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“Yeah.”
I opened the window, the old panes squeaking as it rose. We both froze, the sound in the rest of the house ceasing. Fear ran through me, and I pushed her out, climbing on the chair and shoving one leg over as my door crashed open, and my stepdad stood in the doorway.
I didn’t hesitate; I jumped and sprinted with her hand in mine. He shouted at us through the window, but we didn’t stop, running as far as we could. A week later, we discovered the secret entrance to the attic of the old theater, making it our home until the night I got sick and we were torn apart.
I’d later learn that if Little Bird hadn’t gotten me help when she did, I would’ve died in that theater attic. There were some days when I suffered with the remnants of that night that I almost wished she had. But then a new day would appear, and I’d remember my promise to find her, giving me my own happy ending to create.
“We’ll find her,” Rueben said, shaking me out of my memories.
“Yeah. We will.” I smiled, believing it just as much. “And when we do, we’ll be complete.”
Rueben grunted, his allotment of words used up for the day. He sat the bags on the floor before rolling out his yoga mat, falling into his nightly yoga routine before bed.
Taking that as my cue, I headed back to the main room, wanting to review the plans again. That tug that it mattered hadn’t left, and I knew I couldn’t sleep until I was confident I had every single contingency planned for.
5
RAVEN
After spendingmy evening and early morning surveying the first location, I’d slept in, waking as most of the town was closing for the day. The hotel didn’t have an onsite kitchen, so I’d been forced to venture into town for something to eat. My stomach growled, reminding me it had been a while since I’d last eaten. Being on a job was the one time I didn’t constantly snack; too focused on the task at hand.
So, with my Ghostbusters tee, black skirt, black tights with ghosts, and red Converse on, I meandered down the main street of the small town my mark had decided to hole up in. It wasn’t the cutest town, but it had a little of that quaint small-town feel to it. A hardware store, bookstore, and a cafe were along one side, with a bank, theater, and what looked to be a candle store along the other.
A medium brick building stood in the center, and I assumed it was the town hall with the flags raised. Potted plants hung from every pole, giving the town an ethereal quality, hiding some of the lingering dirt and grime. Not seeing any other food places on this block, I headed to the cafe, hoping it would still be serving food.
“I’m so hungry, I’ll eat about anything,” I said out loud, forgetting I was in public. A woman looked at me curiously, so I hurried to the door.
The bell jingled as I walked in, smells of fried foods and meat hitting me. My taste buds exploded as I inhaled, my stomach rumbling louder in protest. Most of the tables were filled with families with a few empty stools at the counter. Walking to the front, I took one of the stools and smiled as the waitress brought me a menu.
“I’ll be back in a minute, darlin’,” she said, her accent thick. That had been the one thing I’d consistently failed at in training, mimicking the perfect accent.
My eyes scanned the menu, and I couldn’t decide what I wanted. So when the waitress stopped by, I ordered it all.
“I’ll take the cheeseburger with a side of fries for here and the fried chicken with mashed potatoes, an order of chicken and dumplings, and three slices of pie to go. You can pick the flavors.”
The waitress wrote it all down, thankfully not commenting on how much I’d ordered. I’d learned early on that if I got most of it to go, people believed it was for my imaginary family back home. I didn’t care what people thought, but they tended to ask questions and remembered the short chubby girl who ordered enough food for a week. And since my goal was not to be caught for my recreational pursuits, I played along, giving them a narrative that was easier to swallow and faded from their mind.
A colossal piece of chocolate cake was placed down in front of the space next to me, drawing my attention. I hadn’t noticed the person sitting there, too zoned in on my mission to get food. My eyes widened, and I licked my lips as I looked at it. I wanted to roll around in that cake.
“And I’d like a piece of the chocolate cake first,” I said before the waitress could escape.
“Sure thang, darlin’. I’ll have that right out for you,” she said, smiling at me before she moved away.
Now that my food situation had been handled, I glanced closer at the rest of the patrons. No one stood out, just the typical middle to lower-class families living in a small town like this. The families looked happy, so I watched them, wondering what it would be like to have a mom and dad who cared. It was an odd game I played, putting myself in the kid’s position, trying to imagine what it would’ve felt like to have a mom fix your hair and pull you into her chest as she spoke.
“I’m sorry, hun. We sold out of the chocolate cake. Can I offer you anything else?” the waitress asked when she returned. I glanced, meeting her eyes, trying to decipher what she was saying.
“No cake?” I asked. I hadn’t meant to sound so sad about it, but it felt like the world’s biggest disappointment right then.
She shook her head, her eyes landing on the piece next to me. I guess they’d gotten the last one.
“Would you want to try the cherry cake?”
“No, thank you,” I said, my voice small.
She nodded and walked away, my eyes falling to the counter as I debated getting up and leaving. This was a flaw I didn’t fully accept about myself, more like I tried to ignore.
Often, when something went wrong, I didn’t have the emotional capacity to handle the disappointment. It wasn’t all the time, but with the case on the line, and the need to punish these marks, I guess I’d overwhelmed my system.
