Found

It was a windy day when the man crossed the road and went into the bus station. Where exactly was he going? I didn’t know. There was doubt in my mind that he knew very well either. This man looked lost. He might have even been a boy. Maybe 18, 19 at the oldest. What was he doing here? Should I ask him? That might been an invasion of privacy. If I don’t though, he might get himself into trouble. I wrestled with myself in my mind before I finally just decided to ask him.

“Excuse me?” I asked him. “Are you going onto the New York City bus? That’s the only bus coming in about 2 or 3 hours.”

“Umm yes, I’m going on that bus. Thank you.” Then this man walked onto the bus.

It looked like he was going to say yes to whatever I asked. He didn’t really seem like the kind of person who was going to be truthful. At least if he’s going on that bus, I can keep an eye on him.

The ride to New York City felt microscopic, even though it was three hours. The boy got off right in front of me and started walking off into the pouring rain, without an umbrella.
“Hey!” I shouted out at him.
”Yes?” He answered.
“Do you know where you’re going? Are you really going to walk in this weather?”
“I know where I’m going. It’s not far.”
“Well, I can’t just let you walk in this weather. Let me get a cab for you.” I stared him down so he agreed.
“Just tell him where you want to go.” I handed the cab driver a 20 and stepped back. “Have a nice trip.” He nodded again. Then, the cab sped off, weaving in and out of New York City’s crazy traffic. I signaled for a cab of my own, wondering if that boy would be okay and if I would ever see him again.

The answer, it turned out, was gratefully yes. I saw this strange man walking through the sunshine in Grand Central Park. At least, I think it was him. If it wasn’t, he had a twin. I thought that it was doubtful this was this man’s twin. He turned around as I slipped past and said,

“Thank you for the cab money. I’m Tom, though I didn’t tell you that before. What’s your name?”

“Jessica. I’m 40, if you were wondering. How old exactly are you, Tom?”

“17 years old.”

“That’s very young for roaming around the city yourself! I assume that’s what you’re doing? It didn’t exactly look like you had a certain place to go.”

“I didn’t have an exact place in mind.”

“Did you even want to go to New York? Or did you just tell me that, then just got on the bus?”

“Look, I really didn’t or don’t care about where I’m going. I’m just getting away from my stupid family and town. Though I really don’t understand why exactly I’m telling you that.”

“Go home, Tom. Your family is probably going sick with worry. I know I would be if one of my children ran away and took a bus to a place I didn’t know.”

“My family doesn’t care about me.”

“Tom, I would hate to have to force you to go home. Sadly, you aren’t yet 18. So, you have to go home. Maybe later in life, like a year or two, you can leave, go to college or something. Finish out your education. Come on, let’s go.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him along to the nearest bus station.

“Where do you live?”

“Just get me on the bus to Chicago.” Tom grumbled.

Perfectly, there was a Coach bus to Chicago coming in five minutes. I took out a $50, paid the $30 bus fare, and handed him a $20 for food.

“Have a nice trip. I hope everything works out for you.”

“Thank you.” He said to me.

Tom then got on the Coach and took a seat. As he did, the bus started pulling out of the station and zipping down the street, the other way I had to walk. I turned around and watched the boy from the New York City bus pulling fast away from me.