Playing Criminal

3 - Warm Welcomes

I exited the police station and boarded into the back of my mom’s S.U.V. wordlessly. Neither she nor my dad had spoken a word to me since the trial except to voice curt commands like, “pack your bags.”

And so she stayed silent all the way to the airport as I sat sweating in the backseat. The ride was both agonizingly long and agonizingly short. The tension was thick in the car, but that tension was almost preferable to whatever unknown fate awaited me at Black Mountain. When we pulled up in front of the terminal, I took a deep breath before unbuckling and lugging my suitcase outside. I spent a few moments, taking a deep breath as I took in the scenery of the nondescript, concrete airport entrance and carefully slung my carry-on over my shoulders.

My mom got out of the car quickly, lips puckered as she accused me with the fury plainly buried in her deep brown eyes. Without moving her lips, she dropped the ticket and flight information into my palm before smoothly getting back into the front seat of the car and driving away.

I gulped. This would be my first time flying without my parents.

And I couldn’t believe that my mom had just dropped me off here alone. Or actually…Yeah, yeah I could. But that didn’t change the fact that I got lost in the airport and almost missed my flight, meaning that the plane was packed by the time I boarded. The only available seat was between a man who smelled strongly of B.O and a woman who was bigger than her seat. Just my luck on my first ever flight alone.

I tried my best to stop myself from glaring at the woman next to me who was currently licking the grease off of her fingers as she devoured the huge bag of potato chips in her lap. And the man, of course, was currently stretching, giving me a wonderful taste of his potent body odor.

Fuck, I swear middle seats should be illegal. It would be a suffocating couple of hours to New York; that was for sure.

I closed my eyes and tried to block out everything, my surroundings my situation. Holding the bridge of my nose, I tried my absolute hardest to not think about where I was going or why I was going there.

How could I have been so stupid? The number one rule was, never get caught and I’d blown that up – big time. I should have been so much smarter. I mean it was fricking four-twenty .What was I thinking? Cops are everywhere that day.

And who knows? Maybe if I’d just stayed in the parking lot like a good girl I could have gotten out of it. Some fake tears and regrets could have been enough to let me go with a warning.

I shook my head; this was no time to start second guessing myself. It was in the past. It was done. Nothing I could do now would change anything.

I rubbed my hand across my chin and cheek, smiling faintly about the fact that the scabs had disappeared from view on my face. At least I wouldn’t have to face the mental institute I was being shipped off to actually looking like a freak. That’s at least something to be optimistic about. Sort of.

After what seemed like forever of flipping through the airline’s magazines and holding my nose, the plane landed bumpily on the runway. I undid my seatbelt, tapping my foot rapidly on the floor until we got the signal to start un-boarding the plane.

And boy did I hurry my ass out of there.

However, as soon as I got my luggage, I was at a loss as to where I was supposed to go. I picked at the long sleeves of my cardigan and fidgeted with the bottom of my white blouse. The wheels sporting all sorts of luggage and crowds of people made my eyes dizzy. How in the world was I supposed to find someone in this mess?

But luckily, it was after only a couple of minutes of awkward scanning, before I spotted a large sign labeled, “Carrows.”

I smiled widely and waved at the man holding the black and white sign before approaching. “Hello, I’m Ally. I assume you’re here to pick me up.” I held out my hand, which he gingerly shook.