Chapter 7

The Closing Walls and the Ticking Clocks

I couldn't get a ride to Samina's. Mom was driving Olivia to dance practice, Dad was at work, and Jimmy was using the car for who knows what. Again, I was all alone. I realized I had no idea where Samina lived. "Should I call Samina?"

Better not tell you now.

I didn't call her and started walking in the general direction of her house, hoping that Samina would be outside waving when I got there or something like that. I brought my iPod and my laptop with me so we could play Minecraft together. And of course, I also brought my Magic 8 Ball.

After about ten minutes of walking, I found an address I vaguely recognized: 730 Cherry Lane. Maybe that was Samina's house. I knocked on the door and to my relief, Samina answered it.

"Hey Isabelle," she said.

"Hi Samina." I walked inside. Samina's house was small, but there was a sort of openness to it. The whole house felt like it was welcoming me with open arms. With one breath, I took in everything. The child-made paintings with the rainbow spilled across them, the smooth jazz in the background, the exotic spices floating around in the air, everything. Samina led me to her room. It was painted pumpkin orange. Instead of saxophones, I heard "Radioactive." Samina's piano was on one side of the room, resting against a wall. The keys were battered and beaten and the paint was peeling off.

"What should we do?" Samina asked, crashing down onto the bed.

"I have no idea," I said. I took the Magic 8 Ball out of my pocket. "Should I ask Samina about Minecraft?"

Most likely.

"Do you want to play Minecraft?"

"What's Minecraft?"

I groaned. "Didn't I explain this to you over the phone? It's a video game."

"I don't play very many video games."

"What do you do for fun then?"

"All sorts of stuff," Samina explained. "I play piano a lot."

"That's cool." I noticed a chessboard in the middle of the room and it sparked an idea. "Hey, do you want to play chess?"

"Sure," Samina said.

We started setting up the chessboard. Apparently Samina wasn't that great at chess, since her first move was to move the pawn in front of the rook. I beat her easily.

"Good game," I said.

"Thanks, you too."

I beat Samina again and again. Instead of getting better, Samina seemed to be getting worse. Or maybe I was getting better. I couldn't tell. Samina drummed her fingers louder.

"That kind of sounds like 'Clocks,'" I said.

"It is 'Clocks,'" Samina said. She started humming. I joined in after a while:

Confusion never stops

The closing walls and the ticking -

Samina's dad knocked on the door. "Isabelle, your mom's here."

"Can't Isabelle stay a little longer?" Samina shouted.

"No, sorry."

I started walking out of the room. "Bye Samina. See you tomorrow."

Mom's car was waiting outside. I waved to Samina's family and ran out to the car. When I got inside, Mom looked mad.

"Hi Mom," I said.

"Isabelle, what did I tell you about running off to your friends' houses when I'm not home?"

"I asked you yesterday."

"That doesn't make it OK."

"You said it was fine."

"Still..."

"You let Jimmy do it all the time."

"Don't do what Jimmy does. Besides, he's older."

"Mom, I'm in high school now. Can't you let me do some things on my own?"

"What if you get lost?"

"I know where Samina's is." That was a lie.

"I'm not letting you see Samina anymore."

"WHAT?!?" I shouted. "That's not fair!!!"

"It's perfectly fair," Mom stated. She sighed. "Why can't you be more like Olivia?"

"Because Olivia's a -"

"A sweet, wonderful girl that you would be wise to take a few cues from!" Mom interrupted as we pulled into the driveway. "Now go work on your homework. I'm sure you didn't get anything done at Zamima's or whatever her name is."

"I don't have any homework."

"Go vacuum the house then!"

"Isn't that Jimmy's job?"

"Just do it!"

I pulled the vacuum out of the closet and started cleaning. It just wasn't fair. Somehow I had to fight the closing walls and the ticking clocks. All I knew was that it wasn't going to be easy.