Chapter 4
Kayla
I face one of the only two friends I have.
“Okay, here’s the five-minute version. My mom died after Noah was born, complications of the c-section.
My dad couldn’t handle it and turned to drugs.
After he died, we were given to my uncle; I didn’t even know we had an uncle.
” I don’t let myself feel anything as I tell her our story.
“My uncle took us in, but he was a bad man, a really bad man. Whatever you can think of, it was worse.” Her face fills with pain, but I ignore it or I won’t get through with my story.
“Things got worse the longer we stayed there, and I knew we needed to escape. I worked a job as soon as someone would hire me. I saved every penny I could get my hands on. My plan was to leave the eve of my eighteenth birthday because then I could legally be on my own and nobody could do anything about it. But the week before my eighteenth birthday, he found my stash and took every penny.” I look away from the expression on Jessie’s face.
“I had to start over, so I started saving once again. But one night, he—” I pause for the first time in my story.
“Kayla, you don’t have to tell me,” Jessie says softly.
For some reason, that just makes me want to tell her even more.
“He came after Noah that night; he’d never gone after Noah before.
I was always the target.” There’s no emotion behind my words.
“When he hurt Noah,” my voice cracks a moment.
“After that, there was no more waiting. I grabbed what we could fit in a backpack and took my uncle’s car and escaped that night.
That was four months ago.” It’s silent, and I shift.
“We were on the run for a while. We eventually ditched my uncle’s car, hitchhiked a few rides, endured bus trips and homeless shelters along the way, until we couldn’t go any further.
This seemed like as good a place as any to settle.
” I shrug. “When I landed the job here, we decided to stay.”
Jessie stares at me and takes a deep breath.
“Where did you live?” But before I can answer, she puts her hand up.
“No, wait. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to inadvertently put you in any danger.
I don’t even want to know because then I can’t tell the wrong person.
” She stares at me a moment, and I will her not to pity me.
That always makes it worse. “You ever need to go on the run again, you take me with you.”
My breath whooshes out of me. “Jessie.”
“And take my car. Heaven knows yours will die on the second mile out of town.” I can’t help my laugh, and she joins in. “What? You know it’s true; your car is a piece of junk.”
“Yeah, I can’t argue with you there. But it’s at the shop, so maybe they’ll be able to fix it this time. Or rather, maybe they can fix it enough to keep it from falling apart.”
“Is Cole working on your car?” she asks, blinking her eyes rapidly.
“Please stop before your eyelids get stuck or something.”
She grins and stops. “Okay, but is he?”
“I don’t know. They picked it up and told me they’d call when it’s ready.”
Jessie smiles slyly. “I’ll bet Cole is the one that calls.”
I just shake my head. “You’re a hopeless romantic.”
Her eyes widen. “No, I’m not. He’s totally into you. I saw that the last time he ate lunch here.”
I shake my head. “He is not.”
She gives me a look and stands. “Agree to disagree. Let’s go before we get in trouble.
” I follow her out of Mama May’s office and back out front.
As soon as we open, we’re slammed. Nobody does breakfast like Mama May’s.
I’m so busy I almost don’t get a chance to think about the two guys from last night.
Almost. I’m about an hour from getting off when Butch appears beside me suddenly.
“Back door. Go.” It takes me a moment to understand his words.
When they hit, my head jerks up; but he’s blocking my view of the dining room.
“Go,” he urges again. This time, I don’t wait.
I move right to the back door, dropping my apron on the counter as I go.
Hopefully, someone will put it away for me.
I push open the back door and walk away from the building on shaky legs.
Thankfully, there are no windows back here.
The door opens behind me a moment later, and I whirl around.
“It’s just me,” Jessie says as she hurries towards me.
“Come on.” I don’t like the worried look on her face but know there’s nothing I can do about it in this moment.
We both climb into her car, and she pulls out a moment later.
I scan the parking lot and what I can see of the café through the windows, but I don’t see anybody that looks like the two guys in the picture.
“I’m sorry you had to leave early,” I finally manage to say once my breathing slows down somewhat.
Jessie scoffs. “First of all, I love leaving early; so, thank you. Second, it was only like fifteen minutes early.”
“Well, thank you anyway. Thanks for being my getaway driver.”
She looks over at me and then snorts out a laugh.
Her laughter makes me laugh, and I feel a lightness that wasn’t there earlier.
I suddenly remember I left without getting any food.
I have a leftover pancake from my meal that I saved for Noah, but there’s not enough for Renee too.
“Do you mind stopping somewhere so I can grab food for Renee and Noah?”
“Sure,” Jessie says easily. “Where do you want to stop?”
“McDonalds?”
She nods and gets into the left lane. I force myself not to think about the money when I pay for two cheeseburgers and fries for Renee and Noah.
I know Noah will be happy. We never get McDonalds.
Once we’re back on the road again, Jessie glances over at me.
“I’ll keep an ear out and let you know if I learn anything more than you do. ”
“Thanks, Jessie.”
She pulls into what she thinks is my neighborhood a few minutes later and looks over at me. “Just be safe, okay?”
“I will; you too. See you tomorrow,” I tell her as I climb out.
“Nope, tomorrow’s Wednesday,” she reminds me.
“Oh yeah. Thursday.” Her day off is Wednesday.
“I’ll be here at five-thirty on Thursday.”
“Thanks, Jessie.”
She waves and takes off, and I start the walk to the apartment building.
I keep a wary eye out for the guys from last night but thankfully don’t see them.
There are a few other suspect people I keep my distance from, but thankfully, nobody bothers me.
I make the trek up to the third floor and use my key to let myself in. “Hey,” Renee says when she sees me.
Noah pops his head up from his iPad, and I smile and wave at him. He gives me a small smile and goes back to his iPad. “How’d it go?” I ask.
“Fine.” She packs up her bag, and I remember the brown bag I’m carrying. “Oh, I brought dinner.”
Renee waves me off. “I have plans; you eat it.”
“Are you sure?”
She nods and throws her bag on her shoulder. “Yep. Thursday? Same time?”
“Yes. Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.” She waves off my thanks and leaves a moment later.
I set the bag on the table. “Noah, come eat.”
He comes over to the table, iPad in hand. “Uh, uh. No iPad at the table.” He scowls but puts his tablet on the kitchen counter. I grab a water bottle for each of us and pull the burgers and fries out of the bag.
“McDonalds?” It’s a question, not one I really want him to have the full answer to.
“I grabbed it as a thank-you to Renee. But she didn’t want it, so now I get to eat it,” I tell him with a grin.
He takes a massive bite of his cheeseburger, and I copy it.
"Mmm.” We make quick work of the burgers and fries and clean up our trash.
“What’d you do today?” He just shrugs. “Please tell me you do more than play on your tablet all day.”
“I did my school work,” he says quietly.
“Are you sure? Do I need to check it?”
“No. I did it.”
“Good. Go ahead and set out a few of your workbooks.” He gives me a look. “I trust you; I just want to make sure you’re getting the material, especially grammar and math.”
“Fine.” He trudges over to the crate where we store his schoolbooks and comes back a moment later and hands his math workbook to me. A knock at the door pulls my attention. A quick look through the peephole shows it’s the guys from last night.
I spin around. “Go into the bathroom and lock the door,” I tell Noah.
He frowns at me and opens his mouth; I know he’s planning on arguing with me.
“Go; hurry.” He must catch on to my urgency because after a moment of silent debate, he does what I ask.
I grab the white envelope off the table and take a deep breath before answering the door.
“You know why we’re here,” the more talkative guy from last night says with a cruel smile.
I don’t bother trying to carry on a conversation. “Here.” I thrust the envelope into his hand. “Now go.” I start to close the door, but he shoots out a hand and stops it from closing.
“Hey,” he all but croons. “We haven’t had a chance to talk yet.
Let’s be neighborly.” He steps past me, and the other guy with him follows him inside.
I try to keep my breathing even. I realize that I am a single female with two dangerous guys in her apartment and my little brother only a few feet away.
I try to keep my breathing steady as I face them down.
“What do you want?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
The talkative one smirks. “I just want to have a little chat, make sure you’re up to date with things.”
I nod at the envelope in his hand. “That’s what you’re looking for, and you have it.”
He fingers the envelope while looking at me. “All the money is in here?” I nod. “Good.” He turns around, taking in the apartment for a moment. “So, we’re good here? You know how much you owe and when you owe?”
A bad feeling forms in my gut. “When I owe?” I question.
He smiles, but it’s so cold, it hurts. “Every month on the first of the month.”
I feel the air knocked from my chest. “You want me to pay you three hundred a month on top of my rent? That’s crazy!” He gives me a dark look, and I regret my words immediately. I put up a hand. “But, I’ll figure it out.”
That dark expression fades. “Good. I knew you would.” He and his friend start towards the door.
“First of the month; I’ll come to collect.
” He pulls open the door and steps out into the hallway, and his buddy follows him.
He grins. “It’s been great doing business with you; see you the beginning of the month. ”
“That’s in like two weeks,” I argue.
He smirks cruelly. “It is; don’t be late.” The door closes, and I try to catch my breath. A few seconds later, Noah steps out of the bathroom and walks over to me.
“Are you okay?” he asks softly.
I force a smile. “I’m fine. Now, let’s look at your workbooks.” He hands me his math workbook.
I pick it up and wince when the weight of it pulls on my wrist. It’s been aching today, but it seems worse tonight. I switch hands, but my observant brother noticed. “Does it hurt?”
“It’s fine.”
“Did he break your arm?”
“No,” I rush to reassure him. “No, it’s fine; it’s already healing.” We don’t bring it up again, but the next morning, I take in the bruising on my arm. It wasn’t bad yesterday, but it’s so much more obvious today. Hopefully, it heals quickly and nobody notices.