Escape

Deer Crossing, Minnesota, the name given to a town with a face only a mother could love. A vile-smelling slaughterhouse was the highlight of the west side, a highway that offered rapid escape was the highlight of the east side, that was where highway 55 cut through town, within 5 minutes it would take you directly to Robbinsdale. Before the internet, it was the only way to get anything that wasn't available at the town's 3 stores. It went without saying that a grocery store, hardware store, liquor store, bar and Baptist church served the needs of the town's 1002 residents. But if you want any cool clothes or good comics you have to go to the city. Fine, there was one clothing store in town, Gena May's, but it was really more of a swap meet for old folks to trade their rags, everybody knew old Gena only had a few years left, that was the town's way of chipping in.

It was a town full of talk … old women gossiping about their daughter's boyfriends, old men gossiping about other old men, and everyone in 9th grade talking about Serena Blake and Ashton Jones. Since Ashton turned out to be queer, I don't think they were messing around afterall. Yea, people around here love to talk but if there’s one thing they hate it's actually doing anything … boys puff up their chests to fight … they do nothing. Brenda Marie tells Marie Ellen that she's going to confront my mother about her missing Tupperware … instead, she's just been giving her the stink eye for the past 4 years. Over Tupperware. They always say teenagers are overly emotional and lack perspective but I've been watching the so-called "adults" in this town for 17 years now ... and you know what … I think it's the other way around. That's something me and Mikaela always talked about. Sometimes I miss her but I know she's better off, she doesn't have to be scared anymore.

Mikaela came to town 6 years ago now, her father had transferred to Minneapolis for work, but it was cheaper for him to commute from Deer Crossing than to live in the city. Everyone thought Mikaela was weird, she was quiet and never hung out with anyone after school, honestly, I was glad when she showed up, it took the heat off me, it wasn't often a new kid came to town and with her around, people stopped laughing at my 4 lumber jackets and the socks I wore on my hands for mittens in January. Even though she helped deflect the endless torment I typically endured, I still felt bad for her, I was used to it but she seemed as if she was already tired enough. She never cared about the situation with Serena and Ashton, I didn't think she cared about anything. I started talking to her on a Thursday morning after Mrs Reiger’s social studies class. By Wednesday of the following week, we were best friends. A few weeks later we convinced her mom to let her come for a sleepover, that was the beginning of a tradition that lasted all summer.

My parents lived on the outskirts of town and operated a local nursery. Technically we were outside the town limits, but only because of an acre of dense trees that separated us from the last house with a Deer Crossing address. We would spend our weekends running off into those woods and sitting in trees talking about our lives.

Mikaela's mother's name was Abigail, she had married Mikaela's father, Natanel, 2 months before Mikaela was born, and for the last 13 years things had only gotten worse, she would tell me horrifying things, this one time he came home drunk and started punching Abigail for not having dinner ready. When Mikaela tried to stop him he hit her in the face with his elbow, it was the week that her mother told the school she had the flu. Other times, she said, he would touch her places … places he shouldn't have. The first time she told me I thought it was so simple, I would tell the police and everything would get better. I went home that evening and told my parents, my mother was hesitant to call the police, she said it was complicated, but we called anyway. I was certain they would rush over to Mikaela's house and rescue them, instead, they got to our place 4 hours later. Two cops, a man and a woman, they sat me down in the living room, they removed their hats and the lady pulled out a little black notebook, they asked me question after question, each answer made the lady cop write rapidly in her book, I was spilling all of my best friend’s deepest secrets, I thought I'd feel like a hero, instead, I felt like a traitor. They said that they were going to go talk to Mikaela and her mother. TALK TO THEM??? I was horrified, they should be marching over there with their guns out and rescuing Mikaela and Abigail in a blaze of glory! But they were going to talk, I suddenly had a sinking feeling.

The following day the teacher said that Mikaela’s grandmother was sick and she had to go away to see her, if that were true Mikaela would have told me. We had a strict rule that I wouldn’t call her house, I tried one time and it enraged her father. The next 14 days went by so slowly I thought they’d never pass, then Mikaela returned to school, she was quiet all day, even with me. After school, we went back to my place and sat in the trees. Slowly she told me through tears how the police had done nothing, they said there was no immediate evidence that anything was happening; they left cards behind, crisis centers in Minneapolis, a ‘common myths about domestic abuse’ pamphlet, and an offer: if she felt unsafe they could charge him and arrest him for the night, but because they owned the house together he had every right to come back home. If he had spent the night in jail the consequences would have been far worse for Mikaela and Abigail. Instead, Natanel spent the week drinking, sending Abigail on regular trips to get more beer. While she was gone he would alternately molest and beat Mikaela, sometimes he did both at once. This only fueled him to drink more, and by Wednesday her mom was in such rough shape that he didn’t want her going out anymore, the last thing he wanted was the cops snooping around again. That Saturday night he went to the bar and fell in the washroom, he hurt his leg in the process and for the next week, Mikaela was able to find respite thanks to his limited mobility, Abigail told Mikaela how these calmer days reminded her of their early marriage before he started hitting her. After a week of healing, Mikaela had returned to school. The story was gutting to listen to. I caused that, me! Me and my big mouth running to the police, no one in this town ever does anything. After that day I kept my mouth shut, judge me if you want. I was more useful as her friend than stoking the fire. We began spending more and more time in the small forest by my house, sitting up in the trees talking. Sometimes later in the day it would get cold and I’d give her one of my lumber jackets to wrap herself in.

One afternoon we were up in an old oak when we heard a loud bang, we sat frozen, but then we heard police sirens … alot, more police than we have in Deer Crossing. With curiosity winning out over caution, Mikaela and I ran through the forest toward the road, eager to get the first look at what was sure to be the talk of the town for months to come. What we found was an armored truck and a man laying beside it, engulfing the road was an ever-growing collection of Highway Patrol cars, as we tried to size up the situation my eye caught something to my left, a man all in black hiding in the bushes like us, but probably 15 feet away, he had a duffle bag and a black pistol, when our eyes met we both froze … I grabbed Mikaela's arm and pulled her into the forest, we ran until I thought it was safe to talk, then we climbed another oak and caught our breath. I told Mikaela about the man and we sat for a moment in disbelief … then I heard leaves rustling from the direction of the road, suddenly the man in black sprinted our way, as he did the hefty gym bag bounced up and down. One of the zippers was broken and inside bundles of bills bounced around wildly. We both stared down trying our best to stay quiet, then I saw it … two little stacks of bills about half an inch thick fell from the bag just as he passed under us. Before common sense could take hold of me I dropped from the tree and grabbed both of them. Footsteps. The police were coming. I quickly stuffed the bills in the giant pocket of my lumber jacket. Just then four highway patrolmen got to me. They asked me if I'd seen a man, my voice caught in my throat. Suddenly I wished I hadn’t touched the money, what if they found out. I uttered a few scared words and pointed to where he had run. The cops took off after him, and I climbed back up the tree. Mikaela stared at me, mouth agape. She immediately started asking me questions, why did I do that? What were we going to do now? We ran back to my house and rushed to my room. my parents wouldn't be home for another hour so we sat on my bed and peeled the mustard yellow band from around the stack of hundred dollar bills, as we started counting, our minds began to run wild. First we'd get a cab from Robbinsdale to pick us up and bring us to the city, then we’d get a giant pizza and buy all the fanciest make-up, and a winter coat, oh I’d finally have a real winter coat! When we finished counting our stacks, one hundred - one hundred dollar bills sat in front of each of us. We kept daydreaming for another few minutes and then I gathered all the money together and held it out to her and told her that we weren’t going anywhere. I told her to take the money to her mother and to leave Deer Crossing forever, we hugged, and she left my house for what I knew would be the last time. The next day she wasn’t at school, that night Natanel got drunk and called the cops, his plan was to frame her as a kidnapper who had stolen his beloved daughter, unfortunately for him, the police found the note she left in the garbage. In it she told Natanel that she was sick of his abuse, she said she was taking Mikaela somewhere where he couldn’t hurt her any more, the police read the note and understood everything, they took his statement and vowed to file a missing person report, an Amber Alert, and the whole 9 yards. It’s been 3 years now and that report just keeps going missing, funny thing about the police in this town, they don’t really do anything.