“Val, wake up,” I hear Ali saying to me and slowly open my eyes. “It’s time for breakfast!”
“It’s morning already?” I ask her, though the question was stifled by an impromptu yawn. I’m surprised that we were able to sleep through the night on the train. The last thing I remember was Ali vomiting in the small bathroom next to our cabin. She’s never been good on boats. Why would a train be any different? I feel guilty because I didn’t get up to hold her hair or anything.
In the dining car, there’s a nice spread of pancakes, waffles and other breakfast items like bacon and grits. The coffee is fresh and steaming. It smells a bit like hazelnut. The air is thick and full of syrup and cinnamon. Ali is already sitting down with her over-sized buffet plate.
“This looks great. I think I can actually eat. How’re you feeling this morning?” I ask her as I take my seat across from her spot in the booth.
“I feel much better than I did yesterday. Sleep is a wonderful drug,” she says, forking a load of waffle into her mouth. She smiles at me with her mouth full. Some of the waffle can be seen between her teeth.
“Oh, Ali! That’s gross!” I say to her, covering my face with a napkin from the wooden table. “So, what’s next?” I ask, delaying before I get my own meal.
“I figure we chill as much as possible before we get to Orlando. Or, we can get off the train earlier if we find a better place. I’ve always wanted to live in Florida, though.” She sounds much stronger than she did yesterday. Maybe she’s back to her old self. I certainly hope she’s back. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up the tough act for much longer. Only time will tell.
“Florida it is,” I say as I get up to get myself a plate of breakfast. I eye the fruits and oatmeal. My heart is dead set on something sweet, though. I get two waffles on my plate, douse them with melted butter and drench the plate with sweet and sugary maple syrup. I grab a couple of banana nut muffins, just in case.
We eat in silence. There’s generally not much to say when we have food in front of us. Ali must be starving, though. I know I am. We haven’t eaten since we were at the diner the morning after we ran out on my wedding. We left the hospital before anyone could bring us breakfast. I think our nerves have gotten the best of us on this trip, honestly. The stress of our continual escape has killed our appetites. Well, until now. We might just be safe enough to feel somewhat comfortable.
With empty plates and stuffed stomachs, we sit back and watch each other from across the booth. Ali starts making silly faces at me. She holds her thumb to her perfect nose, crosses her stunning, sapphire eyes and sticks her small, pink tongue at me. I mock her by sticking my tongue out at her. “Where do you think we are?”
“I have no idea. Let’s ask.” She grabs an attendant walking down the aisle of the train and asks him, “Excuse me. Where are we at?”
“We’re right outside of Chattanooga, Ma’am,” he says and walks away. It seemed painful for him to answer the question
“We’re right outside of Chattanooga, Ma’am,” Ali says to me, mocking the attendant’s haughty attitude. We both crumble in our booth, laughing hysterically. I’m out of breath when Ali sits up, stiff and straight as a board. “Val, I think we’re being followed.” Why am I not paying better attention to my surroundings?
I look down the hallway where our rooms are and the man that chased us in the SUV is standing right outside of our cabin’s door. “Oh, shit.”
I can feel my pulse pounding through my veins. My heart could easily burst through my chest at any second. Ali casually stands and takes my hand in hers. She leads me towards the front of the moving dinner car. “Val, you have to breathe,” she says to me as if we are just taking a nice walk after breakfast. “Everything is going to be fine. You have to trust me,” she continues coolly. She ducks into one of the restrooms located near the back of the next cabin.
“Ali, what are we going to do?” I ask her. She slaps my shoulder and puts her finger to her mouth, telling me to be quiet. I quickly figure out that talking is probably not the best idea at the moment. “Keep your big mouth shut for once, Val,” I think to myself.
I feel sick. I want to go home. I want to be safe and secure. I want to wrap myself in my blankets and pretend that none of this has ever happened. I’ve pinched myself at least three times on this trip, hoping I can wake myself up from this damned stupor. It never works. I must not be sleeping. This must be real.
The seconds turn into minutes. The minutes turn into what I can only guess to be hours. The man walks by the door several times but never opens the door. Ali is looking underneath the crack between the door and the flooring, her faced smashed against the carpet. The shadows from his boots play against the ground as he walks back and forth. He stops right in front of the door, toes pointing in our direction.
The door begins to open slowly. A large dark figure appears, staring down at us on the floor. “Don’t make a sound,” he growls at us. His voice is surly and uncivil. This time, I’m pretty sure my heart stops beating entirely. My fingers go numb.
Ali repositions her tiny frame between the man and where I’m sitting. He wears heavy, black boots. The rips in his jeans reveal the pale skin beneath them. The only other distinguishing factor is that black hoodie I’ve seen him wearing every other time we’ve had such chance encounters. A scar marks his face from the bottom of his right eye and disappears underneath his chin.
“You little dolls are slippery. You’re not scared are you?” He asks, licking his lips and letting out a bellow of a laugh. “If you’re smart enough, you’ll just sit right here with me, darlings.”
“Who are you?” Ali asks assertively. It’s nice to have the old Ali back. She’s as calm and confident as ever.
“I’ve miss you, Ali,” I think to myself.
“That doesn’t matter too much at the moment. Your friend there owes my friend back home something very important.”
“I’m not sure you have the right person,” Ali says back to the ragged man, making her way to her feet. She puts her hands on her hips and leans to the left. Her right foot taps, ready to make a move if necessary.
“Valerie Thompson, right? Or, shouldn’t it be Valerie Espinoza? Tom’s waiting for you,” the man says in a brusque and sarcastic tone. “You’re not fooling anyone.”
“Where’s your friend?” Ali asks him, looking around like she’s lost something or someone.
I can’t believe how steady Ali is playing this character. If I had more food in my system, I’d probably shit my pants if I were the one talking. I’m sweating ferociously. I can smell my own body odor in the air surrounding us. I’m beyond terrified. The goose bumps riddle my arms, raising my tiny hairs up on end. The hair on the back of my neck is rising. I’m not sure how much longer this guy is going to let this go on. My knees shake with horror. I just know that this is the end.
Just as the man looks around to see who Ali may be talking about, she kicks the man in the groin and grabs me by the shirt. We make a run for it, diving down the aisle. The man, still on his knees in agony, reaches towards us like he can catch us with his mind. Ali pulls me to the back of the train and we lock ourselves in the luggage car. She sits down and motions for me to sit next to her.
“What luck,” she says, brushing away the wisps of blonde hair from in front of her eyes. She pulls a black hair tie off her wrist and throws her hair back in a sloppy pony tail.
“No joke,” I say, almost completely out of breath. “What do you suggest we do now?”
“I think we have a few options,” she says after a pause to think about the question. She continues to stare at her folded legs beneath her, playing with the sole of her scuffed up shoes. “We could stay in this car until we get to Orlando. That may not be the best option if that creep doesn’t get off the train. We could also get off at the next stop.”
“He could follow us then, too, though,” I say, messing with my own hair. My sloppy pony tails never look as good as Ali’s always seem to.
?
??Right. So, we could… Hold on, let me think.” She concentrates on the sole of her shoe and a few strands of hair fall back in front of her face.
I look at her with eyes wide, “We could jump while the train is moving and make a run for it.” This is the most daring and dangerous thing I have ever considered. I’m no stuntwoman, but I’d do anything to get away from this guy.
“You’ve seen too many movies. I don’t really want to die right now. Thanks for trying though.” I should have just kept my mouth shut. But, I feel the need to go on. What’s the worst that could happen? We’ve already almost died when our car flew off the interstate. Could it really be that much worse?
I don’t know. I think it may be our best bet. That guy would never be able to tell where we left him from. All he would know is that we got off somewhere between Lexington and Orlando.”
“Hmm…” Ali says, putting her fingers to her chin. “I think you may have just sold me on that idea.”
After some rest time, Ali and I start trying to figure out how to slip out of the train unnoticed. I can’t image there’s any truly harmless way to jump from a train, but we practice jumping into people’s luggage anyway. Tuck and roll, baby! I really have seen too many movies.
“Ready for this?” Ali asks. My heart pounds in my chest, again. Her hands are on the latch that clearly opens the side door of the train.
“As ready as I think I’ll ever be,” I say, looking into her vibrant, blue eyes.
“I’ll jump first.” She positions herself near the exit. I can’t let her do this.
“No, let me, just in case it isn’t safe. That guy wants me. He’s not looking for you. At least if I jump and get hurt, you can stay here and be safe,” I say. This is the most confident I’ve been about something since Ali lost her zest after the car accident.
“Of course it’s not safe to jump from a train, Val. Hello! There’s no way I’m going to let you go without me.”
“I just don’t want you to get any more hurt than you already are,” I say, uncompromising.
“Then we’ll jump together,” She tells me insistently. She’s so stubborn. I love that about her.
Ali slides the door on the side of the train open. There is long swaying grass on the side of the track where we will be launching ourselves from. I feel a little stitch of hope rise in my mind.
This just might work.
I start counting out loud, “One, two, three!”
On three, we both fling ourselves away from the door and land with two solid thumps on the ground. The grass didn’t absorb as much of the landing as I was hoping it would have. The dense ground knocked the wind out of my lungs. I’m sure Ali had the same problem given her broken ribs.
Gasping for breath, I raise myself onto my hands and knees and look around for Ali. I see her crawling towards me gradually. “Oh, damn!” she says, screaming out in discomfort. We lay next to each other in the grass, looking up into the clear sky, trying to catch our breath. I don’t think I was prepared for this at all.
CHAPTER 13
One Foot in Front of the Other