by Korry Smith
“And then what?” I gulped down the large lump in the back of my throat. “We’ll live our life on the run as fugitives?”
“What choice do we have?”
“What about money? Where will we live?”
“Anywhere we want. If we need a roll of tape?” Alex smirked. “We’ll stop by a hardware store.”
I snorted, rolling my eyes. “Yeah, okay.”
“Come on, baby.” He squeezed my hands and implored me with a beautiful, sly smile. “You know you want to.”
“You’re insane.” I leaned my forehead on his and sighed. “This whole idea is insane.”
“Yeah, I know.” His eyes were blazing with excitement. “But imagine all the fun we’ll have.”
In that moment, and for no reason at all, the hood of the Lamborghini flashed in my head.
“And all the trouble we’ll cause,” I added, my lips barely going over his, as the feeling of arousal and thrill overshadowed my pesky worries.
Alex knew he had me. “Exactly.”
Somewhere in the room Sawyer groaned loudly, already predicting where this line of thinking was going to lead us.
“Can somebody please explain to me where our sane and level-headed Alex went?” Len glanced around the room.
Sawyer was sitting back in his chair, shaking his head, and staring up at the ceiling. Dev was avoiding her boyfriend’s eyes, and Nyx was bouncing in her seat with excitement.
At least someone shared my enthusiasm.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Alex asked, slightly pulling away from me and scowling over at Len.
“You’re not acting like yourself, man!” he answered, throwing his hands up in frustration and nearly knocking Dev in the head. “You guys are going to pack up and ride off into the sunset because of,” he pointed at the television and scoffed, “a petty assault charge?”
“This is what I’ve been telling you, Len. He’s not thinking anymore.” Sawyer sat up and rested his elbows on his knees. His light brown eyes were directing blame, and they landed on me. “It’s like he’s got blinders on and his perspective is narrowed.”
I was the problem. It was hard for me to see the change in Alex because even through our hard times, he’d always been the same with me, to a degree. But as I looked around and judged from the reactions of the people who have known him for years, the difference was startling.
“Yeah, I can see that shit now,” Len chuckled. “He’s got a one-track mind—and Jesus Christ, he’s such a fucking hothead now. You can’t even joke around with him anymore.”
“You fuckers need to stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Alex growled, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Len grinned, nudging Dev with his elbow. “See what I mean?”
“You’re an idiot.” She pushed away from him.
“Look, all we’re saying is that you need to stop and think for a minute,” Sawyer said. “You’ve made a big mess of things already. Don’t go flying off the handle and make shit worse.”
Alex took a deep breath and let his friends’ advice sink in. He looked up at me, and once again, searched my eyes for the answer. My words were what mattered. It was a massive feeling to have so much power over a person’s decisions. I wondered why he trusted me. He was the one who took me off the streets, given me a home, and a family.
What exactly had I given him?
In the end, I just smiled weakly, letting him know in that one gesture that I didn’t have the answers.
“Fine, maybe you guys are right.” Alex stood from his squat. “But what am I supposed to do? Stay here and wait for them to come and arrest us? Do you honestly think that they would have shown that fucking propaganda on the television if they weren’t gunning for us? They want our faces to be known to the world, Sawyer. Did you ever stop and ask yourself why that is? On a petty fucking assault charge?”
“Because it’s Arizona and the media’s bored,” Len said.
“No, that’s bullshit,” Alex said, pacing the room again. “All those fucking cameras in that entire police station and they only catch me holding a gun to that asshole’s head? Doesn’t that seem a little suspicious to you?”
“Oh please,” Dev said. “Now the whole police station is after you? You think way too highly of yourself.”
The family was skeptical of his theory, and it seemed far-fetched, but he raised an interesting point. Why was it just Alex on the camera? Why hadn’t the police notice the way Terry dragged me out of the building? Were they all turning a blind eye just like Susan? It didn’t make sense for them to do that, but it didn’t make sense for them to focus solely on Alex, either.
“Fine, fucking mock me, but I know there’s something more to this.” He glanced over at me with zero indecisiveness. “Regardless if they come for us or not, we’re leaving.”
“You just tell me when.”
“Man.” Len groaned as he lifted Dev off his lap and rose from the chair. “You’re leaving us no choice, and I hate when you do that shit.”
Alex spun his head in Len’s direction. “What?”
“We’re coming with you,” he said.
Nyx eyes widened, and she looked over at me with a huge smile. “Oh, I love these road trips of ours.”
“No, fuck that,” Alex said, shaking his head. “This isn’t a group thing we’re doing here, all right? It’s Madi and me getting out of town. I don’t need you fuckers making shit more complicated.”
“But someone has got to keep you guys in check,” Len said. “Otherwise, you’ll blow up a building or some shit.”
“That’s precisely why I don’t fucking want you guys to come. I don’t need you all policing our activities.”
Nyx wasn’t even listening to Alex anymore. In her mind, it was a done deal. All she wanted to do was talk about the places where we can stop to eat and things we could sightsee. It was exhausting just watching her, but she seemed like a lot of fun to have around. This group trip wasn’t the worst idea. It only inhibited my alone time with Alex.
“It’s not like we’ll all be driving together, man,” Len said. “We’ll be like a motorcycle gang, but with cars.”
Alex stared at him with a blank expression. “Are you fucking serious?”
“What?”
“Never mind,” Alex said, walking back over to me, and grabbing my hand. “We’re going back to bed. If the police knock on the door looking for us, tell them that we’re not here.”
“We’ll do that.” Len snorted.
Making it back to our room, Alex closed the door behind us and locked it. He rubbed his face with his hands, wanting to scream at the top of his lungs.
He looked up at me with those beautiful eyes, weary but resolute. “We’re leaving tomorrow, and they’re not coming.”
The intensity of his words was compelling and convincing, and I wanted it to be just us, but I felt guilty for being selfish. I couldn’t deny how the rashness of his actions aroused me. I fed off it, and, unknowingly, encouraged it. Things were so out of control. If it wasn’t for me, and my problems, Alex wouldn’t be planning to leave his family.
“Babe,” I said, but he was still too close and made it hard for me to be strong, so I took a step back. “I don’t want you ditching your family for me. The way they talk, it’s obvious that you’re not the same person.”
He took back my step and added two of his own, closing the short distance, and suffocating my judgment. “Who gives a shit about what they think? I’m the one who fucked up.”
My arms wrapped around him. “I’m not some innocent bystander in all this.”
He rested his chin on my head and sighed. “I don’t see any other way, kid.”
Closing my eyes, I breathed him in and concentrated on making that smell a memory. “Staying here and facing our problems would be out of character for us.”
He laughed and hugged me tighter. “So, it’s settled then.”
Last year, I wanted to be a writer, but today? Falling into Al
ex’s turbulent waters and never coming back up sounded like Heaven.
It’s not every day your boyfriend offers to steal the world for you.
The news was still running our segment the next day as we were leaving. They painted Terry as an innocent man. The hard-working guy, whose stepdaughter, one he raised since she was nine, ambushed him with her criminal boyfriend and tried to rob him. The footage was convincing. It showed Terry, with a gun against his head, throwing money at Alex. We didn’t take the money, but through crafty edits and manipulation, it illustrated a very different story.
The fact that the media was blowing this whole thing out of proportion, making it into some spectacle, wasn’t all that surprising to me, but how could the law warp the truth like that? I knew Terry was golfing buddies with the Sheriff, but I never imagined that he would help Terry create this outrageous lie.
It infuriated me.
“We should just go up there and tell them what happened, Alex,” I ranted as he put our bags in the car.
The sun was barely coming up over the mountains in the east, and it was still dark outside. We were making an early morning getaway, but not in the way I thought we would. Before we left, Alex knocked on Len and Dev’s door and told them goodbye. I’m not sure if his words registered with them, but it was said, and that was all that mattered to him.
“They won’t believe us, kid.” Alex slammed the trunk closed. “You were convicted of an assault and battery charge on Terry, and me? I am just a worthless piece of shit with a criminal record that is a mile long. We’re fucked.”
“And what about a lie detector test?” I asked, following him around towards the front of the car. “If we took it, they’ll see that we’re telling the truth.”
He laughed. “Baby, those motherfuckers just doctored a video! Actual fucking footage of what went down. What makes you think that they’ll play fair with a lie detector test?”
My shoulders slumped as his words sunk in, and he was right. No one was ever going to believe us. They would continue to hunt us down until we were safely behind bars.
I slipped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest. “This sucks.”
He hugged me close. “Welcome to my side of the law, kid.”
“It makes me mad that they’re lying about what happened. The cops and media are making Terry look like the good guy, and it makes me feel broken. It’s like he’s won again. All those years I lived in that house afraid of what he was going to do, I wanted him to suffer and pay for his actions for once. That’s all.”
It wasn’t fair that a person like Terry was continuing to get away with such evilness. How long would he live before karma swung back around and bopped him on the head? And when it did finally catch up with him, how many people would that bastard have hurt by then? I got away before he could ruin me. I was lucky, but what about the next girl he goes after and destroys?
The countless lives he will demolish with his sick and twisted selfishness wasn’t sitting well with me.
It had been silent for a long time. My eyes closed as I listened to each breath as Alex’s chest rose and fell. It was beautiful and serene, but soon his hold around me grew tighter and tighter until I was wincing in pain.
“Oww,” I croaked, tapping my hand on his back.
“Fuck,” Alex said, releasing me from his death grip and pulling away. “I’m sorry, baby. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said, tilting my head to the side. “Are you okay?”
There was this far off look in his eyes, intense and brooding. The muscles in his arms strained as he closed his fists. He was on edge now, and I’m not sure what exactly it was that made him change from his once relaxed demeanor.
“Come on,” he said, gesturing for me to get in the car.
“Okay,” I said, slightly confused by his sudden urgency, but didn’t question it.
Getting into the car, I fastened my seatbelt and looked over at Alex. He had his 9mm Glock and was pulling out the clip. Always fully loaded, not that surprising, and he put it back into the gun. He set it on my lap, and then, without saying a word to me, reached over and opened the glove box. He was getting out his Colt, and unveiling it from the white cloth. Checking that it was loaded with all eleven rounds, he cocked it. I heard the distinct sound of a bullet popping up and sitting happily in the chamber.
He sat up and tucked it into his back waistband. How that was comfortable to have jammed into him while driving was beyond me, but he didn’t seem to mind. He did it all the time.
“The suspense is killing me, Alex,” I said, jutting out my lip in a mocked pout. “What’s going on? Are we going to rob a bank or something?” Of course, I was joking, but when he didn’t answer me, I got worried. “Are we?”
He laughed, shaking his head. “No, we’re not going to rob a bank.”
“Then what are we doing? Why are we packing heat?” I asked, lifting my gun, and waving it at him.
He scowled, covering his hand over mine and shoving the gun back down into my lap. “Jesus, kid. You never aim a gun at somebody unless you intend to kill them.”
My faux pas flushed across my cheeks. “Sorry.” Being more tactful with my weapon and my words, I spoke again. “If we’re going to run off together, you have to let me in on your plans.”
“We’re making a short pit stop before we leave, and I think its best if we go in prepared,” he said and started up the car.
“This short pit stop of ours?” My eyes narrowed with skepticism as I watched his actions and words closely. “Where exactly is this place?”
He gave me a quick glance as he turned his body towards the back window and shifted into reverse. “I was kind of hoping that you would give me directions.”
It didn’t take me long to surmise what his plans were. It shouldn’t have shocked me as much as it did, considering how rash he was when it came to his protection of me, but it still managed to knock the air right out of my lungs.
“We’re going to see Terry and Susan? Are you crazy?”
“You said so yourself, Madi. They think they’ve won. Fuck that. I’m not going to sit here and watch you be distraught over those assholes. We’re just going to go there, shake them up a bit, and leave. It’s going to take five minutes. Come on, cheer up.” He grabbed my knee and shook it a little. “We’ll have pancakes afterward.”
“Alex, this is not what I wanted,” I said, throwing myself back into my seat. “I just wanted him to…”
“Pay?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Yes, but by the law. I wanted him to rot in jail and be held accountable for his crimes.”
“Well, baby,” Alex said, rubbing his hand up and down my leg. “I’m sorry to say, but the law isn’t on our side. If you want that asshole to pay, we’re going to have to do this shit ourselves.”
It killed me, but he was right. The police weren’t going to investigate Terry or pay attention to what I had to say. They made up their mind about me long ago. I was a runaway and a criminal, who had assaulted her stepfather a year ago and then robbed him blind outside a police station. They had it all on tape to prove it.
It was time to assume the role that they had given me.
“You’re going to need to get on the two-oh-two and head east,” I said, tucking the gun into the front of my pants.
Alex grabbed the back of my neck and popped a kiss on my head. “That’s my girl.”
An hour later, I was biting at my nails and trying to suppress the nervous butterflies manifesting and fluttering in my stomach. “What are you doing?”
“We’re going to park here and walk the rest of the way,” Alex said.
Terry and Susan lived in the housing development behind the gas station, and we pulled into the lot in the far back corner, nowhere near the front windows or in the view of the surveillance cameras. I opened my mouth to ask him why, but he answered me with a simple explanation. The Chevelle stood out, and parking in front of my old house was dangerous.
What if the neighbors saw it? They would be able to describe it to the police. I completely understood his logic...but…this was going to be so much more than just a shakeup.
“Okay,” I said, but the tremble in my voice gave him some doubt.
“Baby, if you don’t feel right about doing this, you can always stay in the car.”
Not once did he offer to leave and not visit, because, in Alex’s mind, this house call was going to happen; with or without me.
“No, I want to be there. I have to do this.”
“All right.” He stroked my cheek with his knuckles. “Follow my lead.”
Gripping his hand tightly when we got out of the car, I followed close behind him as we walked down the street to the Palisades Grove Homes District. The neighborhood was quiet, and a few birds were chirping, signaling in the new day. It looked the same, and I shuddered as the horrible memories came flooding back. How many times had I walked this street to school, grateful that I’d managed to dodge another advance from my stepfather? The only thing that seemed different was me. The last few months of being homeless and meeting my guy had left a profound and lasting imprint.
I gripped onto Alex’s arm as the house came into view. It was single-story stone stucco, and I saw that both cars were in the driveway. It was a Monday morning, and Susan would be up already, making Terry some coffee. Their routine was predictable, and that worked in our favor.
We walked up to the door, and my heart started to race. I squeezed Alex’s hand, feeling my anxiety heighten with every step we took. My eyes blurred and focused continuously as the blood pumped through my veins, leaving me with a mixture of uneasiness and excitement.
As we stood at the door, Alex’s finger hesitated over the doorbell. He glanced down at me. “Do you trust me?”
“More than anything,” I said.
“Good.” He smiled and pushed the button.
The high-pitched chime echoed throughout the house, and I could hear Susan’s feet shuffling on the tile floor. She was wearing those God-awful slippers; the ones that were pink and fluffy, and that only a five-year-old should wear.
The door swung open, and Susan stood there before us with shock and disgust written on her face. It wasn’t until Alex accosted her, walking himself into the doorway and pointed the gun at her head, did she realize what was going on.
