Moved (#Wattys2014)

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

With little to do, I checked my classes for new work, which filled most of my morning and afternoon with studying.  One had a paper that would be due so I put extra effort into that as well.  My first Saturday on my own passed with plodding eventuality as did Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  By Wednesday, I’d finished most of the work including the paper.

Closing the laptop, I leaned back on the couch.  Just a few more weeks of classes, and they would be done.  Then what?  I turned my head to look out the window.  Although Racer had been nicer over the weekend, he hadn’t made an appearance since.

Sighing, I reached for my phone.  Dad had called each night since moving me here.  But, he wasn’t much of a conversationalist.  When he’d moved me, he had told me not to contact any friends.  I looked at the phone in my hand.  It would be so easy to call Stephanie, one of my closest friends since grade school and chat with her for an hour.  An hour of entertainment.  But Dad’s edict wasn’t to torture me.  He’d said it to protect me.  Contact with someone else increased the chances that Chuck could find me.  However, I wasn’t here because I was afraid of Chuck.  Besides, if I didn’t say where I was, what could it really hurt to call Stephanie?  I called Dad with this phone.

I dialed Stephanie.  She picked up on the first ring.  As expected, she started grilling me for details about where I was.  I bluntly told her that wasn’t something I could share.  Instead, I just wanted to catch up on the latest gossip.  I didn’t really care about that, of course.  I just wanted to talk to someone for more than a few minutes.  She had me laughing in ten.

The phone buzzed indicating another call.  It took me by surprise.  No one called except Dad, and he never called until after dinner.  I asked Stephanie to hold and looked at the number.  Dad.  Worried, I told Stephanie I’d call her back later and switched calls.

“Dad, are you okay?”

“Gillian, we had a deal.  That phone is for incoming calls only.  Who did you call?”

My mouth dropped open.  How had he known?

“Are you monitoring the cell activity online or something?  It was just Stephanie.  I didn’t say anything about where I was.  I was bored and asked her to tell me the latest gossip just to hear someone’s voice.”

“After we’re done talking, you’ll give your phone to Racer.  You’ve lost my trust.”

Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.  “My trust?  Dad, I’ve done everything else you’ve asked of me without a word.  You stuck me in the middle of nowhere.  I do my homework and when that’s done, I have four days of nothing.  I pace around my apartment, listening to my own footsteps.  If I go outside, Racer follows me around like I’m a prisoner needing close supervision.  Trust?  I’ve lost my trust in you.  You said the move was to keep me safe and that we’d get a car when we got up here.  That I’d still have my independence.  Where’s the car?  Where’s my independence?  I’m eighteen, and I’ve never been more dependent in my life. I don’t have curtains on my windows, I’m running out of food, and I can’t do anything about it.  The only person I can talk to or beg a favor from obviously doesn’t want me here.”  And I wasn’t even getting the answers I wanted.

A sob escaped, and tears ran down my cheeks.  How did they get there?  I pulled myself together enough to finish the call.

“I’ll give Racer the phone.  Don’t bother calling to check up on me again.”

“Gillian—”

I hung up.  Tears streaming, I stared at the phone.  The move wasn’t supposed to be like this.  It was supposed to protect me, yes, but not confine me.  To be fair, he’d been straightforward about the rules.  I’d broken one.  But should ten minutes of fun conversation have caused a fight between us?  What had it really harmed?  By placing me here with very little to keep me occupied, he had to know I’d get lonely.  Didn’t he care?  I knew he did.  He’d sounded deeply upset when he’d said my name.  I’d never yelled at him like that before.  But then, he’d never gone this far before.