Run Away Baby (21 page)

Abby had never planned on staying more than a night, but she’d pictured her stay to be a sort of a fresh air sabbatical that would invigorate her for the journey to come. She hadn’t seen it going quite this terribly.

She stayed planted in her lawn chair, peeling the label from her water bottle, trying to not look terrified, pretending she still hadn’t comprehended her dire circumstances.

She thought about taking off running, but there were miles of unknown terrain to navigate through in the dark, and nowhere to hide besides scrubby patches of orange trees and weeds. She sipped her water, trying to look calm and oblivious, while Charlie and Rake turned their conversation to hunting rifles.

“Have a beer,” Rake said to her after several minutes, reaching into the cooler, scooping one out, and tossing it to her. She dropped her bottle of water to catch the beer. Without arguing she opened it and took a small sip. They went back to their hunting rifle talk. At first it seemed that they’d started it to intimidate her, but now it had morphed into a legitimate discussion.

After another fifteen minutes or so, Abby interrupted them. “I have to pee. Charlie, will you come with me? I’m afraid to go alone,” Abby said.

“You’re a big girl. You’ll be okay,” said Rake.

Charlie opened another beer, not meeting Abby’s eyes.

“Please?” Abby tried again.

“He doesn’t want to watch you squat in the weeds,” Rake said.

“Okay, fine,” she said. “I’ll go on my own.”

“Don’t you go far,” Rake yelled.

She went up the hill, poured the majority of her beer into the weeds, relieved herself while she had the chance, and patted her pocket as she pulled up her shorts. The money was still there.

“What’s taking her so long?” she heard Rake say.

“Be right there,” she called down toward the fire pit.

“Oh my gosh, I feel so much better,” said a voice behind her. Meggie was back, her hair extra messy, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“You woke up,” Abby said.

“Well, yeah. Of course I woke up. Did you think I was dead? What are you doing standing here alone in the weeds? Oh. Never mind.”

“Get down here, you two,” Rake yelled.

“Y’all let me sleep for
ever,”
Meggie said to Rake and Charlie. She went over to where Rake was sitting, leaned in behind him, and kissed the top of his head. He shoved her away.

“Get me another,” he told her, throwing an empty can into the fire.

Meggie reached into the cooler, and took out a beer for herself and one for him. Unsure what else to do, Abby sat down in the chair closest to Charlie.

“This is the only kind we’ve got left?” Meggie asked, holding up a can.

“That’s it,” said Rake.

“None of the good stuff?” She cracked hers open anyway and took a long swallow of it, and then she took a seat in the remaining lawn chair.

For a while the four of them sat there without speaking, watching the fire.

“Let’s play cards,” said Meggie.

“Let’s not,” said Rake.

“Come on. Give ‘em to me. I’ll deal.”

“No.”

“Why do you have to get all
possessive?
What’s your problem? We could play rap poker or bullshit. What about you two?” she asked, addressing Charlie and Abby, still considering them a couple. “Do you two want to play cards?”

“I don’t think so,” said Charlie.

“Did you hear that?” she asked. “Someone’s coming down the road.”

Rake stood up from his chair, cocking his head and sniffing like a hound dog. “She’s right,” he said to Charlie.

“Come with me,” Charlie said, grabbing Abby’s hand and pulling her out of her chair. He started running up the slope, toward the sheds, yanking her along behind him. He threw open the door of the closest small shed and collapsed inside, pulling her down on top of him, and then reaching up to wrestle the door back into place. “Get down under that bench. Don’t say a word,” he whispered.

“I won’t say anything. But why are you doing this? We’re a team. You and me, Charlie. Why are you turning on me?”

“Not another word,” he said, clamping his hand over her mouth. He wouldn’t have needed to be so rough; she had no intention of screaming.

A car door slammed, and then another. Beyond the thin shed walls, Abby heard the sound of people passing by -- the crunching of dry grass and the scuffle of feet tripping on the rutty ground.

“Hello there?” called a man’s voice.

“Well, howdy,” said Rake. “Can I help you?”

“I’m John Reston,” said the voice, “and this is my wife Susan. We live east of here. We were up in that citrus grove across the way looking for our dog and we saw a fire down here. Thought we’d better come and take a look.”

“You haven’t seen a little black and white dog, have you? Spotty. Friendly little guy?” asked a woman’s voice.

Abby struggled against Charlie’s sweaty hand, barely able to breathe. He responded by holding her even tighter.

“Awww, you lost your little dog! That’s sad,” said Meggie. “What kind of dog is he?”

“He’s a mutt,” said the woman. “Spaniel and collie mix is our best guess. Little guy. No more than thirty-five pounds.”

“Thirty-five pounds? That’s not that little,” said Meggie. “I’ve got kids smaller than that.”

“He goes by the name of Charlie,” said the woman.

“Charlie.
That’s funny!” Meggie exclaimed.

Rake interrupted her before she could continue on about what a coincidence it was. “We haven’t seen him, but if we do we’ll let you know.”

“Why don’t I write down my cell phone number for you,” said the woman. “I’ll go get a pen and some paper out of my purse. It’s in the truck.” She passed by the shed again.

Without her chaperoning him, the man became more aggressive: “You know, we’ve lived on the other side of that hill for two years now. I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone down here that whole time.”

“Really?” said Rake.

“Well, with all the ‘no trespassing’ signs all over the place, most people know to keep out of here.”

“Who do you think put up all those signs?” asked Rake. He seemed to be closer to the shed now. They sounded like they were all just on the other side of the wall.

“I’m only asking. A man can ask a question about the land that borders his own land, right?”

“I don’t see how you think it’s a good idea to ask anything of someone you never met before,” said Rake. “I asked you who you thought put up those signs. Since it wasn’t you who put ‘em up, since you’re asking about them, we both know
you’re
trespassing. Now me, and her, who can say? But
somebody
put up those signs, and it wasn’t
all
of us, so somebody standing here right now must be trespassing, right? And either it’s you
and
me, or
just
you. Which do you think it is?”

Abby decided that in a roundabout way, his accusations kind of made sense. Mainly though, he sounded like an idiot.

As quickly as the man had grown bold, he backed down: “I don’t know. I certainly don’t since we’re still fairly new to this area. Do
you
know whose land this is?” He was trying to sound normal, trying not to squeak or stammer. There was goopiness to his voice now. A humpty dumpty dorkiness to it. At first he had sounded like some educated, wimpy, non-local who had thought he could outsmart the local riffraff by pretending to be a Wild West marshal. But now he was switching to the safer character of good cop in a scene missing the necessary bad cop.

“Do
I
know whose land this is?” Rake repeated, incredulous. “I’ll tell you what: Do
you
know whose land this is?”

“Well, no, that’s why I’m asking,” said the man. Backpedaling.

“Here you go.” It was the woman’s voice again, the shuffle of footsteps in tall grass. “I wrote it on a McDonald’s napkin. I hope you can read it. Call anytime, no matter how late it is.”

“Yeah, we’ll call you if he turns up,” said Meggie. “I lost my dog once. I was about seven or eight years old…”

“They don’t want to hear your story,” said Rake, cutting her off.

“We’ll leave you two be,” said the woman, “but if you find our little dog, please let us know.”

“Yeah, we will,” said Meggie.

“You two have a good night,” the man said to Rake and Meggie.

“Thanks. You too. I hope you find him,” said Meggie.

“Thanks,” said the woman. With Charlie’s hand still pressed over her mouth, Abby listened as they returned to their vehicle. She considered breaking free and yelling, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. She would be right back with Papa Rottsy this time tomorrow if she did. They listened to the sound of Rake and Meggie retreating back toward the fire pit, and the sound of another beer being opened.

“Good girl,” Charlie whispered to Abby when he heard one car door and then another slam shut.

He loosened his grip on her. She squirmed away and starting whispering, as fast as she could: “Don’t let anything happen to me. I’ll get you all the money you want, but only if it’s between just you and me. I can get you more money than you’d ever imagine. But it has to be…”

He clamped his hand over her mouth, pulling her head against his chest. “They’re still out there,” he whispered in her ear. “They haven’t left. You need to shut up.”

She nodded as much as his strong arms would allow. They heard the people’s vehicle starting, and the sound of gravel crunching as they slowly drove away.

“Get up,” said Charlie, letting go of Abby.

She stood up. “I know Rake wants to hurt me, but you wouldn’t, right?” she whispered. “That’s how
he
is, but you’re a good person.”

This was the wrong thing to say. Charlie stiffened in annoyance. Abby thought of his tattoo and realized then that it was about her. About what he was going to do to her, who he thought he’d be after it was over.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop trying to think your way out of this,” he said. “Thinking’s not your strong suit.”

“Don’t be mean. Please. This isn’t you, Charlie. Are you guys
actually
going to hurt me?” she asked.

“‘Don’t be mean.’ You’re pretty funny. Seriously. Stop talking.” Then he put his hand over her mouth again, freezing, listening. “Are they still driving away, or did they stop?” he whispered.

Abby struggled free. “Take me into town with you,” she whispered. “Just you. Not your cousin. Tell him I need to get some medicine or something. Make up something that he’ll believe. Then you can tell him I escaped from you. And in return I’ll tell you how to get a lot of money.” She reached into her back pocket and took out the pile of bills. “Here you go. Take it. But it won’t last long. Not like the money I
could
get for you, if you let me.”

“You think you’re bribing me, but I see this as a gift. We both know it would have been mine anyhow, sooner or later.” said Charlie. “But thank you very much.” He shoved the money in his pocket.

“Speaking of gifts, what do you guys want with my iPod? It’s not even that new anymore. Seriously, how many Ryan Adams songs are you going to listen to…” She trailed off, not adding the phrase that came to her mind:
before it ends up in the alligator pond beside my skinny bones?

“That iPod is the least of your worries. Where you’re going, you aren’t going to need it.”

Externally, she didn’t even flinch at that. “Get it back for me,” she told him. “It’s the only thing I have now, and I
will
need it again. I promise you that. As for that money, I won’t say a word to Rake about it. You keep it. See? I’m worth more to you than he is. Actually, you had everything going your way before he got involved.”

“Is that right?” asked Charlie, smirking.

“You know it is! But it’s not too late for you. There are still things I can do to make this less of a disaster for you.”

“You’re feisty. I’ll give you that. I don’t know where you get your confidence from, little girl. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I do too. I know I’m worth more than whatever you’ve got planned for me.”

“Shut up,” he said, his smile suddenly disappearing. Still, he stood there listening. Letting her talk. She took it as a good sign.

“What made you involve him? I didn’t deserve to be dragged into anything involving him. He’s horrible.”

“And if he’s so bad, then what am I?” Charlie asked. Abby took it as a good sign that he was asking. It showed a crack. Vulnerability.

“You’re like me. No matter who your relatives are, you’re like me.”

Charlie shook his head. He opened the door and shoved her back out into the Florida night. They were far enough from the fire pit that she could say one more thing: “If he rapes me, or anything even close, then I can’t help you.”