about to turn. "I just told you they were some kind of gangsters. Don't you think they'll be looking for me back there?"

"Fine, so where am I supposed to drop you off?"

"I don't know, where do you plan on going?" The boy shrugged. Harris stared at him, marveling at the fact that he had to ask the questions he was asking.

"How about back to your parents?"

"Oh," Now the boy's face fell. "Never mind about them."

It was a significant change in features. His sharp eyes were now drooped; Harris took note of his appearance as well. His clothes wouldn't have given away his dispossessed state had they not been worn so shabbily; the boy had little care for neatness. His hair was messy, although it gave the indication that he deliberately kept it that way, and there were a few discernible scratches on his arms.

"Bit of a touchy topic, eh?" Harris lowered his tone, not wanting to antagonize the kid. He supposed the boy had probably been amongst the wrong kind of group. "How about you tell me what happened between you and them and I help you out?"