The Time Stone (13 page)

“
Wow, that’s a serious
problem” said Tina.

“
You don’t know the half
of it. Let’s get a move on” said James.

CHAPTER 30

Broad Staffnight and his entourage
arrived as their limousine descended out of the dark tunnel from
their metropolitan centers to the downtown Chronix Bay City Airport
area and they were shocked at the series of figures occupying the
city streets and storming out into the skyward futures they
envisioned. They quickly realized they would not make it to the
terminal in time. They exited the car and headed towards the
mid-air shuttle tram waiting to transport passengers to their
scheduled flights.

“
We can’t miss the flight.
We are running out of time as this will be the last time we can do
this.” He walked proudly in his three piece Armani suit and ray ban
sunglasses followed by his secretary Elizabeth Peters, Chief of
Police Brent Hightower, and CFO Mr. Mark Cumberberry, the team of
four he put together at the last directors meeting of Temporo,
Inc.

“
Don’t worry, Sir. Our
private jet is ready and fueled on the runway. I just spoke to the
tower operator and we have full clearance to launch at any time.”
Elizabeth Peters uttered her words with confidence.

The team of four entered the tram and
Broad touched the on screen monitor activating the “go” computer
and the tram was off into the air above the city strung on
electrical wires and steel cables.

“
Are you sure we are gonna
make it in time, Liz?” Asked Broad nervously.

“
We shall, Sir.” She
smiled as each of them stood in their position.

Broad regained his sense of confidence
and clasped his arms behind his back and spread legs astride facing
forward with his chin up. Within seconds, the tram turned onto a
secondary set of cables higher up than the other cables and the
tram headed straight for a brick wall on the side of the terminal
building separating it from the cables. To the sudden shock of the
team except for Broad, the tram pass through the brick wall as if
it were a liquid surface and the wall erupted with ripples and
waves like having a stone tossed into a pond, subsequently fading
to the apparent solid surface again.

CHAPTER 31

A homeless man walked by
the main entrance to the airport terminal with a battered coat and
full beard, covered with dirt and filth, smelling of a foul body
odor. He wore a sign around his neck that quoted the popular bible
verse John 3:16 that read underneath it “
the end of time approaches.
” Having
trouble ignoring the chanting from the protesters outside, but
managing their way through the crowd starting to block the
entrance, James and Tina ran into the terminal building passing the
poor man and feeling empathetic as they understood his plight but
had bigger things to handle now.

“
I wish we could help him
somehow.” James whispered.

“
We got to help ourselves.
I can get us aboard a flight. We got to sneak aboard from someone
on the standby list.” Tina commented.

“
Where are we headed?”
James asked.

“
Does it matter? As long
as it’s away from here. We’re wanted folks so outside of the
country should be ideal.” Tina observed from her common
sense.

“
True.” Replied
James.

“
I will be right back,
wait here.” Tina whispered and ran off.

“
Right, be right back. I
will wait here” echoed James calmly and coolly. James sat on the
ground by the café where he waited patiently for Tina to return. He
was grateful that they made it past the security screening without
incident. He thought to himself. “
It’s a
miracle we weren’t recognized.
” Then he
saw a man in a black suit and sunglasses come out of the elevator
in the airport lobby. He recognized him as the man Tina had pointed
out in the bar and who she then saw in the coffee shop. He felt
like following his gut instinct to run but he sat and waited for a
moment, sucking his teeth trying to act tough. He kept an eye on
the man who walked along the corridor to the airport gates as if
waiting for someone and stopped at a sudden spot. The man did not
even take a seat but stood there motionless like an object with no
sudden jerks or movements. Tina walked over to James and plopped
down beside him. James nudged her elbow slightly with his before
she could open her mouth and motioned her in the direction of the
gates and she looked over at the man standing there and
froze.

“
Oh my God. What does he
want with us?” Tina spoke with her eyes widening.

“
I don’t think it’s us he
wants.” James answered.

Tina looked at him puzzled. “I’m
scared.”

“
Don’t worry, I’ll protect
you.” James smiled.

“
My hero” she whispered in
a sarcastic tone.

They both calmed down quickly as the
man in the black suit walked away towards a nearby gate and took a
seat, opening a newspaper that rested on the seat nearby. “Phew,
that was close” gasped Tina.

“
Did you get us on a
flight?” James inquired.

“
Yes, Flight 842 to
Brazil… you know the one in South America?” Asked Tina
rhetorically.

“
I know. How did you
manage that? And why did you get us to Brazil?” James
asked.

“
Easy… anything is
possible if you know how to talk to people. We’re going to be
subbing in for a couple on standbys that are supposedly eagerly
waiting over by gate 11 but the flight is actually over there at
gate 8. I switched documents on them after a quick
distraction.”

“
You’re such a criminal.”
He joked.

“
Desperate times call for
desperate measures buddy.” She shrugged. “Also, Brazil was the
furthest country on the current manifest. I figured its best we get
as far away as possible. But we should know that Brazil has an
extradition treaty with the United States of America for fugitives
facing murder charges here.”

“
How’d you know that?” He
asked. “Wait, never mind… Great so we can’t get caught there
either.” James spoke fearfully.

“
It’s only temporary,
Dude. We will find someplace else to go later? It is one step at a
time.” Tina added confidently.

“
When did you become a
legal scholar, Tina?”

“
I was a student at
Chronix Bay University and took some law courses for elective
credit before I dropped out. I always wanted to go to law school…
but it wasn’t in the cards.”

“
And you sell yourself on
the street for a living?” Asked James.

“
Well, I never graduated…
life happens I guess.” She replied. “I guess I should count my
blessings after hearing about how all those kids are having trouble
finding jobs even with a law degree.”

“
Oh” James acknowledged.
“Why do you think we became what we became, Tina?” James asked
curiously as they waited for the flight to be called and looking at
their tattered clothing, disheveled exterior, dirty faces, and
drained personalities.

“
I guess it is because we
do not have a place to call home, no place to go, no place to
sleep, no vehicle, low income or no income, no strong family
support, friends, or even a regular meal. That seems to fit the
adequate definition of homeless and destitute” said Tina
nonchalantly. “I’m used to living on the streets as I spent most of
my adult life walking around the streets of this God forsaken town
and seeing the same stuff over and over again, looking for food in
trash cans and dumpsters, or just struggling to find a place to put
my head down for the night, usually a cardboard box.”

“
I know. I’ve been there.
I envied those who lived in rat infested housing because at least
they had a roof over their heads” replied James
jokingly.

“
It sucks living like this
but we are so at the bottom. You develop a sense of low self-esteem
and worthlessness tied to emotional abuse from others and society
in general but that goes with the territory of being flat broke all
your life. I remember sitting on the street corner rocking myself
to sleep in tears. Some people took pity on me and gave me the
occasional handout but some were pretty cruel with their nasty
remarks” said Tina.

“
The good thing about
being at the bottom is that you cannot sink any lower and you have
nowhere to go but up. “ James added.

“
That is what I thought at
first but I realized that you could always sink lower. I met a guy
when I was twenty-two who seemed like a real good person. He did
volunteer work for the Salvation Army and I met him at an event
where I was attending to get free food like many other homeless
people. We started talking, he said I was pretty, and we started to
go out regularly. He let me stay with him for a little while and
said he would help me get my own place and a job. But I was
unwillingly becoming a glorified prostitute.”

“
Like your day job” James
joked.

“
How do you think I got
started?” She said. “And that he had many others he was doing this
to as well? I soon started to see him for who he really was, a real
jerk who convinced me to give up my innocence and hurt my feelings
for his own selfish purposes.”

“
I’m sorry,” James
said.

“
I’m not,” she shook her
head brushing off the bad memories as she continued “he drank a
lot, abused drugs, and gambled, not successfully, so he came home
angry and took it out on me with his fists and at first I thought
it was my fault and so I took it without complaining but I couldn’t
take it too long and one day I had enough and ran out. His mother
was a sweet old lady who I met and who helped me dearly so we still
look out for one another from time to time. However, about him, I
found out from others on the street that he was still volunteering
with the homeless shelters and was still with other women and was
likely preying on their helplessness like he did to me. I can’t
believe I almost married the ass. I hope to God that our paths
never cross again. And that after being sexually abused at home by
the man my mother married and shipped me off to the orphanage when
she passed. No wonder I developed sort of low self-esteem and hid
myself in books. The library became a solace place for me to hide
from the discipline of the teachers and nuns who punished me for
acting out. I just enjoyed to lose myself in books and learning was
an adventure, like travelling to other worlds. That is how I know
so much now but it didn’t prevent me from ending up in the
lifestyle I chose. The company I kept was responsible for that but
ultimately I know the choice was mine. Was it my fate? Maybe but it
all comes down to choices in the end.”

“
You are very
intellectual. I love your abilities and curiosities. How young were
you when you first realized your mind could absorb information so
quickly?”

“
About eleven. I would go
to the library to read everything I could get my hands on, fiction,
non-fiction, languages, and travel books, even read the dictionary,
thesaurus, and encyclopedia one summer.” She smiled proud of the
childhood effort.

“
And you dropped out of
college?” Asked James.

“
I had no choice. I was
doing great. A grades all the way and my professors said I was
gifted and could get a scholarship but I needed money and working
the streets was the quick way. I needed to eat and I already told
you about my pimp and I thought I loved the bastard.”

“
Right, so what happened?
How did you leave that world and the orphanage school teachers?”
James asked curiously.

“
Life happened. Anyway,
new worlds in books were my escape but Dr. Arnold Schiester was my
hero.” Tina said.

“
Who is that?” James
asked.

“
The man who became my
mentor, surrogate father, and big brother all boiled into one.” She
smiled. “He taught me about life, about helping people, making a
difference, and learning, the thrill of climbing mountains in your
mind to new peaks of greatness and perfection. He is the one who
first said to me ‘knowledge is power’.”

“
My dad said the same
thing.” James added.

“
Dr. Schiester saw
potential in me and became the father I never had who rescued me
from a life that I thought I couldn’t escape from except in books.
I thought I was invincible when I was with him. It was awesome how
he made me feel and he was older but it was great how we would
spend time together just being, drinking, smoking, listening to
music, and learning multiple languages together like Spanish,
French, Portuguese, Greek, Latin, and certain early African
dialects, exploring the origins of mankind while having natural
fun. Good times!”

“
Did you ever … you know,
with him?” James asked.

“
This man was like my
father. That would not have been… appropriate, but there was one
night where we forgot everything and gave into our passions.” Tina
uttered briefly.

“
I see!” James smirked.
“You never obtained your full potential due to your problems and
involvement with toxic people.”

“
Anyway, he turned out to
be much worse. It was sort of like jumping out of the frying pan
and into the fire for me. He became a different person and an
abuser when we moved in together and he almost killed me as well. I
ran away in the middle of the night during one of his spats, I did
it to save my life.” Tina said. “I dated a few guys after that,
including this British fellow but none of them seemed right. I
couldn’t connect with anyone emotionally after what happened to me.
That’s why I am so cynical sometimes. I don’t trust people easily
now.”