Semua Bab No Return: Bab 81 - Bab 90

Miyen and the Commodore escorted Silvia and Claudia almost to their plane seats on Tuesday noon, and only four hours later, they were at the Black Rock, having mate. Silvia was still pale and quiet, but insisted she was okay, and Claudia noticed she hardly checked her phone, as if she didn’t expect Jim to try to reach her, and didn’t want to contact him either.And she didn’t want to. She didn’t need to.Paola arrived an hour later, to let Claudia go to her house before her dog chewed the whole cottage down to splinters. Silvia’s own dog, that used to roam the streets and showed up only to eat, came with Paola and didn’t leave to walk Claudia home as he used to.“I’m gonna get rid of you lot and be alone sooner or later,” Silvia said, a little amused. “What d’you think it’s gonna happen then?”“You’re gonna text him,” Claudia and Paola replied right aw

The interviews kept them busy until dinner, and all of them voted to go out later, for a little taste of the Santiago night. Instead of hanging out with the others at the bar until they left, Jim went back to his room. Deborah turned to Sean the moment Jim walked into an elevator, but Sean just shook his head.Yeah, his brother had honored all the commitments she’d scheduled for the day, but he was oddly absentminded, and Sean wasn’t about to explain to Deborah what was in Jim’s mind, keeping him distracted.His little brother had gotten the memo, directing him straight to a tall, sturdy brick wall. Now that he’d found it, Sean knew he would have to watch Jim slam his head against it, time and time again, until the pain and the bruises convinced him it was harder and more real than his own perspective of the situation. Then Jim would most likely break down, and Sean would have to be ready to hold him up.Upstairs, Jim dropped himself on t

The soft glow of the nightstand lamp blinded Silvia for a moment. As soon as she was able to squint around, she swung the covers open and jumped out of bed, grunting and grumbling under her breath.One damned hour. She’d been turning and tossing in bed for a whole hour, unable to sleep, the idea of that video waiting for her corroding her brain.She washed her face with cold water and grabbed her earphones. A moment later, she was back in bed, resting against the headboard, tablet in hand. She breathed deep and played the video.The Chilean flags everywhere didn’t leave much doubt about where the video had been filmed. It was a small stadium, for about ten thousand people, and it was crowded to the brink of structural collapse.The stage was dark and empty, and people whistled and shouted and screamed for the band to come back. Then a beam like an airport searchlight pierced the air, blinding bright, straight to Jim’s vacant microphone,

Silvia needed a while to stop crying, the tablet in frail balance on her lap. Finally, she was able to lie down again and turn off the light. Not to sleep, she doubted she would be so lucky, but to think. She lit the umpteenth cigarette and smoked with her reddened eyes up on the ceiling.She was dying to reply to such a low blow, and she could think of a dozen fitting ways off the top of her head. But she had to pick only one. While she tried to calm down, stubborn embers still burning in her chest, she forced herself to go over every possible answer she could think of, promising she wouldn’t pick one until she’d listed them all.Yeah, she was trying to cheat herself into a silly excuse to keep from replying. At least it gave her something to muse about, instead of spiraling down into memories of him.Somehow she fell asleep. To regret it deeply in the morning, when she surfaced from an upsetting thread of awful dreams about him. In them, Jim would

Walt called Jim from the back of the bus, his little keyboards on his lap, and the rest of the band came around, smelling new song. Jim reached for his phone to record whatever Walt had come up with, and realized it’d slipped from his back pocket. It wouldn’t be the first time it dropped on the bus seat. Sean saw him pat his pockets and snort, and volunteered to go grab it.That was when the bus swerved sharply, wheels screeching, throwing everybody to the side. Then they heard the first impact that pushed the bus skidding to the other side. Another hit against the rear bumper and the bus started spinning. Another hit, a big truck that bashed the whole side of the bus. Another hit and the bus seemed to crack open like a frigging nut as it fell on the opposite side, still ramming down the highway.Jim had that image carved in his mind: the bending steel snapping like rubber bands, the bus split in two. Sean launched up and out, flapping his arms in the air,