Those Girls

I looked down, still mad. We could take care of Courtney ourselves. Allen seemed okay but we didn’t know anything about this Patrick guy. What if he was like Brian and Gavin? It didn’t matter, though. Dani had made up her mind.

  “I’m going to call my son,” Allen said. Dani nodded. He dialed some numbers. “Owen, can you come upstairs?” He set the phone back down. “Owen works in the kitchen. Why don’t you girls go rest in the living room?” He cleared away our bowls.

  We grabbed our packsacks and sat on the couch. It was warm in the apartment but Courtney couldn’t stop shivering, her arms wrapped tight around her chest. When Allen came back in, Dani was tucking a blanket around her.

  “Your sister’s in a bad way,” he said.

  “We never said we’re sisters,” Dani said.

  “You’re sisters, all right.”

  Steps coming up the stairs, then a boy walked into the living room, tall, with shaggy blond hair and ice-blue eyes. It was the boy I’d seen in the alley.

  “You’re those girls,” he said, surprised. He stared at our clothes, his shoes on our feet. His eyes settled on the rifle in my lap, widened in alarm.

  I remembered how he’d stared at us in the back of the truck. Did he think we liked Brian and Gavin? Did he think we wanted to be with them? My face was warm, my throat tight. I blinked back tears.

  I held my breath when he passed by me to stand by his dad. I leaned back into the couch, tucked my legs up so he couldn’t touch them.

  “These girls are going to need a ride tonight to Armstrong,” Allen said.

  “Tonight?” He looked surprised again but didn’t ask any other questions.

  “You’re going to see them to the bus station.” Allen walked over to a china cabinet at the other end of the room, reached under, and grabbed something.

  He pulled out a rifle and a box of ammo.

  “What’s that for?” Dani said, her voice loud and scared.

  “In case someone doesn’t want you to leave town.” He walked back over and handed the gun to Owen. “Load it and put it under the seat.” Owen nodded.

  I didn’t like the idea of Owen having a gun, but I didn’t much like the idea of him not having a gun either. How long would it take for Brian and Gavin to get back to town? The first place they’d look was at the garage. I wondered if they’d gotten rid of all our other stuff or if it was still in the truck. We couldn’t get to it regardless. I was glad Dani had found our packsacks. I reached in, felt my camera, and wanted to cry when my fingers touched the broken lens.

  I glanced at my sisters. Courtney was still curled into a ball, Dani watching her as she rubbed her leg soothingly like our mom used to do for us.

  “You girls should crouch down when he’s driving out of here,” Allen said. “Even in the next town, the Luxton boys know people.”

  My body filled with fear. What if the cops from Littlefield were still looking for us? Would they show photos of us to people at the station?

  “We should change our looks,” I said.

  “Yeah, we need disguises.” Dani looked at the man.

  “We should be able to rustle some stuff up,” he said. “Owen, why don’t you go make the girls some sandwiches first?”

  “Not peanut butter,” I said, my voice frantic. They both stared at me. My face flushed.

  “She’s allergic,” Dani said.

  The boy left the room. I heard cupboard doors opening and shutting.

  Allen sat in the chair across from me.

  “You should leave that here,” he said as he pointed to the gun.

  “We need it,” Dani said.

  “It’s probably registered. You get found with it, all kinds of trouble could come up. I’ll get rid of it for you.”

  Everything was being stripped away, our truck, the gun. Dani was looking at me and I knew what she wanted me to do. I didn’t meet her eyes.

  “Give it to him,” Dani said.

  The man stood, held his hand out for the gun.

  I thought about what he’d said. He was right, the gun was probably registered and it wasn’t like I could get on a bus with a rifle.

  I handed it over.

  He opened the clip, dumped the bullets into his hand, and put them in his pocket. Then he slid the gun under the couch.

  “I better get downstairs before people start wondering. Owen will take care of you now.”

  “Thanks,” Dani said, “for helping us.”

  He stopped at the top of the stairs, gave us one last look. “Take care, girls.”

  We were left with Owen. He packed our sandwiches in brown paper bags and handed them to Dani. She shoved them into her packsack. He gave Courtney a curious look, but his face was sympathetic.

  “Don’t look at her,” I said.

  He glanced over at me. “There’s medicine in the back closet, from when my mom was sick. Pain stuff. Do you want them?”

  I glanced at Dani. She looked unsure for a moment, then said, “Yeah.”

  He came back with some bottles and handed them to Dani. “Directions are on the label.” He pointed to a bottle. “That’s for anxiety. It’s really strong, though, so don’t give her too many.”

  Dani turned to Courtney. “Sweetie, take this.” She held out a small blue pill. Courtney didn’t lift her arm or her head.

  “Just open your mouth,” Dani said. Courtney opened it up, then closed it as soon as Dani placed the small pill under her tongue. Dani turned to the boy. “Did your mom have any makeup?”

  “I’ll look.” Owen went into the back of the apartment. I could hear doors opening and closing, then he came out. “I left some makeup on the bathroom counter.” He handed me a black bandanna and two strips of black fabric. “I figured this could kind of go with your outfit, like to cover your hair, and your wrists.” I was surprised, hadn’t even seen him look at my wrists. “If you put on a bunch of dark makeup, maybe you could look like a heavy metal chick or a skater girl, you know?”

  I nodded, wrapping the bandanna around my head, like a do-rag, and the strips of fabric around my wrists, hating how it made me feel bound again, but glad for the protection from prying eyes.

  He turned back to Dani and Courtney. “We don’t really have much for you except baseball caps, but they’d look weird with what you’re wearing. Those blouses, they’re kind of old-fashioned, so I brought some tank tops.” He looked embarrassed, like he wasn’t used to talking to girls like this. “You can wear them under, and the blouses open, like girls do, you know?” He also handed Dani a purple scarf. “If one of you wears this around your neck, people might remember that and not your face. As long as you don’t pull the shirtsleeves up, you should be okay with your wrists. But your hair…” He was looking at Dani’s long hair.

  “I’ll cut it,” she said.

  “Dani, no!” I said.

  “It’s just hair,” she said, her voice irritated, already tying the scarf around Courtney’s neck.

  The boy went into the kitchen and came back with some scissors. Dani stood up, pulling Courtney up with her.

  “Come on, sweetie.”

  We crowded into the small bathroom. Dani flipped the toilet seat down, eased Courtney onto it. Dani took a breath, picked up the scissors, grabbed the back of her hair in one big chunk, and started hacking at it. I held my hand over my mouth, trying not to cry. When she’d cut off the bulk of it, which she dropped into the garbage, she cut the rest in a choppy style. She wet her hands and ruffled her hair until it was standing up in tousled spikes. It made her eyes look bigger.

  She undid her shirt, pulled the tank top down over her head, while I helped Courtney with hers. Then Dani smoothed some foundation onto Courtney’s face, wetting the old, cakey makeup so it would spread over the bruises. She pulled Courtney’s hair back in a braid. While they were busy, I ringed my eyes with black and coated my face with pale powder. I stared at myself in the mirror.

  I looked dead. Haunted.

  “Come on,” Dani said.

  We walked bac
k out into the living room. Owen stood up from where he’d been waiting on the couch. He looked nervous.

  “I was thinking … three of you kind of stand out, you know? Maybe you shouldn’t sit together.”

  I looked at Dani. “He’s right.” Whether it was the cops or the boys looking for us, more people would remember three girls.

  “We can’t all sit by ourselves.” I knew she was worried about Courtney.

  “Maybe you two can pretend to be like girlfriends or something,” I said.

  “That’s a good idea,” Owen said. “Like she could rest on you and you could hold her hand, you know?”

  “We probably shouldn’t get picked up together in Vancouver either,” Dani said. She looked at me. “But I don’t want to leave you behind.”

  “I can do it. I’ll be okay.” I didn’t really want to be separated from my sisters, but Dani was right. Then I realized it might look weird if the same vehicle came and got me. “Or maybe I should wait somewhere else?”

  “There’s a park I think you could walk to,” Owen said.

  “We better hurry,” I said.

  * * *

  We followed Owen down the back stairs and into a side garage. They had a big truck, a black crew cab with seats in the back. Owen opened the back door, waiting for me. I hesitated, remembering.

  Want to go for a swim?

  Owen was watching my face. Did he know what they’d done to us? Could he tell? I looked away.

  “My dad, you can trust him,” Owen said. “We won’t tell anyone.”

  “Why?” I said, meeting his eyes.

  “He was in prison, for years. He looks out for people now.” I thought about the gun under the china cabinet.

  Dani, on the other side of the truck, said, “What was he in jail for?”

  “He killed a man in a bar fight. Self-defense, but he still got time.”

  “What about his friend?” I said.

  “He was in prison too. He’s cool—he taught me how to box. He’ll take care of you.”

  * * *

  We pulled up beside the bus station. Owen gave Dani some cash. The light on the dash told us it was three in the morning.

  “I’ll stay with you until the bus comes,” he said. “If you want to get some sleep, I’ll keep a lookout.”

  I was exhausted, my body hurting all over, but I didn’t want to sleep.

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  “Me too,” Dani said from the passenger seat. In the back with me, Courtney was leaning up against the side, sleeping.

  “Remember to act like strangers on the bus,” Owen said.

  “We’re not idiots,” I said.

  He glanced back at me. “Sorry. I’m just trying to help.”

  “It’s okay,” I said, feeling bad.

  “There are a couple of stops,” Owen said, “but you should be in Vancouver by lunchtime.” He looked at me again. “When you get to the station, just start walking to the park.”

  “How do I get there?” I was nervous about getting off in a strange city without my sisters.

  “Stick to the main road and head straight. There are cameras at the station so you don’t want to stay there long.”

  “Should I get out now?” I said.

  “Yeah, maybe sit on the bench outside the station until it opens. We’ll keep an eye on you from here. Anyone bothers you, I’ll come get you.”

  “Okay.” I took a breath, climbed out with my packsack on my shoulder, gave Dani a look through the window. “See you on the bus.”

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “This is the safest way.”

  Owen got out and grabbed something from the back of the truck, handed me a skateboard covered in stickers.

  “This’ll make you look like a skater chick.”

  I stared at the board, then back at him. He flushed.

  “I don’t need it anymore,” he said.

  I felt him watch me walk to the bus station. I sat outside on the bench, huddled in his hoodie. It smelled of boy, but clean—not like Brian and Gavin. A shudder went through my body when I thought of them. Had they made it back to town yet? Were they looking for us? They’d want us dead for sure now.

  I looked down at my wrists, the skin sore and aching under the fabric strips. I clenched my hands, made fists, gritting my teeth against the pain.

  I was never going to let anyone hurt me again.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  A dark-colored truck slowed as it neared the station. I gripped my packsack, ready to run. I glanced at Owen’s truck in the dark, then back at the one coming closer. Was it them? The truck passed under a streetlight. A glimmer of silver hair, a grizzled face peering over the steering wheel. An old man.

  Finally light was coming up on the horizon. An hour later, the bus pulled into sight with a groan of brakes. There was a noise behind the station door as it was unlocked, then an open sign was shoved in the window. A small cluster of people had been gathering for the last hour. They filed in.

  The woman behind the counter slurped her coffee and took my money without even looking at me. Her hair was messy like she’d just woken up. I climbed aboard the bus, which smelled faintly of lemon cleaner and vomit, then settled into a window seat. I watched my sisters walk across the road. Courtney seemed off balance, wobbly, like a passing vehicle could blow her over. Dani was gripping her arm. They went inside, then came back out and got on the bus.

  My eyes met Dani’s when they passed but we didn’t smile or speak.

  A heavy woman sat beside me, shoving her bag under the seat in front of her, pushing at it with feet that looked like they were going to burst through her shoes, the laces straining to hold all the flesh in. She gave me a look and a disgusted sniff, then pulled out a book. I was happy she didn’t want to talk.

  It would take six hours for the bus to get to Vancouver. Six hours before we were away from Brian and Gavin. I watched out the window, studying trucks going past, people climbing aboard the bus, catching my breath every time I saw a baseball cap or someone tall. Finally we were loaded and the bus was pulling away. It stopped in the next town, and a couple of others, but we never got off to stretch our legs. I walked to the back once to use the washroom, not even glancing at my sisters, but from the corner of my eye I saw that Dani was leaning against the window, Courtney asleep against her shoulder.

  I had to squeeze past the woman in my seat, almost landing in her lap, then settled myself against the window, counting telephone poles zipping by until the sway of the bus finally lulled me to sleep. I woke with a lurch as the woman beside me grabbed my arm. She gave me a strange look.

  “You were having a nightmare.”

  “Sorry.” My face flushed, my skin felt hot.

  I stayed awake after that.

  * * *

  When the bus got closer to Vancouver I stared out the window, my forehead pressed into the cool glass. I was amazed by all the people, cars, buses, the huge buildings.

  The bus depot was a large building on the harbor. I’d expected something industrial, concrete and metal, but it was stone. The bus driver intoned over the speaker that it was a heritage building. Behind the depot I could see the wide blue expanse of ocean sparkling in the sun. As I stepped off the bus, gusts of wind blew salt water toward me. When I stopped to inhale the scent, the large woman bumped into me, nearly knocking me over. I hoisted my packsack over my shoulder, gripped the skateboard Owen had given me, and moved on.

  Outside the station, I watched people mill about and waited for my sisters to get off the bus. Courtney still seemed dazed and was walking stiffly, but at least she was looking around. Dani had dark circles under her eyes, her shorn hair sticking up on one side. They were holding hands.

  Dani glanced at me, her face revealing nothing. Across the parking lot a maroon van started up and slowly came around. PHOENIX BOXING AND TRAINING was written on the side doors. I couldn’t see the man behind the wheel, just a shock of white hair and a beefy forearm covered in tattoos hanging out th
e window. I remembered Owen saying his dad’s friend had been in prison.

  The van pulled in front of my sisters. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the side door opened automatically and they climbed in.

  Dani’s eyes met mine for just a second, then the door was sliding shut.

  They were driving off.

  I wanted to run after them, screaming, Stop, don’t leave me!

  The van turned onto the road and was swallowed up by the traffic. I looked around. Most of the passengers were gone. The fat woman was climbing into a Jeep, two big dogs in the backseat licking her neck.

  Another bus was pulling up, people walking all around me. Car horns honked, tires screeched, announcements came over the loudspeaker. I spun around. Which way was I supposed to walk? Where was the park?

  A man across the way was standing near the pay phones, checking me out. I walked away, fast.

  Then I remembered Owen had told me to go straight down the main street. I held my packsack tight on my shoulder. Every time a vehicle pulled up behind me, I jerked around. People pushed past me, their shoulders rubbing against mine, giving me curious looks or not seeing me at all. I felt adrift, like a stick being tossed around in water. I saw a park off to the left, the bright bit of green in a sea of gray. I found a bench near the parking lot, pulled my packsack into my lap, and rested my chin on it.

  I watched every vehicle come and go, wondering how long I’d have to wait. It was hot, the sun high in the sky and beating down. I was thirsty, my lips chapped, and I’d eaten my sandwich on the bus hours ago. I also needed to pee but was scared to go anywhere in case I missed my ride. Finally, the van pulled up.

  The white-haired man rolled down the window. “You okay, kid?”

  Despite the hair, he wasn’t that old, older than our dad but maybe just in his fifties, I wasn’t sure. His skin was tanned, his eyes pale green.

  “Yeah.” I got up and came closer. I could see Dani and Courtney in the back. Courtney still had her head resting on Dani’s shoulder.

  He stuck his hand through the open window. “Patrick. Pleased to meet you.”

  I shook his hand but didn’t say my name. He just gave me a friendly smile and said, “Climb in.” The door slid open.