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Then, she nodded toward the car. “Get in, Becky.” Her voice was cheery, which didn’t match this disconnected look in her eye.
I debated on what I should do, but Mary was in the car.
“What do you want?” I snapped, slowly heading for the car.
I’d never felt so helpless. Living in foster care didn’t hold a candle to how helpless I felt in this moment. There was nothing I could do. There was only one choice I could make. If I wanted to keep Mary safe, I had to go with her.
“I’ll tell you once you get in the car,” she snapped, fake cheer all gone.
I shivered as I opened the backseat door of the car, and once inside, I pulled Mary into my lap. I crushed her into me, and she giggled as if she didn’t have a clue that everyone who loved her was searching the city. Her laughter was rich, a glorious sound, the best sound, like the symphony playing at the opera house, like the church bell ringing right before mass.
My lips pressed to the softness of her hair, and I shuddered against her, relief washing over me. Not full, total relief, but a fraction of it. I was with her, my Mary, my girl.
Because she is mine, and I’m never letting her out of my sight again.
“You missed me. I can tell.” She laughed, completely oblivious.
Tears outlined my eyes as I held her close. I didn’t want to show fear, to show relief that she was safe, to show her the desperation I felt, the need to get her away from here. I tried to hide that anything was wrong. I wanted to shield her from it all.
But she knew because Mary pulled back, and her eyebrows scrunched together. “What’s wrong?”
I cupped her cheek. “Nothing, baby girl.”
The sweet smile was back on her face. “Your mama got me ice cream.”
I nodded, securing her in, buckling her seat belt. “That’s great, baby girl.”
Mary told me about her day, rambling on as though nothing was wrong. She told me she had left the little pumpkin that she got from the pumpkin patch on her desk at the school.
It was as if this were a regular day, as though we were on our way home and she was recounting the day’s events, but this could not have been more different.
Kate, my mother, drove, to who knows where.
While we drove, I scrambled to come up with a plan to get Mary as far away as possible from this situation. When I took out my phone, Kate stepped on her brakes so fast that Mary and I jerked forward.
“No phones,” she barked out.
Mary’s eyes widened, and I patted her knee. “I’m not calling anyone. I’m going to play a show for Mary, so she doesn’t have to listen to any adult conversations.”
My mother eyed me for a second, and I took out my AirPods from my bag. “Mary, do you want to watchPeppa PigorSofia the First?”
“Sofia!” she exclaimed, throwing her little arms in the air.
I pushed the earbuds in her ears and played a YouTube video of one of her favorite shows.
When Kate faced the road and continued to drive and I knew that Mary was occupied, I finally spoke, “How much do you need this time?”
Her laugh was cynical. “How do you know that I just didn’t want to see you?”
My laugh was more cynical than hers. “See me? When have you ever in my whole life wanted to see me just because?” My jaw locked. Anger clouded my vision, and I spat out my next words, “Just tell me why you’re doing this.”
The car turned silent, so silent that I could hear Mary’s show playing on my phone.
“There are some people I owe money to, Becky. And they’re not nice people.” Her voice had that manipulative quality to it, like she knew she could make me feel for her.
But I couldn’t feel anything but contempt for her. I’d lost all compassion for my mother long ago. And I didn’t care what she did to me, but I wasn’t going to let the people I cared about be collateral damage.
I wasn’t going to let this woman use an innocent child as leverage to get what she wanted. This woman had to go to jail, and I swore she would if it was the last thing I did on this earth. I needed her locked up, so she couldn’t hurt the people around me any longer. Once I had Mary safe, I’d lead the cops to her, find authorities to take her. She couldn’t get far. I had her license plate memorized by now.
