"I welcome you to Las Vegas," she said as she picked up her sunglasses off her face. We drove through the six lanes of traffic, and I was terrified because I had no idea where we were going. Then Neisha parked at the hotel. It was a beautiful hotel, and I paid for the parking. It was a structure that had art all over it. Like a wolf and superman graphic novel. We both got out of the car and waited for the traffic. We walked across the street. There were stages set up for performances as you walked in. It was called Fremont Street. On this huge screen above, you also had music attached to the videos as they played. It was great. There were also street performers. Some did gymnastics; some took pictures with you, and some were dressed as showgirls. The worst part was the beggars. They always asked for money. When somebody came up to me and asked for money, I said no, but I could get you a hotdog if you'd like. When people said no, thank you, that is when I knew they weren't going to spend it on the food that they were begging for.
Above us was a zipline. It looked like so much fun. I wanted to do it, but I only carried my credit card. There was a huge sign that said it was cash only.
"Have you ever been on the "zillas?" she looked at it in amazement, then looked back at me.
"Huh?" I questioned, confused. I wasn't having very much fun, I just wanted Kyle.
"The zipline course above us; I saw you looking at it." she said as she nudged my shoulder.
"No, I haven't, but it looks fun. I told you I have never even been to Las Vegas." I laughed out loud. I really wanted to get my mind off of Kyle, but when I was reminded of him I remembered all the good times we had. His death hit me and I stood still and zoned out of reality.
"Come on," she pulled my arm and nodded toward the line for the zillas. I waited in line for the slotzilla, and Neisha paid. It was a long time before we got to the top, and then I wasn't so sure I wanted to go once at the top of the zipline waiting line.
"You two?" questioned the ride attendant, avoiding eye contact with me.
"Yes," said Neisha, all excited.
"No," I said because I was petrified.
"Seriously?" Neisha said to me annoyed and continued.
"We got up here and waited in that hour-long line, and now you say no? Come on, Kylie, be brave!" she looked at me and saw that I was clearly reminiscing about the past and said "do it for Kyle!"
"Okay," I said as I gave in. The ride attendant strapped us in our seat belts and harness and counted down to add more tension to the ride. Everybody in the waiting line started to join in on the countdown.
"3...2...1 go." We were off, and it was such an exhilarating feeling. I felt like my chest was going to beat thoroughly out of my chest. It wasn't painful and didn't hurt or anything. It was so exciting...and fast! Then it was over.
"Fun, huh?" Neisha questioned me as she was unlatching her harness and unbelting.
"Yeah, it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. It wasn't scary at all. It was breathtaking," I said, smiling. I felt free and I felt like I was walking on air.
We walked down Fremont. We stopped to look at the artwork that I wanted to see. My stomach started growling, and I wanted to eat something. It had been a long time since I had been hungry. I never thought I would miss food after everything that I had been through.
"Benions is a great place to eat. They have hotdogs, and the ice cream is delicious. They also have this awesome diner inside that has a great hamburger!"
"You had me at ice cream," I said to her, as my stomach continued to growl.
We stopped and had a hamburger at the diner. It came with potato salad. The burger was great! I wished I had opted to pay the extra for the french fries as I am not a fan of potato salad, to begin with.
After we ate, we bought a few souvenirs. Fremont Street has some cheap souvenir shops. There are a lot of neat things. I got a mug for my father that said his name on it with the Las Vegas sign in the background. I also got a couple of keychains that had pictures of Las Vegas on them. I got one for Marissa and one for Lee. And while I was searching for Lee's, I found one that said, "Kyle."
"Hey Kylie, check this out," she saw me staring at the keychain as I grabbed it in my hands. I just couldn't get my eyes off of it.
"Are you okay?" she questioned, as she walked towards me.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about it. It will be a fresh pain for quite a while." I should have said no, I'm not...but in my head, I'm fine, meant: help me, I'm drowning in depression and pain.
"Okay, well, come on, let's hit the next shop," she said excitedly grabbing my arm and trying to pull me towards the next shop.
"Okay, I'm coming!" I said as I checked out my keychains and souvenirs. I also bought the Kyle keychain, a fabric one, and Neisha saw me do it. She didn't say anything until we were back in the car. She understood that I was still thinking about Kyle.
"Why did you buy a Kyle keychain?" she questioned as she pointed to the keychain in my hand.
"I need closure, so this is it." In a weird way I thought maybe it would provide the closure I needed. I had come up with an idea of what to do, because I had never said goodbye.
"What do you mean?" she questioned. She didn't understand that with Kyle, I never had closure and I needed that to move on, and try to forget him.
"Well, I'm going to burn this, which will help me. I may not lose my feelings, but I might be able to better control my emotions. It was only two dollars if it doesn't help me manage my feelings." I didn't want to let go of it and I felt as though he was with me, like his spirit was attached to this keychain in my hands. I gripped it tightly as I continued to look outside the window.
As soon as I got home from the long two hour ride, I asked my father to drive to a place with me, and I invited Lee along. They both agreed and decided to drive me to a secluded area of the woods.
"Thank you for driving me here. I came here because I need to put my feelings for Kyle to rest, I mean, I had no closure, and the police have not called me back, so I don't have any updates." I was waiting for a call back form the policeman, but there was no proof, the police only told me they thought it was foul play because the smell of gas at the scene. I needed to seek revenge, I would find out what happened to Kyle.
I went to Las Vegas with Neisha, my once sworn enemy, and bought this keychain for Kyle. May he rest in peace.
"I also bought you guys a keychain, and dad, I bought you a mug. This is one of the hardest things I've had to do, and I like to think that it made me stronger."
My dad grabbed some kindling, and Lee grabbed some logs lying around from a previous camp. The fire started with one flick of the lighter that my dad carried in his pocket. First, the kindling burnt up so fast like paper, then the logs began to create a crackling noise, and you could hear the water evaporating from them crackling all the way. The branches I had grabbed made little specks of leaves that flew off the fire. I had the keychain in my hand and looked at it one last time. I cried and sobbed as I said goodbye to Kyle. Then, I threw the keychain into the fire. I watched the lettering become ash. I watched the fabric turn brown and then black and finally into dust as it faded from my memory as it had disintegrated from the light. Just like Kyle had vanished. Finally, I had closure. I would try not to think about the times we had. I would seek justice for Kyle.
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