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I hope.
I get in my car and drive toward Ally’s neighborhood, then park near the bus stop on Cypress and hope that I’ve anticipated her next move correctly and this is where she’s going.
For once, I’m actually fucking right.
She gets off the bus and cuts through the yards toward her house. I follow behind her slowly, staying close to the buildings and hoping she doesn’t look back and see me. Naturally, I expect her to go through the front door when she arrives, but she doesn’t. She walks around the back of the house, then up the furthest side. She peeks around the corner into the garage window before backtracking and opening a window on the side of the house. She tosses her bag through before using the air conditioning unit to help her crawl inside.
Again…what the fuck?
I wait for about five minutes before following through the open window. The house is pristine and expansive, with rich wood floors and white furniture. It’s big but a typical size for this neighborhood. It’s weird, though. It barely even looks like anyone lives here. But I guess the congressman travels a lot, and when he’s here, he works at a law firm downtown, and the aunt runs the daycare at the church. The house spends a lot of time empty, which is something I’m entirely unfamiliar with. There’s a single portraitof Ally’s aunt and uncle hung over the fireplace—a large canvas print. Other than that, nothing personal.
Certainly no sign of Ally.
I creep up the stairs, peeking into each room and coming up empty until I get to the very last one—a closed door with no fucking doorknob.
I push it open with one finger and see her on the floor between her bed and the wall. I walk around to that side, then see what she’s hunched over is a box filled with cash.
“Whothe fuckare you?”
My voice in the eerily quiet space startles even myself, so I’m not surprised when she screams and jumps back, knocking over her secret cash stash and sending the contents in all directions across the floor.
“Are you a drug dealer?Whyare you a drug dealer?”
“You didn’t go in the front door, did you?” she asks, panicked.
“No, I climbed in through the bathroom window right after you did.”
“You can’t be here.”
“I’m not leaving until you tell me what the fuck is going on,” I tell her. “You’re stealing from students? How much money is in there? Why don’t you go in through the front door, and why don’t you have a fucking doorknob?”
“I’m not allowed to have a doorknob. Or…to be here without permission.”
“What?!”
“I’m not a drug dealer. It was just some kid’s Adderall. And I don’t want to hurt anyone, but Ineedmoney.”
I watch her quickly stuff what must be thousands of dollars back into the box, then slide under the bed. I get down on all fours, lift the bed skirt, and watch as she removes one of the floorboards and stashes the box inside before replacing it and sliding back out.
“Whydo you need money?”
“So that I can get the fuck out of this never-ending nightmare, Devon. You need to go—now. Back out the window.” She stands and begins pushing me toward the bedroom door.
Then, we hear the door slam. I watch Ally freeze; all the color drains from her face. She slowly lowers her body down to the floor and starts to slide back under the bed, gesturing for me to do the same.
Fuck. Am I really going to fucking hide? I’d refuse if she didn’t look absolutely terrified.
Since she does, I get back on the ground and slide under the bed next to her. I hear whistling downstairs as Ally’s uncle rifles through the kitchen. Looks like he’s in town and decided to come home for lunch.
I glance over at Ally, who has her hand covering her mouth and silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
No whistling. I don’t like it.
What the fuck did these people do to her? Why the hell is she so fucking terrified of them? I reach for her other hand and lace her fingers into mine.
We stay like that for at least half an hour before we hear the door slam, and Ally starts to sob.
“Hey, come on. Let’s get out of here.”
