Between the Lanterns(56)

“No man, I’ll take care of the Credit. I’ve sold somethin’ to Montek… somethin’ big. They paid me real well. If you keep up the house for me, I’ll drop enough Credit in your account to pay for the cleanin’ and for you to live on. Call it a goodbye present from an old friend. You won’t have to worry about makin’ ends meet anymore, man.”

Bobby was lost for words. He stumbled through a few unintelligible syllables several times before finally finding his voice as he replied, “August, I can’t take your Credit, man. I mean, unless you really want me to. I could use it.”

“It’s done,” August said, glad to have this taken care of. “I’ll set you up, brother. I love you, Bobbo. Thanks for helpin’ me out… it means the world to me. I’ll be in contact sometime to check in.”

“Hey, no worries,” Bobby Li replied. “And don’t thank me, I should be thanking you.” He paused on the line, and then in a heartbroken voice added, “I am sorry about Samantha. I’m sure you don’t wanna talk about it right now, but when you do… please call me, Auggie. Where are you going?”

August thought for a moment. He didn’t really care where he was going. The tickets were already booked to Shanghai for him, Woodrow, and Sam. Of course, there was no way August was taking Woodrow now. He would just have to travel alone.

“Yeah, you’re right:; I don’t want to talk about it now,” August replied. “Just know she didn’t suffer. It was the Countdown that got her… just like Granny. I’m uh… I guess I’m going to China.”

Bobby nodded his head, even though August couldn’t see him. It made sense for him to visit Sam’s motherland. Bobby had more that he wanted to say, but he didn’t really know how to express those thoughts and feelings. Being a writer of music, Bobby had beautiful prose he could tap into at a moment’s notice. But the loss of life had been such a normal and humdrum thing for so long, most people didn’t get too worked up over it anymore, including Bobby.

But this felt different somehow. The love he witnessed between August and Samantha had been unique. In his lifetime, Bobby had never seen two people blend so perfectly. Her death actually broke Bobby’s heart, to his surprise.

“Listen… don’t… don’t worry about the house,” Bobby said, now the one fighting back tears. “I’ll make sure it’s ready for you, should you ever come back. And if you don’t, I’ll preserve all the memories you two shared in there. You just… you just go, man. Get out of here and start a new life. I know it hurts… hell, it hurts me, so I can’t imagine how bad it hurt for you… But your new life is ready to begin. Even if you don’t want it… it’s out there. Just let go.”

August was crying harder than ever at hearing these words from Bobby, who had never expressed such emotion in all the years August had known him. He couldn’t even say goodbye to his old friend. August just pressed the end button on his cellphone.





-





Using his new wealth and resources, August ended up in Birmingham later that day and checked into a hospital. He wanted to heal up properly before heading to China, and his wounds were still fresh from the accident with the AutoCar. The hospital in Birmingham was new and had the best healing tech in all of Alabama. It was top of the line, and August could afford that now.

August spent two days subjecting himself to the most expensive treatments available to mend his bones, and heal his cuts and scrapes. There was no pain, as the hospital staff was incredible in their profession. And best of all, in August’s opinion, they weren’t the personnel of the Granger Clinic on West Main Street.

After those two days, he spent a week wandering around, exploring Birmingham. After all, August had never left New Dothan, so he was curious about the biggest city in Alabama. He found that it was just like his home town, only a little larger with a few more tall buildings, a few more parks, and a few more restaurants. The automated sidewalks moved at the same speed, and he avoided them just the same as he always had back home. They even used the same lanterns as in New Dothan.

Seeing them, and with memories flooding into his mind, August fell to his knees in the middle of the street in downtown Birmingham. He wailed at the memory of his first meeting with Samantha between the lanterns on West Main Street. August couldn’t handle the pain. He couldn’t take the constant reminders of his wife. He had to get out of Alabama. He had to leave North America. The United States of Earth covered the whole planet, and he could go anywhere. It was time to leave. He had to let go.





Chapter 26





NEW LIFE





One month later, August was walking through the rice fields in a rural Chinese village near Guilin. He had set up a base for himself in the city of Chengdu and ventured out from there for days at a time.

August left all his tech at the apartment in Chengdu. He had chosen that city based on recommendations from locals in Shanghai, who said Chengdu had great food that was very spicy. Having no idea what was in store for him anywhere in this enormous and foreign land, August blindly trusted them and was glad he had done so.

It was shocking to see almost no other skin color than that of his recently dead wife. At first, it felt like the worst idea in the world to have come here to escape constant reminders of Sam. But everything else was so different, that the only distraction was the locals’ skin and hair. None of them were as beautiful as she was in his eyes, so he didn’t care.