Page 45 of Finding London

“Yeah, I think so,” she answers.

“You know, I know we’ve only known each other for two days and all, but I sense a lot of trust growing here,” I kid.

I actually joke, and she giggles softly, which leads me to one of my ultimate goals in life. I will make Sarah I’ll-Ask-Her-About-Her-Last-Name-Later laugh at least a few times per day. I’m liking this new version of me.

I stretch out my free hand, and Sarah grabs it. The two of us walk toward the front of the house. As we get closer to the living room, she squeezes my hand. I squeeze hers back, trying to reassure her that she’ll be okay. I am not leaving this place without her.

“What do you two think you are doing?” Bev shrieks over the TV.

“We’re leaving,” I say firmly.

Bev cackles. “And where do you think you’re going?”

“Doesn’t matter. Not here.”

“You aren’t going anywhere!” she yells.

I ignore her and continue to walk toward the door.

“You stop right there, you little shit.” Carl’s voice booms from behind me.

I turn to watch him lifting his fat ass out of the chair.

“You can leave all you want, but you’re not taking her with you.” He storms toward Sarah.

I feel her quiver beside me.

I let go of her hand and step in front of her. “If you touch her, I will kill you.”

My threat doesn’t faze him, and he continues toward us. I’ve recently grown a lot, but Carl is still bigger than me. I might be able to take him though. He’s pretty out of shape. I decide to play it safe, and the second he’s close enough, I swing my leg back and kick him between the legs with every ounce of strength I have. He immediately falls to his knees with a howl of pain.

“Stop!” Bev screams, charging toward us.

I raise my fist like I’m going to punch her, and she stops.

Her eyes bulge, and she breathes heavily. “You are such a worthless piece of shit,” she spits out.

“Fuck you. This piece of shit is already so much more than you’ll ever be. And you’d better tell your husband to keep his dick in his pants. I will be watching you. If I find out that he’s hurt another girl, even once, I will murder you both while you’re asleep, and I will make sure you suffer,” I say in the evilest voice I can muster.

It must do the trick because her eyes go wide with fear.

With this, I grab Sarah’s hand, and we run out of the house. I’ve never said so many swear words out loud in my life, and it’s so invigorating. I totally lied to Bev. I don’t plan on ever coming within thirty miles of this place again, nor could I ever kill anyone, but I hope I was convincing. I hope I scared her enough to have a serious talk with her child-molester husband.

Sarah and I run, hand in hand, until our chests ache, and our lungs burn. Finally, after what seems like miles, we stop. We stare at each other, wide-eyed, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that we are a little scared. But when our gazes meet, we bust out in sidesplitting laughter. The two of us laugh until we have tears streaming down our faces.

Eventually, just like we ran ourselves out, we’ve laughed ourselves out.

Sarah holds up her fist and says in a low voice full of mirth, “I will kill you.”

She sounds more like Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator than she does me, but it brings a genuine smile to my face.

“What? I didn’t have you convinced?”

“No, but I think they kinda believed you. That’s all that really matters.” She shrugs.

“True.” I smile at this girl in front of me.

Already, she’s so different. It’s very strange what a little bit of hope and control can do for a person.

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