Silence fell over the room again.
I wasn’t certain of much. I didn’t know if we were going to make it out of this alive. There was no way out and I was about to lose all hope.
The silence was broken by the pounding on the door. Mason jumped up. Whoever was on the other side wasn’t happy.
My sickness would have to wait. I got up and quickly collected our things, being careful not to make any noise. He pressed himself against the door and peered through the peephole. I snagged the last thing off the floor—his favorite t-shirt—and I was ready.
Mason looked at me. I knew that look all too well. He was worried and that didn’t happen often.
“Now what?” I asked, afraid to ask if it was the police.
“We’ve gotta hope they give up and leave. And then we sneak out,” he said in a whisper.
“What about the money Roger gave me?” I asked. There was enough to buy us more time in Virginia. Mason shook his head.
“That’s the only money we have in case of an emergency. If we’re out of money, so are they.” He was right, of course.
“What about the window?” I asked in desperation. My heart was racing and I had a severe case of cotton mouth.
“No way, Kendall,” he said. “We’ll kill ourselves pulling a stunt like that.” He took another look out the peephole.
“What about Wanda?” I squeaked. She was the only security I’d ever known—as dysfunctional as it was.
In my despair, I’d lost all rational thought.
“What do you think Wanda is going to do for us?” Mason asked, almost yelling at me.
I bit my lip. I had no answer to that. For all I knew, she was responsible for whatever it was we were now facing.
After several minutes, all was silent again at the door, and my heart began to return to a more normal rhythm. Mason threw on his shirt and shoes. I held tight to our backpack as he slowly unlocked the door.
All kinds of crazy scenarios were playing out in my mind as he inched the door open bit by bit. He motioned for me to follow as we quickly slipped into the hallway. There was no one to be seen. I held tight to Mason as we moved undetected through the hallway.
“If it was cops they’d have just come in, right?” I asked. I was freaking out and couldn’t calm down.
“Exactly…the cops could get a key from the staff to get inside if they wanted to. It was probably housekeeping or something,” Mason whispered. Mason nodded politely at a passing couple and he nearly collided with another guy rounding the corner the same time we did. We didn’t need any upset to get in the way of our escape.
“Should we?” I asked, hoping he knew what I meant.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” he mumbled nervously under his breath. He tugged me to move faster so we could squeeze into the elevator before it shut. Otherwise, we’d be left in the hallway waiting for the elevator to return.
We startled the woman in the elevator by making our last-minute entry. She studied Mason’s battered face and pulled her arms closer to her body, taking up a defensive stance. She hugged her wrist with the opposite hand and draped a finger over her watch in case we had plans to rob her. If she only knew…stealing was the last thing on our minds.
I wanted to say something, but I knew better. I was momentarily blinded by the lights coming from the lobby when the elevator doors parted.
“Come on,” Mason said, yanking me across the sleek marble floor. As soon as my eyes focused, they landed right on Aunt Wanda and Payton. Payton dropped the magazine she’d been reading as soon as she caught sight of us trying to make our escape.
Mason kept moving us right out the revolving doors.
As we hit the fresh air, the reality of our situation punched me right in the gut.
“If we leave them its final, it’s done. You know that as well as I do,” I said, trying to get Mason to stop walking.
“I don’t care about them. We need to save ourselves,” he said, his feet moving forward.
I was pulled back just as Wanda snatched me by the arm, her claws sinking into my flesh.
“You’re free to do what you want, but Kendall stays,” she said, her lips making a perfect line. Her eyes filled with silent venom, threatening Mason. I had dreaded this moment.
“I’ll give you two options, Wanda,” Mason glared back, standing tall and unmoved by her threats.
He held onto my hand, not backing down. He didn’t care about anyone passing by who witnessed this confrontation either. He was taking a stand.
“Mason, you have no options to give me,” Wanda tossed back at him.
“Either you get the fuck away from us,” Mason said, raising his voice, “or I go back and tell the hotel staff the whole story—the truth. Then it’ll be just a matter of time before we all go to jail.”
He didn’t care who heard. He just wanted to get us away from Wanda. His words echoed over and over in my ears. My face grew warm with fear.
I managed to look at Wanda. Her face was beet red and her eyes were nearly popping from their sockets, surprised at Mason’s demands.
“Don’t go back to Joy-Ann,” she said. Her gaze was locked on mine when she did something I thought she’d never do…she let me go.
“Why would I do that?” I asked softly, tears forming in my eyes.
This was goodbye.
“If you want to be stupid…fine. But don’t go back there…Now get out of here,” she said. She turned and I watched her walk away until I could no longer see her. She was gone.
I fought the urge to run for her. She’d treated me badly and used me for her criminal gain. She’d ruined my life, but she was my somebody…my blood.
“Come on, Kendall!” Mason yelled at me.
I swatted at him, annoyed he was still yelling at me, and I started running.
We turned down the first alley we saw and finally stopped to catch our breath.
JULY 8
TH
THE SUN STILL HADN’T RISEN. Mason and I were on a never-ending trek on a dusty road in the middle of nowhere.
We finally came across a gas station where we used five bucks on a beef jerky (that we split) and two slurpees to quench our thirst. It was by far the best meal ever when you hadn’t eaten anything reasonable in such a long time.
We didn’t know where we were going. Mason did what every man does—he pretended to know what he was doing. If I hadn’t known him all my life I would have believed him.
“So, here’s my idea,” Mason said, watching a shiny black car pull into the gas station. He slung our backpack over his shoulder, finishing up his drink.
“What’s that, Mason?” I said, pretending to be interested when all I really wanted was a bed to sleep in. We’d been walking for hours on end and my feet hurt and I was tired. And Wanda was gone for good.
“Remember my friend I told you about? The one who lives in Jersey?” Mason asked me. “Jay Archer?”
I nodded, knowing all about Jay Archer. He was a friend only because of Payton. Jay was older than Mason. And from everything I had heard about him he wasn’t a good person. He did nothing legally. He stole cars for a living. Mason had found himself in a lot of trouble in his life because of Jay Archer.
When Mason recounted really bad times in his life, Jay’s name was usually attached to each and every one.
“I know we’d have a place to stay as long as we needed it and it would give us time to figure out our next plan.” He stared at me, waiting for my response.
The first plan hadn’t panned out so well. I didn’t have a whole lot of hope left in me.
I sighed and backed away only to be nearly run over by a red crotch rocket flying into the parking lot. Mason grabbed my arm to pull me to safety, but not before he gave the driver a menacing look.