The Hitman's Last Job(44)

“No… we are not,” Carl placed his mug down with a clunk and wiped at some rogue milk foam on his chin.
“What’s a donkey show?” asked Anna innocently and then she remembered a TV show she’d seen once. “Oooooohhhh,”


Both boys laughed and she blushed.

Chuck prodded at her passport gently and concluded it was ready.

“And boom! Here you go madam,” he pulled it carefully from the line and placed it inside a Ziploc bag for safe keeping. “Now this will grant you only three wishes so you must choose wisely,” he handed it over.
“Shut up Chuck,” Carl pretended to slap him across the face and they both laughed. “But seriously we’re so grateful. You’ve done us the biggest favour anyone could have ever done,”
“Really man it’s no worries. If I’m not mistaken you actually saved my life back in the Congo,”
“The Congo?” Anna was flabbergasted.
“Another story for another time,” Carl patted her on the back and kissed her cheek.


The more she found out about Carl the less she knew. He was a human enigma.

“Well we better be on our way. Hope I’ll see you again someday,” the two men hugged.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Chuck looked slightly tearful at his friend’s departure.


~

When the couple arrived at the bus station it was as if they had a second wind and were more excited than ever. If everything worked out they’d be over the border in only a few hours. But as they took their seats at the back of the bus something niggled inside Anna. Carl could see something brewing in her eyes.

“Penny for your thoughts?”
“What if the Mob find us over there? Surely it’s possible,”
“Well anything is possible,” Carl nodded in agreement. “But believe me this place is on the outskirts of a beautiful city and surrounded by so much land. You can see for miles and the locals are known to be pretty hostile to strangers,”
“So how are they gonna respond to us?” Anna asked irritated.
“I spent a lot of time there as a kid. Have some distant cousins in the area,”
“I thought you had no family!”
“They’re not really family. More like cousins of cousins,”
“I’m confused again. This is starting to get old,”
“What is?” he looked upset at her sudden bad mood.
“This whole God damn rigmarole of you and your secrets, just tell us where we’re going Carl. I don’t wanna have to ask again,” she sighed heavily and pleaded with her eyes.
“Fine… We’re going to my Dad’s holiday home in Monterrey. It’s where his parents grew up and well… That’s it,”
“Why didn’t you just say that? Why would that possibly be so difficult for you to explain?”
“Because….. Because…. My Dad comes from a long line of cops. I thought you’d be suspicious of that. Bein’ a Mob kid and all,”
“Well I’m suspicious of a lot of things about you but not that!” she was so delirious with the whole situation she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Yeah but…. You know when you hold something small back for a moment and it just snowballs. And suddenly you feel like you have to cover up everything and not let anyone in?” he was squeezing her hand so tight his knuckles were turning white.


It was then she realized he had more problems than she initially thought and that he was wounded in places she was only just starting to discover.

“I understand that more than you can know,” she smiled faintly and kissed his cheek.


He nodded to show he understood. Then their conversation was broken by the sound of the engine clanking into gear. The sun streamed through the window as San Antonio said goodbye.

“Can we come back here again someday?” Anna asked.
“Of course we can. One day we’ll travel the world,” he leaned over to look out the window beside her.
“But do you think we’ll always have people chasing us?”
“I can’t answer that,” Carl sounded sad.


As the bus pulled out onto the highway they relaxed back in their seats and looked forward. This time the bus was nearly empty and Anna only spotted two other people to keep them company. There was a young, skater kid about fourteen years old and a scruffy older man who looked as though he’d just been released from prison. It was amazing what characters you saw on public transport and Anna wondered whether it was a good thing she grew up so sheltered. At least a lot of the world had been hidden from her. But at what cost?

The desert passed by the window in a haze of brown. And after a while Anna stopped noticing the landscape. Instead of looking out she began to turn her thoughts inward. A week ago she couldn’t imagine the journey she had been on. And the journey of both mind and body had taken her to a place she didn’t know existed, a place of strength.

She looked to Carl and thought anybody could do anything if they had the right person by their side. Of course there would be problems and every person came with baggage but wasn’t that what made us all human? So engrossed was Anna in her thoughts that she barely noticed the sound of the engine stutter.

Carl however was instantly panicked and he looked out the window to see where they were. They appeared to be in the suburbs of a town he didn’t know and he prayed the bus would make it to the station. But of course his prayers weren’t answered and instead the bus eventually staggered as it died a slow death. It broke down just off the highway on the edge of a rundown neighborhood.