Chapter 211
As the door closed, it also cut off all my memories and past, everything became a farewell. I don't know how I got downstairs. When I reached the ground floor, I was holding a suitcase with one hand and leading Simon, who was carrying a small backpack, with the other. After reaching the ground floor, I looked back at my, no, I should say Katniss's window. At this moment, the lights in the house were still on. After watching for a while, I turned and left without looking back.
On the way to the train station by taxi, I was worried. I was most afraid that Katniss would do something extreme. I took out my phone to make a call, but who should I call? Michael and Sophia? Nathan? Or Jennifer? After some thought, I decided to call Michael and Sophia because they were Katniss's biological parents and cared the most about her. So, informing Michael and Sophia seemed like the safest option.
"Kevin, what's wrong?" As soon as the call connected, I heard Sophia's gentle voice. Hearing her voice, tears almost welled up in my eyes again.
"Come over to be with Katniss right now, the sooner the better." I quickly said this sentence, although it sounded strange, Sophia still agreed, and then I hung up the phone.
After hanging up, I looked at my phone, then turned to look out of the taxi window. At this moment, the taxi was crossing a bridge over the river. I gritted my teeth, then opened the taxi window and threw my phone out towards the river like a parabola. Even though it was already night outside, I still saw my phone falling towards the water. Since I wanted to forget the past, I decided to completely forget it, erase all traces and contact information. No phone, no phone numbers, no contacts, no WhatsApp, hoping for a fresh start.
Although I chose to start anew, I still had a bank card with $8000, our only asset. At the train station in Nightfall City, I bought two sleeper train tickets to Seabreeze Harbor. The train would depart at 9:36 p.m. and take 35 hours to reach Seabreeze Harbor. Simon didn't know what he was going to face, his little face filled with excitement and curiosity.
After boarding the train and settling Simon in the sleeper car, the child was already tired. I sat on a small stool by the window, looking outside. Soon, the train started moving, slowly taking me away from the city where I had lived for over a decade, until I could only see sporadic city lights. Goodbye, Jennifer; goodbye, Michael and Sophia; goodbye, Nathan; goodbye, Katniss. After sitting by the window for a while, I took out the prepared train itinerary, from Nightfall City to Seabreeze Harbor. Although the train journey was long, there were few stops in between. I needed to figure out where to get off and start a new life in that city. From Nightfall City to Seabreeze Harbor, there were a total of 22 stops. The closest to Nightfall City were several cities like Stocktonville and Dowberg City, which I was familiar with from previous business trips, but they were too close to my hometown, risking stirring up memories, so I decided to skip them. In the end, I tentatively chose Pearl Peak City, Sunshine Bay City, Silvercrest, and Lindwood City to start fresh.
Putting away the train information booklet, I saw that Simon had already fallen asleep. I sat on another bunk, unable to sleep for a long time. I just sat there, chin in hand, looking out the window at the scenery of small towns and wilderness. My mind kept replaying memories, filled with regret and self-blame. After a while, I shook my head. Thinking about these things now would only bring unnecessary trouble.
My gaze fell on Simon's face. Simon looked very similar to me, everyone said so. At this moment, he was sleeping peacefully. I just stared at Simon blankly. He would be the only motivation for my future life and work, as well as my hope to keep going. No matter how difficult and painful it might be in the future, I must take care of Simon, give him the best education, and provide him with the best life.
Unknowingly, I fell asleep with my head resting on the small table. I was awakened by a nightmare, dreaming that Katniss had committed suicide after I left. When I woke up, I was covered in cold sweat. I was disoriented, but couldn't help feeling a tightness in my chest. I checked the time and realized it had been almost 6 hours since I left home. I had no idea what had happened at home. Now without a phone or contact information for my family, I couldn't help but feel anxious. If I still had a phone in my hand, I guess it would have been ringing off the hook by now. It was already 3 a.m., and Simon was still sleeping soundly. They say dreams are the opposite, I hope this dream is truly the opposite.
I checked the time and saw that it was still early for the estimated arrival time in those four cities. I dared not fall asleep again because I needed to watch over Simon. Whether it was going to the bathroom or anything else, I needed to take care of him. There were so many strangers on the train, and Simon was so young. If anything happened to Simon, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.
In the torment of loneliness and boredom, I finally reached my destination, Lindwood City. After some consideration, I ended up here. It was a beautiful classical tourist city, an ancient city that captivated me with its classical architecture. I decided to stay in this city.
After nearly 30 hours of rough travel, both Simon and I were exhausted. Sleeping on the train wasn't comfortable, and I hadn't slept much. I found a relatively good hotel with Simon, stored our luggage, and Simon, being young, slept a lot. Seeing the comfortable big bed in the hotel, I fell asleep again while holding Simon, gradually entering dreamland.
We woke up at dawn in this unfamiliar city, and I felt a long-lost sense of relaxation. After waking up, I freshened up, then took Simon to eat some local specialties. Since I had lied to Simon that we were here for a vacation, I had to take him sightseeing for a few days. Although the money on the card wasn't much, as long as we were frugal, we could still spend a few months. However, during the breaks in our travels, I couldn't help but worry about the situation back home, unsure of how everything was going.
Slowly, two days passed, everything was normal. Simon seemed to be enjoying the trip, but my worries grew heavier. On the third day, I decided to find a kindergarten for Simon and then rent a house near the kindergarten. We couldn't keep staying in hotels. There were many kindergartens, but public kindergartens had complicated procedures. So, I found a relatively good private kindergarten for Simon. Although he was young, he could sense that something was off and asked me why he wasn't going back to school. I had to come up with reasons to deceive him. Kids were easy to fool, but this boy would eventually get tired of playing around. The day he demanded to go home was bound to come, and I needed to be prepared.
During Simon's school hours, I spent an afternoon renting a house, a two-bedroom apartment that was affordable and ready to move in. Before Simon finished school, I also purchased some essential items, busy for the whole afternoon. Looking at this unfamiliar house, it would be our home for now. I didn't want to buy a house until I was completely settled. Besides, I might even move to another city.
Tomorrow, I would prepare to find a job. With my work experience and skills, finding a well-paying job wasn't difficult, but the challenge was taking care of Simon. Before, it was Katniss and Sophia who took care of Simon. Now that I was taking care of him personally, I realized how difficult it was to look after a child.
Days went by like this, and gradually, several days passed without finding a good job. It wasn't that I couldn't find one, but I couldn't find a satisfactory job that suited me. Jobs were hard to come by, so I had to take it slow. It was time to pick up Simon again. I went downstairs to the kindergarten to pick him up, counting the days, I had been away from home for a week. I had thought about the worst-case scenario, that Katniss might have gotten involved with Nathan again. But every time I thought about it, I shook my head. It was all in the past, none of my business.
Due to traffic on the way, I arrived a few minutes late at the kindergarten after getting off the bus. School had already ended. Simon must be waiting for me in the classroom. I hurried to Simon's classroom, only to find the teacher sweeping and tidying up the tables and chairs, with no sign of Simon.
"Teacher, where's Simon?" I asked Simon's teacher.
"Simon was picked up by someone." The teacher replied.
"Picked up? By whom?" The teacher's response almost made me sit on the floor. I didn't know anyone in this city, and Simon had been taken by someone. I broke out in a cold sweat.
"I don't know, but Simon knew her and seemed very close. She was waiting here when Simon finished school. Usually, if a child is picked up by a stranger, we ask the child if they know the person who came to pick them up. If the child doesn't know them, we don't allow the child to leave with them. Before that person took your son, I and Simon confirmed several times, and Simon said he knew her, how to address her; I can't remember." The young female teacher had a naive look on her face, recalling slowly.
"She was a woman? How long ago did she take the child?" I suppressed the urge to punch the teacher, as finding Simon was the priority. I was terrified and excited, my first thought was that Simon had been abducted by human traffickers. The thought of what might happen to him made me very afraid. I was trembling, sweating profusely. Without Simon, I didn't know how I could go on living. Was God not going to give me a way out? Did he have to punish me so severely?
"She left less than ten minutes ago, she was a woman, quite good-looking and very elegant." The teacher continued to recall slowly, seemingly not in a hurry.
I didn't listen to the teacher's further words. I quickly ran outside, reaching the school gate and looking at the passing vehicles and people from all directions. It had been fifteen minutes, and if she took a taxi, who knew how far she had gone. I felt lost, not knowing where to start looking. Right, call the police. I quickly took out my phone to call the police. I had bought another phone a couple of days ago, got a local number, having a phone was convenient. My hands were shaking as I opened the phone, 911, just three numbers, but I kept dialing the wrong ones several times. Just as I was about to try again, my phone suddenly rang, a call from a private number, with no visible caller ID.
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