IV. When a door closes. Part 1
848 Words
Wednesday the twenty-third of January, nine forty-two at night. Lobby.
The night didn't turn cold. The wind blew weakly and the breeze wasn't felt. The weather was dry, it had lost its usual humidity and for those already acclimated, it was somewhat hot. The four degrees that night were perfect for a group outing.
"Shall we go to Reef?" Noelia suggested. "Yes?"
"Don't think so. Benja and I are going to stay to watch movies in the lobby," Ramcés replied. "We will wait for Ale and Clau to bring us food and we will see something here, no more."
"But they come with us too," Wendy intervened.
"Yes, I already warned you," Noelia said. "And we are waiting for them rather."
"Wow..." Ramcés looked discouraged. "I don't know... Benja, what do you say? do you wanna go?"
"No," Benjamin replied, without thinking twice. "I'm tired," he added, with a somewhat false tone of voice.
"But what if something happens to us?" Wendy said as if begging. "It's gonna be your fault, guys."
"Damn it..." Ramcés complained, in a whisper. "Benja, shall we?"
"No, really, I want to rest a little. I work early tomorrow," he excused himself.
"Come on... just in case. What if something happens to the girls? " Ramcés murmured so that no one would hear.
"How could… ok. But they wait for me, I'm going to put on legwarmers. Not even shitting I go out there like that, because it's likely that we'll come walking."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll wait for you," Ramcés replied, somewhat dazed.
Benjamin left the lobby with all the patience of those who don't use it, in his backpack. Slowly, he went through the security box and up to his third-floor room in building five.
Suddenly, upon entering his bedroom, he fell into a catatonic state that lowered his body temperature and turned his skin pale. He was stunned for a moment, swaying until he reached the first bed he found, the one closest to the door and the first floor of the cabin: Holger's.
No one else was in the room, he was alone, having a who knows what attack on who knows where. He lay down and spread his arms. He took out the phone and the only thing he managed to write and send was: "Ramcés, don't leave the lobby."
The phone fell aside and he lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes, Junior was on his left side, exercising, maneuvering cartwheels, and falling to the ground on purpose.
"Hey, what a good nap you got!" He said, shaken by the exercise. "When I arrived you were already stiff in Holger's bed. I even got scared because I couldn't hear you breathe."
"Do you know where the rest are?" Benjamin sat on the bed, still annoyed by the bright, blinding light in the room.
"Who do you mean?"
"Ramcés, Noe and Wendy."
"No, no idea, cholo," he answered. "But ask them then."
"The fight, the crash ..." his eyes stung from the dense yellowish light emanating from both bulbs in the room. "What happened?"
"Oh yeah, really, cholo… were you awake when it happened?" He frowned. "I arrived earlier and I thought you were asleep."
"What do you mean?" He raised his voice a little.
"Calm down old man..." he said, laughing. "Two boys got into a fight on the first floor, they were both drunk... that's why they drink? ... morons."
"And the crash?" Benjamin asked, his voice thin.
"It was a little while after the fight. The owner's son... this..."
"Scott," Benjamin intervened.
"Yes, that i***t. I guess he was drunk too because when he got there, his car hit one of those trucks that are in the building six, out here."
"Where is he? They took him in an emergency, right?"
"Yes, but the ambulance didn't come, so it came ..."
"The police and they took him away on a patrol," Benjamin said, a little louder, more awake, rubbing his eyes, stretching himself out of sleep.
"Yes ... how do you know that? You were awake, weren't you? And you have me here wasting my time…" Junior had stopped a moment ago, confused by what his roommate knew, thinking he was teasing him.
"I saw it," Benjamin replied, now fully awake. "I had... like a vision when I entered the room, and then I passed out." He picked up the phone, he had nine unread messages.
"A vision...? How so, cholo?"
"I saw the fight, the crash ..." he stopped for a moment to read what Ramcés said in the texts. "And I saw this..."
Junior walked over to Holger's bed, still confused, and took Benjamin's phone with his right hand. As he descended into the conversation, his face became surprised, then worried, and finally, a unique terror that painted the features of his aspect.
"What the hell just happened at Reef?" Junior said, not before removing his glasses and wiping away a fat bead of sweat that was slipping off his hundred, from the shock of what he had just read.
- Writer
