Enchanted moon child

The Great Escape

Chapter two

This is not happening. Mr. Woods has been kind of like a father figure for me. He is the only one who has purposefully gained my respect because he is genuinely caring. Everyone else just pretends to be nice so they can get something out of me or hurt me. As much as I don’t like to admit it, his opinion matters to me.

“Well, he is male if that’s what you want to know.” I try to act a little nonchalant like it’s not a big deal.

“I can’t wait to meet him.” He says, smiling.

“Don’t bother.”

“Why not? As your boss, I think it would be a good idea to interrogate.. I mean, meet any potential suitors for my best employee.”

“He is not a potential suitor he is just a new guy at school that I agreed to give 15 minutes of my time to. So please don’t make a big deal out of this.”

“I don’t know, I still feel like I should meet him.”

“Go ahead and meet him, but every minute you take, I am adding another to my break.”

“Fine with me.” He says, walking away. Well, this is just great.

Every time I look at the clock now, it seems as though time is flying. I look up again, and it is now 5 minutes until my break. Maybe he isn’t going to come. Internally, I am struggling. If he doesn’t come, then I can just have a stress-free break and not have to worry about him trying to be around me anymore. On the other hand, something inside of me is actually going to be sad. I don’t know why I would be. Logically, it shouldn’t matter if a complete stranger doesn’t show up for a short 15-minute break. Yet the feelings are there.

The bell above the door rings, and I look up to see Jayce walking in. Looking at the clock, I still have 2 minutes.

“I will just look around until you are ready for a break.” he whispers to me. I shake my head, yes. Just like normal, I clean off the counter and straighten up the area. I look at my watch, and it is 5.

“Let’s just go outside. I usually just hang out back when it’s nice out.”

“Hey is this your friend?” My boss says, walking up to us. I can’t help but roll my eyes.

“Jayce this is my boss, Mr. Woods.” They shake hands.

“You can call me Kenny.” My boss says, letting his hand go.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kenny. You have a very nice shop here. My dad and I work in construction. Would you would like to do business sometime?”

“What kind of construction do you do?”

“ Building houses mostly. We occasionally take on other projects.”

“Well take this card, and we can set something up. This is a man right here, Olive. Go enjoy your break.”

“Yes, I will enjoy my 18-minute break,” I say, tapping on my watch. He gets the message and walks away.

“Can we stop at my car on the way around the back? I have to get something.”

“I don’t see why not.” We walk out to the parking lot stopping at his car. He climbs over his seat and pulls a drink and a little white bag out.

“These are for you.” He hands them to me, and I don’t know what to say.

“Umm thank you, but you didn’t have to.”

“Well, you were nice enough to give me something to do for 15 minutes. This town is so boring.” He says, putting his hands in his jeans pockets, walking to the back with me.

“What is this drink?” I ask, looking at the Styrofoam cup in my hand.

“It’s a strawberry banana smoothie, and in the bag is a glazed donut.” I start to feel choked up. I put my hand around my throat, trying to somehow physically push the lump of emotions down.

“You aren’t allergic, are you?”

I shake my head no and drop my hand.

“It’s my favorite drink, actually.” I take a sip, and memories start flooding back to me.

“Are you sure you like it? It won’t hurt my feelings if you toss it out.”

“I do love it. It just brings back memories.”

“Oh?”

“When I was a kid, my parents had a smoothie, movie night every Monday because I hated going back to school after the weekend. They thought it would give me a reason to like the day.” I say this without looking at him and keeping a straight face the best I can.

“They don’t do that anymore?”

“My parents are… gone now. I have foster parents I live with, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s okay, We don’t even have to talk if you don’t want to.” He says, leaning his back against the brick building. I decided to lean against it as well. He moves in front of me, putting his hand on the wall above my head.

“Thanks for letting me hang out on your break. It’s a shame you can’t go out on a date with me.” He says, touching my arm with his other hand. I freeze up immediately. My body feels like it’s on high alert, and my heart starts speeding up.

“Why do you always freeze up when I touch you? Do I scare you?”

“I.. I'm just not used to being touched like that is all.”

“Touched like what?”

“You know, soft and kind.”

His face begins to change into a more stern, possibly angry expression.

“Has someone touched you in an unkind way?” I said too much. Why did I even let him come here? I hold my drink and food close to my body. I somehow feel he can see all of my bruises from under my clothes. He lets out an aggravated breath and leans back against the wall again.

“You don’t have to talk about it.” He says, still mad even though I can tell he is trying not to be. I eat the donut and drink the smoothie as we stand there in peace.

“Thank you for the book.” I say, finally breaking the silence.

“It was more of my fault that happened. I should have just told that psycho off from the start.”

“It wasn’t a big deal. I just carried that book around because it reminds me of my parents. That was the last movie I watched with them and I am not allowed to watch any TV anymore. It just gives me something that makes me feel like they are still here.”

“Those foster parents of yours sound strict. “

“You have no idea.” The alarm on my watch goes off.

“I have to go back. Thanks for the food.” He takes a step in front of me again and gently takes my hand. I don’t know why, but I can’t make myself take it back from him.

“No problem, beauty.” He kisses the back of my hand, and I feel something. It’s like light tingles, but I can’t be sure if I am imagining it or not. He lets go of my hand, and I am unsure if I can even breathe.

“See you at school tomorrow.” He says, walking back to his car. I walk back inside, hoping no one can hear the beating of my heart. The last hour of work, I didn’t say a single word until I left and told Mr. Woods, bye.

I walked from there to a pharmacy store that was across from the library. I hate doing this, but I have a chance to make extra money for my side hustle. I grab the first red nail polish I see and buy it. I then head over to the library and ask for the key to the restroom. I told the sweet lady there that I get panic attacks sometimes, so I like to sit in their bathroom by myself for a while. She says that as long as it’s under 10 minutes, it isn’t a problem. I feel bad about lying to her, but it’s the only private space I can find.

Locking myself in, I take off my shoes and socks. I quickly but carefully paint my toenails. I’m not allowed to have any makeup of any kind on, so I will have to try and scrape the paint off in the shower or something later. Pulling out my secret phone, I take a few pictures from a few different angles and send them to Richard. He said he would pay me double if I painted my nails red. Sure enough, my cash app buzzes, and the 100 dollars is in there. Now, to take pictures for Ron. This is the part of what I do that I hate. I feel sick doing it, but I made more doing this in 6 months than I did working part-time for a full year. I send nudes and feet picks to 4 guys I found on the internet. I take my shirt off and my bra. My n*****s instantly get hard from the cold air in the bathroom. I take pictures of my breast from different angles and send them to another guy, Rick. That’s another 200 dollars. I didn’t start out taking pictures like those. It just got to a point where they were paying 100 dollars for photos of my most intimate areas. I need to be able to afford somewhere to live in a week, so how can I let money like that go? I put everything back on and step out of the bathroom.

I gave the woman back the key and asked her to borrow her phone charger. She agreed to let me, so I went and plugged my phone into the wall. I can’t charge it anywhere else so I usually just stay here until 8:30 pm

when they close. It’s not like I can show my face at home anyway. I grab a newspaper and look around on the for sale page. Finally, a trailer for sale. 9,000 dollars that’s the cheapest yet. It’s posted (buy as is), but I bet I could whip it into shape. I program the number into my cell. I will be calling them tomorrow. I hope this works out. I stay until it’s time to go and walk home.

I open the door to the house as quietly as I can.

“Olive!” S**t I already have been discovered. Karen comes raging into the room. Not that she knows how to enter any other way.

“Tim is going to be home tomorrow. I need you to make him coffee and bagels the moment you get up.”

“Yes, mam,” I say with my head down.

“Good now, take a shower and go to bed. You smell like s**t.” I do as she says and hop in the shower. I stop the water to condition my hair and shave. If the water bill is too high, they will get p***ed at me. After I finish up, I head to my closet. I close the door and lock it. This is where I sleep. I have been in enough homes to know that sleeping out in the open is a bad idea. Too many times have I woken up with someone touching their self over my bed or trying to touch me. Too many times have I woken up to someone mad about something completely unrelated to me or getting woke up by punches. This is my safe place right here. That bed out there can just remain well-made. I set my watch alarm and curl up with my blanket and pillow on the hard floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake up hearing a knock on my bedroom door. I get up and see who it is. “Jayce what are you doing here?”

“I came here for you.” He says, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“But my foster parents will kill you.”

“Don’t worry about them. They won’t bother you anymore.” He leans down and kisses my lips. His hands roam my body, sending waves of pleasure through me. He lays me on my bed and starts kissing my neck. It feels so good that I can’t stop him.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

My eyes open, and I realize that was just a dream. Even though I am the only one who will know about this, I feel kind of embarrassed. I also feel a lot of wetness between my legs. Did I pee in my sleep? Getting up to check, I can tell it’s just my underwear that is wet. Going into the bathroom, I go pee and clean myself up. Wait, was that a wet dream like guys talk about? Does that happen to women, too? I have to just forget this ever happened and get breakfast going before I am killed. Going back into my room, I slip on some jeans and a plain long-sleeved shirt. They are all boring and plain, so not a lot of work goes into choosing what I wear.

In the kitchen, I start up the coffee before throwing the bagels into the toaster. Everything needs to look nice and ready so I can survive this morning. I set his plate of bagels with cream cheese in front of his seat and poured his black coffee into his favorite mug, setting it beside the plate. Now, to go clean up the living room while he is in here. I go to step out, but he stops me in the doorway. I feel kind of bummed I didn’t get out of here in time. He looks at me and then down.

“What is that!” He says, pointing down. I look and see that my painted toenails are showing. Oh no, I am dead! Just take the beating and go to school.

“My friend wanted to paint them, so I let her.” I lie hoping he will hit me less.

“They are red. A w***e’s color.” I back up until I hit a wall. I wish I could tell him it’s just a nice color. He looks way more mad than normal.

“ Do you want to be treated like a w***e?” I instantly start shaking my head no.

“No sir!”

“Well, you wore the colors so now you are going to pay the price.” He slaps me in the face and than grabs my hair pulling it back. He traps me between the wall and himself as he reaches up my shirt. I start slapping him.

“STOP!” I keep yelling but he pushes my head into the wall and throws me to the floor. He jumps on top of me and holds my waist down with his body weight. He starts unzipping his pants and pulling them down but I start hitting him and screaming again.

“Shut up!” He grabs my neck and starts to choke me. Clawing at his hands I start to lose my hearing and my vision is fading. The door opens and he lets go. I start coughing and wheezing trying to get my breath back before I black out.

“You little slut what are you doing with my husband.” He gets off of me and I can feel more air flooding back into my lungs now. Karen is here?

“Nothing!” I try and gag out the word.

“Baby she is wearing slutty nail polish and she was practically begging for me to touch her.” I can see her look me over. No way can she believe that.

She jumps on top of me and starts smacking me around.

“Help, Someone, help me!” I try to cry out for a miracle. She grabs my hair and smashes my head into the floor. I lose all my senses for a moment. She pulls my head up by my hair again when all of a sudden the door gets kicked in. She drops my head in surprise. This time I feel sick. I am so dizzy and disoriented that I haven’t a clue what’s happening. I hear screaming all around me and her weight gets lifted off of my body. I roll on my side and vomit. I haven’t eaten yet today so all that comes up is stomach acid that burns the inside of my throat. I can smell lots of blood but I am unsure if it is mine or someone else’s. I think someone broke in after Karen but I can’t focus to see them. Whoever it is I am completely helpless to their intentions. Laying my face on the cool floor I expect that this could be it for me. My parents risked their lives just so I die less than 10 years later.

I feel myself drifting down. Almost like I am sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Waves of pain and sickness hit me from time to time. Every so often I think I hear someone talking but I can’t tell if it’s real or a dream. How long has it been? Am I alive? Focusing on my eyes I try and open them. I get them a tiny peek open but it’s blurry and the light hurts. I try to move my hands but they feel so heavy. I managed to squeeze one hand into a ball and wiggle my toes.

“Doctor I think she is waking up.” I know I heard that. The voice is familiar but I can’t place it. I go for opening my eyes again but the light is just too much. I lick my lips and try to move my mouth around.

“The Lights.” I managed to whisper. My throat feels like a car ran it over.

“What was that?” I hear the familiar voice again.

“Too bright.” I managed to say. No way was I repeating myself. The lights get dimmed and I managed to open my eyes. Everything looked like funny shapes for a moment but my brain decided to start working again and now the images are starting to look clear. I know I am in a bed and there is a gray plain blanket covering me. I try rubbing my eyes but I feel a little tug on my hand. I see now that I am hooked up to some kind of IV. Am I in a hospital? Where is my caseworker?

“How are you feeling?” I look over and it’s Jayce.

“What are you doing here?” It must have been his voice I was hearing.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” I have to give this some serious thought. My head hurts a lot and I feel kind of foggy.

“I remember fighting my foster parents and I remember throwing up. I mostly remembered the details of the fight but I am a little lost towards the end of it.”

“You are safe now Olive.”

“What time is it? I still have to go to school.”

“It’s already 3:30 pm school is over.”

“Well, I still have work.” I try to sit up but he stops me and I end up laying back down.

“I already have told your boss what happened and he said to take all the time you need.”

“You told him about my foster parents!” I say panicked. I never wanted Mr. Woods to know about my home life. I am always able to pretend to be someone else around him. Like I am not someone to pity.

“Not exactly Olive. I need to tell you a little more about what happened. Well, I need you to understand what the report is going to say. Your foster parents, they committed a homicide-suicide. During that time we were in a car accident on our way to school. We left early so we could get breakfast. ” I think about what he said but I can’t believe what I am hearing. Wait, was it him?

“It was you, wasn’t it? The person that broke the door in.”

He shakes his head yes. I think he killed them but I can’t ask him that. I don’t want to know.

When I shift in the bed I feel something poke me. My cell! I pull it out of my bra.

“What happens if they trace my cell phone.”

“That looks like a little burner phone let me see.” I reluctantly hand it to him.

“I think we will be okay, this thing is incredibly old.” He opens it.

“Please don’t!” I try to grab it but he steps away.

“Who is Rick?”

“Don’t please!” He looks beyond pissed. He crushes my phone in his hand and I pull back away.

“Are you FU**ING these guys?”

“No!”

“Then what is this!” He screams. Feeling shaky I pull the blanket up to my chin.

“It’s none of your business.” I squeak out. He starts punching the wall freaking out. I can hear myself screaming but I can’t control it. The air feels so much thicker now. Panicking now my breath becomes labored.

“Calm down Jayce she is having a panic attack.” Some guy standing in the doorway says.

Jayce slows down and looks at me.

“I am sorry, please just breathe.” He tells me. He puts his hand out to me but I scoot back so he doesn’t touch me. He tries again but I flinch making him pull away. He looks hurt now but that doesn’t help me. All his words are sounding like muffling sounds. My chest feels so tight and I feel so sleepy. My eyes feel so heavy but I can’t let them close. Maybe just for a second though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I open my eyes, everyone is gone. The first thing I noticed is that I am free of my IV. Inspecting the bandage on my hand, I realize that I really must have been out. I take a look at my watch, and it’s 10 after 5. My head doesn’t hurt so much now, but I am dying of thirst. Slowly, I sit up, and I feel fine for the most part. Looking over, I see a water bottle on the nightstand. I drink it down in what felt like one gulp. When I set the bottle back down, I noticed a note and a box.

(Olive, I am so sorry about what happened. You are right it isn’t any of my business. Take this phone as part of my apology. I will be back as soon as I can. -Jayce. )

I open the box and take out the phone. It is already charged up. I skip past as much as I can when setting up the phone until I can open up the browser for the internet. I type in maps and try to find a way back to my job. The problem is that the website can’t figure out my location it just keeps buffering. Finally, I'm frustrated enough that I give up. I look out the window, and there is still daylight left. I am getting out of here before something bad happens. Even if they don’t want to hurt me, I can’t be kept here when I shift for the first time. I open the back of the phone and toss the sim card out onto the end table. I can use the phone as a flashlight, but I can’t have them tracking me. I look around and see a few of my things on a chair. My jacket and my shoes are perfect. I put everything on and grab another bottle of water to go. I put my ear on the door, trying to listen for anyone on the outside. I think I am in the clear. Softly, I take hold of the doorknob and carefully turn it. To my surprise, it is locked. I let go and stare at the door. Did they seriously lock me in here? Why does it even lock on the outside? What if there was a fire? Turning around, I look at the window. This has to be able to open. Examining it, I pull up the bottom, and it opens easily.

“Yes!” I whisper to myself. On the first floor too, this will be easy. I take one last look around the room before I go. I opened a few cupboards and found some crackers I could eat. I don’t want to steal anything crazy. I just need a couple of things. I stop when I see myself in the mirror. My throat has lots of bruising all over it. My cheeks also have marks from the slaps I received. I am glad they can’t hurt anyone else. Snapping out of it, I get going. I am sure someone will be checking in any minute now. I slide right out the window and drop down maybe 4 feet. It wasn’t so bad, but I do feel a little dizzy.

Wow! This place is amazing. I almost wish I could go exploring it. There are lots of buildings being worked on. No one seems to even notice me because they are so busy. Maybe if I just keep walking in one direction, I will eventually hit town. There is a dirt road going into the woods that I could try. I don’t see any other paths, so I think that’s my best bet.