Page 75 of Since She's Been Gone

“Good luck at your dinner,” Jason tells me.

“Thanks,” I say.

The train stops, and we both stand up when it abruptly jerks again. Jason bumps into me.

“Sorry about that,” he says.

“It’s fine,” I say, slightly annoyed.

I get off the train and step onto a platform leading to Union Station.

I quickly look for an information kiosk and spot one next to an enormous arch with gold accents.

An older woman with dyed black hair and gray roots sticking out of her scalp greets me.

“Good evening. How can I help you?” she asks, adjusting a flower brooch on her jacket.

“I need to catch a ride to the Capitol,” I say.

“The Capitol is a large place,” she says. “Where exactly are you trying to go?”

“Where the senators work,” I say.

“That would be the Capitol building. There’s a large protest going on. Not sure how close you’ll be able to get,” she says.

“Can I walk there?” I ask.

“You could,” she says. “It’s a little less than a mile away, or you can exit that door and catch a taxi.” She points to a glass door with a taxi sign above it.

“Thanks,” I say and rush toward the door.

There’s a line with a few people waiting when I step outside. I stand in the back and think about Eddie, how worried he must be that I’ve been out of touch for several hours, and I feel so guilty.

I try to remind myself that I’m doing this for us, so that I can get my life back and we can be together again. But it doesn’t do much to assuage my guilt. I still feel awful knowing what I’m putting him through.

When it’s finally my turn, I jump inside the taxi.

“Where ya goin’?” the driver asks.

“The Capitol building.”

He pulls away and drives me down a long street until we reach it. The woman at the station was right—there’s a massive protest going on.

As we get closer to it, I make out some of the signs the activists are holding:

OUR KIDS ARE NOT FOR SALE

I SPEAK BECAUSE THEY CAN’T

#SAVEOURCHILDREN

I pay the driver, get out of the car, and walk toward the building. A familiar woman is standing on a podium dressed in a suit, speaking next to half a dozen people.

“Child trafficking isn’t a red or blue issue. It’s a human issue. The passage of this bill is the beginning of the end of high-tech companies profiting off our children’s bodies,” she says.

I now recognize her—she’s a senator from Hawaii.

“I’m proud to be joined today by some of my colleagues,” she says, pointing to the people next to her. “Senator Judith Levine from California, Senator Hernando Rosario from Nevada, Senator Walter Lyon of West Virginia—”

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