12
Joy of Medina County Magazine | September 2018
c on t i n u e d f ro m P a g e 11 “I guess we’ll just go west until we need to stop and then ask around for information again. Someone in this city has to know where your mom lives.” I looked around at the grand city of London and wondered if we’d ever find the Collettes. Until just then, I hadn’t thought of how not finding them was a real possibility. It scared and upset me, but I still had Devin, I still had my girlfriend, and whether we found my family or not, we’d still have each other. And I was OK with that.
C H A P T E R 15 We walked west for an hour or so, dragging our increasingly heavy suitcases with us, and began to really regret not getting pounds to pay a cab. The kind man’s 10 pounds wouldn’t be enough for a cab ride all around London, which is what we really needed, so we had to stay on foot whether we liked it or not. “I need a drink,” Marissa said finally, as we walked onto a street full of restaurants. A lunch break sounded great to me. My stomach was empty enough for a meal, but what I really wanted was a place to sit down and take a break from lugging my suitcase around. “Well, what are you thinking?” Devin asked, looking around at the restaurants nearby. “There! That Mexican grill. Sounds delicious,” Marissa said, with her mouth practically watering. The place was covered in red with golden lights all around, and it honestly looked far too fancy for a quick lunch stop. Marissa was right though, it did sound delicious. “What do you think, Devin?” I asked him, already picturing a fat burrito in my hands. “I think I’m hungry, and that place probably has food, so I’m in,” he re-
plied. “Cool,” I said, heading for the doors. We walked in and found that the inside was just as fancy as the outside. Luckily, they took credit, and Devin paid for the lunch. We ordered, sat down, and dug in. The food was delicious, much better than airline or hotel food. As we ate, we discussed a few ideas of how to find the Collettes, but none of them were very viable. Devin even asked the waiter, but he just laughed at us and said, “How should I know?” We finished lunch and left the restaurant, still with our luggage in tow. It was awkward, and we really needed a place to sit and figure out what the next step was, so Devin pulled up a map on his phone and did some searching.
“I only thought as far ahead as getting to London.” “How’s a park sound?” he asked us a few minutes later. “We can find a bench, hang out, brainstorm, and even ask a few pedestrians passing by.” “Works for me. I’m not entirely sure what we’re doing here at this point. I only thought as far ahead as getting to London. Now, I’m a little lost,” I said, shyly. “That’s okay. We’ll figure this out together,” Marissa said, rubbing my back gently. “St. James’s Park is nearby,” Devin said, pointing down the street. “Let’s go!” Marissa responded quickly. Her enthusiasm filled me with hope, and I smiled slightly as we headed toward the park. We found our way to the beautiful, lush park and sat down on a bench. Our luggage sat around our feet as we discussed options or, more
accurately, our lack of options. “The city’s too big,” Marissa said after almost two hours. Even she was getting discouraged. Suddenly, a woman walking her dog a few feet away perked up and asked, “Too big for what, dearie?” Marissa looked back at her hesitantly, then back at Devin and me, and then back to the woman. “Too big to find someone we’re looking for.” “Oh, that can’t be true. Everyone’s around here somewhere. Who are you looking for?” Marissa and Devin turned to me expectantly. “Um…Lilith. Lilith Collette,” I said. “Hmm, the name doesn’t ring a bell, but don’t give up! I’d try restaurants and pubs. Everyone comes around to them once in a while,” the woman replied. “OK, thanks,” I said, half-heartedly. I was grateful she had tried to help, but at the end of the day, she just wasted our time. We already knew asking around in popular places wasn’t a bad idea. We needed something more concrete. The woman nodded and walked off with her dog leading her away. I turned to Marissa, hopeless. “Now what?” “I guess we listen to her.” Marissa frowned a bit, grabbed my hand, and squeezed gently. “We can try nearby restaurants, slowly moving downtown, asking everyone who’ll give us the time of day if they know her. It’ll be tedious and irritating, but someone, somewhere, has to know of your mom,” Devin said. He looked serious, and I was beginning to realize that he wasn’t going to let us give up that easily. We came to London for a reason, and Devin wasn’t leaving until we found her. “Can we even get into pubs, though? We’re still minors,” Marissa pointed out.