Chapter Text
…
Stella finally begins to talk about what I really care.
“After graduation, I spoke very little with Anon before he left the city then I didn’t know anything about him until last Christmas, an old online friend made a very depressing post trying to vent.”
“He posted about his childhood being shit, his high school being shit, women being shit, specially dino women, specially triggas.”
“He cursed Skin Row, Volcano High and all of Volcadera, really.”
She shoots an angry glare at me.
“He wrote about the trueness of the phrase no good deed goes unpunished .”
Her expression turns into a sad one.
“About how joining the army was the only thing left for him to choose and about how that was shit too.”
“He was sent to his hometown, discharged from service because a grenade tore some of his foot off.”
“And wrote how he received the news about the death of his parents just as he arrived a week before Christmas.”
“Bloody hell, what did he do to deserve all that!?”
“I reach out to him immediately! How could I not! We had a call, I invited Rosa to join us, and we talked all night long.”
“He got a lot of things off his chest during the call, and we got his address. As soon as the call ended, we asked Chet to give us a ride.”
Stella turns towards Chet, who returned at some point and stands at her side. He offers Stella a warm smile and embraces her.
Stella hugs him and mumbles something to him.
Naomi looks at me, concerned.
Chet awkwardly clears his throat.
“Ahem… yeah, we went there and Mous was looking like shit. His foot and a part of his leg was infected cuz he wasn’t taking his meds, that was pretty hard to watch. Doctors had to chop off more than his foot and they said it was fortunate that the infection didn’t do more damage there.”
“We stayed at his place while he was in the hospital, and we kept an eye on him. Well, the ladies did keep an eye on him I had to keep my eyes on the ladies. They don’t like our kind on Rock Bottom, you know?”
Stella breaks the embrace and puts herself next to Chet, holding his arm.
“We were visiting him every day, but we couldn’t stay there forever, we had things to do and stuff. We left, but Rosa stayed with Mous. She’s been taking care of him ever since, so don’t worry ladies, the man was in good hands.”
Stella looks at Naomi.
“I talk with them all the time and we have been visiting them when we have the chance.”
“When I found out that you were looking for Anon with Fang, I decided to ignore you and I apologize for that, you didn’t deserve that, but I wasn’t taking any risks.”
“He had just returned from service with a mangled foot only to discover that both of his parents had died at a car accident a year ago, why would I allow for someone to disturb the little peace he had?
She looks at me, coldly.
…
“But Anon’s doing better now, isn’t him?” Naomi asks.
“Yes, it took some time, but he’s finally recovered, and I thought that it would be nice if we pay him and Rosa a visit.”
Naomi and Stella exchange some words that I can’t quite understand as I try to process all of this information.
I had been fighting back the urge to kick my car in frustration and impotence. Relax… Anon is doing good and I’m going to see him, that’s all that matters.
I feel some warmness in my face despite the cold weather, I check its source with my hand. My fingertips are wet and warm.
Ah.
I wipe up my tears.
Chet gives me a sad look, at least I think that’s what he’s doing. His shades make his expression hard to read.
Stella is looking at me too, she seems uncomfortable.
“Thank you for letting us know, Stella. We all can go to visit him now.” Naomi brings back Stella’s attention.
“You don’t have to thank me, just… try to don’t bother Anon with questions. It’s supposed to be a fun reunion.”
“We can go now, you already have the address Naomi, but I suppose that it would be better if you two follow us.”
Stella gestures to Chet, who stops looking at me.
“Oh yeah, let’s get going.” Chet and Stella go back to their ride.
…
…
…
“Fang, can you open the doors?” Naomi’s voice catches my attention. “Are you ok? I can drive if you aren’t feeling good now.”
“Don’t worry, it’s just… a lot to take in.” I come back into my senses.
“He’s fine now, don’t worry too much about the past.” Naomi tries to comfort me.
…
We enter the car and follow Chet’s car.
Is he really fine? How could he be fine after all that shit? He must be feeling like shit inside.
He must need someone that listens to him. I’ll listen to him, just like he did with me. I can be there for him this time, yeah.
I’ll help him just like he did when he pulled me out of a rough time
I’ll do it right this time. I can do it, no, I will do it.
I drove first, leaving Naomi a chance to sleep. We had to eat at some point, so I took the chance to sleep while Naomi took the wheel until I woke up.
As the hours went by, we advanced driving while the scenery became mainly mountains, and the weather became colder as the sky turned orange.
Pretty away from other forms of civilizations, surrounded by fog and mountains, there was Rock Bottom.
The descent offers us an impressive view of the city, it is pretty big but not as Volcadera. I can see where it starts and where it ends even though there is fog covering most of the other side of the city. There are parts of the city noticeably more elevated than the rest, but something else gets the attention, the buildings in the city were placed to be symmetrical even taking into consideration the irregularities of the terrain.
Looking from afar, the overall grey and green colors of the city blended with the fog, the mountains and the sky, give the buildings the appearance of tombstones put one after another as closest as possible. What a depressing sight, I wonder how this affects the morale of the people living here.
It was hard to think of it as a valley, as we descend from the mountain road into one of the main highways into the city, it seems more like a crater formed by digging even if I know that it would be impossible to do so. Looking to the left at the foothills of the mountain, I can see heavy machinery working in the distance, judging by the size of the hole there, it appears that they have been digging there for a long time. Looking with more attention, it seems like there are many mining operations all around the mountain foothills surrounding the city.
“If Rock Bottom is known for something, it’s for its quarries They contribute greatly to the economy of the city.” Naomi says, noticing where I’m looking.
Quarries? What the hell is that?
“They extract rocks and other materials from earth there for construction purposes.” Naomi explains further, maybe she noticed my confusion.
Interesting…
“Do humans build their houses with those rocks?” I ask.
Naomi chuckles.
“You could say that, yeah, the majority of those rocks are the main components of the concrete that is used in the majority of buildings along with other rocks that are used in constructions.”
“Wow… you are such a nerd, Naomi, thanks for the information.”
Naomi gives me an annoyed smile.
“You could use some knowledge to fill that empty head.”
Hehehe.
…
As we traverse the streets of Rock Bottom, I notice how there’s only humans in the streets. Hmm… I wonder if they have their own equivalent of Skin Row for dinos, if I looked from the sky down to Volcadera, Skin Row would be pretty easy to spot, but I couldn’t identify a place like that here…
Maybe the whole city is Skin Row.
…
Chet’s car slows down and parks in front of a one-story house.
This street seems different from the rest even though the neighborhood is full of similar shaped houses, it takes me a moment to notice why does it looks different, there are colorful flowers at the sides of the entrances, outside of windows, and at various other places on the various front yards.
But this house has the most flowers.
Chet and Stella got out of the car and walked towards the house’s entrance.
I park behind them.
“We should probably wait here a moment.” Naomi says to me before I can leave the car.
I see how the front door of the house opens, and Rosa comes out, she wears a black dress with yellow flowers, and she effortlessly lifts Stella off the ground with a hug, she then lifts Chet too. After happily talking with Stella for a minute, Rosa turns her head toward us.
It seems like Stella told her about our presence. Stella keeps talking to her for another minute, Chet grimaces. When she finishes speaking Chet waves to us and gives us a thumbs up before heading inside the house with Stella.
Rosa approaches my car.
“Welp, I think the wait is over.” I say as I leave the car.
Naomi does the same.
Rosa stands in front of us with her arms crossed and a neutral expression.
“Hello, Fang. Hello, Naomi.” She starts.
“Hello.” I answer.
“Hi, Rosa. How have you been?” Naomi says, politely.
“I’m good, Naomi.” Rosa replies. “You can go inside to say hello to Anon, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.”
I turn my head to see Naomi.
“Oh-“ She looks at me, concerned.
You have done all you could to help me, Naomi, I’ll invite you to a hervie restaurant next time.
“Don’t worry about me, Naomi.” I say.
Naomi nods and walks toward the house.
…
Along with her height, Rosa’s presence is overwhelming. We stand in front of each other for what feels like an eternity.
The sky gets darker by the second, the streetlights turn on one by one.
…
I know that if she decides things to be that way, I wouldn’t be able to enter the house, unlike Stella, she could easily stop me with her bare hands.
But I’m almost there now.
Rosa is analyzing me. I stand on my ground.
…
Rosa finally decides to break the silence.
“Stella told me that you want to apologize to Anon, is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Why now?”
“I’ve been searching for Anon all year. It’s not like I woke up today thinking that I should apologize.”
“I see... That’s good to hear. He deserves an apology.”
“Stella also told me that you know what happened to him.”
“Yes.”
“Then you surely understand why she’s so upset.”
“Don’t hold it against her, Fang. Stella cares a lot about Anon, they are old friends, and she didn’t want him to suffer more than he already has.”
“That’s why we didn’t tell Naomi anything when she asked us to help with the search.”
I close my fist.
…
“Listen, Fang, I believe that everyone deserves a second chance.”
“Anon himself is getting a second chance at enjoying life.”
“But he’s too important to me to let anything ruin that.”
“Not even other people’s second chances.”
“I won’t let anything ruin our happiness.”
We lock our eyes.
…
“ Our happiness?”
“Yes, chica , our happiness.”
Why I’m surprised? She has been helping him, hasn’t she? Taking care of him when he needed it the most. And she got all this time to be with him…
I didn’t have a chance from the start.
No… I lost my chance long ago.
…
That doesn’t matter. I’m here for him, to do what’s right.
…
I snap out of it.
“I’m here to apologize.”
“I just… want to do the right thing this time.”
“I’m really sorry for what I did to him, I’ve been for a long time. I fucked up, Rosa, fucked up big time.”
“I was selfish and stupid back then, but I’ve changed.”
“And I’m sure I can make it right this time...”
I turn my eyes away from her judging gaze.
…
“I believe you, Fang, I’m happy to hear that you’ve changed.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, you should also leave the past behind.”
I look back at Rosa, she offers me a small smile.
“By the way, where are Naser, Trish, and Reed?” Rosa asks.
“They didn’t come- SHIT, I didn’t tell anyone that I would be leaving town!”
I remember how I muted my phone before playing last night.
I hurriedly take my phone out and I see a lot of texts and a handful of calls from my family and the band.
Goddammit...
Maybe Naomi told Naser… when she was sleeping… or when she was driving…
Fuck.
Rosa laughs.
“Maybe that’s for the better.”
“Just tell them that you are alright for the time being, chica , there is not enough space in this house for more people.”
“And let’s go inside, it’s getting colder out here.”
Uh?
I look back at her in disbelief.
“Really?”
“Yes, Fang. I’m sure you’ll behave and Anon needs to hear your apologies.”
“He’s been needing to hear that for a long time now.”
I walk behind her.
Is this really happening?
She opens the door.
The interior of the house is colorfully decorated. A short hallway opens onto a small living room.
There is Naomi, Stella and Chet sitting at a table, talking to each other along a fourth figure.
Rosa says something that I can understand even if I know that she’s speaking in English, my whole attention focused at Anon.
Sitting at the table as well, with a dark green jacket, there is Anon. His head turns towards me.
His face looks sharper, there are a couple of small scars on his face that weren’t there before, along with a short beard and moustache that don’t look more than a couple of months old, those new features make him look older than he is.
Naomi says something to me that I can’t understand either.
...
Anon looks me in the eyes and opens his mouth.
“Hey, long time no see, Fang. How’re you doing?” He greets me with a smile.
...