Escape chapter 3C

Kelly unpacked her clothes she had picked up from the extended stay hotel the family had been staying in before the accident. The social worker had taken her there after collecting her from the Wilsons. She would be sharing a room with two younger girls. They were in a bunk bed on the other side of the room, and she had a double bed. She would get half of the dresser, and she was busy loading her clothes into it.

After she had everything from the hotel put away, she grabbed the simple string-backpack Bill had handed her just before she left. He’d told her it was just a few essentials for her, and she hadn’t thought to question it. She was too busy crying because she wasn’t going to get to see Garrett before she left.

She undid the top and dumped everything onto her bed. There was a Visa gift card and an envelope. Filling out the remainder had been a few candy bars and some other snacks. She opened the envelope:

Kelly,

I threw this together while you were talking with Mrs. Bartram. I talked with Detective Tower and he told me a few things you might want to have in case of an emergency. The gift card has a couple hundred dollars for an emergency. If you need anything, please let me know. My number and Garrett’s are below.

Sincerely,

Bill

Tears welled up in her eyes again. These people barely knew her, and she had come to depend on them.

She slipped the gift card into the pocket of Garrett’s mom’s leggings. She didn’t have a wallet anymore. Then it started to hit her… she didn’t have much of anything anymore. No phone, no driver’s license, no cash… nothing. At least she had some of her own clothes.

“Kelly,” she heard shouted from downstairs.

She walked out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs. As she walked into the living room of the group home, she saw the detective talking with Mrs. Curtis, the “mom” of the house.

“Hey, Kelly, I have some things for you,” the detective said. “Can we go for a little walk?”

“Sure,” she said.

They walked out the front door and turned to walk down the street. “I wanted to give you some of this in private. Most of the time, kids don’t have these types of things, so you might want to keep it under your hat, so to speak.” He handed her a cell phone and wallet.

“I talked to Bill again after I pulled these from the property locker. If you want, he said he can add your phone to his account when you need to renew.” He stopped and sat on a bench, motioning her to sit next to him. “The Wilsons are good people, Kelly. I’ve been friends with Bill for decades, and I’ve known Garrett since he was born. He is an amazing young man. I stood next to his father when he pinned his Eagle rank badge on him. You have made great friends.”

“Garrett is amazing, Sir. I really like him. I didn’t know about him being an Eagle Scout, though.”

“Be careful with him,” he said. Then he pulled out one of his cards, “take this. If you need something, call me, ok?”

“Thank you. All of you have been so nice. Mr. Wilson is doing so much… and Garrett… I’ve never met anyone like him.”

***

Garrett pulled into the garage and ran up the stairs to the living room. He looked around, then walked back toward his bedroom. There was a note on his bed. He picked it up and turned it over. He slid the note out of the envelope:

Garrett,

Thank you for everything. I hope I get to see you soon. You have been the best friend I could ever hope for. Maybe I’ll be at the same school as you soon.

All my love,

Kelly

He didn’t know whether he was sad that she was gone, or happy that she had signed her note ‘all my love.’ He slipped it into the drawer on his bedside table and walked back out to the living room to grab his bookbag. He had homework to get done… But first he wanted to work on his Jeep.

Garrett was welding a leak on his exhaust system when his dad’s Jeep pulled into the garage next to him. Bill hopped out and walked around to his son.

“What’s up, Sparky?”

“Hey, Dad. I just wanted to deal with an exhaust leak… You didn’t happen to get a number for Kelly, did you? I wanted to give her a call to check on her. I hope she’s doing ok.”

“I’m sure she is… I gave her your number, but I don’t know how much access she’ll have to a phone. But first… is your homework done?”

“No, Sir. I’ll go do that. I’m done on the Jeep anyway, for now at least.”

Garrett headed back up to the kitchen to sit down with his history homework. They were studying the rise of Communism during the early twentieth century. He wasn’t enjoying it.

After homework, it was his turn to make dinner. He and his dad usually swapped off dinner duties. He did Mondays and Wednesdays, and his Dad did Tuesdays and Thursdays. The split weekends between working together and getting dinner out.

After dinner, while he was doing the dishes and cleaning up, his phone rang. He picked it up off the table and headed back toward the sink.

“Hello?” he said.

…

“Hey, Kelly, I was worried about you. How are you doing?”

…

“It’ll be ok. Hey, do you know what school you’ll be going to?

…

“That’s great! That’s my school. When will you be starting?”

…

“I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

They continued the conversation for the next thirty minutes.

As Bill walked past the kitchen, he was happy to hear the excitement in his son’s voice, but worried about what drama Kelly might have in her wake. He headed back out to the living room to watch Jeopardy until Garrett was finished with his call.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is the end of the third chapter of an ebook available on my blog at LaneBailey.info. Subscribers have access to download the full ebook for free.