Hours increased on the clock as Austin, Erykah, and I sat boredly in our leather seats.

Scorching rays burned our faces as the sun pursues our trail. The atmosphere in the car wasn't as stuffy as outside, but I could still feel it growing on my shoulder like wet mold.

With his left hand on the steering wheel, Austin takes a deep breath as he slowly navigated his way around bright yellow taxi cabs, stubborn drivers, and neon traffic lights.

In the meantime, I reached into my backpack, found a pair of black sunglasses inside one of my rain jackets, put them on, then look into the distance.

Menacing gray clouds turned white as cotton as the enormous sky remained the color of pale blue. And with the sun being out, I believed the temperature wouldn't be as cold as yesterday. Curious, I rolled my window down, I stick out my right arm and smile when I noticed my small hairs danced vibrantly, like an anemone's tentacles waving in the sea.

Back and forth, they went—tickling my bare skin. And as the warm sun hit my face, it was the first time that I have ever felt free. In fact, I had enjoyed it; the wind shaking my dreadlocks, the fresh air rushing inside the car, I became drunk with happiness. 

It was nice getting away.

Away from Joseph, pain, and strife.

Brushing back my hazelnut dreadlocks, I leaned my head against my seat, removed my shoes and socks, and plopped my bare feet against the dashboard.

"What are you doing?" asked Austin, who was staring at my feet.

"I am acquiring the taste of freedom," I answer, taking in the sun.

Austin stared at me some more. "You do know that this SUV has air conditioning, right?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Yeah, but it breaks down every five minutes."

He frowns indignantly. "No, it does not."

Even Erykah nodded.

"Yeah it does," she claims, frowning. "No offense and all, but whenever the A/C comes on, it blows cold air for three seconds then it shuts itself off."

"You need a new air conditioner," I say.

"And one of those car fresheners," added Erykah. "It smells like someone died in here."

Rolling his eyes, Austin shuts off the air conditioner and continues driving.

Passing buildings, restaurants, and establishments, my eyes lazily drifted from the tiny veins on my arm to my smooth fingertips.

This feels nice, I think, feeling the invisible breeze.

Closing my eyes, I sighed aloud.

Once again, the sun bathed my face in its earthly glow. Long hazelnut brown dreadlocks bounced on my shoulders, but I was too relaxed to care.

As a big smile grew onto my pale pink lips, I thought about smoking a joint. But then my mind raced back to Erykah, who—like me—is watching the scene unfold.

Taking off my sunglasses, I examined the fourteen-year-old girl carefully.

Her light coconut skinned hands brushed against the window's surface, as Erykah's curious brown eyes marveled at Manhattan roads, people, and buildings.

The more I watch her, the more I can picture myself in Erykah's mind. When I was her age, I felt as though the world is my enemy. 

I hated Joseph, Isadora, and pretty much anyone who had made my life a living hell. But in spite of this, I was excellent in school.

I did my homework, respected my teachers, and I aced all of my tests. But when it comes to bullies, I liked the idea of taking matters into my own hands.

Whenever someone hurt or lie to me, I would stand my ground and tell them to go fuck themselves.

Of course, I would get sent into the shrink's office a dozen times, but I didn't care. I hate seeing bullies picking on the flawed and defenseless. I wanted to do something other than sitting by and watching the chaos unfold.

I guess my selflessness and bold personality are one of the reasons why Austin likes hanging out with me so much.

That, or he doesn't like to get on my bad side.

Staring at Erykah more closely, I wanted to become a positive influence in her life by reminding myself to throw away my pack of cigarettes—which are currently stored in my purse. Not only would it give me relief, but  I feared of ending up like Joseph in the future.

Joseph, I think to myself, frowning.

He's probably in Brooklyn, questioning suspects.

Putting my arm inside the car, I put my sunglasses back on then tried focusing on the J.F.K. International Airport. As I pondered, the road thickened like mushroom broth. The putrid smells of burning fuel swarmed around the SUV, and street names quickly zipped us by, like hungry bees searching for honey.

As we eventually headed to Queens, everything around us is crazy.

Crazy streets, crazy people, and crazy honking.

Burning smells continued to thicken as Austin continued heading west, not looking back. His brown hair is pushed back from the wind, his hands are firm, and although his eyes became droopy, Austin was able to drive smoothly without crashing the SUV.

"You okay?" I ask, studying him for a minute.

Watching the road intently, Austin nodded.

"Yeah," he answers in a monotone voice. "just peachy."

I raise my right eyebrow. "Are you sure? Because you drive like an old woman."

Austin rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

I did a pout. "What? I am telling you the truth."

"That I drive like an old woman?"

"Yeah, " I nodded simply. "for a teenage nerd, you need to be aware that we are in New York. Not fucking Ohio."

Austin glanced at me for a minute. "I know that we are in New York."

"Well, your driving tells me a different story." I insisted.

"Oh, really?" Austin scoffs. "Like what?"

Clearing my throat, I mocked in a grouchy old voice: "Oh my God, help me! I am a seventy-eight-year-old woman who is going through menopause."

Erykah snickered in silence, while Austin glared at me.

"That is not how I drive!" he says bitterly.

I shrug my shoulders. "Action speaks louder than words."

"Shut up, " he says again. "At least I am good at parallel parking."

"And bore us to tears," I added.

Austin scrunched his eyebrows at me. "Don't disrespect my driving."

"Never." I laughed.

Playfully, he punched my arm and switched his gaze back on the concrete road.

Surrounding the red SUV,  are a couple of bright yellow taxis, a few RVs the size of school buses, and a beaten, blue Chevy, which carries a family of five. 

In the meantime, Austin drives steadily when—just across from me—he noticed airplanes sitting across from him.

Seeing through the blur of passing vehicles, was an enormous building which looked like a weird-looking dome.

It wasn't like the ones you would normally see in HGTV, but it was a large airport with massive windows, a white curvy roof, and a spacious parking lot filled with desperate cars.

On every side of the airport are doors; while some were glass, others looked as though they are made out of light brown concrete.

Although it was a pretty sight to see, not only an assortment of vehicles made it difficult for Austin to find a place to park.

As soon as we entered the lot, Austin searched around for an empty parking space. Vast cars—big and small—stayed between its white lines, while a few still roam around the granite lot, looking for a space to park their cars.

But whenever Austin comes across a vacant gap, another driver takes the opportunity to steal it, forcing Austin to chose another spot.

"Fucking assholes," I hear him mutter under his breath.

His keen brown eyes bounced sideways for another open space, but so far, none of the vehicles didn't budge from their spots.

Watching Austin grit his teeth, I calmly advised him to be patient.

"I know," Austin says, yawning. "I just want to find a parking spot so we can go to Australia in one peace."

But just as he approached straight, an angry car horn blared in his direction.

"Son of a bitch!" Austin screeched. 

He tries to find the source of the obnoxious sound when I flashed him an annoyed glare.

"You do know that Erykah is sitting behind us, right?" I reminded scornfully.

That's when his face turned bright red.

"Oh, sorry," Austin mumbled.

"It's fine, " Erykah says, shrugging.

He sighed some more. "I guess I do need some sleep."

"Can I drive?" I ask hopefully.

"And crash onto an oncoming bus?" Austin shakes his head. "I don't think so."

I roll my eyes. "Oh come on! I have a driver's permit!"

"But the car is not registered to you." he reminded. "Besides, what if a cop stops us? He'll need a driver's license and registration papers." 

Just then, another vehicle honked by, but this time, it belonged to a sultry brunette woman. Thin body, cracked lips, worn lines around her eyes, I am guessing that she hadn't eaten any breakfast.

Begrudgingly, Austin waited for the anorexic woman to drive past him then ventured forward.

"Do you think I should take Erykah to the airport and wait for you?" I ask.

He nodded. "Yeah, I will meet you there. Okay?"

"Sure," I said, unbuckling my seatbelt. "In
the meantime, I will buy you some snacks."

"Thanks." Austin beamed.

Suddenly stopping the car, he then unzips his backpack, takes out a medium-sized wooden box, and hands it to me.

"Everything you need is right in here," he said.

It was Austin's makeup kit: filled with an assortment of wigs, fake piercings, makeup, and several types of brushes.

"Cool, " I smirked, taking the box and stuffing it in my bag.

Then slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I wished Austin good luck, hopped out of the car, and opened the car door for Erykah.

"Come on, Erykah," I say. "Let's go, before Austin loses his mind."

Austin frowned.

"I heard that." he scowled.

I give him a bright smile. "I know."

Unbuckling her seatbelt, Erykah collected Austin's blue blanket and hopped out of the red SUV.  After shutting its door, Erykah then grabbed my left hand and walked with me to avoid any confrontation from aggressive drivers.

"Where to?" she asked me, avoiding a puddle of someone's spit.

I thoroughly checked for any passing cars, take a deep breath, and ventured forward.

"We are going to the bathroom." I answer.

"Why?" Erykah asked.

"So I can give you some pads and money."

"What about you?" she inquired. "I saw Toby handed you something."

I walked briskly, making sure that we didn't get hit by a car.

"Is it some kind of birthday present?"

I shake my head.

"An engagement ring?"

I glanced at her for a second.  "Are you serious?"

"What?" Erykah cried. "It could happen."

Chuckling a little, I said that she will find out when we get to the bathroom.

"Ugh, " groaned Erykah, circling around a pigeon. "you and Toby are not fun."

I laugh some more, held her hand tighter, and continued our way to the airport.