“I can take you to the state border. Are you in danger?”
“I need to get out of here.”
Her name was Marcy. He let me travel with her for four hours without asking me for explanations. At one stop, he bought me water and a sandwich. Before I left at the bus station, he gave me ten dollars and a charger for the mobile.
“Whatever you leave behind,” he said, “don’t come back simply because being alone scares you. I stayed too long once.”
“You saved me today.”
Marcy gave me a tired smile.
“No. You saved yourself. I just took you.”
Inside the station, I borrowed the 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.
Can I stay with you? I have nowhere to go.
His response came almost immediately.
