Page 21 of Mia Amata

“Your home office will be set up for you already in your new home. You will find information about your job when you get there. You have a week to get settled in, then you will start training for the job. It will all be laid out in the paperwork you will find in your new office. You will have a decent, well-paying, full-time job that will be able to support yourself and your baby well.”

“It is an independent contractor position, which will enable you to work when you can, take care of the baby, not having to find daycare unless you want to. You can work your own hours. As long as you get 40 hours a week, they won’t mind what your hours are. They do want a rough idea of the hours you want to work, but they work with single mothers who need to raise their children. Health insurance has also been purchased for you, as that is not a benefit of your job. All information will either be in the car or in your home office.”

“That all sounds great,” I said. “I really don’t know how I can thank you all enough. I seriously thought that I had no way out other than dying. Every morning I considered taking my own life because I didn’t see a way out. I thank God for bringing you both into my life and helping me as you have.”

Both women wiped away tears, but it was Lauren who spoke up. “Just live a good life, raise that baby well.”

I wiped away tears of my own, “I wish we could stay in contact. I feel like you are family. I will miss you.”

“We will miss you too,” Eva stated. “While we can’t stay in contact, we will be happy thinking about you living a good life, a better life, in your new home.”

We talked a little bit more about the plans for my start to my new life, and then Eva and Lauren left me to get some rest. They needed to make their own plans for the weekend trip. Eva had classes on Friday, and Lauren had work, so they both had to make arrangements to free themselves up for the trip. Lauren’s boss was Audra, so she was sure it would not be a problem.

I shut everything off in the living room, heading into the bedroom to get ready for bed, thinking I would watch some TV in bed. I knew I had some things to get ready tomorrow to leave Friday. I brushed my teeth and crawled into bed, pulling the blankets up over my shoulders. I turned on the TV to a movie that caught my attention but turned the volume down pretty low.

I lay there, not paying attention to the movie, but thinking about what I needed to do tomorrow to get ready for Friday. I made a mental list in my head of things I needed to pack and how to make myself comfortable in the back end of Lauren’s van for the trip to the VRBO home. As I went over plans in my mind, I started to drift off to sleep.

I woke up a few hours later to the TV still playing a different movie than what I fell asleep to. I was tired but found myself tossing and turning, trying to go back to sleep. For some reason, my mind was racing. I kept going over the plan for Friday’s escape running through my mind. It really seemed like it would work out perfectly.

Allen thought I was dead, at least I hoped he believed that. The state police declared me as having died in the river, so I felt that no one was really looking for me anymore. Yet I was not willing to risk everything by sitting up in the van where I could be spotted at any time. Not being able to fall asleep right away, I picked up one of the baby books Audra had left for me, thumbing through it, reading portions that caught my eye. Eventually, I was able to put the book aside and fall asleep, but it was still a restless night for me.

I woke several times throughout the night, would look at the clock, realize it was super early and then roll over to go back to sleep. Finally, at 6:00 am I gave up, getting out of bed. I showered and got dressed.

After breakfast and a cup of coffee, I went into the bedroom. I pulled out the diaper bag and the backpack I was to use for the few things I would be taking with me. I got the laundry ready to wash, carrying it out to the living room, knowing I would wait to do it until later this evening when Eva and Lauren were home. I went back into the bedroom, picking out a few more items of clothing, some personal items such as toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, shampoo, and conditioner.

The backpack was mostly packed, just needed the few items of clothing that I was going to wash to put in there, that would suffice. I took the tote with the baby blanket in it out to the living room, sitting down to pass some time crocheting. About mid-morning, I felt sleepy, so I curled up on the couch and fell asleep.

Time seemed to go so slow. I spent my time napping, crocheting, reading, and watching crafting shows on TV. I sent a text message to Eva, asking if she was home yet at about 4:30 that afternoon. She replied that she was. After learning that the washer and dryer were free, I carried the laundry basket up the stairs to the laundry area. Eva came into the hallway with me, and we chatted a little bit about our day.

Eva had made arrangements for the next day with her professors, so she could miss her classes. Her friends agreed to share their notes with her. She planned on taking her laptop with her and work on her research paper over the weekend, but she stated it was no problem for her to miss the day. Her professors knew her dedication to her classes, so were a little bit surprised that she was going to miss a day but felt that she needed to get away for a weekend as she worked really hard all the time. With the laundry going, Eva promised to let her know when the washer was finished by text message, I went back downstairs to find some supper.

When I had finished the laundry, I packed it in the backpack and then cleaned up my supper dishes. There was a knock at the door. Having not locked the door this time, I called for whoever it was to come on in, Lauren and Eva came down the stairs. We sat down around the table to discuss the plans for the next morning. We had a rather strict schedule to adhere to, needing to leave by 6:00 am at the latest. “I’m all packed, except for the couple of things I will need tonight and in the morning,” I said.

“Good,” Lauren replied. “Did you make sure to take everything you need?”

I nodded, “Yes, I believe so. I might take a little snack food for the trip if that is OK with you.”

“I think that is a good idea,” said Lauren. “We should have plenty of room for whatever you need. If anybody were to look, it would just look like things we need for a weekend away. I will lay a couple of quilts and pillows down for you in the back to lay on, then we will pack things around you. Hopefully, you will be comfortable, I know it isn’t the ideal way to travel, but it is for the best right now.”

“It will be fine; I will have a couple of snacks with me. I don’t know if I will have room, but I can take the book I am reading and hopefully pass some of the time that way.”

“We will be able to talk to you,” Eva said. “It will just look like Mom, and I are conversing as we drive. I think you should be able to hear us just fine.”

“That will be nice. Hopefully, I won’t get very claustrophobic that way.”

Lauren looked worried, “Are you claustrophobic?”

“Yes, but I will be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Eva asked.

“Yes, I will. I am determined not to let anything stop our proceeding tomorrow.” I could tell they were concerned, but they seemed to be reassured by my determination. We discussed the details for a while longer, and then Eva and Lauren went upstairs to do some last-minute things before the trip tomorrow. I went into the pantry and found a plain cloth grocery bag that I used to pack a few food items in.

I included some quick-fix things like soup so that when I got to wherever I was going I wouldn’t need to go grocery shopping right away. I included a couple of pieces of fresh fruit on top of the bag, along with a couple empty Ziplock bags for any trash, then put it on the kitchen table.

I went into the bedroom, gathering the diaper bag and the craft tote bag, into which I packed the baby books, along with the book I was currently reading. I took these two bags out to the table also. I left the clothes backpack in the bedroom so that I could add my last-minute items to it in the morning. It was still early, but knowing that I probably wouldn’t sleep well, along with the fact that I had to get up early, I decided to lie down in bed to watch some movies. I turned the volume down so that I could hear it, but also so that I could sleep should I get drowsy. The first movie was over with, and the second one was about midway through it before I finally dozed off.

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