Page 205 of Hell Hath No Fury
More tears well up in my eyes.
“I don’t have anywhere to go,” I say.
“I don’t care!” she replies. “I’mnotdealing with another fucking baby.” She shoves me away. “Now get. Out.”
I pick up the clothes and clutch them close, desperate for something to hug.
“But I can fix this,” I mutter.
“No, you can’t!” she says. “It’s illegal. Did you forget the fucking news? It’s not allowed here anymore. And I’m not going to go down for your mistake. Not again.”
Again? I’ve never been pregnant before.
Unless she means … giving birth to me.
She pushes me so hard, I have to grab ahold of the staircase railing to stop myself from falling.
“Leave!” she shrieks madly.
I turn and run down the stairs, terrified she might throw me down if I don’t go faster.
The scent of food fills my nostrils, but I push my hunger away and head straight for the front door.
“And don’t you ever think of coming back again!” she yells as I shut the door behind me, blinking away the tears that keep coming. “You hear me? Leave me alone!”
I run out into the streets, as far away from the house as possible without looking back.
I can’t stomach the thought of looking, let alone thinking about the home I left behind.
I didn’t have much, but the room I slept in was mine. The clothes I wore were mine. The tiny bear I had was mine.
I didn’t even have the time to grab any of it before she kicked me to the curb.
After a while, my legs begin to hurt, but I keep running until it begins to rain.
My clothes slowly get soaking wet until I don’t even have that anymore.
I drop them somewhere near a store and keep running.
They’ll only drag me down.
I don’t know where I’m going or what I’ll do next.
All I know is that I couldn’t stay there for a minute longer.
God, I tried. I tried so long, so hard to live according to her rules, but even that wasn’t enough.
I pause when I finally find an alley that doesn’t look like a place where criminals meet. I huddle in the corner, hugging my legs for comfort because no one else ever would.
* * *
Vincenzo
I lean back against the car seat while the driver turns left and check my phone. Six days until my next scheduled meeting. Fifty-two minutes spent in the previous conversation. Two minutes too many.
I shake my head. That won’t happen again.
My time is precious, and every minute wasted minute is one too many. Especially on those lot.
