Nothing waited for me at the car except for skid marks in the dirt. Based on the patterns the tires left, Ricky drove out of there in quite a hurry.

I walked the road to the highway alone then walked the highway to my parents’ house alone. I texted and called Ricky multiple times on the journey, but never heard back.

It has been three weeks now and I still haven’t been able to get a hold of Ricky, or Chad. I checked in with Ricky’s parents and they said they hadn’t seen him in a while, but weren’t worried. They said he went off the grid for weeks at a time, all the time. I also think they didn’t care. Their lives would be easier if he just never came back.

I had to drop out of school, but didn’t retreat all the way to my hometown yet. I moved about 30 minutes away, but came back to do laundry sometimes and check in with the folks.

My trips are usually pretty non-eventful, but something has been haunting me ever since the last time I pulled out of my parents’ driveway after dinner.

I noticed something was pinned beneath my windshield wiper when I walked out to my car. I walked around and pulled it off. It was a sloppy, handwritten note on a piece of paper that read:

You left us, but we’ll see you again soon enough.