Borderline [On hold for major revision]

Chapter 22: Thinking Things Through

Chapter 22

I looked up as a newspaper was slapped down on the table in front of me.

            “Mira esto,” Hector said with a laugh. “Better watch your back, señor, they have the El Centro Community Awareness Campaign looking for you now.”

            I took a quick glance at the newspaper article he was talking about and scoffed. “Wish them luck with that. Wait, do they normally ask for people to look for individuals like this I’ve only ever seen ads for suspicious behavior in general.”

            “I guess you are just special.”

            “Guess so. Wonder why.”

My eyes landed on the single wall clock for the hundredth time that hour and I frowned. Hector noticed and sighed. “I do not understand why you seem to think eleven days can pass in the span of five minutes.”

“Wishful thinking. I gotta get out there and do something, Hector. I’m going crazy stuck in here.” I stood up, but immediately a wave of dizziness washed over me and wouldn’t go away. I tried to stumble back into the chair, but I missed and felt a dull sense of having hit the floor. Everything around me seemed to be spinning, as if I had just landed in Kansas in the middle of a tornado.

A voice sounding like it was calling from a mile away said, “Señor Tuck? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just…I just…” The light was blinding me, making it hard to focus. “Can you turn that light off?”

“There is no light, only el sol. Here, have some water.”

Before I could even register what Hector said, a fast stream of rusty water was poured down my throat. I choked on a lot of it, but somehow the water seemed to do the trick. The dizziness gradually faded away and the pounding headache was reduced to a more gentle tapping pain.

I groaned and sat up. “Of all the times to become a fugitive…I could really use a doctor right now.”

            “Didn’t they warn you about this kind of thing when you were in the hospital?”

            I tried to think back, but it seemed like so long ago. Couple that with the fact that I hadn’t been paying attention to the doctors at all, I had a big heaping pile of nothing. “They said something about me being irritable and impatient,” I said.  

            “What else did they say?”

            “I don’t know, I was too busy being irritable and impatient!” My headache intensified again and I sat down at the table before I ended up toppling over a second time. I closed my eyes and set my head on the table shielded behind my arms, hoping the darkness would momentarily alleviate the pain.

            Hector poked me in the shoulder. “Tuck, are you okay?”

            “I…am so…bored,” I moaned.

            “Now you are starting to sound like my son, except you speak English and he speaks Baby. Here, let’s stop and think everything through. Maybe that will distract you for a time.”

            “My brain feels like it’s about to explode and you want me to think things through. Brilliant, Hector.”

            “Look, you only get to complain about one thing. Despite how your life is right now, there are billions of people in the world that would trade places with you en un momento. A few hundred of those are my friends. I can help you, but there is not one easy solution for every problem. So, choose: would you prefer if I go and find a fix for your head, or give you someone to talk to while you’re stuck here?” He got up like he was going to leave, but I grabbed his forearm and pulled him back down to the table again.