Safety

Chapter 2

        I looked back at Aria and saw that she finally had fallen asleep I felt a small smile pulling at my lips. I couldn’t remember the last time that I smiled. We had been driving for 14 hours straight and we both needed rest. I was relieved when I saw the welcome to Oklahoma sign when we passed the state border. I drove up to a Motel 6 and parked the car carrying Aria and our luggage into the front lobby. I walked up to the front desk and they signed us in. I noticed the front desk clerk staring at my yellowish colored eye and my broken hand. My injuries still hadn’t healed since my last beating but I didn’t really care. I just wanted a room. I handed her the money and carried Aria to our room. I laid her down on the bed and tucked her in and then went to the bathroom for a refreshing shower. I let the scorching water run down my body letting all my worries wash away with it. I washed my hair and turned off the shower. I pulled on a t shirt and sweatpants and walked around the room to the window. I dried my hair as I looked down at the people of the city. A feeling came over me and warmed my heart, and for the first time in a long time I realized I was safe. I finished drying my hair and laid down next to Aria, snuggling up close. 

I opened my eyes and looked at the alarm clock next to me. 4:17. I sat up and stretched. I looked down at my daughter and was surprised to see her still sleeping. I shook her gently but she stubbornly kept her eyes close. Then I bent over her little body and whispered in her ear, “Uh oh, I think the tickle monster is under the bed, and I know that he only likes to tickle sleeping 7 year old girls.” She kept her eyes closed but I noticed the small smile creep its way on her lips. “Oh no Aria,” I said playfully as my hand went into a claw like form and started to tickle her small belly. She burst out in the most angelic laugh, and this time I did join her and it felt good to play with my child. 

10 minutes later Aria was taking a bath and I was ordering some food for us. I hung up the phone and walked over to the TV and turned it on grabbing the remote on top of it. I sat back down on my bed as I channel surfed looking for anything good to watch. I stopped on a news channel. I stared shaken at what was on the screen. Adam was there talking to the police, telling them that I attacked him and kidnapped our daughter. I stared as he told the police and reporter and everyone else what I looked like and what Aria looked like and my license plate number and any other information that they were asking for. I shook my head disbelievingly at the TV. I couldn’t even comprehend what was going on. We couldn’t even get away for 24 hours and now the police were going to come after me and my baby. “Aria, sweetie you need to get out of the bath now. It’s time for us to leave.” I said loud enough for her to hear. I laid out some clothes for her but packed the rest. I heard her groan in protest but I ignored it and waited for her to come out. She got dressed and we grabbed our stuff and left. As we were walking outside I looked around for my car but I stopped short when I saw the two police cars surrounding it and two policemen were looking inside, searching for something. I hastily pulled Aria around to the side of the building and waited, trying to devise a plan on how to get away without being caught. 

Aria was a good girl, always had good grades and did what she was told. She had this kind of sense about her when she could tell if something was wrong. So as I held her back against the wall of the building, she didn’t say anything or cry out in protest. She just looked at me with those big beautiful Hazel eyes and offered me a reassuring smile. This little girl trusted me and I wasn’t about to let her down. 

I saw a transportation bus waiting in front of the motel, used for driving around tourists, and I took the opportunity to pull Aria towards it. We got in and went to the back of the bus, keeping our heads low. As the bus pulled away from the motel I looked out the window and I felt grateful that I had everything that we needed with me and didn’t leave anything useful in the car. When the bus stopped at an outside mall and people stated getting out I figured we might as well too. 

We went into a small convenience store and looked around for some snacks to hold us over, when I walked by a pay-as-you-go phone. It made me think about how high tech the government is and the police are. How they could track me through my cell phone. That’s probably why it was so easy to find us at the motel. I grabbed one of the phones and a service card and the snacks that we picked out and hair dye, enough for Aria and myself, and took them to the front counter. I paid for them and then walked out with Aria. We walked a little further to a small park bench and ate our food while I figured out what to do next. 

“Excuse me ma’am?” I heard the older woman’s voice and turned my head to see if it was me that she was referring to. “Do you mind if I sit next to your daughter?” She continued innocently. I nodded and nudged Aria to scoot over. “You know, my son and I used to sit right here when he was about your age. We used to feed the birds.” She told Aria with a wide smile. I looked over at her to see her face. She was an older lady, at least 70. She was a little plump and her short white hair curved at the side of her face. Her smile wrinkles creased as she grinned back at me. Hey bright blue eyes shining at me. I watched her as she studied us, looking at our luggage then turning her gaze to look down at Aria and then me, her smile straining as she focused on my face, obviously noticing my bruises. Then she looked down at my casted hand and sighed. “Oh sweetie... what happened to your hand?” She shook her head and looked at me, sorrow in her eyes. I looked down to the ground and didn’t say anything, too ashamed of myself to answer her. But it seemed like she could read me like an open book because then she said “Come with me,” In a very sympathetic tone. She stood up and took my hand and started pulling me. “Who are you? Where are you taking me?” I asked her exasperatedly. I looked back to see if Aria was following, she was and she offered me a smile. I nodded and looked back at the woman. I felt Arias hand wrap around my wrist and hold on tightly. 

“My name is Muriel Linden. I am taking you to my home. So that you can get cleaned up and fed properly,” she said looking back at the bag of chips that Aria was carrying. I stopped talking as she dragged us to her black jeep wrangler and told us to get in. I followed her directions and looked back at Aria and gave her a reassuring smile. She slid into the back seat and buckled herself in. I got into the front and buckled myself in and turned to face Muriel. She didn’t pay me any attention but turned her gaze to the ignition as she focused on getting her key into it. 

When we finally got on the road she still didn’t say anything but after a while I asked her where we were going. She looked at me and replied “I told you, we are going to my house. It’s not in town. It’s in the country, and it will take a while to get there so please make yourself comfortable. In fact you should probably tell me why you’re so battered and bruised while we have the time to pass.” She looked at me expectantly and I sighed. We drove for at least an hour before we finally pulled up to a beautiful two story cabin house. Throughout our drive I told her everything about me and Aria and Adam. I didn’t even leave out the part where the police were after me. She just nodded understandingly and with a few hmm’s here and uh huh’s there. 

When we got out of the car Aria was excitedly jumping and clapping. Muriel laughed and patted her on the head. I grabbed our stuff as Muriel led us to the house. When we walked in I observed all of my surrounding, absorbing everything around us. She walked us through the whole house and finally showed us to our room. I walked in and noticed the large king sized bed in the middle of room, a large antique dresser in the far corner and a floor length mirror hanging on the closet door. There were two doors one connecting to a bathroom and the other was to a walk in closet. I dropped the bags on the floor and walked around taking it all in. There were a few paintings hanging on the light brown colored walls and a large bay window was placed on the other side of the bed. Before I could stop her, Aria had climbed on top of the bed and started jumping. “Aria don’t-“, I started but Muriel interrupted me. “Oh no sweetie, its fine, that bed has had more abuse than that.”  She chuckled and told us to make ourselves comfortable and that dinner would be ready in about an hour before she walked out, leaving us to enjoy ourselves in our new, and temporary, room. I let out a breath of relief as the feeling of safety washed over me again. And I thought to myself how much I wish that we could stay safe, that we could stop running and most of all I wished for happiness, for both of us to be happy. But in my reality, things don’t stay happy for very long and I was just bracing myself for the next blow to come my way.