I would disappear.
A van pulled into the station. A tired woman got out while two children argued in the back seat. I approached cautiously.
“Excuse me. Are you traveling north?”
He looked at me with concern.
“I can take you to the state line. Are you in danger?”
“I need to get out of here.”
Her name was Marcy. She let me ride with her for four hours without asking any questions. At one stop, she bought me water and a sandwich. Before dropping me off at the bus station, she gave me ten dollars and a phone charger.
“Whatever you leave behind,” he said, “don’t go back just because being alone scares you. I once stayed too long.”
“You saved me today.”
Marcy gave me a tired smile.
“No. You saved yourself. I just took you there.”
Inside the station, I charged the borrowed phone long enough to email my mother’s sister, Aunt May. I hadn’t spoken to her in three years because Kyle had convinced me she was controlling.
