Department of Student Loans, Kidnap & Ransom, Page 6

  *****

  Mick sat down on the bed in the by-the-hour rental hotel room. The room was so small and the wall separating the bedroom from the bathroom was so cheaply built that he could hear Ally sobbing, even with the water running in the shower. The pity that Mick felt for Ally was causing him some confusion. He was feeling, at the same time, both anger at being used as some pawn in a very dangerous operation, and sympathy for Ally, with a touch of regret and shock at the death of Liz, who had definitely saved his life.

  Mick slowly crept towards the realization that he knew what he wanted to do. He would stick with Ally and he would genuinely try to help her. He wanted the situation to be resolved permanently. He knew he couldn’t live every day fearing a kidnap.

  But first, he needed to get high. And the crying was really starting to bother Mick. He had to get some fresh air, which he would find on his way to purchase some marijuana from the closest bodega or drug kiosk. Mick sketched ‘be back in 30 minutes’ on the door screen pad and quietly headed out.

  One hour and thirty minutes later Mick returned with his weed, two bags full of groceries and a gallon of sugar cane juice. He looked at the back of the door and saw that his message was replaced by a note from Ally that read ‘Back in 4 to 6 hours. If I don’t return by 6am then consider me dead.’

  Usually Mick would consider this type of message somewhat overly dramatic, but under the circumstances it now seemed quite normal. So he settled in to his food and streamed a documentary on his phone about debt runners who live in Jakarta. It seemed quite nice, especially once it became clear that most Indonesians under the age of forty spoke English and weren’t racist, at least not towards white people. Mick had no intentions of talking to old people or visiting the hell-hole tourist trap that was Bali, so he was set. Indonesia appeared to be a place where he could make a life for himself.