Breathe In (Just Breathe, #1)(9)

I grabbed the bat and handed the girls their coats and boots as I escorted them to the front door. I unlocked it for them to leave, but turned around abruptly when I heard Dean trying to crawl at us.

“Get back here, you bitch!” he grumbled,

I raised the wooden club above my head, poised to whip it down into the side of his skull.

“Emma?” Leslie uttered meekly.

I looked back pained, realizing that Brittany and Leslie were still in the house. Lowering the bat, I thrusted my foot into the side of Dean’s head. He was out cold after that.

Compelled by a vengeful thought, I went over to Dean’s hidden liquor stash and found eight bottles of whiskey, five bottles of tequila, and four and a half bottles of vodka along with several boxes of cigarettes. Dean doesn’t smoke — I never saw him and never smelled it. Picking up one of the boxes, I was surprised to see wads of money stuffed in them. I opened one box all the way and it was packed full of one hundred dollar bills. I took all of the loose cigarette boxes and a full carton that were hidden at the bottom.

I rushed back to the girls who were still standing in the front door while Dean and Amber lay unmoving. Without saying a word, the girls knew my intentions and hugged me. I could hear the police cars in the distance and knew the clock was ticking for me to get away. I gave Brittany four of the six packs of money along with a piece of paper. Brittany hung up the phone on the police dispatch. I punched in the number for Martin and Celia and held it to her head.

“Martin,” she said confirming more than questioning as the phone rang on the other end.

I nodded.

We embraced and for the first time since the accident I spoke, “Take care of each other.” They sobbed as I led them out front before I turned to leave; they probably knew we would never see each other again.

I snuck out the back to my bike after grabbing my coat from the closet. I hoped that the police would handle the situation at the house for the next few hours and not bother looking for me right away. With pain seeping back into my bones, I rode to the Hoboken train station, got on the arriving shuttle and rode it to union   City station near the home I grew up in. The neighborhood was dark and motionless at four o’clock in the morning and an empty feeling crept into my heart.

My house was lifeless when I found the spare key under the back step and unlocked the door to let myself in. Nothing had changed. Nothing had moved. The State hadn’t done anything to it yet. Thank God.

I went into the house only to collect a few things. I knew that I couldn’t stay. My eyes remained dry the entire time as I went throughout the house grabbing what I needed and wanted. I switched out some clothing, grabbed some non-perishable food from the kitchen and opened the safe my parents had hidden in the wall of the closet at the top of the stairs that no one would be able to find — unless you knew to look. The safe was there for emergencies. This was an emergency.

My parents weren’t rich, but they were smart and they made sure to pass that on to me. There was ten thousand dollars cash, our social security cards, birth certificates, and even passports that we never got to use. I grabbed it all before fastening it closed again.

I left the house with nothing other than a few family pictures, a few of my mother’s books, my laptop computer, Mom’s first aid kit to help with my injuries, and never looked back as the door closed shut. A single tear found its way down my face that night, but it was the only one.

Still aching, I biked back to the train station that let me off eight blocks from the house. I knew I had to get away, far away, or else the State would thrust me into another questionable situation. This time, I rode to the Newark station and bought a one-way ticket to California. It was several hundred dollars more for a private room, but I didn’t care. It was a small price considering the amount of money I had on hand. I stopped in the twenty-four hour convenience store that was across the street to pick up a few minor things before hiding in the restroom of the station until boarding to make sure I wouldn’t be spotted — just in case the police were looking for me. While in the restroom, I cleaned myself, used some of the stuff from my Mom’s first aid kit and ate some of the food I had in the bag.

I looked in the mirror and knew that another step needed to be taken before leaving the restroom, using the materials I purchased from the convince store. When I finally stepped out to board the train, my naturally dirty blond hair that flowed just below the middle of my back was now jet black and shoulder length. I blended with the small group of passengers easily. The sling for my injured right arm would stay hidden under my jacket until I got to my private cabin.


The journey went smoothly. I stayed in my cabin for most of the ride across the country, only exiting my accommodations to eat a few times or use the restroom. After my first round of sleep and food, I counted the money Dean had hidden in the cigarette cartons several times. I was shocked to find out that I had nineteen thousand, four hundred and seventy-eight dollars total, including the ten thousand I had gotten from my parent’s safe. I rolled up the majority of the money in small wads and hid them inside my bike frame. No need to have that much exposed. The cash would buy me time to find a place to stay and get a job. Unable to sleep consistently for the rest of the trip, eating or reading became my main distraction while awake.

A weight was lifted from my heart and gut when I stepped off the train and breathed in the sunny, cool air of California. Though I didn’t know where to go or what to do at the moment, I didn’t care. I felt free.