“You alright Selene?” Quang put the key into the ignition while turning his head towards his passenger. She remained silent; her head turned to the side as she stared out the window. He was tempted to press on, but his gut told him to leave Selene alone. He put the car into reverse and then backed out of the parking lot. As his vehicle sputtered at the red light just outside of the dojo’s parking lot, he took another look at Selene. She remained motionless in the same pose save for the slow movement caused by her breathing.
“Selene…” he said in a low voice, unable to bear the silence any longer.
“Yeah?” She replied after some sniffling.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know, but…” The light turned green. Quang moved the car forward.
“At least you got what you came for.” Selene didn’t bother turning her head.
“Yeah, that’s true. But listen. My mom has a friend that’s a jeweler. Maybe she can try to work out a deal to replace that one.”
“It can’t be replaced.”
Instead of responding, Quang concentrated on the road. The sun was slipping down into the horizon, coating the beach and piers in a warm orange glow. This could have been a nice day, he thought as the pleasant warmth of the sunset comforted his skin. Selene finally turned away from the passenger window, instead looking downward towards the car’s floorboard. Her eyes were still red, but the tears had long since dried.
“My grandmother gave me that necklace.”
“I figured it was something like that.” Quang let out a sigh. There was another brief pause in the conversation. “And I’m guessing she’s not here anymore?”
Selene shook her head. “No. That’s why I came here.” Tears formed in her eyes again, prompting her to wipe them away with the back of her hand. “You know what, Quang? I think Grandma Noxolo would have liked you a lot.” She turned towards him, letting a genuine smile out as she did so.
“Oh yeah?” Quang replied, flattered by the comment. “Why is that?”
“Because she had a soft spot for dorks.” A small laugh came out of Selene as she wiped away the remaining bit of tear from her eye. “She was so easy to make fun of. Her unruly hair. The way she wasn’t afraid to say whatever came to her mind. Not to mention all of her wacky little quirks and idiosyncrasies. One time she bought fountain pen ink for our printer.” Selene chuckled as the memory rushed into her mind again. “But she was the sweetest person you’d ever meet.”
“I’m sorry, Selene,” Quang said, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to look at her. She paid him no mind as she watched the buildings speed past again.
“Don’t be. She lived a long life. But she’s part of the reason why I came here. Grandma Noxolo always wanted better for me. But I had a hard time taking that first step towards getting out on my own. And when she passed away… I couldn’t…” Selene blinked a few times to fight her tears from flowing out again. “I couldn’t walk past that empty room of hers every morning. It was just too much for me. But now I’m thinking that maybe I should have stayed. I wouldn’t be worrying about trying to make ends meet like I am now. And I’d still have that necklace she gave me right before she passed away. She said to always keep it with me,” Selene pressed her hand against her chest, letting a tear slip from her eye in the process. “But that might not have been the best idea.”
“Hey, Selene. Listen. I’m going to help you out.”
“You don’t have to do that, Quang. We’ve had this conversation before.”
“I know we did. But I’m not just going to let you… just be miserable. Not after all we’ve been through.”
“It’s only been two days, Quang,” Selene replied with a faint grin.
“And do you know how much we’ve seen in those two days?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I really do appreciate all that you’ve done.”
“Same here.”
The silence returned. Both took in the sunset as they cruised down the boulevard. A red light cut the ride short, leaving them waiting for a bus to pass through the intersection.
“And you got that information you needed. Sorry I didn’t hear everything Fátima said, I was a bit too busy, you know…” Selene said as she watched a mother and her child make their way off the bus.
“Don’t be. And if I had known that The Union might have known something about Vic, I would have given them a bit better service.” Quang tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, waiting for the bus to continue along it’s route. “That name though. Ingwersen. It sounds familiar. But I can’t quite attach a face to it.”
“Know anybody that would?”
Quang shook his head before looking towards Selene. “Yeah. I think you know who.”
“Rodney?”
“Bingo,” Quang replied with a nod.
“To be fair, you did promise that you would return if you found out anything about Vic.”
“Yeah. I don’t mind seeing him again. It’s just that I don’t want to him again this soon. Hanging out with Rodney is kinda like having a meal from that fast food taco place down the street. It’s great. Every once in a while. But have it too often and you’ll end up feeling kinda sick.”
“Don’t you want to know where Vic is though? I don’t see the point in wasting any time that we don’t need to.”
“I know, I know. I didn’t say I wasn’t going to see Rodney. Just that I don’t want to. But that’s part of being an adult, right? Doing stuff that you don’t want to?”
Selene brushed her hair back with hand and rested her cheek on her other arm as she looked out the window. The people and the buildings all blurred into one long stream of vibrant colors. “Yeah. You hit the nail on the head.”
