Heart Of A Hustler

Chapter three: Run

I tried in vain to adjust my eyes to the sunlight streaming through the car windows. Milda was asleep beside me. Jyles was taking a nap.

I tapped Milda slightly on the shoulder. She didn't respond. I ended up drinking the only bottle of water in the car on her. She finally woke up.

"Whiskey, tango, foxtrot! Mia! You better have a good reason for waking me up or else" Milda said all in one breath. She looked over at me and sighed heavily. "What is it this time Mia?"

I noticed she had worry lines on her forehead. I didn't feel like bothering her with my questions but I had no choice.

"What happened back there?" I asked her.
She creased her eyebrows before she replied.
"Nothing of importance whatsoever." Her face was void if emotion.
"Dammit Milda give her answers now." I didn't notice that Jyles was awake until his sudden outburst.

Milda looked sick and helpless. After what seemed like forever,Milda finally said, "It is very long and complicated."

"Just explain. I'm not dumb so get on with it." I replied.

"Fine. But when I start, I don't want interruptions of any kind. Agreed?"

"Yes. Now get on with it already."

"Here goes nothing. You were born with us. Jyles, you and I. Here's the thing, your dad knew our mothers. He had the doctor inject some kind of chemical into them. The nature of it is such that he controls their depreciation. He could make them age faster, contract a disease, grow weak,mess up their organs. He used that as a leverage
over them. In the house we ran away from,there are countless of children. He has a large yard of people. There are three groups: sex slaves, drug traffickers, and organ harvested and harvesters. Your mom never had melanoma. She never died. It was all a fake. He tracked us down. That secretary worked for him. They are everywhere. Jyles dad however is a rich guy. He found out recently. He agreed to take us in. He leaves in Nevada. And as for your mom, we may never see her again but I know that he won't kill her." Milda explained.

I looked dazed. I zoned out for a few minutes until Milda started waving in my face. I gave her a small smile to dignify that I heard her very clearly.

I looked just in time to see a small tear roll out of her eyes. She usually us very strong. She seemed broken.

"Milda, are you okay?" I asked with sympathy.

"Yeah. Perfectly fine." She replied. Her façade was back. I decided she needed her space.  I looked out the window and watched the trees roll by.

I was being lulled into sleep when I looked backward. I couldn't help it going by how cynical I am. I saw a man in the distance with a gun pointing at the car.

My mouth seemed to move of its own accord because u heard myself screaming
"Duck!, Jyles swerve quick." Just then I saw a bullet miss us by a close call. Milda pulled out an inhaler. I raised an eyebrow and she mouthed the word 'asthma'. I nodded my head in understanding.

Jyles pulled over at the curb. Milda seemed hysterical as she asked"What in the world are you doing?"

"We are ditching the car. Its been bugged. Grab the bags, we are near the bus station" he said as for out of the car. We followed suit. We grabbed the bags and began to sprint towards the bus station.

We got there in ten minutes and approached the front desk. Jyles paid for the bus to Nevada which was leaving in ten minutes, while Milda called Jyles's dad. I bought some food for all of us as we boarded the bus. While the bus pulled away from the station, out of the corner of my eye I saw my dad approach the front desk. I froze and looked at the time of the next bus. It was eight hours away. I felt safe. For eight hours. After 2 hours on the bus Milda grabbed our bags a and through them out the window. I looked at her quizzically and she mouthed 'bugged'. We got off at the next stop which was San Francisco.

Jyles approached a man who looked like a spitting replica of Jyles except an older version. I assumed it was his brother. He took us to a private air strip and we took a private jet. I just hoped our tracks were well covered up.

After about five minutes Jyles came back and told us to follow him. Moving without luggage was pretty easy. We just had to carry our own weight.

"Hi, Milda, you have grown so much and Jade right, nice to meet you." Jyles's brother said all in one breath.

"You haven't seen me in eight years, what else did you expect Jed? And its not Milda. Only Jyles and Mia can call me that. Capisce?" Milda said. She sounded disgusted. Jed didn't seem fazed. He was probably used to it.

We walked to a car. A man was already in there waiting. I raised an eyebrow at Milda and she simply mouthed 'covering tracks.' I nodded my head in understanding.

Jed's friend took us yo the airport. Jed got our boarding passes back to Missouri. However we didn't take the plane to Missouri. I had come to understand that every action was to cover up our tracks. Jed changed direction and we ended up at a private jet.

I scanned the perimeter and saw the same man who had been following us, make his way towards us. I screamed. Milda followed my gaze and took out her fire arm. Jyles was already in and Jed took off. "Mia, get in there. Don't worry about me. I'll meet you in Britain three days from now." Milda said.

"No, I am not leaving without you." I replied indignantly.

She tried shoving me into the jet. I didn't budge. She looked exasperated. Then a bullet whizzed past me. "Get the hell into the jet. I'll be fine." she said through clenched teeth. I went into the jet and immediately we took off. I looked out of the window to see Mia raise her first, fourth and fifth finger and tap the center of her head.

I guessed it was a sign. She began shooting sporadically and went in the direction of the man. I had never seen anyone that brave before.
I decided that I had seen enough for one day. I closed my eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.