1. Run-a-way Bride #4
While she was talking, I was putting on my seat belt because she’d already started the drive from the blackberry farm.
Except, she didn’t go down the entrance road; she was taking a back street out of here that I hadn’t known existed.
There was probably much I hadn’t known about because I hadn’t explored much on my short walk.
The car smelled like new leather and expensive perfume that I couldn’t identify. It was the first scent I’d inhaled that didn’t make me nauseous, though.
“Here, count this.”
She tossed a wad of cash onto my lap, and before it could hit the floor, I grabbed it. My heart was pounding just as fast as the car, my mind felt like it was spinning in circles, and the cool air blowing in my face from the vent irritated my eyes because of these thick lashes.
Instead of counting what was a mixture of tens, fives, and ones rubber-banded together, I kept blinking at the stack.
I was trying to make sense of it all. My life had been feeling like a movie these last thirty days, and when I thought it was coming to an end – a dreadful one but an end nonetheless – I’d been thrust into the climax.
“You’re in shock,” she stated the obvious as she danced through traffic as if she were in a Nissan Altima instead of a seven-hundred-thousand-dollar car.
She’d made a turn that had me gripping the dashboard and thinking my life was flashing before my eyes because I thought we were going to flip over.
Once she ran the red light ahead, I grabbed my chest and turned in my seat to check on Mafia.
As if this was a normal occurrence, she had her leg propped on the window while sipping from a sippy cup. The baby had more heart than I did.
If her driving wasn’t reckless, her pulling out her phone while doing thirty above the speed limit took the cake.
“Okay, the next train leaves in twenty minutes. Use the money to get a ticket to Jagoda Bay. You should make it there in about two hours.”
I nodded in response.
She locked her phone, tossed it into the cup holder, and pressed the pedal to the metal.
This car was fascinating. Had I been in a better headspace, I could appreciate it more.
I’d only been in a Rolls Royce once, when my father rented one to chauffeur me to prom.
That was nine years ago, which meant that one was a decade old.
This one hinted at opulence and luxury, and she was driving it like it was worthless.
Who the hell is this girl? That was probably something I should have figured out before I followed her into the woods, but we were here now. At this point, I’d follow the little red wolf if it meant I could avoid marrying the evil person my father matched me with.
She was smoothly shifting her gaze from me to the road.
I’d never driven this fast in my life. My little BMW was my baby, but I hadn’t gone over the speed limit.
I stayed on the straight and narrow because I didn’t want anything going back to my father.
My father, though? He had a need for speed.
He left a lot behind, but among his most prized possessions was his burgundy 1970 Dodge Challenger.
He’d poured a lot of money, sweat, and tears into it, and my favorite memories with him were when he’d take me to the countryside and floor it.
I loved that car, even though I wasn’t even a muscle car girl.
I’d always told myself I would buy one when I got my big girl job, and now, I didn’t even know if that would happen.
“Shit, my fucking sister is going to kill me. And my nigga? My nigga is gonna act a damn fool behind me assisting a whole ass runaway bride. Ima have to suck until my knees sore to make up for this shit. You sure you want to do this? I mean, from how much he spent with my sister, whoever he is, at least he’s rich,” She shrugged as she made another deadly turn.
“I...I’m sure.” I wasn’t really sure. I didn’t know if this was going to backfire on me or get me killed, but I knew I didn’t want to marry a stranger.
I didn’t want to disappoint my father, but I also didn’t want to waste my life.
My father had always let me decide what I wanted.
He’d sacrifice his needs and wants for mine, yet in death, he was forcing my hand.
No. That wasn’t happening. I should have said no from the beginning, but I was grieving, and with security trapping me in every day, what could I do?
Now I had a chance to run, and I wasn’t looking back.
“I thought you said…fuck these niggas?” I tried making light of the situation.
She scrunched her nose.
“I said fuck THESE niggas not MY nigga. It’s a difference, boo. Wait you got a phone?”
Reaching into my pocket, I handed it to her. Rolling her window down, she tossed it into the lake we were passing.
“Just in case that nigga can track you. Any other electronics?”
I shook my head no. I hadn’t even considered being tracked by my phone. I was in way over my head, but I refused to be a bride to a stranger.
The green from the tops of the trees, the silver from the buildings, the black from the newly paved roads, and the additional array of colors that made up Sparkling City, add in the rush of fleeing, made me feel sick again.
My stomach was churning, but I wouldn’t dare vomit in her car.
One, I didn’t want to get my ass beat or worse, and two, I didn’t want to upset the only person who seemed to come along and rescue me.
A job that was usually reserved for my father.
“Hey! You hear me?”
Blinking, I realized that the vehicle had now stopped, but the motor was still running.
“We’re here. Do you have an ID? Or do I need to come in and work my magic?”
The words that spewed from her mouth didn’t match the individual at all.
Not only did this lady look and smell expensive, but she also carried a rich bitch aura about herself.
However, the way she talked, I knew she hadn’t grown up in the private schools I attended, which was fine, but it was almost refreshing to meet someone who was the complete opposite of me.
I pat the pocket of my hoodie. I hadn’t brought a purse out with me this morning, but I did have my wallet chain and cell phone stuffed in my pocket. Since she’d tossed my phone in the lake, miles back, I was only checking for my wallet. Once I confirmed it was there, I nodded.
“Okay, once you get off the train, there should be taxis posted up at the Jagoda Bay station. Don’t use your credit or debit cards at all. Pay the taxi and have him take you to the J.W. Marriott downtown. I’ll have somebody there to help you.”
Jagoda Bay. Train. Taxi. Marriott. No, J.W. Marriott . I was mentally jotting down all of her instructions.
“O..okay. And what about after that?”
She scratched her head and shrugged.
“Shit, girl, I don’t fucking know. We gone figure the shit out, though.
Look, I know you don’t know me, but you can trust me.
Under the protection of my people, you gone be good.
Now, you may not like the solution we come up with, but I can guarantee it’s better than whatever the fuck yo daddy had set up for you. ”
If her goal was to make me feel confident with her statement, she had failed miserably. Still, I appreciated the ride and the money and would follow her instructions because, at this point, I didn’t really have anyone else or a plan.
“You’re helping me, and I don’t even know your name.”
She grinned, showing stark white, perfect teeth.
“I’m Dasani Rinaldi. Wife of Don Demise Rinaldi. Now, run.”
She pressed a button that opened the door. As soon as my feet hit the pavement, I took off. Onlookers peered at me as if I were crazy, but I didn’t care. I had to get away.
“Wunnnn Wunnnn!”
Looking behind me as I reached the automated doors, I saw little Mafia hanging out in the back seat with her sippy cup in her hand, encouraging me. I didn’t know how I was going to pay her, but I didn’t have time to think about that. I had to get to my destination.
It was all a blur. I couldn’t remember how much the train ticket cost or where I sat on the train. I just knew that one moment I was at the ticket counter, and the next, I was standing outside the Jagoda Bay terminal.
“Ma’am. Do you need some assistance?”
An older woman who looked too aged to be working stood before me, wearing a Jagoda Bay train station shirt, black pants, and holding a broom with blue plastic gloves on her hands.
“If you could point me to the taxis, that would be great.”
She smiled, giving me the same feeling of comfort as a grandchild lying under their grandmother.
It was the first time in thirty days I felt at ease, even though I was still far from out of the muddy waters.
Jagoda Bay was only a few hours from Sparkling City.
I was too close to home. I had been here many times, especially to shop.
Some of my father’s favorite stores and many of my favorite restaurants were here.
Jagoda Bay was the only place I considered to take a job outside Sparkling City because it was close enough to my father.
One of the scouts from Jagoda One – a private hospital here – had come to the school, and our chat had gone well.
Shaking my head, I refocused on the little old lady in front of me.
There was no point in thinking about work or anything tied to my life. I had to survive.
Lifting her finger, she pointed to the line of black Taxis that were parked on the curve only a few feet away from us.
My cheeks warmed in embarrassment as I thanked her and headed that way.
Hopping in the back of one, the smell of incense burned my nostrils as the driver with the turban wrapped around his head watched me in the rearview mirror.
“Where to?”
“J.W. Marriott downtown.”
Giving a quick nod, he eased into traffic as I rolled down the window. I needed some air. Not only were the fumes making me dizzy, but so was this whole day. Still, I was trying to stay calm and hopeful.
“Please, daddy. I know you wanted me to marry this guy, but I can’t. If you’re watching like you promised you always would, give me a sign. Give me a sign that I’m doing the right thing,” my whispered voice cracked.
“Excuse me?”
Clearing my throat, I shook my head without even bothering to look at the driver through the rearview mirror.
“Nothing.”
After nearly ten minutes of driving, I replayed the entire escape in my head, trying to see if I’d missed anything she instructed.
I had taken the train to Jagoda Bay and now I was in the cab on the way to J.W.
Marriott. It had been foolish to put my life in the hands of a stranger, but I had no other options.
The taxi stopped at a red light, and as I looked out the window, my eyes landed on the most beautiful Challenger I’d ever seen.
Grief welled up in my chest. This one was clearly brand new and happened to be painted in two of my favorite colors.
It was teal, with a hot pink stripe running vertically down the hood and across the sides.
It wasn’t in traffic; it was parked outside what looked like a bar.
Seeing a Challenger shouldn’t have made me nearly break down in the backseat of this corner store-smelling taxi.
I was so disappointed in my father. I was confused by his actions, but still, I couldn’t bring myself to hold malice toward the only person I had in the world. Then realization hit.
“Did she say her husband was a Don? As in Mafia?” I asked myself in another whisper.
“What did you say?” The driver’s accent was so thick that his words nearly ran together.
I’m Dasani Rinaldi. Wife of Don Demise Rinaldi. Now, run.
A wave of black terror swept through me. My stomach clenched tightly, and I could barely steady my racing pulse. The light turned green.
“STOP!”
The driver suddenly slammed on the brakes even though he had just started to accelerate, which threw me forward. Glancing at the meter, I grabbed more money than I thought I needed from my hood pocket and slid it through the glass that separated us.
“Here? You want to get out of here? We are in the middle of the road! There are trucks-”
Opening the door, I ran toward the curve, which was more than three lanes away, before I was hit.
Horns blared, but I didn’t care. I’d asked my father for a sign, and there was a Challenger parked in the lot.
It was only right that he’d get me out of this mess since he’d caused it.
Not even bothering to read the bar's sign, I rushed through the doors. My world had been flipped upside down, and I know I looked like an idiot in all white and glam, with my hair half-pinned up, but the patrons inside hardly looked at me. I was a whole runaway bride, and the best I could do was hide in a bar. I was most definitely doomed.But at least I wasn’t at Blackberry Farms.