Chapter 34: The Call
I was driving Sarah's Prius to the circus. I'd reached a straight patch of freeway and the GPS wasn't shouting directions at me anymore, so I finally had some time to think. My main thought was:
What was I doing?
A half-hour ago, I had said a quick goodbye to Lisa, grabbed my phone, my wallet, and the spare keys from the house. Then I had taken Sarah's car and hit the road. It had all seemed so clear then.
Cathleen had fooled me yet again. She had lied to me, fought with me, and ran off with Matt and a captured Dhiren.
The expression on Dhiren's face as they had left had been a familiar one. Lisa had worn it for weeks. It hurt to see Dhiren look so hopeless.
Dhiren was my friend. A better friend than Cathleen had ever been. He'd forgiven me for ignoring him and he'd listened to me when no one else would. Whether my dream last night had been real or not, he had been there for me when I had needed him.
He had helped me, so now it was my turn to help him. The only problem was that I couldn't.
Because unlike with Lisa, I had no legal claim to Dhiren. The circus owned him and I had nothing to offer. This was going to be worse than the meeting with Mr. Maurizio and Mrs. Gailon. I had to leave the circus to save Lisa. What could I even do for Dhiren?
Nothing.
I was rushing off to the circus without a plan, without a single ally. As soon as I arrived, I would likely be kicked out or worse, arrested. After all, Cathleen and probably the rest of the circus believed I had tried to steal Dhiren as revenge for getting fired. Even though it wasn't true, it didn't matter. I knew from experience those people wouldn't believe me. Why would they?
The fact was Dhiren had traveled over a hundred miles to end up in the forest around my backyard. I hadn't stolen him. And I'm pretty sure Cathleen and Matt hadn't put him there. So how on earth had he gotten there? He couldn't exactly track my scent across highways and such.
It was impossible. Just like how Dhiren had ended up in Lisa's enclosure, how he seemed to understand most everything I said, and how if I stared into the tiger's eyes hard enough, I would fall asleep and wake in a dream world. It was all impossible.
I knew that, but last night…there were a few moments where I really had trouble believing it was just a dream. All my dreams about Dhiren were surprisingly vivid, but last night had been different. I had been completely lucid. I could remember every second of our conversation as if it had happened in real-time. I could picture his every expression. I remembered how he held me and how safe I felt. I even remembered that phone number he forced me to memorize.
The phone number.
Dhiren's mysterious friend who could get me into the Waghdhare Circus like it was no big deal. Another impossible thing…
I glanced down at my phone. Right now, I had no chance of saving Dhiren. Best case scenario was that I got to see him again. Worse case was jail.
What did I have to lose?
I clutched the steering wheel tightly. I knew why I didn't want to dial that number and why I never bothered to solve any of the mysteries surrounding Dhiren before this. It was the same reason why I hadn't figured out that Lisa was malnourished.
It wasn't that I was stupid or unobservant. I recognized that things were not right, but I had been more concerned about how her illness would affect our performance than anything else. I never really thought about why she was sick in the first place. All she needed was more food and to get away from the circus, but instead, I insisted that her illness was a sign that I needed more time to practice with her.
I had really thought that practicing and performing with the circus was the answer to all my problems. I kept thinking all I had to do was get on that stage and suddenly, my life would be perfect. I believed in my dream so hard that I almost killed Lisa.
And now my narrow-mindedness had caused this crisis with Dhiren. If I had taken the time to understand what was going on with him, maybe he would not have run away from the circus.
I frowned. No, it wasn't that simple. It wasn't like Dhiren had been happy at the circus. I remember how sad he had looked in the beginning. That had changed as I had gotten to know him. He had cheered up. We had bonded and become friends.
I knew what that meant for me, but now I was starting to see how important that was to him. Dhiren had said in one of my dreams that I was the first friend he had had in a long time. If I believed that then it made sense that he would want to find me after I basically disappeared. He had escaped the circus and traveled for miles to check on me because we were friends and that's what friends did.
When I thought about it that way it did not seem so impossible and more importantly, it felt true. Dhiren wasn't just a tiger. I knew that. Crazy or impossible, whatever you wanted to call it, I couldn't ignore it anymore. I couldn't ignore him.
Dhiren told me the number was real. He was my friend and he needed me. He needed me to get over myself and take a chance. That's what I should have done with Lisa and that's what I wanted to do now.
So, even though I was scared, I turned off the freeway and parked my car at a gas station. Once I was settled, I took a deep breath and picked up my phone. Then I reminded myself to breathe as I dialed the number. As the phone began to ring, all my uncertainties resurfaced again.
*briing*
What if I was wrong and this was a waste of time?
*briiing*
What if I was crazy and I had imagined basically everything about Dhiren because of stress?
*briing*
What if…? What if…?
No.
I had to see this through.
*briiing*
I had to know.
*briing*
One way or another, I was going to find out the truth.
-Click-
A/N: Hi Everyone,
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it was a little short but hopefully, you all are hyped. Next time, we return to the circus. However, November is coming up and that means NaNoWriMo. I'll be taking the month off as always and I will probably return in December. I cannot wait for you guys to see how this climax goes. It has been a journey for both me and Kelsey.
Happy Holidays everybody. See you later!
