NINETY- ONE

Things were frantic back home. At school, everyone was talking about how—for some reason—Ruby, the smartest and prettiest student in the whole school ran away.

Mark had been searching for her but never found her. Ms Lucy and Lucille were also searching but it was all in vain. Her family had police teams turning the whole city upsidedown.

I was walking to the dining hall for my lunch one day when I bumped into Mack.

Not only was he absent minded, but he was also mumbling something,"It's all their fault..."

"Whose fault?"I asked.

He suddenly woke up from his trance and looked like he was on Mars.

"How did I get here?!"

"I guess you used the stairs, or an elevator."

"I've got to go."

"Wait!"

I held his hand and asked,"What were you talking about?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said it's all their fault, whose fault and a what?"

He pulled me into a corner and said,"Tommy...Ruby was going to marry me."

I widened my eyes in shock and was about to yell but he covered my mouth. I had so many emotions: confusion, sadness, anger, jealousy, heartbreak...

"What?"I asked.

"Our families were going to force us to get married so our companies would be merged and they'll grow even richer."

The sadness, anger, jealousy and heartbreak just vanished.

"An arranged marriage?"I asked.

He nodded and said,"That's why she ran away.

I didn't blame her, I would have done even worse in her shoes. He held me and said,"I can't let Ruby get hurt..."

"Neither can I."I added.

"We have to find her, before anybody does."

I nodded.

Ruby hadn't slept a wink in the three hours she had been on the couch. She heard a sound and saw the man get up.

He was talking to someone. She couldn't help but eavesdrop, he said,"Yes the package is ready for pickup and trust me, this one is the best of the best..."

Oh, it's just a package.

"...she has red hair and blue eyes, an extremely rare beauty, she will make business skyrocket."

Me?!

She just pretended to still be sleeping when he came to check on her. He touched her face in ways she didn't like and took a picture. She heard the person on the other side of the line yell,"She looks better than Aquaman's girlfriend!"

The man walked away.

She had to run away.

But, how he was talking...

Were there more ' packages '?

She needed more answers.

She decided to play along. She helped the man with his barbershop, attracting customers with just a glance, doing chores for him and others.

She tried her best to act like she had no idea about his conversation.

One day, as she was sweeping the hair on the floor, she heard someone whistle and say,"She's even better than the picture."

She looked up to see a bulky old man, half bald, with several yellow, golden and missing teeth.

The man who took care of her said,"Jessica (the name she lied to him about), this is Stan. He's going to be taking care of you now."

She looked at the old man as he talked about her in great detail, better than most people,"Flaming pheomelanin dominated hair, sapphire melanin deficient eyes, rare combination. Long neck and perfect jawline. Strong, white teeth, perfect shape, very fit, probably a gymnast, fair, untainted skin..."

He went on for a while then said,"Joe, you hit the jackpot!"

He started rubbing his hands together in excitement and dropped a huge bundle of money on Joe's hand. He then whistled and two muscular men came and grabbed her.

She didn't fight back, she wanted to see what he did...

I was in Queens and passed by a barbershop. It had a weird vibe emanating from itself as a huge man entered a posh Toyota Tacoma.

They drove away and I went in.

A man welcomed me and asked me to take a seat.

"Oh no, no, no, I didn't come for a haircut. I'm looking for this girl, have you seen her?"

He immediately recognized the girl he just sold and scratched his potbelly and said,"Nope, never in my life."

"Too bad. We are really worried about her."I said.

He nodded but immediately became rude. He kicked me out because I didn't want his services.

I met Mack on my butt.

"Any luck?"He asked.

"Nope, but I did get kicked in the butt if that helps."I said.

He sighed and looked up into the sky and asked,"Ruby, where are you?"

We continued searching but it was all futile. Our efforts were all in vain.

We went home and I missed her terribly. I missed her rude insults, her faithful loyalty, her strong nature, everything. I wished she would have at least told me where she was going.

But again if she did, we would easily find her.

Ugh!

Why is life so hard on her?!

She's thirteen and is already getting married?!

Come on!