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“Sweet dreams, my Emma,” I whispered, but she was already engrossed in her movie. That left me about ninety minutes to do what I needed to get done. I closed the door as silently as I could before I stole into the bathroom. With as much stealth as I could muster, I opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed an old prescription bottle from the back.
It was Klonopin, a sleeping medicine I’d been prescribed back after I’d had Emma. I hadn’t liked how it made me feel, so I never used it more than the one time. I read the label, reading the prescription instructions intended for a small woman and knowing he’d need more than me.
I put several tablets into my pill crusher. I’d bought the thing back when Emma was younger because it was easier to grind down whatever pills she needed to take and mixing it in her baby food rather than getting her to swallow it whole.
I hid the container with the crushed pills in my palm and went back into the kitchen. Trevor had sat back down on the couch and turned on the television. He’d picked up my own bowl of mac and cheese and was polishing it off. I noticed that Emma’s was gone too. While he was distracted, I grabbed another glass and dumped half the contents of the crushed pills into it. I poured a very healthy portion of whiskey and swirled it around until the sleeping pills dissolved completely.
I made my way back over to him and handed him the drink, playing the part of the perfect doting wife. He glanced at me and then back at the television.
“I can’t get anything other than kid’s stuff,” he whined.
I didn’t say anything as I grabbed the remote. It took a few steps, but I pulled up a superhero movie and started playing it.
“That’s more like it,” he slurred.
He settled into the couch, and I just sat there on the opposite end. He didn’t reach for me or even acknowledge that he’d attempted to attack both his wife and his daughter tonight. To him, it was almost as if it didn’t even happen. In all honesty, he probably wouldn’t remember it in the morning.
He didn’t sip the whiskey I gave him. He gulped it down and passed me the glass. I put a second dose of sleeping pills into his drink, wanting to make sure he had enough for a man of his size but not enough to kill him. I just wanted to make sure he was out for a good long time. I handed him the refilled glass and he downed it too.
A half hour later, he was starting to get drowsy. Forty-five minutes later, he had begun to nod off. An hour later, he was fully passed out on the couch.
I got up and started washing the dishes. When he didn’t move at that amount of noise, I knew he was fully asleep and would be for a long time. I stole off down the hallway and packed my bags as quickly as humanly possible. My closet wasn’t particularly large, so I stuffed it all into one big bag. I’d hidden a stash of cash under the mattress, so I made sure to pack that too so that the two of us would at least have a chance at a fresh start. I tossed the bag out the window when I was ready.
I snuck into Emma’s room. She was still fully into her movie as I stuffed everything of hers into the rest of the luggage we owned. I grabbed a backpack, making sure I didn’t leave any of her doggie stuffed animals behind. Her favorite one was next to her in bed, and I made a mental note to make sure not to forget that either.
I snuck out the back door on the opposite side of the house, quickly loading the trunk of my dark gray Ford Explorer. I stole back into the house, risking more time in order to be able to pack all of her diapers I had stored in the bathroom closet. When I was finally ready, I peeked back into the living room.
Trevor hadn’t moved a single inch. I could still see his chest rising and falling, but he was fully out. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I grabbed one last backpack, grabbing her favorite snacks from the cupboard before I snuck back into her room. I sat down beside her and put on a smile, holding her favorite stuffie in my arms.
“Mommy has a surprise for you,” I began.
“A surprise?” she asked sleepily. Her eyes were droopy, and she looked to be minutes away from falling asleep herself.
“You and I are going on a trip,” I said quietly.
“Really?”
“Yup! We must be really quiet though. It’s dark outside and we don’t want to wake up any of the monsters living in the woods, do we?”
“No. No monsters, Mommy,” she replied seriously, as if she’d just taken on the most important mission in the world. I pulled off her nightie and replaced it with a pair of sweats.
“Where are we going?” she asked, unable to keep her excitement at bay.
“I’ll tell you once we get into the car,” I said, while pulling a pair of thick socks over her feet. I grabbed the tablet, chargers, and headphones and put them in the backpack too. I passed her stuffie and she held it tight as I hefted her onto my hip.
“Quiet for Mommy now,” I whispered.
My daughter clung to me as we snuck through the dark hallway, out the back door, and into my car. I clipped her snugly into her car seat and jumped into my side of the car. I rushed to turn the key, praying that I’d given him enough so that he wouldn’t hear the engine turn over.
In terror, I stared at the door as I pulled away.
Itneveropened.
And I escaped.
CHAPTER2
