Page 10 of Property of Thrasher
Her eyes were puffy and red. That isn’t what got me wound tight. No, it was the marks on her neck. It looked as if she had been strangled.
Who put their hands on her?
Did BJ do that? Why?
I had too much fear running through me to ask though. Instead, we both silently settled into the car and took off as if we were headed to the bank like her husband expected.
We made it out of town and both of us seemed to let out a breath. The heaviness weighed on us until we finally crossed the state line. With every mile behind us, the fear lessoned and excitement for the possibilities took its place.
We weren’t safe, but were we better than where we began? I wasn’t sure, but I knew deep inside we had to do something and this seemed like the only option.
I couldn’t say we would ever be truly safe. The guilt kept nagging me inside with every mile. I hated leaving my baby brother behind, but I knew if I stayed in a matter of days I would be married and most likely never see him again anyway.
Logan hated my family. He hated that I was always watching my brother, even when my parents were home to handle his needs. Very specific needs that Logan couldn’t understand. His allergies were truly life threatening. The smallest contact with an allergen triggered his throat to close up. I couldn’t help but be worried.
We stopped at a gas station three hundred miles into our trip heading East. Absently, I reached to my purse to check my phone only to remember I left it behind.
I left it all behind.
Everything.
No one could call me anymore.
Leaving was the first step.
Existing was already proving to be a challenge all its own. Breaking habits wasn’t easy.
Like simply getting gas took extra thoughts since I didn’t bring my debit card. I withdrew all of the money in my account except a little. Using a card would give everyone we left behind a way to find us. Out of habit, I stood staring at the gas pump a little lost. It took a few spare seconds for me to remember to send Lyric in with cash to pay for the fuel.
Lyric came out of the store with a paper bag in her arms, her eyes darted everywhere like she expected a monster to jump out and take her at any moment.
“I got some snacks, water, and some premade sandwich that looks like we might be able to choke it down,” she muttered breathless.
I nodded, settling back in to the driver seat. “Eat up, we have to get as far as we can before we stop anywhere for rest.”
She didn’t argue, instead she gave me a soft smile, opened a bottled water and handed it to me. The day passed on as we pressed east bound. Not having phones was an odd feeling. The anxiety in me rose with every mile. Inside I knew leaving was my only choice at a real life. But blindly finding a way out was easier said than done. I wasn’t familiar with interstate driving and our next gas stop, I got turned around going in the wrong direction when I emerged off the exit. We spent half an hour getting turned back around. We didn’t have a specific destination in mind, just follow the signs East and try to make it to a state on the coast. Our final resting spot there was undetermined, but that was the goal to start over somewhere far from Montana.
Hours upon hours passed and we were well past midnight into the early morning hours of a new day when we crossed from Nebraska into Kansas. I couldn’t stay awake any further so we stopped at a small hotel for the night well, really the day.
Entering the place, I couldn’t hide my anxiety and fatigue. The man at the front greeted us. Lyric stepped forward, “we need to get a room please.”
The man looked at us blankly and asked, “ID and credit card please?”
Lyric and I looked at each other. I handed him my drivers license. “I don’t have a credit card, we are paying cash.”
He shook his head while studying us. “I’m sorry ladies, we have to have a credit card on file for incidentals.”
“We don’t have a credit card, I’m sorry.” I gave a nod and we began to walk back outside, “thank you for your time,” I whispered.
We didn’t make it to the door before he called out stopping us. “Don’t make me regret this. I’ll put mine in. Just pay the room fee and I’ll use my card as your incidentals payment. Please don’t overstay and don’t charge anything to the room because then it charges that card.”
An exasperated sigh of relief escaped me. I didn’t know what we were going to do if he hadn’t given us this chance. The reality set in that we didn’t have a plan. We quickly paid, got the key card and headed to our room.
It was small, one bed, one bathroom, and a dresser. After each of us showering, it was almost three in the morning, we needed sleep before the eleven o’clock check out. Setting the bedside alarm, we both laid beside each other in the queen-size bed staring at the ceiling. The weight of what we had done began to settle upon us.
“We’re gonna be okay,” Lyric said and I wasn’t sure if it was for me or for herself.
I managed a heavy sigh. What had we done? I didn’t say that to her however, but the question weighed on me.
