1 Flight to no where

I hear a ping from my back pocket. Must be my dumb cousin. I reach into my black hoodie pocket for my phone. I looked at the too bright screen of my phone, sure enough, it was my cousin telling me to hurry up. I shot him a quick text back telling him I'm coming. I grab my duffel bag from my bed. Kiss my dog goodbye not knowing when I will see her sweet face again. I run over to my desk and write a quick note to mom telling her where I will be, but it's not like she will care. My dads and her divorce are taking up all of her time nowadays. After signing the note I go to my window, pop out my screen and with one last blown kiss to my dog I jump. I live on the second floor so the jump doesn't hurt too much when I landed on my feet, while it might also help that my cousin had put a mattress under my window to break my fall.

"Let's go, Maria, we have a plane to catch." My cousin yelled from the open window of a black truck.

"Shut up Trevor I'm coming ok."

I jumped into the shotgun of the black truck. I steal one last glance at my house, and neighborhood as my cousin heads to the airport. I quickly fall asleep to the sound of the car zooming past the scenery and my cousin cursing at "stupid Californians who can't drive". Like he could do much better. I was awoken by my cousin shaking me.

"Get out" he says as he unbuckles himself, "and grab your stuff," Trevor says as he points to the back.

I hurry to get out and follow him. Trevor puts on a pair of sunglasses and slightly looks like a pilot. Thank gosh he won't be piloting. I would like to live till I'm 19, thanks. I walked behind him trying to keep up with his fast pace.

"Where are we going actually because the main airport entrance is over there." I point to the huge entrance that says "Come fly with us" with thousands of people spilling in and out of those doors.

"Just trust me ok," Trevor says with a tone that makes it seem like I am a kid which is silly because I am only 4 years younger than him. Trevor quickens his pace as we reach gates with a security guard. Behind the gates are a smaller runway and private jets.

"Name and ID please," The guard says. After Trevor shows him his ID and states his name the guard asks. "Plane number please."

"404"

The guard pressed a button on a panel and the gates started to open. Trevor walks through without thanking him. He waves back at me to hurry up.

"Thanks," I say breathlessly as I run to catch Trevor. "We are flying in a private jet," I say with excitement.

"Yeah," Trevor says as he does it every day. "By the way Maria we do not say thank you, that's something you need to learn."

"Ummm ok," I say with confusion.

Trevor turns his attention to a small black and white plane in front of us.

"There she is," He said with such passion. I looked the plane over, it looks alright. There was a man at the edge of the plan filling it up with gas. He must be the pilot, he looks nice enough. I guess I could put my life in his hands.

"Trevor!" the man said with a thick accent. He put the gas pump down and outstretched his arms to my cousin.

"Alex!" Trevor says with excitement, " I was hoping he was going to send you here to get us." Trevor goes to Alex's outstretched arms and holds Alex in an embrace.

"Quindi è la ragazza che tuo zio pensa posse aiutarci?" (So is the girl your uncle thinks can help us?) Alex said in perfect Italian. He stole a glance at me after saying this. I feel hot under his gaze. I do not need to know Italian to know he is talking about me.

"Sì, sembra abbastanza abile. Ricordi quanto fosse abile suo padre, giusto? (Yeah, she seems pretty skilled. You remember how skilled her dad was, right?) Trevor responds in amazing Italian. When did he learn to speak Italian?

"Ok ok enough with your secrets what are you saying about me?" I say in a joking but do not give me bull shit tone.

"Sorry", Trevor says, "we were talking about why your uncle wants you, and about your dad." "Anyway, Maria this is Alex the best pilot in the world."

"Pleasure to meet you," I say as I extend my hand to him.

Alex grabs my hand and pulls me into a hug. "ragazza dolce(sweet girl), we are all family you will that figlia(daughter)."

"Can I please know what figlia means", I say as I pull out of Alex's tight hug. Dam that guy has a stronghold.

Trevor laughs at my horrible presentation of the word. "Figila means daughter, Alex is welcoming you as his own. Which isn't hard because he and Eva always welcome everyone as their kids, especially since they can't have kids themselves." I nod in understanding thinking how sad it is that they can't have their own kids.

"Enough that we have a schedule to keep in check", Alex says as if to distract from his own sad story. "Your zio(uncle) will be waiting."

I look down to check my phone for any texts from my mom or my friends. I feel someone watching me and I look up quickly. Both Alex and Trevor are staring at my phone like it's on fire. I know its an old phone and it might be cracked but it still works.

"Why are you looking at my phone like it is something poisonous," I say questioning.

"Throw that thing away," Trevor says with an edge to his voice.

"Why"

"Do you want to be tracked"

"No"

"Then throw that thing away and we will get you a new one in Jamestown," Trevor says ending the argument. He climbs onto the plane without looking back. I look at my phone in my hand. The screen holds a picture of my dog as a puppy. This thing has so many pictures of the people I'm leaving behind. A tear streaks down my face as I remember all the fun I had with my friends before, but then I remind myself what happened at the end of senior year. Yep, I had made the right choice to leave. I toss my phone as far as I can throw, hoping that it gets crushed by a plane wheel.

"Come on ranunculi(buttercup)," Alex says as he puts his arm around my shoulder. I quickly wipe off my tears even though I know he has already seen them.

"It's a long flight, perfect for some sleep, He says as he directs me to the opening of the plan.

"Thanks," I say so softly I'm hoping he cannot hear it.

"Nessun problema" He said as softly as I had said thanks. It was like we were sharing a secret.

"That means no problem? Right?" I asked

"Yes very good, You will learn quickly." He said as he pushed me unto the plane. No looking back now. I got into the plane looking around at the inside. It looked like any commercial plane but just smaller. I put my duffel bag at one of the overhead bins shoving it in there and closing it with a slam. I walked over to my cousin and sat next to him. I grabbed my seat belt and clipped it in.

"Why are you sitting next to me?" Trevor asked. "There are a lot of other seats and I want to spread out and sleep and I bet you do too."

"Ok, I will move," I say kind of hurt. I head 2 rows back and spread out. Alex comes over the overcome from the cockpit of the plane.

"We have clear skies all the way to new york, it should be smooth flying. If you look at the headrest in front of you, you can find a button. Press this button and the movie screen will come down from overhead. Don't forget to plug in your headphones to it. Sit back and relax we have about 6 hours in the air so just enjoy."

I could already hear Trevor snoring in the rows ahead of me. So much for trying to learn Italian. I plugged in my headphones and found a good movie about someone blowing up something else in space. I sat and watched the movie, zoning out from time to time until I fell asleep looking at the clouds.

I was awoken to the rough landing of the plane. I looked out of the plane window and saw the green of the hills in the distance. It was so different than the golden brown hills in California. I went to my pocket to take a picture of the landscape that I saw through the window. I forgot my phone was back in California probably smashed into pieces by now. As soon as Alex pulled the plan into the warehouse marked 404 and he stopped the plane fully I stood up to grab my bag. Before I could even open the overhead compartment two large men opened the plane door and made hand gestures to follow them. I looked at Trevor for what to do. He stood up calm and cool.

"There's one bag in the overhead compartment that's it," He said sternly. "Maria let's go," He said coldly. He walked out the of the plane without looking back. One of the men grabbed my things while the other motioned me out. I walked to an SUV with tinted windows and climbed in quietly. When we were in the car for ten minutes I spoke up.

"Where are we going exactly?" I ask

"We are going to my dad's house," Trevor says

"Where is that?

"Jamestown New York," Trevor says as the guy with green eyes looks over at us and starts to speak.

"We are going to your uncle's house in Jamestown new york. No more questions young lady. They will be answered shortly but not by me or your cousin."

After the man was finished speaking I shut my mouth and looked out of the tinted windows at what and where we were passing. Five minutes later we reached a small town. We drive through the downtown, it was small, non-compact like any small town. Streets are filled with business. The shoppers on this lazy Saturday milling around looking into the colorful shop windows, icecream in hand. We pull into a neighborhood off the downtown street.where small, had pourchs and where bright cheerful colors for a house. On some of the pourchs had swings, some had love seats. We pulled into a driveway of a house at the end of the street. The house was blue with a green accent. There is a porch swing, and bicycles on the porch. Trevor stepped out of the car first. I quickly followed suit, stepping out onto the gravel. Dam New York is hot.