Everything that lived came from the spark of a great fire ignited long ago, a big bang. The universe existed in a cycle of expansion and contraction, recycling itself from its own dead matter over an incalculable number of years. One day, the sun would go nova, destroying the solar system, and the spent matter would collect into clouds that would at some point form a new star. If this was the way of the universe-a destructive end in order to begin anew- then why not the same for Daniel? Why couldn’t he rise from the ashes of his own past?
“Stuck in a cycle?” Colby asked.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Daniel responded. “Thought you were asleep.”
“Don’t have much use for sleep,” Colby said. “I might have more than I bargained for soon enough.”
It was the first thing Colby had said that had the gravity of unadulterated truth.
“You sick or something?” Daniel asked.
“In a way. We all have our crosses to bear. Yours is fairly obvious.”
“Really? What’s my story?” Daniel asked. He was intrigued by the man’s level of insight. There was more to this bum than what he projected.
“The cops want you for something.”
Daniel regretted the game already. The man was, perhaps, too perceptive to be a safe traveling companion.
“You don’t say,” Daniel remarked, trying to play it cool.
“Relax, kid. I don’t plan to sell you out. It was obvious back in the station.”
“And this doesn’t scare you? To get caught helping me?”
“How do you know I’m not running from the law, too?” Colby lobbed back.
“Good point. Still-”
“You have a good chance of dropping off the radar before any cop gets his hands on you.”
“Had experience with the law, I take it?”
“On both sides. I used to be a cop once. Long ago.”
“You don’t even know what I did.”
“Doesn’t matter. Theft, rape… even murder, the logistics are in your favor,” Colby explained. “Sure, they’ll put an all-points bulletin out on you, but there’s nothing remotely unique about you. Get a crew cut, change your jacket. You’re about thirteen, right? In four months you’ll be two inches taller.”
“You seem awfully certain,” Daniel said.
“The police force is outnumbered about a thousand to one in every city,” Colby continued. “Only a third of the force is ever on duty at one time-unless there’s a special event like the president coming to town, and then, they’re all busy trying to keep his ass safe instead of looking for punks like you. You just have to be smart.”
“Like?”
“Like don’t get off at Central Station. Place is full of police. There’s a stop before that. We get off there… avoid downtown.”
Daniel hadn’t thought of that. It made perfect sense, though, and that scared him. There was a world of things he didn’t understand. There was also a lot more to Colby than met the eye.
“Thank you,” Daniel said.
The man smiled.
“I like you, kid,” Colby said this in a somber tone. Perhaps Daniel reminded him of a son. “You need time to sort out whatever mess you’re in,” Colby continued. “We could all use some time to ponder our messes.”
“What if the mess is unsortable?”
“Yeah, that happens. You’re a smart kid, Dan. There ain’t two people on this bus with your wits. You have a… a bright future.”
It was the first time Colby had outright lied to him. Daniel ascribed it to his companion’s desire to perk his spirits. The boy took some cold comfort in the fact that he could read Colby so well. At least he’d have a chance if Colby planned to set him up.
“Good night, kid,” Colby said, and turned aside, making a big deal about getting comfortable in his seat.
The lie put the notion of a future back in the boy’s head. Daniel always believed he was destined to do something important. The belief that he could work his way out of the ditch that had become his life was what drove him to always try harder. He never imagined things at home would turn out the way that they did. He did not deserve to end up in a juvenile facility, or worse, death row, for what happened to Clyde. Clyde had choices too, and he often chose badly. He was the instrument of his own misfortune.
Daniel watched the lines on the road fly by. North Carolina was a ways off. The trailer park Colby’s sister lived in was at least somewhere to go for the moment. Daniel would decide what to do from there. He knew he was wiser than many people twice his age. There was no reason he could not apply what he knew toward a fresh start- like the recycled remnants of an old universe giving birth to the new. For the first time in a long while, longer than he could remember, Daniel felt hopeful about the future.
