Travesty

by Carrie Thomas

  “We’ll go Monday and get you signed up for school. You’re going to love it. It’s not too big, yet big enough we don’t have to play six man football.” She winked. “Are you a football fan?”

  “Not really. I don’t know anything about it.” I shrugged.

  “Girl, you better start educating yourself. In Texas, football is a way of life. Businesses close on Friday nights.” She was animated explaining the almost cult following.

  I smiled on the inside at how passionate she was about it. “Thanks for telling me. I don’t want to be the pariah on my first day.”

  “No problem. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you. I’ve got a closet full of clothes and shoes I think will fit you. You can have anything you want.”

  “That’s nice of you, but I couldn’t do that.” Were we that transparent? Obviously, the wardrobe we’d purchased at the store weren’t name brand, but they didn’t have holes in them or anything.

  “Nonsense, these don’t fit me anymore. Ever since I turned thirty, shit went south, and fast. I had it goin’ on in my twenties, but now, at thirty-four—not so much.” She scrunched up her nose.

  I couldn’t believe she was talking down about herself. She looked fantastic. I wouldn’t have pegged her for over twenty-six. Tonya was beautiful. She had black, shoulder length hair. Her eyes were as green as grass in the spring time. I hoped I looked as fit as her when I was thirty-four. “I may not agree with your opinion of yourself, but thank you. That sounds cool.”

  I looked down at the pink T-shirt I was wearing. I was so grateful Abe had thought about me needing things to wear. I’d been so distraught, I hadn’t been able to add two and two together. I’d only had the clothes on my back when he found me. Hell, I wasn’t even wearing any shoes. As mundane as garments were, I was actually excited about getting new ones. Just by looking at Tonya, I could tell they were going to be cool and in style.

  “Follow me,” she said, leading me down a long hallway.

  As we entered her walk-in closet, I stood there mesmerized. Every designer imaginable laid bare in the huge closet for me to pick from. There were so many different styles, brands, and colors, I didn’t know where to start.

  “Anything on this side is yours,” she said holding her arms out wide to the right.

  “I can’t believe this. Can I try them on?” My girliness burst from the inside-out. I felt pretty just looking at them, knowing they could be mine.

  “Sure. Here, I’ll take them down and you can change in the bathroom.”

  It was bizarre how something as little as clothes could make me so happy. It was going to be awkward enough to have to start a new school, but at least I would be going in style. I couldn’t wait to show Abe.

  Two hours later, I had more clothes than I could’ve worn in a month. Everything from jeans to sweats, and even a Kelly green sequined dress. I think I smiled more in those two hours than I had in the last week.

  “Thank you so much.” I hugged her.

  “No problem. Honestly, you did me a favor.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Because looking at that side of the closet only depresses me.” She frowned.

  I laughed out loud and covered my mouth with my hand. I was starting to feel relaxed around her. She seemed real and easy going.

  She interrupted my laughter with a question. “How old is Abe?”

  “Eighteen,” I answered without hesitation.

  “Has he always taken care of you?”

  “Umm, no—just recently.” I looked down. I wasn’t going to give her any more than that. Mostly because I was sure I would screw it up.

  “He seems protective of you.”

  “I guess.” I held my smile in, as her observation made me feel warm inside. Ever since I’d met Abe, he’d only ever treated me with kindness and respect. I felt like I was number one in his life, and there was something so invigorating about it.

  Abe and Cal came in through the back door. I glanced up at him, while taking in his worried eyes. My palms turned sweaty, knowing we were about to be in a room with everyone, while trying to convince them our story was legit.

  After taking a deep breath to shake off some of the nerves, I smiled at him so that he would know I’d been okay with Tonya in his absence. He smiled back, as Cal made his way over to Tonya for a kiss.

  “You’re going to be happy with me, babe,” she said to Cal.

  “Oh yeah? What did you do?”

  “It just so happens little Sophia here has the same exact body I used to have.”

  “Abe?” Cal turned his attention from Tonya to Abe.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “This is known as a set up. I don’t know if you’ve got a girl or not, but when they start talkin’ about their sizes, I find it’s best to just stay silent.”

  Abe and I both chuckled.

  “Sophia?” Tonya squinted at Cal’s remark and addressed me.

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “I don’t know if you have a boyfriend or not, but when men act like jackasses, I find it’s best to just kick them in the balls.”

  I smirked, more at Cal and Abe’s faces than anything.

  “Day or night,” she added with a raised brow.

  Their banter continued, which kept me and Abe in stitches. They were so playful. I didn’t have a boyfriend, but I hoped we could be like them when I did.

  “No, seriously, I gave Sophia all of my old clothes,” Tonya explained. “They fit her perfect.”

  “Awesome. Now I’ll have room to put my hunting stuff in the closet,” he joked. I glanced at Abe. He looked surprised, but he didn’t say anything.

  “I’ll help you load them up. Abe, is your truck still out front?”

  “Yeah, but I can get them,” he said politely.

  “Umm, there are nine garbage bags,” I said sheepishly.

  “Oh, well in that case.” He shrugged.

  We carried all the bags out and Abe casually asked Tonya where the library was located. She gave us directions, and Abe told me on the way home that we could go to the library after we ate dinner.

  “I can’t believe Tonya gave me all of this. I feel bad for taking it and not paying her anything,” I said as Abe and I hung everything up in the closet.

  “I offered her money, but she turned me down.”

  My soul smiled every time he thought of me, especially when I didn’t think of myself. Offering to pay for my stuff just proved his moral code was above and beyond. “Thank you.”

  “No problem. I think we lucked out meeting them.”

  I took the dress out of the bag and hung it on the hanger. “I know. It’s weird. I’m not sure where I’m from, but I feel like this is my home now.” I turned back around to continue the sorting and Abe was right in front of me.

  He smiled down at me and for some reason, it was reassuring. “Me too, Soph.”

  I’d intended on making something special for our first official dinner together, but grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup was the quickest option. We had business to attend to and it was killing me that we’d gone so long without checking in with the local police departments from back home. Not to mention, all of the legal shit we still had to contend with.

  Sophia and I walked into the local library and made a bee-line for the computers. I had no clue what we needed, so I just googled registering for high school. The results dampened my enthusiasm. It was like trying to get a job with the CIA. Were they going ask for a blood sample from her too? I got frustrated looking through the amount of documents we had to have. It was going to take more work on my part, in order to get her everything she’d need.

  I didn’t want to discourage Sophia, but I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to pull it off. I had a moment of doubt, wondering if we shouldn’t have just told Cal and Tonya the truth. The only thing keeping me from doing that was my age. Being a minor wasn’t going to fly with people like them, who were completely on the up and up. Clicking through everything, I didn�
��t know how I could get my hands on a fake birth certificate, or vaccine records for that matter. The proof of residence would be easy.

  “Soph?” I decided to just be honest with her. Or at least as honest as I could be, without freaking her out.

  “Yeah?”

  “This is going to be tough. We have to get a birth certificate and medical records.”

  She bowed her head. It gutted me to see her sad. I felt like I wasn’t measuring up. I was her hero, I was supposed to figure it out. I had to. I wanted the days of seeing her sad eyes past us. I made a mental note to get her a present; something I’d heard Pat say reminded me she’d liked cameras and taking pictures.

  “We’ll figure it out. I’m gonna keep searching. Do you want to look for a book? We can get a library card while we’re here.”

  “Sure, but I’ll wait on you,” she said, taking in our surroundings. Apparently, libraries were the same no matter what city you lived in. The guy next to me had plastic bags wrapped around his boots for whatever reason, and the woman directly in front of us was tweaking her ass off.

  I stared at both of them, letting them know I wouldn’t be messed with. I’d had a lot of experience with criminals who roamed around because they had no other place to go. Given the neighborhood I was raised in, I knew it was best to let them know from the beginning where you stood. And I dang sure wasn’t going to be robbed.

  After the research and knowing everything I did now, we’d come to a last resort. I had to go back to Oklahoma. Jim’s worthless ass was going to get me a birth certificate and shot records for Sophia. He was the only low-life I knew of who had the connections. After the way I’d beat him before I left, surely he wouldn’t refuse me. I’d threaten to call the police again, and if that didn’t work, I’d make him think I’d kill him. I just hoped he didn’t tempt me with the latter. I wasn’t sure I had it in me to make the right decision the second time around.

  “Romance?” I asked, following Soph into the adult romance section. I noticed she casually pretended to look at the books on the shelves. I knew she had no interest in any of them because she didn’t even read the synopsis of the couple she’d picked up.

  “What? There’s nothing wrong with love.”

  “Yeah, but these are cheesy. Look at the dumbass covers for goodness’ sake,” I said thumping one of the books.

  “It’s what I’m in the mood for. I can’t help it.” She blushed.

  “All right, I’ll give you a freebie this time.” I winked at her because even though I thought her choice in reading material was complete shit, she was cute being embarrassed by it.

  Sophia ended up getting five books because I reminded her that she may find herself bored until we could get her enrolled in school. She didn’t have an ID yet, so I had to sign up for the library card in order for us to check the books out.

  “Thanks for getting me the books.” She’d spent the ride back looking at the covers and reading the backs of them.

  “You’re welcome.”

  She was so beautiful. Her innocence shined through, no matter how hard she tried to mask it. The smallest things excited her, while the tragic beginning of our relationship hadn’t deterred her from following my lead. From trusting me.

  Her long blonde hair and clear, dark-blue eyes made her look like a model, but her personality told me she didn’t know it. She was grateful and humble, but strong. She was quiet, yet fierce. It was peculiar that I found myself thinking about her more often than not. I wondered what she was thinking ninety percent of the time, and that was definitely not something I normally did. I was usually so wrapped up in my own thoughts, other people were in the background to me.

  It was late, so we both got ready for bed. She put that damn short nightgown on once again, and I spent ten minutes trying to keep my body in check. I’d always been taken by people who were modest. Accepting that we were all the same on the inside was something I’d learned from an early age. I’d known since I was ten years old that deciding who I became was all mental. If I wanted to be a good person, I could. If I wanted to be a junkie, I could. But that wasn’t what I wanted for myself. I wanted to be a hard worker and provide for the family I would one day have. I couldn’t imagine anything more important than taking care of my own. I wanted them to know that even though we couldn’t control our circumstances, we could fight until we had the outcome we wanted.

  I took my turn in the bathroom, trying to think of anything other than the fact that she was in the bed. It didn’t matter how hard I tried to be a gentleman, I always reverted back to being a freaking normal seventeen-year-old pervert.

  I stepped out of the bathroom to find her sitting on the edge of the bed. The nightgown was so high on her thighs, I swore I could see black panties, or maybe I was willing them to be black, I didn’t know for sure. It was getting hard to tell the difference between what was reality or fantasy anymore. I felt something stir inside and new I’d have to get out of there in a hurry.

  “Abe?”

  “Huh?” She chuckled, bringing me from the ridiculous daydream I was conjuring up in my mind. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” she mumbled, licking her lips.

  I hadn’t missed the way her voice sounded. I knew she was thinking something similar to me because she continued to stare at me without saying anything else. I was bare-chested, with only a pair of basketball shorts on. I felt perplexed. I couldn’t be sure her head was in the exact space as mine, but I was pretty sure things were confusing for her too. Then again, it could just be stress. It was hard to tell, given that neither of us had ever experienced our current situation. Shit, I needed to get out of there.

  “Will you sleep with me again? I know it’s a little weird, but I seem to sleep better with you next to me,” she said looking self-conscious.

  Or maybe not. The thing was, I’d slept better in the past couple of nights with her near me too. I was going to have to suck up my teenage hormones, and fast. “It’s not weird, Sophia. I’ve been sleeping well too.”

  “Good. I was starting to feel like I was being clingy. I’m not trying to be.”

  “You’re not. We just make each other feel safe is all,” I said, walking over to the bed. I was acting cool on the outside, but my body was screaming on the inside. I should have taken care of myself in the bathroom.

  The bedroom had a small flat-screen television on the wall, fitted perfectly in the corner. I grabbed the remote off the dresser before getting into bed. “You want to watch some TV before we go to sleep?” I figured, if anything, it would help distract my mind from where it was heading.

  “Sure.” She scooted her body over to her side of the bed, pulling the blankets up to her chin.

  I flipped through the channels until I found a late-night talk show. I was nervous about telling her I had to go back to Oklahoma, but after thinking about it, I didn’t want to lie. She trusted me and I was all she had. I turned so that I could face her, with only the blue hue from the television to light the room.

  “Soph?”

  “Yeah?” She turned her eyes toward me.

  I wanted to reach out and touch her because I knew I was about to upset her. “I have something to tell you and I don’t want you to get upset. Just know that I feel like this is the only option we have right now.”

  “Okay.” She looked nervous. I hated being the reason.

  “I’ve got to go back to Oklahoma for a little bit. Two days max.”

  Her eyes grew as she leaned up on her elbow. “I’ll go with you.”

  “No. I’ll have to go back to Jim and Pat’s.”

  She closed the distance between us and put her arm around my waist. She looked up at me with eyes so innocent, my gut clenched. “I don’t want you to go back there.” She squeezed me tightly and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

  “I know, sweetheart. But I have to, so I can get more information about you.”

  “I don’t care about that. Please.” Her eyes pleaded with me, and dammi
t if I didn’t want to give in.

  “I promise I’m not going to stay long. They are going to give me some information and then I’m coming straight back here,” I said, pushing her bangs from her forehead.

  “I can go with you. I’ll stay in the truck, or at a hotel.”

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t take you near them. I won’t take that chance. I would die before I put you anywhere near them again. You can stay with Tonya. You’ll be safe. I promise.”

  “I don’t like this,” she whispered.

  “I don’t either, but we’ve got no other choice, unless we tell Cal and Tonya the truth.”

  “Do you think they’ll make us leave?”

  “I don’t know. This is the first time in my life I’ve felt like I have a real home, and I just don’t want to chance it,” I said being honest.

  “Okay, but I’ll just stay here. I don’t want to burden them.”

  “You’re not a burden. Tonya won’t mind, she likes you.”

  “I mind though. Just promise me you’ll be careful. How will I know you’re okay?”

  She was being strong for me. Even when I’d just told her I was leaving her alone for a couple of nights—the one true fear I knew she had—she was willing to face it head on.

  I thought about her last question for a minute. I couldn’t leave her behind without some form of communication. “We’ll go get new cell phones tomorrow. I need to trash the one I have anyway, so Jim and Pat don’t have any way to contact me. I’ll get you one too.”

  “Thank you. I’ll feel better with a way to talk to you.”

  “Get some rest. The next couple of days are gonna be rough.”

  The silence built up tension in my body. I knew she wasn’t asleep either. She was scared and I was the reason. I would make sure to speak with Tonya before I left, and Paco too. I needed to make sure she was looked after while I was gone.

  “Abe?”

  “Yeah?”