Missing at 17

by Christine Conradt

  I can’t let that happen with Candace, he thought. Not again. Not with someone he cared for a hundred times more. If I have to fight like hell to get her back, I will.

  Toby was still thinking about how he could find Candace and bring her back when Keenan pulled into the driveway.

  “Thanks for bailing me out, man,” Toby said, preoccupied as they walked toward the front door. “I’ll figure out a way to pay you back real soon.”

  “Nothin’ thirty K can’t fix, right?” Keenan turned back and gave Toby a serious look as he slid his key into the lock. Toby hesitated as Keenan opened the door and let him enter first. Without a word, Toby walked down the hall to his bedroom.

  As he kicked off his shoes and poured himself a shot, he continued to ponder his cousin’s statement. All this time he’d been thinking that he should say no, that it was too risky, that if something went south, he could lose Candace forever. But maybe he’d been perceiving it all wrong. Given what had happened, maybe robbing Dawson with Pedro and Keenan was the exact thing that could bring Candace back. That thirty thousand dollars was more important than ever. Not just to repay his cousin the bail money, but now if he wanted to be with Candace, they’d probably have to run off together. Go someplace far away where her parents and the cops wouldn’t find them. Starting over takes money, he thought. Thirty thousand is enough to make that happen.

  Toby picked up Candace’s shirt from the floor where she’d left it. He inhaled her scent and pictured her seated on the floor that first night, eyes closed, singing to Bob Marley. He’d liked observing her as she got lost in the moment. He remembered that he’d done the same with Cara.

  Seated in the back of the classroom, he’d never spent any time listening to the teacher. Instead, he watched Cara, silently observing how she used the tip of her pencil to push her jet-black hair away from her green eyes. And how her nose scrunched up slightly when she was trying to think of an answer to the teacher’s question. He knew every one of her mannerisms so well that he could predict them.

  Toby delicately folded Candace’s shirt and mused at how much he’d learned about women since he first dated Cara. At twelve, he had no idea what it meant to be a boyfriend, but he’d tried to be a good one. He bought, and sometimes shoplifted, gifts for her. He didn’t have money to get her flowers so he took a pair of scissors to school with him one day and on the walk home, he jumped the fence into the yard of the only house that had a thriving tulip bed and cut his own bouquet. When he gave them to her, she’d had the same sparkle in her eye that Candace had when he’d offered to pay for the private investigator. He loved seeing that look of surprise and joy, and knowing he’d done something right.

  He remembered when Cara’s parents found out that they were “going out” and forbade her to see him. She’d told him that her mom and dad knew of his cousins, including Keenan, and the reputation they all had of getting into trouble.

  “But I’m not like them,” Toby had said, panicked. “I don’t get into trouble like that. And I’m going back to live with my grandma again, and she’s really nice and she goes to church and everything.” His desperate plea was more than just an attempt to get her back. It was the truth. Toby had just found out he was being sent to his grandmother’s house, once again bounced around. At least this time he didn’t mind.

  “I’m sorry,” Cara had said with a tear in her eye. “I like you. But they’re my parents. I can’t talk to you anymore.” Cara walked off before he could say anything else. When he went to her house after school that evening, riding his bike almost twelve miles to get there, that’s when her father met him at the door and told him to “pick someone else.”

  Toby rolled over and saw Candace’s backpack leaning against the wall. He dumped it out and gently looked through her things, opening the makeup cases and smelling her body spray. It made him feel close to her. He imagined her coming back and flopping down on the bed and giggling as he tickled her.

  That’s what I want, he thought. I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back. And if I have to help Keenan and Pedro rob a drug dealer to get it, the risk is worth it.

  The obnoxious sounds of video games and Top 40 pop tunes were giving Candace a headache. This is what hell must be like, she thought. A pizza joint with your family. Andrew was over at the pool table trying to find out when the people playing would be finished so they could use the table. She’d already suffered through a game of air hockey and skee ball. Would it never end? She’d been trying all evening to break away for a few minutes to call Toby, but her captors were keeping a close eye on her. She’d even tried to go to the restroom alone only to have her mom jump up and declare she needed to use the little girls’ room too.

  She looked around the room at all the happy parents with their über-excited kids, and felt like an outsider. I’ll bet a thousand dollars that none of these kids are adopted.

  Before her parents’ divorce, her family went out for pizza once a month. Everyone was given twenty dollars to play video games or the jukebox or whatever they wanted, and they’d spend hours there, just shooting at aliens or driving virtual race cars, and stuffing their faces full of Brooklyn-style pie. It was something she could always count on happening. She’d taken that for granted. She’d never thought for a moment that someday her parents would split, and these simple, monthly outings would be over.

  Just like that, in the blink of an eye, they were no more. And nothing would ever be the same again.

  “They’re done!” Andrew announced. “Come on, let’s play!”

  Her mom and dad put down their pizza slices and got up. “Aren’t you coming, honey?” her mother asked Candace.

  “I hate pool.”

  “Please?” Andrew pleaded. “I want you on my team.” As irritated as she was at her parents, it was hard to say no to Andrew’s goofy little face.

  “All right,” she said, folding. “One game.”

  Andrew let out a whoop and dragged her over to the pool table, their parents trailing behind them.

  After racking the balls Andrew sank one in the corner pocket and did an embarrassing little victory dance. As he walked around the table sizing up his next shot, Candace’s cell phone rang. It was Toby. Excited, she set her cue down and headed toward the restrooms.

  “I have to take this,” she shouted back over her shoulder.

  “Who is that?” her mom asked, worried.

  “Avery.”

  Instead of going to the bathroom, Candace slipped out the restaurant’s back door and planted her bottom down on a plastic chair the employees presumably used during their breaks.

  “Hey, I’m glad you called,” she said, answering the cell. “I thought maybe you were pissed at me.”

  She could tell Toby was using the Bluetooth in his truck. She could hear the din of traffic in the background. He seemed to be in a better mood now. His tone was light. “For getting me arrested? Why would I be mad about that?” He chuckled. Thank god! He wasn’t mad at her. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  “I’m sooooo sorry,” she said, genuinely meaning it.

  “I’m just giving you a hard time. It has nothing to do with you. My lawyer messed up big-time. I would’ve called you earlier but I needed to clear my head a little. You know?”

  “Yeah, I totally understand. I’ve been doing the same.”

  “I was worried about you. No one hurt you in jail, did they?”

  “No.”

  “Good. As I was sitting there in that cell, all I could think about was if you were okay. I asked about you. They wouldn’t tell me anything. I felt really helpless.” Candace’s heart swelled. “Then Keenan said he saw you leave with your parents so I knew you were safe. Where are you right now?”

  “I’m at a restaurant with my parents and my brother pretending to be a big happy family. It’s disgusting,” she said, wishing she was with him instead.

  “Playing ‘good little girl,’ huh? You miss me?”

  Candace twirled a lock of hair around he
r finger. “Maybe. . . .”

  “Well maybe I miss you, too. Except for that drooling thing you do when you’re asleep. I don’t miss that.”

  “Ha-ha,” Candace said, deadpan, even though she was amused. “I just need to play it cool until I can get out of here again.” Now that she knew Toby wanted to see her, the plan of regaining her parents’ trust and earning enough freedom to skip out again was even more important than before.

  “When will that be?”

  “I’m on total lockdown, so probably not till tomorrow at least.” With her father in the house, she knew it would be impossible to get away.

  “It’s all good. Call me if you want me to pick you up. Your car’s still at my place.”

  “I’ll figure it out.”

  “All right, gorgeous. G’night.”

  “’Night.”

  Candace ended the call feeling both relieved and anxious. She was thrilled that Toby didn’t blame her for the day’s fiasco with the police and couldn’t wait to see him again. She knew it wouldn’t be easy to escape from Kurt and Shannon’s Central Jail, but she was already forming an idea. . . .

  Thirteen

  The Calm Before the Storm

  The next morning, Candace was up early. In that foggy moment between sleep and consciousness, she’d remembered the three hundred dollars she’d earned by walking dogs the previous summer. Her mother had refused to let her get a summer job. She wanted her to focus on the chemistry class she was taking in summer school after getting a C in it the semester before. But Candace wanted to do something fun and earn some money that she could spend any way she wanted, so she’d answered an ad without her mom knowing. For seven weeks, she’d snuck out around lunchtime to take two poodles and a shih tzu around the block. Sure that Shannon would want to know where the money came from, Candace had hidden it in the pocket of a pair of old jeans on the top shelf of her closet. She’d pulled it off, too. Not only had she managed to keep the secret from her mom, she’d scored an A in Chem the second time around.

  Pulling the pants down, she dug into the pocket and smiled. The rolled-up bills were still there. She also folded a few pairs of panties and a couple of tank tops and slid them into the pockets of her hoodie. She knew she couldn’t put any clothing in her bag just in case one of her parents decided to rifle through it before she left for school. Her backpack was still at Toby’s, but if anyone asked, she was ready to tell them it was in the trunk of her car. She was surprised they didn’t press when she told them she’d loaned it to a friend. She guessed they figured it was more important to her than them that she got the car back. Or maybe they were secretly hoping she wouldn’t get it back at all and she’d have to rely on her mother for rides like she did when she was fifteen.

  She headed downstairs to where her mom was fixing breakfast for Andrew and Kurt. Her father had slept on the pull-out couch in the den. It was the first time he’d stayed at the house since the separation. She stopped in the hallway and listened for a moment, wondering if they were talking about her. They weren’t.

  “How long is the flight to Sydney?” she heard Andrew ask.

  “About seventeen hours,” their father said. “Please don’t talk with your mouth full.”

  “It’s shorter to go from Sydney to San Diego because of the tailwind, isn’t it?” Andrew asked.

  “That’s exactly right,” their dad said proudly. As Candace lurked in the hallway listening, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness. She’d become used to his absence, and hearing him now felt like a reminder of when things were better. What a strange way to end this, she thought. One last morning with everyone together before I never see these people again. Bizarre.

  Candace entered from the hallway.

  “Hi, sweetie.” Her mother smiled, trying to be pleasant. “Want me to make you some eggs?”

  “I’ll eat at school,” she said, disgusted at her mother’s attempt to pretend everything was fine and this was just another normal day. Candace glanced over at her father, who didn’t look up at all. At least his awkward reaction was an honest one.

  Her dad abruptly stood. “Hold up there, honey. I’ll drive you. It’s on my way out of town anyway.” Candace bit her lip, digesting the bad news. She’d figured this would be their plan. He was going to drive her to school to make sure she didn’t bolt. Pathetic, she thought. Do they really think I can’t skip school? I’ve done it before.

  Both Candace and her father were silent on the drive. She’d figured the entire ride would be one long lecture about how irresponsible she was and how she made her mother worry and how she could’ve been killed. It wasn’t.

  “I want you to get your car back today” was all her father said. She’d figured that after the pizza outing, he and her mom would want to know more about where she’d been staying and who had possession of the car, but surprisingly, they hadn’t asked.

  “I’ll have it back by lunch. Avery’s taking me to pick it up from our friend’s house,” she lied. Her dad simply nodded.

  She had no idea why he wasn’t demanding answers to all the questions her parents had, but he wasn’t. Had she disappointed him so much that he just didn’t even bother? Maybe now that the secret was out about her being adopted, he didn’t need to pretend to care anymore. Deep down, she hoped that wasn’t it.

  Part of her wanted to grab her father’s hand and tell him she was sorry for running away, sorry that she’d been such a terrible daughter, sorry that she couldn’t be the perfect child in the way Andrew was. But that apology was too difficult, and so Candace just sat quietly, letting the air from the vent blow against her face.

  As Candace’s father pulled up to the curb in front of her school, he sighed. Candace glanced over at the building and all the kids going in. In a weird way, she was going to miss it. She wouldn’t miss Ian or that loudmouth Joey or any of the teachers who were always on her case about one thing or another. But she would miss checking in with Avery between classes and helping to decorate the lockers of freshman on the first day of school, and singing along with the other students at the pep rallies. She’d miss dressing up for homecoming and the excitement she felt when the last bell of the day would ring. Those things, at least, had been fun. Even so, school was part of her old life. She was looking forward to the new one—the one in which she woke up each morning in Toby’s bed and spent her day doing anything she wanted.

  “I know you don’t want to go in there, but it’s not going to be that bad,” her father said. Candace realized she must’ve been frowning a little and he misread her thoughts.

  “Actually, it is.” She said it as if she were really considering going in.

  “Who cares what anyone says? You’re a smart, beautiful, strong young lady. In one year, you’ll graduate, go to college, and you won’t even remember half of these kids’ names. Keep your eyes on the prize. Don’t let anyone pull your attention away from that.”

  Candace looked over at her father and nodded. She felt guilty deceiving him, letting him believe she intended to go to classes. But then she thought of Toby, and the freedom she would have once she reunited with him.

  She opened the door and got out. Candace walked toward the entrance but instead of going in, she ducked behind a column and waited for her father to cruise off down the street. As soon as he turned the corner, Candace came back out, jogged across the street, and began to walk in the opposite direction.

  She was almost to the end of the block when she heard Avery yell, “Candace!” Candace didn’t break stride as she turned to see her best friend hurrying toward her.

  “I gotta go!” Candace yelled back. “I’ll call you later!”

  Thirty minutes later, Toby’s truck pulled into the parking lot of the strip mall where Candace was sitting on the curb, playing a game on her phone. She heard him honk twice, and when she looked up, she could see him behind the wheel, a broad smile plastered across his square jaw. Jumping up, she ran over and stretched into his window to kiss him.

&nb
sp; “Welcome back, beautiful,” he said as she pulled away. “Get your cute little ass in the car where it belongs.”

  Candace lounged on the sofa in Toby’s living room, flipping through a magazine. She was enjoying the lack of studying, school, or having to do anything of importance. She still felt a tinge of guilt for the ruse she’d pulled off earlier that morning. Her parents had no reason to trust her at all anymore, but they had. Her father had dropped her off at school believing that she would sit in class and listen and do all the things diligent students do. She didn’t deserve to be trusted and she knew it. For that, she felt bad. But what could she do? There was no way she was going back to face all the questions and jokes about her being adopted. No way she’d risk being separated from Toby again.

  Her parents simply didn’t understand what it was like to be in high school. How kids, if they wanted to, had the power to make a person’s life hell. Like poor Meghan Horan, the mousy little freshman made a target by her last name. Candace wasn’t sure who started it but someone had come up with calling her Meghan Whore-On and whenever her named was written someplace, kids would write “her back” or “her knees” afterward. When the dean’s list came out and the names were posted, Candace had seen that someone had written “the motel bed” after Meghan’s name. Later that day, Candace heard someone sniffling in one of the bathroom stalls. When she peered underneath, she recognized Meghan’s worn black wedge sandals. Candace had knocked and asked if everything was okay. When Meghan mumbled a half-hearted yes, Candace had decided not to press. She already knew why Meghan was upset and aside from encouraging her to legally change her name, there was nothing she could do to help her. The real world—the adult world—was bigger. If someone broke up with a boyfriend, no one had to know. The person could still go to work, go out and socialize, and it didn’t follow them around. School was different. Your boyfriend breaks up with you and you’re forced to watch him kissing your replacement in the hallway six days later, Candace lamented. Everyone knows everything about everybody, and it feels like people are always looking for ways to bring each other down a notch. Even though Candace wished she could ignore it all, the idea of being on the receiving end of that sort of meanness and gossip bothered her.