She’s lying. I know she is. I’m not falling for that Thank Jesus bullshit. I don’t know how I’m going to prove it, but I know she has my phone. Probably stole it while I was sleeping. I’ve met so many fake ass people in my past. So kind because they want something from you. This bitch is no different. The thing is, how do I get my phone back from her? Shouldn’t be hard, if I play my cards right. Once I get my phone, I’ll leave her ass behind. I’m not about to be the first one eliminated. No way.
The bare streets echo with our steps as we continue walking farther from the library. Posters of our racist, horrible president cover building walls, similar to the billboard signs I saw on the highway when I left home with Shandra. Nothing’s changed. I side-eye Keysha. When is she going to do it? When is she going to leave me behind? She’ll probably burst into a sprint. I bet that’s her plan. I’m no use to her anymore. She has what she needs. She leads the way and I follow her, like I’m one of her sheep. I crack a smile.
“Are you sh-sure we’re going the r-right way?”
She stops and turns to meet my eyes. “Of course. According to the GPS, it’s just down this road. No turns. A straight path to the next checkpoint.”
“Wh-what happens when we g-get there?”
“Well, I’m not sure, to be honest.” She walks, and I follow. “Two characters popped up in the text when we unlocked the clue. But, I promise we’ll get your phone back.”
“Ch-characters? Wh-what do you mean?”
“Characters. I think it might be Chinese.”
My lips stretch into a sly grin. I stop. “Ch-chinese? I might know wh-what it means.”
Keysha halts. She turns to me and cocks her head. A fake, warm smile stretches across her face. “Vivian, you’ll just have to trust me. There were two characters that popped up. The GPS says follow this road to the checkpoint.”
My mind races. “K-K-Keysha.” I squint and take a deep breath. “I learned a little Chinese in high school.”
Keysha’s eyes stare into mine, just like those high school girls. She thinking. Wondering if I know Chinese. If I’m capable of learning another language. Judging me based on my intelligence. I know the drill. Hold my composure. Keep eye contact. If I break it, it’ll shatter what I created. I breathe in deeply again. “Come on, let me see the characters.”
Keysha’s hand moves to her jumpsuit’s pocket, hooking her phone and slides up. It stops. “Vivian, you’re not going to run off with my phone, are you?”
“Wh-what?” I throw a shocked look. “You helped me K-Keysha. I want to…” Deep breath. “…help you too. We’re a t-team.” I say, allowing my eyes to water up. Shandra.
Keysha pauses. Her hand slides out of her pocket with the black phone in hand. She taps on it to open the message app and her thin arm stretches over to me. The characters on the display screen greet me. Of course, I don’t know what they say, or even how to pronounce them, but my eyes scan the characters before closing. My right arm cluthes Keysha’s wrist. My eyes pop open. She tries to yank her arm free from my grasp, but I tighten my grip. Pulling harder on her arm and wrist. She wails.
“Give me my phone,” I scream. The phone slides out of her hand and crashes onto the smooth asphalt. I thrust my shoulder into Keysha. My weight knocks her off her feet. She hits the street with a thud. I pick up the phone and check the screen. It’s not broken. I dart past Keysha.
“Vivian, no! Wait.” Keysha shouts, but I stay focused on the blue dot on the GPS. Seconds later, I hear footprints pounding the ground behind me. Keysha. She’s up. She’s running and gaining. Tough little skinny bitch. She is not getting this phone back. My pace slows. Her pounding footsteps draw closer. I stop and spin around. My fist connects to the dead center of her stomach. She crashes on the ground, gasping for air.
“D-don’t fuck with me. This is my f-phone,” I screech and deliver a kick to the left side of her face. She lies there, barely moving. Taking one last glance at her, I sprint to the checkpoint.
Minutes later, a row of building emerge on the horizon. A tan-skinned man in a blue jumpsuit paces in front of a grey door. He spots me and stops. His arms fly out to his sides. “What took you so long? The others have already departed. We’re the last ones.” He shouts with a heavy tone in his voice.
“Some bitch tr-tried to steal my phone.” I say, huffing for air.
“Whatever. Do you have the characters?”
“Yes.”
“Show me. We need to enter them into the keypad.”
My eyes narrow at the first two words. “N-no.” I spit. “I-I’m not p-partin’ with my phone, again.”
“Listen. we’ve lost a lot of time alreay and I don’t want to be eliminated. So, either you show me your characters, or you can punch it in yourself. Either way, I want on the train now.”
“I-I’ll punch it in.” I walk up to the keypad and tap the two characters on my phone screen. His fingers follow mine. Our heads turn to the doors. Nothing happens. He grunts and taps his characters in first and tells me to follow him. I tap in my characters. A beep announces success and the grey door slowly opens.
“Yes, we did it!” He shouts, making a small triumphant fist with his left hand. “Come on.” He grabs my arm and pulls me into the elevator. Two buttons sit on the panel. He taps the bottom one. We wait for the door to close.
“Vivian!” A scream comes from the distance. Holy shit, that bitch is fast. Stronger than I thought. I tap on the button he struck. Keysha’s sprinting closer to the elevator. “Vivian!”
“What the hell did you do?” The man says. I barely hear him. I’m too busy trying to get these damned doors closed. Keysha crosses the street. The door moves. I watch as the panel of the elevator closes just as her foot hits the curb on our side of the street. The elevator jolts and moves down to the lower level. My heart’s racing as a massive sigh leaves my lips.
“You mean to tell me she stole your phone?” The man says. His voice raised. Shoulders tensed up. Brows furrowed.
“I fell asleep, ok.”
“Oh,” he relaxes. Either he believes me, or he doesn’t care. Whatevs. A satisfactory smile cracks over his face and giggles leak from his lips. The giggles pour over me, making me bust a smile as well. Before the elevator reaches the bottom floor, we’re showered in a giggle fest. The elevator door opens and reveals the three-car electric silver train, ending our giggles. Shandra, I made it.