Music Reptile

“I just woke up,” I smile at the teenage girl to my right. My tired tap on her shoulder caused the grump to remove her headphones. “Where are we?” Black-lined eyes somersault in their sockets before she answers me, tucking a strand of neon hair behind an ear.

“Thirty minutes out of Greenport.” She pops her headphones back on, settling further into the seat to embody an invisible ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign.

I glance out the window, smiling at the fast moving landscape. I need to check my ticket to see which stop I’m off at. Now, which pocket did I put it in?

Another tap, another eyeroll. “I can’t seem to find my ticket, young lady.”

“Did you just use it on your phone?” She sticks her neck out like a tortoise.

“My phone? Graves no, I can’t get a ticket on my phone. My phone’s in my kitchen!” I laugh, patting her knee through their jeans.

“Whatever, just ask the guy when he gets back.” She turns out to the window.

“Who? What guy?” I ask her, pulling on her shoulder.

“The man that was sitting on your other side! You’re here with him, aren’t you?”

I look over to the empty seat on my left, scrunching my brow. “There’s no one there, girl.”

“He probably just went to the bathroom. You’re traveling together, yea?” She had fully turned toward me, a small chip showing in her harsh facade.

“No! No nonono, I’m traveling alone. I’m going to see my grandbabies. They have a music recital tonight.”

The girl had leaned in closer, “You’re traveling alone?” Her ringed eyes look vast with the contrast of the makeup against her whites and deep brown irises.

“Yes I am, I’m going to see my grandbabies. They live over in, uh, Grandview.” I grin thinking about little Cassie and her tyke brother, Lon. “Now I had warned my Cassandra not to go adopting kids from foreign places when she and her husband were perfectly capable of making their own, but that bull-headed girl never listened to me - not now, and not during the eighteen years I raised her.”

I turn to her again, only to see an empty seat. Where had she gone while I was talking? Why was everything moving so fast out the window?

I stand up, looking down the aisle of the train car. Neon hair. The girl walks back to our row with a tall man in white.

“Ma’am, this girl says you’re traveling alone. Is that correct?” He smiles, leaning down a touch to level with me.

“Yes, I’m going to see my grandbabies in Greenview. They have a recital.” The girl returns to her seat, but the man hovers still.

“Did someone drop you off at the station? How did you get to the train?” He sits next to me, his eyes soft and warm.

“No… I don’t know. I don’t know how I got here.” Did Cassandra come get me? No, she’s probably getting ready for the recital. “I just woke up.”

“Okay ma’am, do you have your ticket?”

I fumble through my pockets, pulling out crumpled tissues, coins, and a bent baseball card. “No, where’s my ticket?” I whip around to the girl, “Did you take it? I was sleeping, you probably took it then!”

“No I didn’t take it!” She shrinks back against the window, holding her hands up. Her pupils shift, eyes wide.

“Ma’am, please calm down,” a heavy hand on my shoulder sends me swinging around toward a man in white.

“I have to get to Grandport! My babies have a reptile! A music reptile!” I stand up, looking out the window. “Stop the train! I have to get my ticket!”

“Ma’am sit down.”

I try pushing past the man into the aisle, but he holds me back. Another smaller hand touches my shoulder. “The train’s too fast! I have to get off, I have to get off!”

“No, you need to sit down.”

“I have to go! Why won’t the train stop?”

“Please calm down, we’ll sort it out.”

“But I left everything at home! Where are we going?”

“Calm down, Ma’am! Please calm down! It’s okay, you don’t need the ticket.” He helps me back into my seat.

“I don’t?”

“No, you don’t. And we’ll get you to your kids, no problem. What’s your name?” His eyes quell my panic. Soft and warm. Light brown honey.

“Margy.”

“Okay Margy, I’m going to go get you some water, yeah?” He looks over my head, “I’ll be right back, Miss.”

I guess I don’t need a ticket, then. But how will I know my stop?

“I’m Nia,” A quiet voice to my right. “Don’t worry, okay? He’s going to get everything figured out. Do you have a purse? Or a bag?”

I look under my seat, nothing. “I guess not,” I chuckle, “Traveling light!”

“Is that yours?” Nia points to a lime green backpack in the seat to my left.

“No, not mine. The color’s dreadful, don’t you think?”

She laughs, reaching over to hold my hand. “Awful. Now, why don’t you tell me more about your grandkids’ music recital, okay?”

“Yeah, little Cassie, she’s in second grade. She plays the piano - she’s pretty dang good at it, too. But good graves, I know my Cassandra will have her fixed up in some horrid dress. Oh and Lon, he’s just a toddler. Let’s see, four or five by now. He has this funny little bongo set that he wails on next to her. He’s a shy one, so I hope that he doesn’t get too scared. The whole school is gonna be watching, you know.”

Her brow knits, “A school recital?” I nod, smiling. She squeezes my hand, “In July?”

“Hey Nans, you’re up! I got our food, finally.” A young man plops the backpack on the floor and himself into the seat. He has two takeout containers in his arms. “The dining car was…”

My head tilts, I address him: “Who are you? Why are you sitting here?” The girl tightens her grip on my hand.

“Nan, it’s me, Lon. I just went to get us dinner. Are you okay?”

His large hand moves toward my forehead, and I swat at it, “Hey!”

“Are you really Lon, her grandson? Do you have her ticket?” The girl on my right asks him.

“Yea I am, and yeah. What happened?”

“She… she woke up and was wondering where…”

I look closer at this man, taking in the rigid shape of his nose, the fullness of his cheeks, and his narrow, dark umber eyes. “Oh! Lonny! When did you get here?” I grin, pulling my boy into a big hug.

“Nana, I got us some food, you need to eat.”

“Here’s that water, Ma’am.” A man appears, holding a bottle of water out to me.”

“Oh, uh, okay,” Lon takes the bottle, pulling out my tray table and setting it there. He puts one of the food containers there as well. “Here, eat up Nans.”

I tuck into the mashed potatoes, green beans, and dry chicken. There’s a girl to my right with neon hair. She’s listening to music and gazing out the window. She looks peaceful, but her makeup is a bit heavy-handed. On my left is a thin teenage boy.

“We should be in Grandieu in about an hour. Cassie and the kids will be at the station. Are you feeling alright?” He asks me, slurping noodles from a plastic cup.

“Yes. I’m going to see my grandbabies in Greenview,” I tell him, making conversation. “Where are you headed?”