by A. American
“Where’s the Lincoln?” Neal asked.
“I hid it over at the strip mall,” Carlos said, referring to the small strip mall where they had parked the day before.
“Well, when you’re healed up, we’ll go get it.”
Carlos grabbed Neal’s forearm and squeezed. “I told you, I told you I’d get the fucking truck, I fucking told you.”
With a half grin, Neal said, “You were right, you got it. I just hope you’re right in the end.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Carlos asked, grimacing.
“I just hope you’re right and this doesn’t come back to haunt us.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“While it is important for people to see your promise you must also remember that hope is the keeper of both happiness and disappointment, the father of both progress and failure.”
– Bryant H. McGill
Guatay, CA
Charlotte looked up at the deep blue sky. It was so good to see it. The fresh air added to the rare experience and brought a smile to her face.
Hope ran up holding a teddy bear. “Look what Drew gave me. Isn’t he cute? I think I’ll call him Cuddles.”
“Cute,” Charlotte said smugly.
It had been a couple days since Hope and she had been reunited. No word had come about their being sold, but knowing it was still unresolved hung over Charlotte like a dark cloud.
Hope’s sense of perspective seemed to be short as she settled in more and more. It helped that Drew kept showing up with gifts, sweets, and what could only be described as tenderness in his approach to them.
After enjoying her respite from the dark room, Charlotte began to assess where she was. She turned around and looked at the building she and Hope had called home and noticed it was a large metal barn. To either side of it sat two smaller structures made from the same material. Across from the barn, a large two-story house sat surrounded by large pine trees. To the left of it sat a large detached six-bay garage. Men came and went from the garage and house. She counted eleven men, none of whom she recalled seeing before. To the left of the garage a long and narrow gravel driveway winded down towards a massive metal gate and was guarded by two armed men. That brought the number to thirteen and didn’t count Drew and Tony. From the gate she took note of the tall chain-link fence that extended out from either side. She followed one side and saw it disappeared behind a hillside; she followed the other side until it too vanished. Behind the barn a large tree-covered rocky hill towered over them. She couldn’t see any other house or building outside the fence line.
“Girls!” Drew hollered as he exited the house, his arms high in the air.
“Hi, Drew!” Hope replied.
Charlotte nudged Hope out of irritation. How could she respond to him so happily? It was as if she had forgotten everything that had happened.
Drew strutted over and gave Hope a hug. “How’s my little friend doing?”
“Good,” Hope answered.
“And you, how’s the big sister today?” Drew asked.
Charlotte was stubborn and decided to ignore him.
He smiled and said, “You’re a tough nut to crack, aren’t you?”
Charlotte cocked her head and smirked. “Are you serious?”
“I’m doing my best; plus I have some good news and some bad news,” Drew said.
Hope cradled her teddy bear and began to play make-believe with it.
“So which is it first?”
“You’re gross,” Charlotte shot back.
“Since you’re in a sour mood, I’ll go with the bad news. You both are stuck with me.”
Charlotte folded her arms, disgusted by Drew and his attempt to be fun. Her only reply to him was a rolling of her eyes.
“Now for the good news.”
“Yeah, I like good news,” Hope said to Cuddles.
“Hope, you have a positive attitude; you’re going to go far,” Drew said, patting Hope on the top of her head.
“She’s a six-year-old, what do you expect?” Charlotte barked.
“I’m six and a half,” Hope said.
“Whatever,” Charlotte grumbled.
“Charlotte, I know you’re upset. You have every right to be angry, but your situation is your situation. I can only tell you to make the most of it.”
“How am I to make the most of it? My life sucks! My mom is missing, you killed my dad, and we’re to be sold off as fucking slaves.”
Hope’s eyes grew as big as saucers.
Drew planted his hands on his hips. He wanted to counter her anger, but he knew she needed to vent.
“Tell me, please tell me how I’m supposed to make the most of this shit show?”
“You said another bad word,” Hope said, astonished. She hadn’t heard Charlotte speak this way before.
“Oh, shut up and play with your teddy bear,” Charlotte barked. She turned and headed towards a bench she had seen earlier next to a grouping of trees.
“C’mon, I have some good news,” Drew shouted.
Ignoring him, she treaded on.
Drew wanted to tell her and wasn’t giving up that easy. “Hey, walk with me so I can tell your sister the good news,” he said to Hope. He held out his hand, but Hope just stared. She had been accepting of his help, but here is where she drew the line. Seeing that she wasn’t going to take his hand, he awkwardly retracted it and again asked, “You want to hear the good news?”
Hope nodded.
“Then follow me,” Drew said and marched towards Charlotte.
“Leave me alone,” Charlotte barked, glaring intensely at Drew.
“I need to tell you something important,” Drew insisted.
Laughter erupted from a small group of men that had gathered near the garage.
Charlotte and Drew looked and saw them pointing at them.
“What are they laughing at?” Charlotte asked.
“It’s nothing. Ignore them,” Drew said.
Charlotte had given up on being nice. If she was going to be sold off, she just didn’t care anymore. She lifted her hand and raised her middle finger at them.
Seeing her response, the men roared even louder with laughter.
“Put your hand down,” Drew ordered.
Hope shuffled over and sat next to Charlotte on the old wooden bench.
“Christ, between you and those idiots over there, it’s impossible for me to tell you that I secured your freedom.”
Charlotte’s face instantly changed from anger to shock. “What?”
“That’s the good news. You won’t be sold.”
“You’re letting us go?” Charlotte asked.
“We can go home now?” Hope asked.
“No, you can’t; that was the bad news,” Drew said. His face twisted as he thought about the best way to tell them the next bit.
“You said the bad news was we were stuck with you. What does that mean?” Charlotte asked.
“I did everything I could, I talked Tony’s ear off, but he wouldn’t budge. He’s a good guy, well, maybe not a good guy, but he does have a heart in some ways. Anyway, he looks at you guys as a business transaction, nothing more, so I couldn’t persuade him with sympathy, so I had to buy you.”
“What?” Charlotte snapped. Her mouth gaped open.
“There wasn’t any other way. He wouldn’t let you go unless I paid the amount he was seeking from the slavers,” Drew said.
“I don’t understand, what does that mean? You own us?” Charlotte asked, her face flush with anger.
“Technically yes, but I won’t do anything to hurt you, I swear,” Drew insisted.
“I want to go home,” Hope said.
“You’re crazy. You’re all crazy, cruel and mean,” Charlotte yelled.
The men again roared with laughter and began to mock Drew.
“Fuck off!” Drew hollered then turned his attention back to the girls. “You need to know that after everything blows over, I intend on letting you go home, but right now it’s too
dangerous out there.”
“We were fine until you showed up,” Charlotte said.
“If it wasn’t us, it was bound to be someone else,” Drew replied.
“That’s not true and you know it. If you care about us, then you’ll return us home,” Charlotte barked.
The group of men had grown, and the larger they got, the louder they became, their laughter echoing off the buildings.
Drew’s patience with Charlotte was running thin. It didn’t help that he was also being ridiculed. Frustrated by the cackles and howls, he turned and again blasted them, “Shut the fuck up!”
“No, fuck you!” one man yelled back.
“No, fuck you,” Drew yelled.
The man broke from the group and began to briskly march towards them. He was large, standing around six foot five. His arms were massive, like legs sticking out of his torso. The bright sun glimmered off his smooth bald head.
Drew turned to confront him but was clearly unnerved by his approach. “Charlie, back the fuck off.”
“No, fuck you, you little mouthy bitch,” Charlie hollered as he closed in on Drew and the girls.
Hope slid close to Charlotte and hid her face.
Charlie walked to within mere inches of Drew’s face and stared down. “You think just because the boss has you doing his errands that you’re something special. Let me give you the four-one-one, motherfucker, you’re not special. The boys think you’re a bitch and you need to be taught a lesson.”
“Just step back before something happens that you regret,” Drew declared, standing his ground. His heart raced with anticipation of a fight he would surely lose.
“Me and the boys think I should kick your ass then take that pretty little tweenie there and teach her the benefits of womanhood.”
“You have three seconds to back off,” Drew said.
“The boss doesn’t have a problem with us settling differences, so I say we settle this the only way—”
Drew counted the seconds in his head. He had to act because he knew what Charlie meant about settling differences, and he wasn’t about to wait for Charlie to make it official. He swiftly swung up with his right fist and drove it under Charlie’s jaw. The blow was fast and powerful.
Charlie didn’t see it coming and wasn’t expecting it. He had underestimated Drew and at his own cost. The powerful undercut rattled his jaw and sent him reeling backwards.
As Charlie wobbled, trying to get his footing, Drew struck again, this time coming down with his right fist. He connected against the left side of Charlie’s face near the point where his jaw hinged. This second blow was successful.
Charlie’s already wobbly legs gave out, and he dropped to the ground hard.
Drew wasn’t finished. He couldn’t allow Charlie to rise; plus he needed to prove not only to Charlie but to the men watching that he wasn’t someone to be messed with. He straddled Charlie’s unconscious body and leveled one heavy punch after another.
Witnessing the vicious attack stunned Charlotte.
Hope quivered as she heard the fight; she was too scared to look.
Drew didn’t know how many times he had hit Charlie before being pulled off by several men.
“Stop,” one man said.
“You’re going to kill him,” another said.
Drew struggled to get free. He was enraged and wanted to keep punishing Charlie. “Let me go.”
A single gunshot cracked.
Everyone froze.
“Enough!” Tony hollered from the front of the house, his pistol raised over his head.
Drew shrugged off the men and looked towards Tony before assessing the damage he had inflicted on Charlie.
Tony strode over. He looked down at Charlie and shook his head. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Charlie was mouthing off, and well, it was going towards violence, so I went ahead—”
“I’ve heard enough,” Tony said, waving his hand at Drew. “What did you see?” Tony asked the men.
“Um, Charlie here was making fun of Drew and the girls. Um, anyway, you see, ahh, they, them two began yelling at each other. Ahh, Charlie came over, and before you know it, Drew here was kicking his ass.”
“Is that what you saw?” Tony asked a second man.
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay, so you guys decided to settle your differences, and by the looks of Charlie, the matter is settled, correct?” Tony said.
Everyone, including Drew, nodded in agreement.
“Good, now get Charlie to the doc,” Tony ordered.
Two men carried Charlie’s bloody and battered body away.
Tony cracked his neck, a bad habit he often did before lecturing or admonishing people. He looked at Drew and said, “D, what the fuck? Did you have to beat him so badly? Huh? Charlie’s a good guy, a bit rough and foulmouthed, but he’s a good part of our team. Look at what you did, you busted him up real bad.”
Drew watched as Charlie was carried away. He heard what Tony was saying but didn’t care much about what he had done to Charlie; what he was concerned about was Tony’s reaction. “Sorry, boss.”
“Sorry, boss? That’s it? I let you buy these little brats because you’re a fucking bleeding heart, then you go and wreck one of my men, a valuable part of our team,” Tony said.
“I was afraid he’d kill me. You and I both know what Charlie’s capable of,” Drew said in his defense.
“Yeah, I know, but did you have to get on top of him and pound his head in?”
Drew looked at his bloody hands and bruised knuckles but didn’t answer.
Tony shoved Drew. “I asked you a question.”
“No, boss, I shouldn’t have done that.”
Tony looked at the girls and smirked. “I don’t get you, I just don’t. One second I think you’re becoming a split tail, then you go all Rocky on Charlie.” He reached out, pinched Drew’s cheek then patted it. “Make sure you’re thinking clearly, okay? I think these little brats have got your head all messed up.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Good, now go get cleaned up and keep those little brats inside. You know the men get all weird,” Tony said and walked away.
Drew looked at Charlotte and Hope and said, “Best you go inside.”
Charlotte didn’t hesitate. She nudged Hope, and the two got up right away and hurried towards the barn. As she walked with Hope, Charlotte made up her mind that she needed to escape. She was unsure just how she’d do it, but staying there was not an option.
El Centro, CA
Neal walked into the kitchen, hoping to find a snack, but instead found Karen packing a cardboard box with canned food. He smiled and stepped up behind her. “You’re so sweet.”
“It’s not a matter of being sweet, it’s the right thing to do,” she replied as she kept loading the box.
The box was a gift for Felicia, an elderly lady who lived alone in a house several blocks away. They had offered her a place with them, but she insisted on staying in the house she and her long since deceased husband had first purchased decades ago.
Karen had taken Felicia under her care and every week would take her food and check in on her.
Neal rubbed her shoulders and sighed.
She stopped and turned. “I know you’re mad at Carlos, but what’s done is done.”
“It’s not that.”
“What is it?”
“I’m ashamed of myself,” Neal confessed.
“Why?”
“Because I should have done something. I sat around while Carlos was out there getting shot.”
“You did what you thought was best.”
“But you told me to go, hell, you begged me to go, but I didn’t.”
“It is what it is.”
Neal looked down and shook his head. “I was afraid.”
Seeing the inner turmoil he was feeling, Karen caressed his arm. “I’m sure you were.”
“Not for me, not like that. I’m afraid of something happening to me.”
“That makes—”
He interrupted her by placing his finger on her lips. “Let me finish. I’m afraid for you and Beth. If I die, what will happen to you? It terrifies me to the point of inaction. That’s what happened. I was afraid to go out not because I was fearful of my own death, I’m fearful for yours.”
“I can appreciate that, I can, but you have to trust us. Me and Bethie are tougher than you think.”
“I know, it just plagues my mind,” Neal continued.
“Sweetheart, I want you to know that I love and trust you. We’ve made it this far, and I know in my heart we’ll make it all the way to Alaska or wherever we end up,” she softly and reassuringly said. “Now let me finish packing up these things for Felicia.”
“Let me help you,” Neal said.
“You want to come with us?” Karen asked.
“Sure, that will be great. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that crazy old lady,” Neal jested.
Karen elbowed him in the side and said, “She’s not crazy…she’s unique.”
“You call her unique, but that’s just another word for crazy.”
“I like her a lot. She’s a bit flighty, but I hope I’m as lucid as she is when I’m eighty-two.”
“Birds of a feather.”
“Huh?”
“Ahh, nothing,” he quipped.
“Are you saying I’m crazy?” she asked, placing her hand on her hip as she squinted and leered at him.
“Nope, not at all,” he joked.
She punched him in the arm and went back to packing.
Beth loved the short walk to Felicia’s house. Anything to get out and see the world beyond the four walls of their house made her happy. She skipped and sang as they went.
Neal pulled Beth’s overloaded Red Rider wagon, which towered with boxes and water. He smiled broadly as he watched Beth sing happily. Seeing her so joyful filled him with bliss, which temporarily kept his concerns about their pending trip at bay.
Soon they’d be on the road and heading north. With the truck in their possession there wasn’t anything that would stop them now.
