“Stick out your tongue,” Tremont said.
She stuck out her tongue. “Satisfied?”
“Yes. Now what is this about all those tattoos and piercings you have young lady?”
Molli put her hand on her stomach. “I’ll tell you in a minute. I think I’m gonna be sick.”
She ran up the stairs before either of them could stop her and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. As she stuck her finger down her throat she heard one or both of the Archers’ footsteps on the stairs.
Luckily, it didn’t take much for her stomach to revolt again since she hadn’t eaten. Mrs. Archer was pounding on the bathroom door and calling her name. She had a feeling the door was going to be opened any minute and flushed the toilet and stood up, feeling a little shaky.
She washed her hands and her face, looking at herself in the mirror. She didn’t like the look in her eyes. She looked almost cornered and trapped. There was no way in hell she was going to let the Archers trap her here.
She unlocked the door and opened it just as Tremont came back down the hall with a key ring.
He grabbed her arm and pushed her in the direction of her bedroom. Once she was inside, he shut the door. Molli heard him drag something heavy over and put it in front of the door.
“You can come out when it’s time to eat dinner,” he said.
“I’m afraid you’d poison me.”
Tremont laughed. “Hardly. Where did you get the money for those tattoos and piercings and who gave them to you? You sure as hell never had parental permission for any of them.”
Molli laughed. “You know what you can do with a tongue stud in your mouth that really drives a guy crazy? Nah, you wouldn’t know anything about that would you, since oral sex is so dirty. Seneca gave me the tattoo on my ankle, and I got my belly button and tongue pierced by a friend of Eduardo’s at his shop. The tattoo on my back was kind of a show piece. The tattoo artist was new. She wanted to show off actual body art and no one else would let her give them one. I think it’s hot.”
“They all serve to make you look more like trash than you already do. You take after your mother; she always loved to look trashy too.”
“Go away Tremont. Don’t bother to try to bring me food. I won’t eat it.”
He chuckled. “We’ll see. You’ll be begging for food before you know it. If you don’t want to eat today, we’ll bring you something tomorrow when it’s time to take your pill. We can’t have you throwing up your medicine again now can we?”
“Goodbye old man. I’m glad you’re not my dad.”
“So am I Molli. So am I.”
She heard him walk away and then dug around for her oversized shoulder bag. She thought she had cookies in there and maybe a bag of chips. When she found her bag, she found she had two small packs of cookies, two bags of chips and two deli sandwiches. She checked the dates on the sandwiches and they were still good. She opened one, smelling it before she took a bite. It smelled normal. She realized she’d bought them at a convenience store when she had gone shopping for Ricky’s Christmas presents.
She had two bottles of water in the bag and a quart sports drink so she thought she’d be okay until the Archers went to sleep that night and she figured out how to escape. She finished one sandwich and a bag of chips and then lay back on her bed, wondering how she was going to go to the bathroom.
She fell asleep for a while. When she woke up, she realized that she had to urinate. She looked around the room and had no idea what in the hell she could piss in. Finally she found an old pan that had been left in her room when the roof had been leaking last year that had never made its way back to the kitchen. She felt better afterwards, but still had no idea how in the hell she was going to get out of there and away from the Archers.
Then she remembered that her old laptop had still been in her closet last she knew. They had removed her new laptop since it was no longer sitting on her desk but she hoped they hadn’t remembered her old one. She dragged her desk chair over and felt the laptop case on the shelf in her closet. She wanted to let out a triumphant yell when she saw that her laptop was still inside but kept her mouth shut and took it carefully down out of the closet, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw the cord was still there. The battery didn’t hold a charge for long.
She quickly plugged in the laptop and sat on her bed since her desk was closer to the door. She hoped she’d have time to unplug her laptop and shove it under the bed by the time Tremont could drag whatever he’d placed in front of the door away.
She booted up the laptop and waited for it to connect to the internet. Her instant messenger popped up. She quickly logged on and wanted to cry when she saw that Ricky was logged on, she was so happy.
‘Hi.’ She typed. ‘I need to talk to you bad.’
‘Molli. I’ve been trying to call you. Is everything okay?’
‘No. It’s a long story. Let me give you a quick rundown.’
‘I’m at work sweetheart but I’ll take my break early and sit here and talk to you. What’s going on?’
‘The Archers have me locked in my bedroom. They’re threatening to have me committed and take the baby away if I don’t start taking those stupid antidepressants again.’
‘They can’t do that. I’m calling the police.’
‘They won’t help me. The Archers will say I’m crazy and they’ll drag me off to the mental hospital and steal our baby as soon as it’s born. You have to help me get out of here Ricky. Tonight. You have to help me run away at least until I’m eighteen and can go back to my real mom.’
‘Honey, I thought Mrs. Archer was your real mother.’
‘So did I. But the woman I didn’t think was my real blood sister is actually my mother. I told you about Bethany didn’t I? I can’t explain all that right now. Will you help me get out of here Ricky? I don’t know where else to turn.’
‘Of course I’ll help you darling.’
“Oh thank you Ricky.’
‘How are you going to get out of the house? How do they have you locked in your bedroom and why didn’t they take your computer?’
‘This is my old laptop. I guess they forgot about it. That old fart Mr. Archer put something heavy in front of my door. I don’t care how I have to get out. I’ll climb out my window if I have to.’
‘You have to be careful my love. I don’t want you to fall. Is there a way for you to get down safely without them knowing about it?’
Usually, the only thing she’d be thinking about was the fact that Ricky had called her his love. But she was too busy racking her brain for a way to get out of her room and down to the ground without killing herself.
‘Molli are you still there?’
‘Yes. I’m thinking. There’s a tree outside my window that’s big and sturdy. I used to climb it when I was a kid. I don’t know if I can reach it safely though. Hang on, let me look. Please don’t leave me Ricky. I’ll go crazy without you.’
‘I won’t leave you darling.’
‘Thank you.’
Molli walked to her window. The tree was huge but she still thought it looked too far away for her to reach safely from her window. She was so afraid of hurting herself and losing the baby. The last thing she wanted was for the Archers to wake up and find her lying on the ground bleeding.
She sat back down at her computer. ‘It’s too far away Ricky. I don’t know what I’m going to do.’
‘We are going to get you out of there Molli. I’ll think of a way. Where is your window in relation to the street?’
‘My window faces the backyard. There’s no fence.’
‘That’s good. Where do the Archers sleep?’
‘The front bedroom. It’s still upstairs but their windows faces the side yard instead of the back.’
‘Good. Do they sleep heavily? What time can you expect them to go to bed?’
‘Tremont sleeps like a stone but Gladys gets up a lot at night to pee. And she’s got this thing about not sleeping in the dark
so their light is always on.’
‘Okay. Do you think you can keep the laptop? Do they have a regular time they settle in for the night or does it vary? Will you be able to tell when they go to sleep do you think?’
‘They normally go to bed around nine. I should be able to keep the laptop yes. I can tell when they go to bed because the TV goes off. They play it really loud. I think they’re both going deaf and don’t want to admit it. Being old must suck. I’m sorry, you’re trying to plan and I’m being a smartass like usual.’
‘Humor is a good thing. I know you’re nervous sweetheart. I’m going to leave work early. I’m going to take all of my money out of the bank, so that we can have enough money to live on at least until you turn eighteen. As soon as you turn eighteen, I would like to marry you. We can pay to have your first name changed if you’d like as well, but I would feel ever so much better if you had my last name.’
‘Really? No, I don’t want you to marry me because my adoptive parents are crazy.’
‘Molli, I realize I have been an absolute idiot and not told you, but do you not know that I love you? I adore you and always have. I would be so proud to be your husband.’
‘Oh Ricky, I love you too. So much.’
‘Those are the most beautiful words I think I’ve ever heard Molli. But let me think. Do you believe the Archers would report you missing? Hang on a second, my boss is coming and I need to explain to him that this is an emergency.’
‘Okay.’
She waited impatiently for Ricky to come back to her.
‘Are you still there Molli?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thank goodness. My boss understands. Family is very important to him. I am so happy to be starting a family with you. I need to leave here in a minute to make sure that I can still make it to the bank, but let me straighten the rest of this out in my head.’
‘Okay. So you asked me if the Archers would report me missing. Yes. I’d have to let Bethany know that I’m okay somehow and I have grandparents and four uncles too that I have to meet eventually. They would report me missing, so we gotta be extra careful.’
‘Damn. I have quite a bit of money stashed away but I do believe I may have to borrow some from my parents. I’m going to go to the bank, go to the dealership and pay off my car and then go to another lot that lets you buy and pay there and trade in my car.’
‘But you love your car.’
‘My car is only a thing. You are my love. It may not be easy for a little while darling, but I promise you that it will be okay.’
‘What about your job and school?’
‘Nothing matters more to me than you and our child. I can finish school online and I can get another job. Would you be upset if I asked you to straighten your hair and possibly cut it, maybe even get colored contacts?’
‘No. I would love to have shoulder length straight hair and I’ve always wanted green eyes. Oh Ricky, thank you so much. I think I’m going to cry.’
‘Please don’t cry Molli. Not now. We can both cry tears of relief when you are gone from that evil place. I think I’ll go back to using my real first name which is Aldo and get my ear pierced like I always wanted to and maybe get a tattoo. I could also go back to using my full last name. Hmm. Anything to look as different as possible so that the Archers won’t know that we are us. Would you like to get your ears pierced or maybe your nose, something; anything?’
‘I wanted to get my nose pierced so I wouldn’t mind. My ears are already pierced, I just never wear earrings but I can start wearing them again. I would be totally willing to let my belly button piercing go closed especially being pregnant, and I’d like to start wearing a tongue stud again. It would be so hot if you got your tongue pierced too.’
‘It’s highly inappropriate for you to be turning me on when we’re having such a serious discussion Molli.’
‘You’re silly Ricky. Your name is Aldo?’
‘Yes. I was teased so much in elementary school that I started going by Enrique which of course soon turned into Ricky. I’m going to have to see if I can borrow a ladder. If not, I’ll buy one.’
‘You’re going to climb up and rescue me? That is so romantic. We are so going to have a lot of sex when we get the hell out of here.’
‘It should be interesting since I’m rather afraid of heights but I’ll get through it. Anything for you.’
‘I am so glad I seduced you. Jude would never have done anything like this for me.’
‘He called me. It’s going around Brentwood that you’re pregnant with Eduardo’s child. Mellenda called him when she heard and told him that we’d been sleeping together. She got very upset when she found the engagement ring I bought for you in my bag. We said some pretty terrible things to each other before I kicked her out of my parents’ house. I told them about you and the baby by the way. My mother decided that she wanted to meet you when she was done being angry with me. Of course I suppose that can’t happen now. At least not right away.’
‘You bought me an engagement ring?’
‘Yes. I planned on buying it for you as far back as Thanksgiving.’
‘Oh Ricky. I love you so much.’
‘I love you too, Molli. I have to go sweetheart. I have so much to do. Can you message me around nine o’clock and tell me whether or not the Archers have gone to sleep? I believe I can still get the messages on my phone. If you don’t see me on, e-mail me at this same address okay?’
‘Of course. I’m going to be counting down the minutes until we can be together again.’
‘So am I. Please try to get a hold of me if anything changes. If not I’ll see you soon my darling.’
‘Not soon enough, but I will. Should I bring anything?’
‘As little as possible. Some of your looser clothes would probably work best. We may try to make it look like you’re farther along in your pregnancy at first. It might be a pretty tense couple of weeks. How hard do you think the Archers will try to find you?’
‘I don’t know. They have a lot of money, but I’m not sure how hard they’ll try after I turn eighteen.’
‘We’ll be very careful. Goodbye Molli. Stay safe. I love you.’
‘I love you too, Ricky. Goodbye.’
She quickly signed out of the instant messenger and unplugged the laptop and shoved it under her bed. The minutes on her clock seemed to be ticking by at a painfully slow rate. She thought she was going to go crazy before Ricky got there.
She ate the other sandwich around five o’clock and drank some water and had to pee again. The pot was almost full so she dumped it out the window before she used it again, though she felt totally disgusting doing it.
There was a knock on her door a little after six. She glanced at the floor by her bed but couldn’t see any part of the laptop or the cord sticking out. The doorknob turned but didn’t open.
“Molli?” It was Gladys.
“Yes?”
“Are you sure you’re not hungry dear?”
“I’m fine. My stomach is still upset. I think I may have caught the flu.”
“I’m sorry about this Molli, but you understand that we can’t have you running wild like your mother did don’t you?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“If you need anything just come to your door and call for one of us okay? We should be up until nine o’clock or so.”
Molli breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes ma’am. Thank you ma’am.”
“You can still call me Mom. I do love you Molli, and so does Tremont.”
“Of course. Go eat your dinner Mom.” She almost choked on the word.
“Yes dear. Try to get some rest.”
“Okay.”
She heard Gladys’s footsteps retreat down the hall. She paced for a while because she suddenly couldn’t stand to sit still, but then she started to feel nauseous again so she sat back down. She ate a bag of chips and felt like she was starving so she finished off a pack of cookies.
It was only seven o’clock by
then and she still felt like she was going crazy. She heard footsteps on the stairs. Her heart started beating fast, but they passed by her room and she soon heard the sound of the TV from the master bedroom. She thought that it was pretty gross that the Archers didn’t care how she was going to the bathroom, and was tempted to leave a pot full of pee for them to find but decided against it.
She turned her TV on at eight o’clock but kept the volume low and kept an eye on the clock. At three minutes until nine, the TV went off in the Archers bedroom, and she turned hers off as well. She turned on her desk lamp and turned off her main light and then packed a bag with some of the clothes Ricky had bought for her. The only other thing she added was an old teddy bear that she knew Bethany had bought for her when she was a child.
At five minutes after nine, she sat down on the bed and pulled her laptop back out. She heard Tremont’s snores when she plugged it in and wondered what kind of person could fall asleep so quickly when they had a pregnant seventeen year old girl locked up down the hall, but tried to put it out of her head.
She almost panicked when she signed into her messenger and saw that Ricky wasn’t on, but she forced herself to take several deep breaths and sent him an e-mail.
He responded almost immediately. ‘I’m on my way darling. I bought a conversion van. My parents insisted on giving me another $25,000 so we should be fine until I can find work. I love you and can’t wait to see you.’
She replied. ‘That’s so great. I love you too, and can’t wait to see you either. This is finally it Ricky. We’re going to start a new life together.’
His reply was ‘I wish it were under different circumstances my love, but you deal with the hand you are dealt and you make the best of it. We are going to do better than that. We are going to take a bad situation and make it into a beautiful one. I have to let you go now sweetheart. My heart is pounding and my palms are sweaty. I hope the angels that watch over those truly in love are watching over us tonight.’
Molli smiled as she shut down her laptop. She thought about bringing it with her but realized she didn’t want anything the Archers had bought for her. She put it back in the case and shoved it under her bed. She pulled the credit card Tremont had given her for an emergency out from under her mattress. She was tempted to shove it back into her wallet and use it to take as much money from the Archers as she could, but then she realized that they could trace her transactions and knew it wasn’t worth it, so she broke it in half and buried it in her trash can.
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