Even Angels Fall

Chapter 24

                        ~~~~Christina~~~~

I must have walked through this neighborhood a million times, but never alone at night. And certainly never pregnant and weighted down by bags stuffed to almost exploding. It was the most frightening six-block walk of my life. 

I had always been smart about getting around the city. Now I felt like I was being incredibly stupid. I was a walking target for the worst kind of predators. 

But what choice did I have? I couldn't stay at my parent's house. My eyes filled with tears again, knowing that it was no longer my house. And I couldn't very well have taken their car.

I'd had to leave to keep my baby safe, but I wondered if I wasn't putting my baby and myself in infinitely more danger by being out here. It was so hard to know what the right choice about anything was anymore.

It seemed to be taking me forever to reach my destination. Could it really only be six blocks? Every story I'd ever heard about girls getting kidnapped, beaten, raped, murdered was bombarding my mind and I forced my feet to go as fast as they possibly could. 

Why was it only the girls out walking alone at night that persisted on coming to my mind? There had to be other types of people that were the victims in those things, right? People who went looking for trouble? I just couldn't think of any.

Things like that didn't happen in this neighborhood often, but it wasn't unheard of either. It was a nice area, but it was still the city. 

Part of me wished to see someone - anyone - as I practically ran through the streets. It was alarmingly still and quiet. Eerie, really. But the logical part of my brain told me that if there was someone around right now, it wouldn't be anyone I wanted to see. The only kinds of people who hung around outside in the middle of the night, were people who weren't doing anything good.

I froze and almost screamed when a cat ran out from under a parked car and shot across the street. 

With a quick assessment to make sure there really wasn't anyone around, I took a shaky breath and hurried onward, nearly crying with relief when the corner store came into view. It looked like heaven, brightly lit and promising at least one probably trust-worthy person to keep in my sights while I waited for a taxi.

I burst through the door, no doubt scaring the middle-aged man behind the counter who had been reading a paper-back. He looked up at me curiously and more than a little wary. Only then did I think about what I must look like. Disheveled, carrying a suitcase, splotchy and red from crying, and bursting through the door like I was on fire.

"Um, could I use your phone?" I asked in a shaky, breathless voice.

He pointed to the left where there was a pay phone, and kept watching me hesitantly.

"Thanks," I mumbled as I headed over to the phone to call a cab.

The phone call didn't take long. I told the woman where to send the cab and she told me it would be here in about ten minutes. I turned around and stood awkwardly, not knowing quite what to do for those ten minutes. The store had a snack counter with prepackaged sandwiches and fresh coffee and things, so it doubled as a sort of mini diner. I had planned on waiting at the counter, but now I was having second thoughts about that. The man behind the counter didn't seem all that welcoming. He wasn't creepy or anything, he was just still watching me like I might be insane.

I looked around the store and hoped the taxi would hurry.

"I hope you are not running from the law," the man said in a heavy accent. He kept a straight face, but there was a teasing glint in his eye and I relaxed a little.