Travesty

by Carrie Thomas

  “Do you feel better, now that you got something in your stomach?”

  “A little.”

  “All right, I’m going to move my stuff, then come back for you, okay?”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  “Let me cut these off first.” I couldn’t stand leaving her bound, knowing her arms were probably cramping and her muscles strained. The only reason I’d left them bound earlier was incase Jim walked down there. He wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed by any means, but he would’ve noticed his captive being free to move about.

  I frantically searched the old dusty work benches until I found some bolt cutters. I cut the cuffs from the chain, then worked on each cuff. It took a lot of strength, and I winced at the loud echo as the cutters sliced through the metal. I waited quietly, hoping to not hear either of them stir upstairs.

  “I know your wrists are still hurting. After we get far enough away, I will stop somewhere and try to get some pain killers.”

  “Thank you.” She rubbed both wrists and winced.

  “I’ll be right back.” I didn’t look back at her because I didn’t want to see the longing in those pretty blue eyes like I had earlier. I’d never seen anything like them. Her bottom eyelids looked as if they could hold a solid gallon of water.

  I hurried up the stairs to my room. I grabbed both bags, not even caring if I was leaving anything behind. After slinging the larger bag onto my shoulder, I tiptoed down the hallway, praying the whole way to the front door. I wished I’d had a better exit plan, but they’d put black bars on the windows when I’d first arrived. I knew there was no other way out.

  Exiting the house, I pumped my legs, pushing myself harder and faster as I ran two blocks down the street and one over for good measure. There, I dropped both bags in the bushes near the sidewalk. Then I started back toward the house.

  I called Mike and told him to call his cousin. I was going to pick up the truck tonight. I apologized for the inconvenience, but Mike assured me it would be okay because his cousin only cared about the cash.

  As I approached home, I inspected the house, hoping nothing had changed in the last ten minutes. I noticed the window from the basement had a small piece of light glaring out from behind the piece of fabric covering it. They’re down there.

  I ran as hard as I could, until I reached the front door. It was locked. They’d locked it behind me. Son of a bitch. I tried to break it down, shoving my right shoulder into it over and over again, with no luck. I kicked it twice, but it didn’t budge. I glanced around the yard, feeling desperate. There was plenty of shit in the front yard, but none of it was of any use to me at the moment.

  I ran around the back of the house and used a rock to bust out the window. I got through it pretty easily and I pulled the sheet down on my way through. I felt like the freakin’ Hulk. My body was buzzing with raw energy. I had to get her away from them.

  “Get out, Abe!” Pat screamed.

  “We’re leaving,” I said, pointing at the girl.

  “She ain’t going nowhere,” Jim said standing over her.

  “Don’t you dare touch her. She’s coming with me, end of story.” My eyes burned a hole through his body. If only he’d combust.

  “Abe, go if you’re going. I won’t stop you. But she’s ours,” he said, touching her head.

  She flinched, swinging her head away from his hand. I could tell she was about to cry. Her bottom lip quivered. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was injured or scared.

  I made eye contact with her. Her eyes were pleading with me, and I felt like I could see her soul. Fire burned through my body, making my limbs numb and my chest rumble. My sight blurred, making it feel like a dream. Every connection I’d ever craved rushed me at once. It felt like liquid lava coursing through my veins, melting me from the inside out.

  I’d actually seen inside her. Everything about her was pure. I’d never seen anything so alluring or deep. It was as if I could drown in her eyes and be perfectly fine never coming up for air.

  Before I even thought about my next move, I threw myself full force at Jim, not even realizing I could’ve accidently hit her. Once I had Jim on the ground, I punched his face so many times, it didn’t seem real. He felt like one of those rubber dummies, his face all squishy, and taking every blow I was giving him.

  I wanted him to bleed. I wanted him to hurt. I wanted him to be afraid, and I damn sure wanted to leave him wondering if I would let him live. Everything I had been through in the last four and a half years came rushing into my brain like a flipbook of memories.

  The first week I was here, when they starved me, causing me to have stomach cramps so severe I laid balled up for a week and a half. After the initial starvation, they both cackled at me as I shined Jim’s dirty boots for a single slice of cheddar cheese.

  The second month, Pat chatted with the social worker as if they were old friends, telling her I was a handful and disrespectful. I sat knowing I’d get slapped around once the lady left. Pat had hit me with so much force that day, the cubic zirconia ring she was wearing cut my cheek deep enough to leave a scar.

  When I was fifteen and the old man I worked for at the salvage yard let me work off parts for an old Ford pickup he had out on his lot, and Jim sold it for cash as soon as I’d brought it home. I had worked on that damn truck for four months.

  I heard screams from somewhere in the distance, bringing me out of my thoughts.

  “Abe!” It was meant to be loud, but came out softer because she didn’t have the energy.

  I looked up from Jim’s battered face to see Pat slapping the girl and straddling her chest. I ran over to them, full power, and knocked Pat off her. It was a weird feeling, hitting a woman as hard as I could. I had never lifted a finger toward a female before. But she was the enemy. I hit her with all the force I had in my body. My adrenaline was so high, it felt like I’d barely touched her, but I’d sent Pat’s body straight into the concrete wall. I watched as she crumpled to the floor after the wind was knocked from her lungs. She laid in a heap, gasping and holding her side.

  “Abe?” The girl had tears streaming down her sunken face.

  I could tell she was terrified and there was nothing I could do about it. She had just witnessed me go ape-shit on two people. The situation in itself was something out of a movie. I hadn’t meant to go postal. I hadn’t meant for anyone to see that side of me—including myself. It worried me a little that I had it in me.

  “Come on, sweetheart. You can do it,” I encouraged her as I helped her up from the floor.

  Pat came to. “You can’t take her, I’ll—”

  “You’ll what? Call the police? Go ahead! Do it!” I screamed at Pat as I tucked the girl behind me.

  “Abram.”

  “Don’t you ever say my name again, you witch. The next time I see you will be in court. You and that piece of shit,” I pointed to Jim’s lifeless body, “are going to pay for everything you’ve ever done to me, and her. I promise you that.”

  I grabbed the girl’s small hand and pulled her to me, guiding her shaky steps to the stairs. Screw the window. We were walking out the front door.

  “Wait!” She pulled her hand back abruptly.

  “What?”

  “You almost forgot this,” she said, bending down gingerly to grab the wooden block. The only thing I ever considered my own.

  I closed my eyes at the fact she’d remembered, or had even thought it might have meant something to me. I had totally forgotten about it. A sense of comfort entered my chest and I knew in the midst of this cluster, I was going to be okay. “Thank you. Can you hang on to it for a little while for me?”

  She nodded her head, holding my gaze. Something passed between us. She was trusting me. I was finally escaping; albeit with an under-aged, abducted girl who might have amnesia. But we were getting out. We had no idea where we were going, but it had to be better than were we’d been.

  I gently scooped her up in my arms and methodically took each ste
p carefully, so as not to drop her. She placed her small arms around my neck, squeezing for extra measure. We took one step at a time and never looked back.

  I had no idea where I was going or where I’d end up. The only memory I’d had in days was that I say diffican’t. Apparently, I was a weirdo. But it was a little comforting to remember something.

  I’d just watched Abe beat a man so badly, his body lay lifeless and his face was dang near unrecognizable. To be honest, he could have killed him for all I knew. So here I was, trusting a guy I’d never seen before, and the only thing I knew about him was that he’d given me food and could use his fists. I wasn’t sure what his plan was or where he was taking me, but my gut knew wherever I ended up was better than staying tied up in that basement.

  Abe carried me for what felt like forever, before he finally asked me if I was okay. He’d been walking at a brisk pace, like he was afraid they were going to chase us. He was almost functioning on adrenaline alone.

  “Yes, I’m just tired.”

  “All right, we’re almost where we need to be. We’ve probably got another mile or so, okay?”

  “Okay, I think I can walk now,” I said.

  He ignored me and continued on the same path for another ten minutes. Finally, he put me down carefully and we walked the rest of the way in silence. Abe grabbed my hand and held it as soon as my bare feet hit the ground. Even though I didn’t know him, it was soothing. We’d only walked about a block when he let go of my hand.

  “I’ll be right back. Just stay right here, you can still see me,” he said, leaving me on the sidewalk.

  I liked that he wasn’t leaving my sight. I had so many questions, but I could tell his mind was preoccupied. I watched Abe intently as he talked to some guy at the front door of a small house on the corner. Abe wasn’t a huge guy, but I felt protected when I was near him. He seemed completely in charge of our situation, even though I knew that he wasn’t. He did a good job of making me believe I was going to be okay, despite the circumstances.

  My thoughts were all over the place and I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I’d been abducted; held in a basement and made to wear a motorcycle helmet while I was beaten. I hadn’t eaten in days. My clothes were dirty and torn. My bare feet were scraped and freezing. I was a complete mess, physically and mentally. I couldn’t even think about my emotions yet.

  “Come here,” he said, walking over to a bluish pickup truck. “Hop in. We’re gonna figure this out, but I’d feel better if we weren’t walking the streets.”

  “Okay,” I said, walking over to the passenger side.

  He opened the door and helped me up into the truck. I was still so weak, I couldn’t hoist my own weight. I lowered my feet to the floorboard and he leaned over me to buckle my seatbelt. I couldn’t help but notice a few strands of his hair brushing my cheek. It tickled me and just before I raised my hand to move them, the sound of the buckle snapping made me flinch.

  He glanced up at my movement, nodding, almost reassuring me that we were doing the right thing. He slowly backed away and loose strands of my hair got caught in the stubble on his face. He didn’t have a full beard; it just looked like he hadn’t shaved in a couple of weeks.

  He caught the long, stringy strands of my hair in his hand and slowly pushed them behind my ears, holding eye contact with me the whole time. “Ready?” He dropped his arms and leaned back, creating distance between us.

  “Yes,” I said, shaking. My body was having a delayed reaction. I couldn’t seem to stop my feet from bouncing. I slid my sweaty palms up and down my dirty pants, hoping that drying them would help me calm down.

  He walked around the front of the truck and got in the driver’s seat. “Are you still hungry?”

  I was a little embarrassed admitting that I was, especially after the way I’d almost taken his arm off with the crackers. “I feel like my stomach is trying to eat itself from the inside,” I admitted, shyly.

  He chuckled. “All right, first things first,” he said, backing out of the driveway.

  “Whose truck is this?” I didn’t know why I’d asked. It wasn’t like it mattered.

  He gave me a sideways glance with a smile. “Okay, I’ll play along, but you have to answer my questions too.”

  “I probably won’t have the answers.” I shrugged. Even though it was a true statement, I was glad he seemed so composed. Having a normal conversation relaxed me.

  “Maybe something will trigger your brain. I mean, you remembered that defecate thing, right?”

  I laughed, harder than I wanted to. It hurt my abs. “Diffican’t, not defecate. That means shit.”

  “All sounds the same to me.” He laughed.

  “Hey.”

  “I’m kidding. All right, the truck is mine, I just bought it off a friend of a friend.” He looked to me. “My turn. Do you know how old you are?”

  I felt defeated. Why couldn’t I remember my age, or my parents? I’d thought about it many hours a day. I was starting to worry. I decided to concentrate on what questions I wanted to ask him. “No. Were those people your parents?”

  “Hell no. Foster people. I’ve lived with them for four and a half years. Do you have any memories at all? Anything from when you were a child?”

  “It’s hard to explain. When I try to remember, it gives me a headache. It’s like a total black space, nothing.”

  “Do you have an idea of what you want to eat?”

  I shook my head and looked down at my bare feet. Hmm, silver toenail polish. I hadn’t noticed that before now.

  “Taco Bell it is,” he said, pulling in to the drive-thru.

  “How long was I there?”

  “The best I could tell, days.”

  “It’s weird, I don’t know what happened.”

  “Don’t worry, it’ll come to you,” he said, patting my hand. He was so gentle with me. I liked it.

  “I hope so. It’s freaking me out not knowing who I am.”

  Abe ordered our food and I waited patiently while he passed me a taco. I wanted to be lady-like, but once I smelled it, I couldn’t help it. I stopped at three, even though I could’ve eaten more.

  “Feel better?”

  “Lots, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Listen, I’m gonna call the local police departments and see if anyone has been reported missing who matches your description. Maybe I’ll tell them you’re my cousin traveling to my house and haven’t made it yet. That way it won’t look so suspicious. It won’t seem as though I know you’re missing.”

  “Oh, I didn’t think of that.”

  “I just wanted you to know what I was doing. I would just bring you there now, but what if you came from a foster home like mine? I couldn’t put you back in a bad situation.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  Now I was getting my hopes up a bit. Maybe if I could go back home, I would remember. I sat next to him in total silence as he talked to four different police departments within a hundred mile radius. He hung up with an odd facial expression.

  “Hmm, that was weird.”

  “What did they say?”

  “There’s not been anyone reported who matches your age and description. They haven’t had any other welfare checks on a female teen either.” He sighed and stared ahead, looking nonplussed.

  “So what do we do?”

  “I have no fuckin’ clue.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m no help at all.”

  “No, no. This isn’t your fault. Don’t think like that.” He looked at me and I could see his brain working overtime. I didn’t know him well enough to be able to tell what he was thinking.

  “We can’t stay here, I’m not eighteen yet. If I get caught, I’ll have to go back to foster care and probably get arrested for having you with me.”

  I felt useless. I had nothing to contribute. It seemed I was clueless about just about everything.

  “I feel bad for you, though. I was planning on going to Texas and working there. I’ve got a couple of
buddies I used to work with who told me I could make pretty good money there. I hate to take you away from your home, but—”

  I could tell that he was trying to give me an option, but unfortunately, I didn’t feel like I had any. I had to go with him. Where else would I go?

  “How about we go to Texas and work on your memory? As soon as you remember anything, anything at all, I’ll bring you back. We’ll keep checking with the police too.”

  I looked up at him and could tell he was seeing my indecision. I think he was trying to put me at ease. “I’m not sure what to say. I guess that would be okay. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

  “I promise I’ll keep you safe until we can get you back to your family.”

  What else was there to say? I had to go with him or take my chances on the street, or worse yet . . . being sent back to an abusive home. It made me wonder how I’d been gone for days and my so-called family hadn’t even went to the police yet.

  I made my decision. “Thank you. I’m so glad you found me and helped me escape. I don’t even want to think about what my future would have been like.” I leaned my head up against the window. I wasn’t looking at anything, just thanking my lucky stars I wasn’t chained to a freezer in that basement anymore.

  I slid my hand over the bench seat until I found hers. I knew it was presumptuous, but I felt like I should try to comfort her in some way. She was going to Texas with a stranger. So was I, but I knew who I was. She didn’t. I couldn’t imagine being in her shoes. I locked our fingers together, mine dwarfing hers, and took a little bit of comfort from it myself. I didn’t look at her and she didn’t raise her head to me. We just gave each other the support we could offer; driving into the unknown.

  Six hours later, I pulled into a diner in Anton, Texas. It was a hole in the wall. Half the brick at the bottom needed to be repaired, and the name of the joint was faded so badly, I couldn’t make it out. There hadn’t been much in the way of food in the last hundred miles, and I was hungry.