Cahpter 20

A Chapter by Calypso

Chapter 20

I decided to sleep on a bench at the park until the sun rose. I didn’t want to send too much money just yet. I knew I had 300 dollars on hand, but money goes fast.

I slept huddled in my sleeping bag holding on tight to my bag. The morning air was soft and warm at the same time. I had pains in my back from where I had slept on the hard wooden bench.

As I walked to the bus stop worries started to ebb in and out of my mind.

What if they find me? What if they call the police on me?

The bus came around eight. The whole time I was reading and then I fell asleep while riding the bus.

The driver’s voice boomed he called out that this was the end of the stop. Dreamily I grabbed my bag and walked out into the dark night.

Some way I had slept threw the whole bus ride.

“Do you have any place to go?” The man asked pulling out a broom. He was in my way to get off the bus. He was using the broom to block me from leaving.

“See that car over there.” I said pointing towards a random car. “That’s my aunt. She’s waiting for me.”

The man looked out the window to the car parked in the distance. “Be careful.” He moved the broom.

“I hear you.” I said walking quickly from the bus. As quickly as could I ran to the middle of the parking lot. By now darkness had engulfed everything, but I could still see the bus sitting there.

To my left was a mass of brightly glowing neon signs. Not until then did I realize that I was hungry. I went into a McDonald’s.

The McDonald’s was empty and the cashiers were half asleep. The clock behind the sleepy cashier said midnight.

“Ummm… a parfait please. And a coffee.”

The cashier looked up at me with red eyes. “Is that all?”

“Ya, well one more thing. What town am I in?”

“Mt. Apple.” She said with an edge of sarcasm.

That’s an hour away from home.

I was given my things when I paid. I chose a corner to sit at when I ate.

While eating I thought about what I would have to do. First get a room, but for how long? Then get some food, but how would I get to the store? And stay hidden, but how?

I felt hidden enough sitting in the McDonald’s, but I knew better. Mom was asleep in her bed and would get up in a seven hours and drive to work thinking I was just moping in my room. She might not miss me even longer because I’ve been known to stay in my room all day.

Dad probably wouldn’t notice me gone either. Knowing him he normally rushes to work, and comes home at five, grabs his dinner to eat while he works on his novel in his study.

Then Wade wouldn’t give a crap if I never came back.

If Kiya was alive she would have noticed me gone. If Kiya was alive many things would be different.

As the day passed I tried not thing about all that I had left behind. I thought about the hundred dollars I had in my bottom desk drawer, of Dad’s medication that under the money. Were the police after me? Who even cared if I didn’t even show up alive?

For the first time in months I felt truly free, but my form of freedom was odd. I kept my curtains closed and when I ordered pizza I left the money outside and a note telling the pizza boy to leave the pizza outside. Before getting my dinner I checked to make sure no one was outside.

There was a sharp pain in my stomach as sadness swelled. I wanted the pills again at least they would make me feel good.

My freedom had a large price, but it was worth it. I could stay up as late as I wanted, I could eat as less as I wanted. I could do anything I wanted.

The next day and that day after that I was glad that no one would see me not eating and sleeping away my life. Nevertheless I started to become tired of that life.

By the third day I was bored to tears. I was still depressed and I felt half dead. The TV showed the same old programs and I was in a big city. A big city I could blend in, a big city I could be found in.

I covered my head in a baseball cap and sunglasses and wondered the streets.

The faces I saw were full of cheer and happy for a sunny day. They acted as if we weren’t in the middle of a drought.

The knot in my chest grew. I regretted leaving Dad’s pills at home. The absence of them cause to such trouble. I felt like trash. Before leaving I forced my self to drink a glass of water, but it hurt my stomach. The coolness caused my stomach to ache. I could feel the anxiety shredding. My heart was beating quicker as I ran to a store.

While in there I became paranoid. Anyone could see me and tell someone. The hat and glasses had me hidden, but I felt exposed. I might as well have been wearing a sign of who I was.

I grabbed crackers, Ginger Ale, sleeping pills and an apple and got out of there as quickly as I could.

When I got back to me room I felt my breath leave me. I let the groceries fall to the floor. I also fell to the floor and curled into the fetal position as I squeezed my stomach to try to stop the quivering.

The episode passed, but I still felt like trash. With shaky hands I took three sleeping pills and washed them down with the Ginger Ale.

“God, if you’re there,” I gasped. “Help. Help.”

Tears rolled from my face quicker then I could control.

I pulled my self on to my bed and slept the day away.

When I woke I didn’t feel too great. But what had woke me up was a knock on the door.

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