CHAPTER 3
1525 Words
CHAPTER 3
Adrenaline oozed out of Kennedy’s pores. She sank down in Willow’s chair.
“You sure?”
Willow twirled a strand of her wavy hair around her finger. “Yeah. I thought about texting you, but I didn’t know if you’d get too distracted from your finals.”
Kennedy sat up a little taller. “Well, he must have escaped or something. He must have gotten out and come here and ...”
Willow leaned over to her computer and went to Channel 2’s website. She pointed at the man whose face was plastered on the home screen under the headline Kidnapping Suspect Caught in North End. “This him?”
Kennedy glanced at the picture. “Yeah.” Her legs wobbled, and she turned away.
Willow scrolled down. “He’s most definitely still in jail.”
Kennedy slouched down and swallowed. Why did she feel like crying? This should be good news. It should be great news, except for the fact that she just ran a quarter of a mile from a phantom. A bald nothing.
“Hey, maybe you should go.”
For a minute, Kennedy thought Willow was talking to her. She had forgotten about the boy in the bed.
“No prob.” He got up and tucked his shirt into his pants. “Call you tonight?”
Willow kept her eyes on the computer screen. “Nah, I’m going to Cape Cod with some buddies for a few days.”
“Maybe after that?”
His voice was hopeful, but Willow still didn’t look up. “Yeah, happy Hanukkah. Or Christmas. Or whatever.”
Willow’s friend gave Kennedy a slightly apologetic glance, unlocked the door, and headed out.
Kennedy stared at her lap. “Sorry for ruining your date.”
Willow clicked off her monitor. “Don’t worry about it. Seriously. He had wicked bad breath.”
Kennedy laughed but knew it sounded forced and artificial. “I really don’t know what happened. I seriously thought ...”
Willow flicked her wrist as if swatting the rest of Kennedy’s apology away. “You don’t need to say anything. You had a horrible semester. You got kidnapped, watched some little girl nearly bleed to death, had a crazy dude with a knife ...”
“I get it.”
“Anyway ...” Willow stared at herself in the little mirror on her desk and adjusted her hand-crafted earrings. “At least your imaginary friend waited to show up until you were done with your final, right?”
Kennedy blinked.
“You were finished with the test before you did your little sprint in those cute boots, right?”
Kennedy shook her head.
“Hey, it’s ok.” Willow sounded like she was talking to a puppy with a hurt paw. “You can always explain to your professor what happened. With everything you’ve been through ...”
How could Kennedy have been so stupid? Didn’t she know Vinny wouldn’t dare risk showing himself in broad daylight in a building full of witnesses? Why had she run? And how many people saw her acting like the fool she was?
“It’s all right,” Willow repeated.
What should she do? She couldn’t go back to the lecture hall and expect to pick up right where she left off. The test started over half an hour ago. Even if the professor let her back in to finish her exam, it didn’t seem fair to the other students, and there was no way to explain the circumstances to Adell without distracting the entire room. Besides, Kennedy was tired of all the publicity. Her image had been splashed all over the news last fall, and even now she could almost hear the thoughts of people who stared at her a second too long: That’s the one who got kidnapped. That’s the one they got with that little pregnant girl. She didn’t need to rehash the entire scenario. She needed to move on.
Forgetting what is behind, straining toward what was ahead. Wasn’t that how the Bible verse went? She had been trying to memorize Scripture lately, Scripture she could turn to whenever she recalled Vinny’s face, the feel of the unforgiving handcuff biting her wrist. She had spent so much mental energy over the past six weeks convincing her parents she was fine. If only she could reach the place where she believed it. Where was the victory Pastor Carl talked about in his sermons? Where was the freedom, the dramatic deliverance from fear and the nightmares that plagued her?
“... cute lab partner of yours?” Willow’s voice interrupted Kennedy’s thoughts, and she tried to recreate the entire sentence.
“What about him?”
Willow let out a dramatic huff. “I said, would you be more comfortable explaining it to the professor if he came with you?”
Kennedy went to her own desk and turned on her computer. It was nice of Willow to try to help, but her suggestions were about as effective as salt dumped into a solution when it’s already past its saturation point.
“I’ll just email Adell,” she replied. “See what she says.”
“Don’t forget to play the whole I-was-kidnapped card. If I were you, I’d be milking that for all it’s worth, and I’d have signed for that book deal, too.”
Ignoring Willow’s remarks, Kennedy let her computer start up. Adell would understand, right? She’d let Kennedy take the test tonight. Or first thing tomorrow before she met with Detective Drisklay. Maybe Willow had a point. After everything Kennedy had gone through, a little slack wasn’t too much to ask for, was it?
Willow came up behind and rubbed Kennedy’s back. “You sure you don’t want to come with us to the Cape? Might help you relax a little. Get some of that tension out of your neck.”
She started massaging the deep muscle, and Kennedy cringed.
“You are so tight up here.” Willow dug in even deeper. “It’s like your neck has turned into the dumping grounds for every single negative emotion in your body.”
Kennedy turned around to face her. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m all right.”
Willow raised her eyebrows. “Really? Well, I still think you should come with me. You should see the cabin we got. It’s wicked posh. We have room in the car for one more.”
Willow made for a good roommate and even a decent friend, but her crowd of noisy, boisterous theater majors made Kennedy feel like a drop of oil floating in isolation in a lava lamp. She mumbled something about meeting with the detective in the morning and went back to typing her apology to Professor Adell.
Kennedy stared at her half-composed email and glanced at the time. The test would probably go for another half an hour, maybe more. She could go back and finish it right now if she had the chance. Why had she let her imagination play such a horrid trick on her?
She reread her email but still wasn’t happy with the finished product. She deleted everything she wrote about running away from Vinny and just said she had been coughing too much and didn’t want to disturb the class. How would Adell react? Would she think Kennedy was just trying to get out of her work?
Well, there was nothing else she could do. Not right now. Except maybe start that laundry and pack for Aunt Lilian’s. It would be a short hop to Baltimore, nothing like the flight between China and the States. She could take one or two volumes of her antique Turgenev set to read on the plane. She just hoped it’d be enough to keep her mind off everything else. Forget what’s behind. Strain toward what’s ahead. If she could block out her memories from last fall, that basement, everything would be fine. She could live that victorious Christian life she heard everyone talk about. She could even be a witness, a living example of how God helps people overcome adversity. If she weren’t petrified by public speaking, she could even become a motivational speaker. If God can bring me through a kidnapping and attempted murder, he can carry you through whatever problems you’re dealing with today.
If only she could bring herself to believe it.
“Well, I’ve gotta get going.” Willow leaned down and pecked the air by Kennedy’s cheek. “Promise me you’ll relax a little, ok? Especially with them catching Vinny and all. I mean, that’s really good news. Oh, and get in touch with that reporter. He’s cute.” Willow picked up her bag and glided out, leaving the door a crack open behind her.
Kennedy’s heart dropped slowly, like crystallized honey sinking in a cup of tea. After a brainless eternity staring at her computer, she got up and gathered her laundry into a heap. There was so much to do before she flew out. Why had she let it pile up this high?
A couple of minutes later, the computer dinged at her, and she glanced at her screen. Professor Adell had already replied.
Medical excuses may be permitted at the discretion of the professor provided a note from the campus medical center verifies the necessity of said provision.
That was all, no names or greetings or hope you’re feeling better. Not even an automatic closing or signature at the bottom. Kennedy reread it, each time wishing for more information. She hadn’t ever been to the campus medical center. She didn’t know if she needed to bring her parents’ insurance card or write a check or what. And how much would it cost? She had spent most of her discretionary funds at the used bookstore downtown. Well, it was either visit the clinic or fail the final. Maybe she could conjure up another coughing fit for the doctor or nurse and get a quick excuse. Why couldn’t she be like Willow? Her roommate could probably convince someone she was dying of meningitis to get out of a test.
Kennedy buttoned up her new leather coat, an early Christmas gift from her dad, checked Harvard’s webpage to remember where she was supposed to go, and headed to the medical center.
- Writer
