A Walk into the Unknown Ch. 02

"I doubt we'll find her," she says. "Besides, who cares? If we were important to her, she wouldn't have left in the first place."

This takes me off guard and I give her a surprised look. She notices and shrugs.

"Oh come on," she says. "You know you're thinking the same thing."

I don't respond. I'm not sure how. She has a point, but suddenly I realize Rach might have a little more resentment toward her than I do.

"Whatever," she says. "I doubt we'll find her anyway."

She gets on the bed and rests her head on my chest and drapes her leg over mine. She starts to run her finger over my stomach and instantly my cock starts to grow.

"I see someone else needs to stretch out as well," she says jokingly.

"It was a long trip."

She puts her hand around my clothed balls and leans toward my cock.

"Was it a long trip for you Little Rog?"

"Little?!" I complain.

She laughs. "Well he is smaller than you."

"We'll see how little you think he is," I threaten. "He doesn't take kindly to insults."

I unbuckle my pants and slide them and my underwear down, my half hard cock laying out in front of her.

She speaks to my cock, playing along. "I'm sorry Little Rog, I didn't mean any offense."

I thrust my cock forward and it jabs her on the side of her nose before she can pull away.

"Hey!" She yells.

"You've insulted him. He gets feisty when he's insulted."

"Would a kiss make him feel better?"

I nod. She turns to my cock.

"Would a kiss make up for my rudeness, sir?"

I flex my muscles and make my cock flick up and down. She giggles at that. She leans closer and gives the head of my cock a kiss but she quickly opens her mouth and takes me inside her. Her mouth feels warm around me and I can feel her tongue massaging my shaft. Finally she lifts her head up and lets my cock fall out of her.

"Is that better...Little Rog?" She giggles.

Before I can respond, she inhales "Little Rog" and starts to bob her head up and down faster than I've ever seen her do before. The passion of her lips is more than I can take and I close my eyes tightly trying to hold back my seed from spilling too early. But then, with my eyes closed, the last image I have of my mom pops in my head. I see her leaning down in front of me with a big smile on her face as she soothingly whispers her final words to me. In my mind, the warm mouth around my cock suddenly becomes her and it's like my mom's lips are the ones wrapped around me. I try to clear my mind but even when I open my eyes I see her. I can't help it and neither can my body. I feel the base of cock fill up and the pressure of my seed starts to build. I try to pull Rachel's head off but my hand only gets to her in time to hold it down while I shoot my load deep into the back of her throat. I hear her gag for a moment and my body jerks from the pleasure of my release. When the last drops of my cum have finally shot out, my muscles loosen and she pulls her head off my cock.

"Wow," she says with a mouth full of cum. I see her swallow it though she still has a few drops around her mouth. "Someone was ready!" She laughs as she scoops up the remaining cum around her mouth with her index finger.

"I'm sorry," I say feebly.

"It's okay. I know I put a little more into it than I usually do but damn."

What the hell just happened?

Rach rests her head on my chest again.

"Don't you want me to..." I say as I trail off.

"No, it's okay. I'm actually pretty tired. This is nice right now."

I'm glad I don't have to look her in the eye because the look on my face would probably give something away.

I just pretended the blowjob I was getting from my sister was really my mom who I haven't seen in over a decade. When things get fucked up, they really get fucked up!

****************************

Rog is up and out before I'm even in the shower. He said it's better if we both look for jobs on our own today, this way we can cover more ground. I don't really get why that helps us, but whatever. We've been together ever since we left home, I'm kind of glad to get some alone time. I can't believe we actually made it! Los Angeles! I keep joking to myself that I'm now a Californian. I need to move slower and care less, or whatever the stereotype is. I know they have their stereotypes about people from the east coast, so I don't feel bad doing it myself.

I take a shower and get ready, putting clothes on for the first time since we got here. Before I know it, I'm out on the street walking down a major strip of road lined with shops. As I walk along, I start to assess what my options are. It's all pretty basic stuff. Groceries, hardware, clothes, video games, all your typical retail. What do I want to be surrounded by for the next part of my life? My employment before this was working in the convenience store of the gas station. Rog pumped the gas and I worked the shop. I know I definitely don't want to do that again. A change of surrounding will do me wonders. I decide to stop in a clothing store. Some chain I've seen in adds but have never been in. The inside is like a nightclub (I'm assuming since I've never been to one). The music is loud and you can smell perfume everywhere. They have posters of half naked people who all look like they're staring at a UFO in the distance. I enjoy fashion but I have to admit it's all pretty ridiculous most of the time. I look around for someone who works here but there doesn't seem to be anyone. Maybe they'll hire me on the spot since they seem to be understaffed! The music keeps beating my eardrums like a hammer and finally I realize I could never work here. I can't imagine having to deal with this everyday.

"Can I help you?" A girl around my age approaches me. She smells like a walking bottle of vanilla extract. I shake my head and run out of there.

Working at the gas station was really slow and peaceful. Having grown up in the house I did, peaceful surroundings are a treasure to me. I definitely will not be working in any chain clothing stores. As I continue down the street, I notice the sun looks different out here. I can't quite put my finger on what it is exactly, but it's brighter. Is it possible for the sun to look different in one place as opposed to another? I'm sure it is, but I realize now as I walk down this street how cut off from the world I've been until now. I never left my little pocket of the world. I've never seen anything other than my home. The farthest I'd gone before this was to New York, and that was only an hour and a half away at the time. I suddenly realize I want to see another country! I want to travel! Maybe not by bus. Definitely not by bus! But I want to see the world.

That's when I look in the window of the shop I'm passing by and see an old atlas. I used to see these all time in school growing up. The internet has probably done away with them by now, but I've managed to find one. It must be a sign, me thinking about seeing the world and then seeing this atlas. What is this place? I look up to the sign and see the words "Hideaway Books". It's a bookstore. An independent bookstore. It seems so out of place on this street. It's surrounded by chain stores and Burger Kings and McDonald's. The place looks like a wise old lady standing amongst a bunch of prissy hipsters. I decide to check it out.

The inside is quiet. A small bell rings as I open the door and I see a woman behind the counter look up from a book. She looks to be in her early forties, curly blonde hair draped across a tired face. Her eyes look kind and she gives me a warm smile when she sees me.

"Hi," she says.

I awkwardly wave and return the smile. I start to browse the shelves, not really looking for anything in particular. There's a large children's section near the front and shelves of books behind it. One wall has an entire drama section offering a variety of plays. Another wall is labeled "YA", another "Cooking", and even a small shelve of just DVD's. Kind of odd for the character of the store. I walk up to the counter and hold my hand out.

"Hi, I'm Rachel."

The woman smiles and nods as she shakes my hand. "Julia. Nice to meet you. How can I help you today?"

"I was wondering...well..." I'm suddenly really nervous. I don't know why but I can't think of the right words to say.

"I don't have Twilight," she says flatly to me.

I'm confused for a moment and shake my head. "What? No, I'm not here for that."

"Oh, sorry," she says. "I just figured..." She gestures with her hand up and down towards me. "Teenager, socially awkward, doesn't know how to speak...Twilight."

Her bluntness takes me off guard. I'm not sure how to respond. She laughs and shakes it away.

"I'm sorry," she says. "I'm just messing with ya. I forget not everyone enjoys my humor sometimes. How can I help you?"

"Well, actually, I'm here looking for a job."

She doesn't say anything at first, just eyes me skeptically.

"You want to work here?" She asks.

"Yeah, it seems nice. Much better than that clothing store down the block."

She laughs at that one. "No kidding! My daughter drags me in there all the time. I hate it! She's about the same age as you. Won't read any of the books in her english class but will read Twilight over and over."

I suddenly realize this woman might have the wrong impression of me. "How old do you think I am?"

She shrugs. "Sixteen, seventeen?"

"I'm nineteen."

"Nineteen? Wow. Okay, my fault. Shouldn't make assumptions about people."

"I just moved here and need to find work. I just want a nice quiet place. I'm always on time, I do my work, you'll never have a problem with me.

The woman thinks for a moment.

"I can't pay much," she says.

"Is it at least minimum wage?"

She huffs. "Little girl, it has to. That's the whole point of it."

"Well my last job paid minimum wage, so I'm sure it's enough for me."

She doesn't say anything again, looking like she's trying to decide.

"It does get pretty quiet in here. Wouldn't mind someone else to talk to. I can be a little blunt sometimes."

"Yeah, no kidding," I say, surprised at my own bluntness.

She laughs. "Well good. As long as you're okay with that. Can you work Saturdays?"

I nod.

"Think you can handle the shop on your own those days?"

I nod again.

"Good. I hate working Saturdays since my daughter is off from school. Store's closed on Sundays, can't afford to keep it closed another day. Let's say you work Tuesday through Saturday, how's that sound?"

I nod enthusiastically. I can't believe I found a job so quickly!

"Thank you!" I say. "Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me yet," she says with a smirk. "Let me show you around."

****************************

I feel bad. I'm not holding up my end of the bargain. I should be out looking for work but instead I'm sitting here in a library. I'm sure Rach is out there right now going shop to shop, doing all she can to keep us afloat, and here I am putzing around on the internet in a library. The thing I haven't told Rach is that my first priority is to find mom. I figure that'll be better than finding work. We can stay with her, so that'll get us out of the motel. We're burning money staying there right now.

I don't know why I thought knowing the neighborhood she stayed in would help me. Los Angeles is huge! I don't think I really understood just how big it is. What I need is an address. With the neighborhood, what am I supposed to do? Knock on every apartment in every building? I decided to come to the library and do one of those background searches. I've found a lot of them online. For forty bucks you can put someone's name in and a little bit of information and they'll give you everything! Addresses, employment, even phone numbers if they can find them. I feel bad because I know we can't be wasting money but this is important. If it gives me an address for mom, we might be able to leave the motel tonight.

The library is small and barely used. There's only a handful of people here right now. They only have two public computers and luckily for me they were both empty. I load up the page and put my payment information in.

I really hope this isn't a scam.

The only thing worse than wasting forty dollars is wasting forty dollars and having nothing to show for it. I enter her name; Elizabeth Morgan. It asks for any other known names, so I enter Elizabeth Anders, her maiden name. Other than her date of birth and her city of residence in New Jersey and California, I don't have much else to go by. I submit the information and wait for the results. It doesn't take long to come back. It's a hit for Elizabeth Anders! I guess she did drop dad's name. There's no phone number but there is an address and a place of employment! I'm about to jump out of my seat when I see the date of the information. It's all five years old. Nothing in the last five years. Damn. I have to hope she didn't move or change jobs in the last five years? The apartment is pretty far from here but the job isn't. A Frank's Nursery and Crafts about two miles away. Well, I might as well start there. It's closer than the apartment.

Two miles is a bit of a walk but I know I can do it. However, I can also take a cab. The excitement of possibly seeing her has me wanting the cab, but I know I should conserve money. I'll need to take a cab or a bus to get home if she's not there, so I should walk this one.

But I won't. I need to see her right now.

I've never been this irresponsible with money before but I can't help it. After a good ten minutes, I hail a taxi and give him the destination. When I get out, I see a large garden store standing in front of me. I've never been to one of these things. The outside is lined with potted plants and you can see an entry to a garden around back, presumably where they sell fancier plants. I walk through the sliding doors of the entrance and am immediately bombarded with the faint smell of manure. I can also see the crafts portion now as well. They seem to have everything you can possibly need to make your own whatever.

The cash registers are in front and I quickly scan each teller hoping to find her. None of them look like they can be my mom. One lady notices me staring at all of them and smiles.

"Can I help you, sir?"

I fumble with my words for a moment. "Is uh..is...is Elizabeth here?"

She thinks for a moment. "Elizabeth, Elizabeth...I don't know if..." She turns to the lady at the register next to her. "Hey Bonnie, is there an Elizabeth that works here?"

The woman next to her tries to think as well but I can tell it's not going to be good. "No," she says. "Not that I know of."

The first woman turns back to me. "Sorry hun, no Elizabeth here."

"Thanks," I say and walk further into the store. Maybe someone else knows. There's got to be someone that's been here for at least five years. Walking around this store, I can't help but start imagining projects I can give myself. I guess that's the point. They want you to buy stuff. I don't understand why adults would come here to take up all the crafts they were made to do in elementary school. As I turn down another aisle, I notice someone who is clearly a manager standing in front of a shelf. He has a clipboard in hand, so I assume he's doing some kind of inventory.

"Excuse me," I say to the man.

He turns to me, his big bushy mustache twitching with his lips. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if you can help me. I'm trying to find someone that I thought worked here. Elizabeth Anders."

At first it looked like this was also going to be a dead end. He thinks for a moment. "Anders? Anders. Yeah, but not for a long time now."

"Really?" I sound more eager than I want to. "You remember her?"

He nods. "Yeah, nice lady. She worked here for about a year and then left, but that's going back a while now."

"Do you know where she went?"

The man eyes me skeptically now. "Why?"

I wonder if I should just be honest with him or make up a story. I guess the truth is always best, plus I can't come up with a believable story on the spot like this.

"I'm her son," I say. "I haven't seen her in a long time and I'm looking for her."

Suddenly his expression softens. "Oh yeah, I remember now. Ryan or Roster..."

"Roger," I correct him, my heart now beating out of my chest.

She used to talk about me!

"That's right. I remember now. She used to talk about how she had kids back east."

"New Jersey," I almost shout at him.

"That's right, New Jersey. Nice lady. It was too bad she left."

"Do you know where she went?"

"Yeah. Went off with those people from Sheridon Farm."

I look at him blankly, not sure if I'm supposed to know what that is.

"They come in here regularly," he continues. "They're this community that lives not too far from here. Outside of the city. They come here for supplies every week. She used to help them out a lot. I guess they talked up the farm life to her because one day she quit and said she's moving out to their farm. Haven't seen her since."

"Do you know how to get to Sheridon Farm?"

He shakes his head. "No. I only know about them from talking to their people that come in here. But you can ask them if you want. They always come in on Tuesdays around ten to buy supplies. If you want, you can come back here tomorrow and wait for them. They're really friendly, I'm sure they'll know more about your mom."

Holy shit. I can't believe this worked.

I'm about the hug the man but think better of it. Instead I hold my hand out.

"Thank you very much," I say eagerly, shaking his hand faster than I probably should.

He smiles. "You're welcome. If you see Liz, say hi for me."

Liz. She goes by Liz.

"Definitely! Thank you."

Tomorrow I'm coming back here and taking a trip out to a farm, and then I'm going to see my mom for the first time since I was a little boy.

****************************

I have a job. I have a job. I have a job I have a job.

I keep singing in my head as I bounce around the motel room. I can't wait for Rog to get home so I can tell him the news. Day one as a Californian and I already found a job! Julia showed me pretty much everything I'll need to know since there's not much. How to use the cash register, how to do inventory, how to use the microwave in the back. I didn't really need that last one but she was on a roll so I didn't want to stop her.

It's about six in the evening and my stomach starts to rumble. I realize now we never really talked about what we're going to do for food. Since it's a motel room, we don't have a kitchen. We can't order in food everyday from here on out. We'll spend all our money before our first paychecks even come in. There's an empty mini fridge, so we can buy some groceries. A very small amount. I suppose we can buy a hot plate so we can do some cooking. I hope it doesn't set off the fire alarm. As long as we stick to boiling water I'm sure we'll be fine. No matter what though, we'll have to order in tonight.

I hear someone at the door and the lock clicks. Rog comes in and I run to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

"Well hello there," I say as I give him a kiss. "How was your day?"

He smiles at me. "Good." I feel his hands around my hips as he pulls me in tight. "Very good actually."

"I have some great news," I blurt out, unable to hold it in any longer.

"So do I," he says with a big smile. "But you first."

He leads me over to the bed and we both lay down, propping ourselves up on our elbows. His hand starts to caress my hair.

"What's your news?" He asks.

I lean into his hand and give it a kiss. "I found a job."

"Really?" He sounds genuinely surprised.

"Yes, really," I say, pretending to sound offended at his shock. I poke him in the chest with my finger. "I. Found. A. Job."