Chapter 18 ~ Isabella #3
I just smile at her. She’s hurting, she’s angry, but even still she tries to be so strong.
I bring up the laptop and put on her favorite movie.
I flick off the light, turn the lamp on beside us, and toss her a blanket and pillow.
She grabs her Pepsi, takes a drink, and we settle back in.
I know what she’s thinking, what movie we are going to watch, but tonight it’s for her, for everything that she’s done for me and everything that she’s lost because of me. This is the least I can do right now.
The movie starts, and only a few bars into the opening song. She squeals and claps her hands. She hugs me so tightly.
“Oh, my God! I love you. You know me so well. This is exactly what I need. Yay, Deadpool!”
~ ~ ~
I wake up to the smell of toast and roll over, Anna is standing in the makeshift kitchen chewing. Her hair is still wet. And she’s dressed in her lab coat again.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you, but I’ve got to get going. Don’t come out today to the archive department; everyone will be in today.” She tosses the last of her toast into the trash can.
Anna puts one hand on her hip. “I wanted to get out of here before they showed up. If you hurry, you can grab a shower in the chemical lab. I don’t know why they have such cool shit. How come we don’t have all the cool stuff they have? I snagged you a dry towel on my way back.”
She points to where a bottle of shampoo, a clean towel, and a face cloth are piled on the chair.
“I got to go. I’ll try to give you a phone call later. I know you’re stuck in this box, but I’ll come down after work and hang out for a bit. Maybe I should just move in. I don’t really want to go home and deal with him.”
I get up and hug her goodbye. Picking up the towel, I rush to the chem lab and quickly go to have my shower.
Looking around the shower stall, I pick up the conditioner.
Anna’s right, they have a really cool set up in here, like name brand shampoo, not some weird generic bottle on the wall like we do.
The day passes quickly inside a box with no windows. Time can either move fast or it can move extremely slowly. Today seemed to go by extremely fast. I finished the book I stole off the archives table and watched a couple of movies. Anna never called, so I’m assuming she got busy.
I just started dozing off and the door started to rattle. Anna is pounding on the other side, yelling my name. I get up and go over, and I open it.
“Oh my God, what’s the matter? Are you okay?”
She rushes in and heads straight to the table and turns around and looks at me. Her eyes are enormous, and her face is flushed pink from running.
“Your father-in-law is fucking scary, like Godfather holy scary. They all showed up today. Danny, Alexander, your father-in-law, and Carlos. I was just waiting for someone to pour cement, stick me in it, and throw me over the edge of the river. OMG!”
I take her hand to bring her over to the bed and sit her down. Not much scares Anna, but four huge, scary men coming at her all at once, asking questions that would scare anybody.
“Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they? Did they threaten you?”
“No, they didn’t threaten me, they just asked me where you were and wanted to know why I did what I did, and I kind of fell for the pressure a little bit and let it slip that yeah, I was responsible for getting you out of there.
But I stuck to the lie I told Danny and told him you were already gone.
I don’t mean to sound like a wuss or anything, but I think Alexander’s really worried.
Like, he’s really concerned. Not just because he wants his toy back, but he’s really worried about you.
But he also said some weird shit. If it was possible to get a hold of you, you need to stay away from your dad. ”
“My dad, why would I go to my dad? He hates me.”
“I know, right, It’s like they don’t even know you at all. He’d be the last person you’d go to. I don’t know, Izzy. Something’s going on, something serious, but no one wants to tell me anything, and really, I can’t blame them. I did steal you.” She giggles.
“So, what did my father-in-law say? Is my dad behind all of this? That’s why they’re trying to kill me because of him?”
“I honestly don’t think anyone is trying to kill you. Well, maybe Alexander tried… a few times. But not on purpose... I don’t think? Aww fuck, I don’t know, men are weird.”
Anna pulls on the threads of the blanket. She is nervous.
“Anyway, they came, and I side-tracked them. They didn’t get any answers from me, but your father-in-law is scary as hell.
He said nothing the whole time; he just stood there watching me.
It was creepy. Then he looked at me, smiled, and said I reminded him of his wife.
” Her face scrunches up, “That love, and loyalty go hand-in-hand and that if I heard anything to get a hold of Danny.” Anna shivers and hugs her body.
“God, I’m so sorry. You have got to get me out of here, so they’ll leave you alone.”
“It doesn’t matter; they already think you’re gone; we already knew they were going to come and ask me questions. I just didn’t expect the Godfather to show up. FYI, Alexander looks just like his father. No wonder they scare you shitless. Once he turned those silver eyes on me, I almost cracked.”
“Will you spend the night, or will you return home and risk it? I think after today, Danny will not leave you alone. Plus, he loves you.” I smile at her, and she twists her lips to the side.
“Yeah, he looked a little worried when The Godfather started talking. But he never moved. He can’t protect me even if he wanted to. I did this. It was my decision and didn’t involve anyone else. I just have to laugh, though.”
She breaks out in a big smile. “He kept rubbing his throat the whole time. Ahhh, memories.” She hunches her shoulders and laughs now.
I push her. “You really are crazy, ya know? Who gets this much joy out of knocking their boyfriend on his butt?”
“I do.” She points at her face.
We settle back and have a cup of coffee.
We watched a movie. She gets up, gets ready, and goes home, and that’s how this whole week went.
We visit, we both laugh, eat junk food and watch movies, and I’m feeling like me for once.
I’m still scared and nervous, but excited and happy at the same time, too.
It’s just a waiting game for Helen, and then I’m out of here.
Saturday morning comes and Anna shows up with breakfast from McDonald’s, so we settle down and start eating.
She tells me that Helen called her, and I should move out on Monday.
But we have a hitch in the plan. Alexander has the men watch Helen’s library, Anna’s apartment, and the museum.
So, getting me out of here could be a challenge.
But of course, Anna has a plan for that too.
“Okay, so the plan I came up with, and Helen agrees that this is going to work. Do you remember Karl?
I have my mouth full of food, so I nod at her and wave for her to continue.
“Okay, so Karl is going to send a shipment here by accident, but technically on purpose. We’re going to put you in the “wrong” shipping box. Again, sorry you’re going to be stuck in another box and I’m going to return it to Karl.”
My eyes bug out of my head, and I swallow my food. “Are you serious? This is some serious cloak-and-dagger shit.”
She pinches my cheeks and I look like a fish.
“Oh, I love it when you swear. You’re so cute.
Anyway, Karl will have everything that Helen has gathered for you already at his restaurant.
It’s all waiting for you there. She’s never told me the plan, and you’ll find out when you arrive at Karl’s.
So, once we get you out of here and onto that truck and you’re off loaded at the restaurant, you’re free and no one’s going to be the wiser because you’ll be stuck in a restaurant box. ”
I laugh and hug her. “You are brilliant. You’re like a bloody wizard! I would never have thought of that.”
Anna smiles and bows at the waist. “Thank you, thank you very much. I am brilliant.” She smiles and lifts her eyebrows high in the air. “Plus, the shipment is already here. I’ve already got the return label signed and stamped. You’ll be picked up Monday morning.”
I’m not stupid. I knew after last Monday when they showed up that Alexander would have people watching everything.
When I was at his house, they basically trapped me in my bedroom, and he had six people guarding the house and grounds.
Plus, he found me at Helens, so he knew that would probably be the first place I would go, so I was expecting him to have his men watching her store.
My eyes burn with unshed tears I’m trying to hold back. We have one day together. I know I’ll see her again and I’ll try to keep in contact as best I can through Helen. But it’s not the same as having her in my life every day like I’m used to.
Anna smiles at me and wipes under my eyes.
“This isn’t the end for us, you know. I will see you again.
I will visit you. When all this blows over, we’ll see each other.
You’re my bestie now and forever. Just think of it as a brief vacation for a little while.
That’s what I’m doing. Pretending it’s a vacation.
It’s the only way I’m making it through without losing my shit. ”
Sunday afternoon comes, and we hang out most of the day.
She brought pizza again, and we watched Deadpool.
I finally convinced her to let us watch one Harry Potter movie together.
She is sleeping over again. We are trying to get every minute we can together.
Monday morning comes and we slowly pack my stuff.
Putting it into baggies that’ll fit in the container with me.
We want to get it packed up and me in the crate before anyone arrives at work, so we’re up early.
It’s depressing, and we both cry off and on the entire morning.
It doesn’t feel like the end, but it feels like an end.
And for me, there’s a whole gamut of emotions that are going through me because this is the start of a new life.
A life I have to start without Anna. I wish I had never married Alexander.
I wish I had run away when I was younger.
I wish that morning when I was looking at myself in the mirror getting ready for that stupid dinner, I would have done what I wanted to do, packed my bags and left.
I would have saved everyone the trouble.
Anna locks the door. We head upstairs, and she opens the door to the docks with her tag. We walk hand in hand to the crate and stop, both of us take a huge breath.
“Jesus, this is harder than I thought it would be.” She smirks at me and wipes her eyes. I nod. I can’t talk over the lump in my throat.
Anna pops the lid off and we both look inside. It’s wide enough for me to curl up in. She puts my clothes in as a pillow and stands and looks at me.
“I love you and I want you to get a hold of me as soon as you can. I can’t have anything to do with Karl or Helen for a couple of months.
And it’s going to take you a while to get yourself wherever you’re going.
When you get there, you mail me a letter at some point.
You can mail it to Helen or mail it to Karl.
Either way, I’ll get it and I’ll do the same. Promise me?”
The tears are rolling down my face as I hug her. “I promise, thank you Anna. Without you, I’d be fucked.” She finally laughs, and I try to.
“Oh, I love it when you swear.” She hugs me tight. I whisper over her shoulder. “Try to forgive Danny. He loves you. This is entirely my fault, and I feel horrible about it.”
“You don’t worry about Danny and me. You worry about yourself. I love you, Anna. Go get in so I can close this fucking thing up and get you out of here.”
I climb in and lie down. She half puts the lid on, and we say our final goodbyes. I just lay there in the dark and cry. I’ll miss her so much.
Anna nails down the lid. “I’ll be right here till the truck comes.” She is crying. I can hear it in her voice. I tapped the box to let her know I heard her. It feels like forever before I hear the garage door creaking open, a male voice murmuring, and I hear Anna saying something back.
Then I’m lifted onto a pallet jack and wheeled into the back of the truck, and the door slams. My heart cracks.
That’s the last time I’m ever going to hear her voice for a long time.
We drive through town, and I don’t know how long that takes.
Finally, I feel the truck come to a complete stop and I hear the beep, beep, beep of the truck in reverse.
The truck comes to a stop, the door bangs open, the pallet jack is put underneath, and I can feel myself being moved across the floor.
I can smell the grease from the restaurant and two male voices mumbling.
I’m listening intently for any noise, and it’s quiet.
The next thing I know, I can hear the crowbar cracking beneath the nails with each crack, crack, crack, and the lid popping open.
“Hello there, little lady.” He smiles brightly. “I’m guessing you want out of there. You’re going to be hungry. I’ll put you in my office for now. I’ll grab you a bite to eat and I’ll fill you in on the plan. But you have little time, sweetheart. You’ve got to get out of here as soon as possible.”
Karl helps me out, and I stagger on shaky legs to his office. I’m kind of cramped up. It wasn’t as big as the sculpture box. I couldn’t stretch out, so I had to stay curled up in there for almost two hours.
I get to Karl’s office, and I sit down. He comes in with my double bacon cheeseburger and fries and a large Pepsi filled with ice. I kiss his cheek and he sits down.
“Eat that, sweetheart, and I’ll go over the plan.”
An hour and a half later, I’m sitting behind the wheel of a car leaving Chicago behind with a new name, a new driver’s license and a new social security number.