Reckless (Wrecked) (17 page)

“Hush, Barfy Barbie,” said Candi to Sarah.  “My hair issue is only temporary, but soon you’re going to be a big roly-poly, so I’d watch it if I were you.  Karma is a you-know-what.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes at her friend.  “Me?  Fat?  No way.  Never gonna happen.”

“Chances are you’ll gain between twenty-five and fifty-five pounds,” said Jonathan.

Sarah stared at him aghast as Candi laughed.  She leaned forward to tweak Candi’s hair while she shot death glares at her boyfriend.  When she finally recovered enough to speak, she said, “Like hell I will.” 
Fifty-five pounds?  He must be smoking something.

He shrugged.  “It’s a simple fact.  You can’t fight nature.”

“Oh, yes I can,” said Sarah, sitting back against the seat, giving up on messing with Candi’s hair in favor of scowling out the window.  The landscape that had so thrilled her earlier now looked ugly. 
Stupid grass.  Stupid fat trees.  Stupid fat flowers.

“It won’t be so bad, Sarah,” said Candi, sounding chagrined.  “You’ll probably be one of those lucky girls who just has a tiny little bump and then pops out the baby like no big deal.”

Sarah was surprised Candi was being so nice, considering how much Sarah had been teasing her about her horrible hair.  It took some of the wind out of Sarah’s angry sails.  “Whatever.  Even if I do gain some weight, and I’m not saying that’s going to happen, I’ll work my butt off after and be back to normal in a week.  No problem.”

Jonathan cleared his throat and opened is mouth to say something, but Sarah shot her hand out and clapped it over his lips.  She stared straight ahead, growling, “Don’t. Say. A word.  Or I am going to eat your stupid TMI face off.”

“Daaaamn,” said Kevin, whistling in respect.  “I heard about mother instincts and everything, but that’s off the hook, sister.”  His barely controlled snorts had her seeing red.

“Say one more thing, and see what happens to you,
Kevin
.  I’m not kidding.”

He lifted up a hand and waved it.  “I’m done.  I surrender.  Don’t eat my face off, please.”

Sarah shook her head at everyone - they were all laughing at her brother’s antics. 
Idiots.
  “You guys have no clue, you know that?  You’re just running away from some bad guys.  I’m not only running away from ugly-butt assassins, one of whom I had to nearly kill, thanks to sleeping beauty over there, but I’m also growing a life inside me
and
protecting both of us from being murdered, the whole time sick as crap
and
starving at the same time.  I’d like to see you do it.”

The car went silent.

“I’m sorry, Sarah,” said Candi.  “We’re being insensitive, and I know that’s not cool.”

“Yeah, sorry.  Lost my head there for a second,” added Kevin, sounding sincere.

“I have the utmost respect for what you’re doing and going through for us and our child, Sarah.  I want you to know that.  And it would be very easy for you to succumb to the pressures put on us by this situation we’re in and the effects of the hormones you have swamping your system right now, so I just hope the levity that everyone is providing can be something useful to help ease your stress.”

Sarah frowned at him.  “A word to the wise … you may want to keep your so-called
levity
about my weight to yourselves.”

“Noted,” said Jonathan, pressing his lips together and nodding.

Sarah reached over and took his hand in hers, knowing he was just trying to help in his own awkward way.  “You guys are forgiven.  For now, anyway.”

“The queen has spoken,” said Candi, turning to grin at her, taking the sting out of her words.

“Exactly,” said Sarah, nodding very regally at her subjects.

“Hey, there’s the sign for the town,” said Kevin.  “Where do I go from here?  Should I get off at this exit?”  He turned to look at the traffic behind them, his finger poised on the small lever for the turn signal.

“Yes,” said Jonathan, grabbing some papers from behind his seat that were sitting on the shelf under the back window.  “Follow the signs to the main part of town, and then pull into the first fast food place you see.”

Kevin followed Jonathan’s directions, and five minutes later they were sitting in the parking lot of a burger place.  Sarah looked around, thinking they were probably at the only restaurant of this kind in the whole town, since it was so small and very old-school quaint - hardly a place where a bunch of junk food places could make it.  Her mother probably would have labeled it very pedestrian, but Sarah liked it.  It had an old soul.  She smiled, thinking about the idea of raising a child here. 
Not that I’ll be here that long.

“Happy?” asked Jonathan, squeezing her hand and pulling her out of her thoughts.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.  For some reason she felt like crying, and it made absolutely no sense, which only served to piss her off at herself.  She should have been crying earlier when everyone was talking about her getting fat.  Now she wanted to cry because she was finally feeling some hope. 
Pregnancy sucks.

“So what are we going to do next?” asked Candi.

“Well, you’re the one who looks the least like our pictures, and you’re the one who spoke to the owner,” said Jonathan, “so I think you should be the one to go talk to her again and give her the money.  We’ll all just wait at this restaurant, and you can come get us once you have the key.”

“What if she wants to drive me to the place?  Should I just go and leave you here?”  Candi sounded very nervous, and her eyes looked huge in her pale face.

Jonathan shook his head.  “No, just tell her to give you directions because you have to do some grocery shopping first.  Then when you’re sure she won’t see you, come get us.  If you have to act like you’re going to the store first, do it.”

“Okay … but don’t blame me if things don’t go according to plan.”

“We’ll be here whenever you’re done,” said Kevin, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.  “Take whatever time you need.  We’ve all had some sleep and food, and we’ll be right here by the fries if Big Momma back there gets hungry.”

Sarah leaned forward and flicked him on the ear.

“Ouch!  Son of a …”  He glared at Sarah, his anger turning immediately to joy when he saw how annoyed she was.  He winked at her which only made her madder.

“Kevin, stop,” said Candi, opening up her door.  “Come on, let’s do this before I wimp out.”

Everyone exited the car, Jonathan taking James’ leash and Kevin taking Xena’s.  The dogs stood quietly next to the humans’ legs, watching their faces for clues of what they were doing or where they were going.

Sarah got a strong urge to eat another bag of fries when the smell of the restaurant’s cooking hit her nose.  A tiny voice in the back of her head told her that fries for every meal was the surest way to grow a fat butt, but she didn’t care.  Her appetite was so hit-or-miss these days, she had to take advantage of it when it was on
hit.

“Let’s go, boys,” she said, grabbing Jonathan’s hand and nearly dragging him to the door.

“Do you need any money?” Candi asked as they walked away, leaving her by the car.

“Nope.  Got some,” said Kevin, waving at her.

Sarah pushed him in the back to get him walking again.  “Come on, Romeo.  Time for fries.”

“Time to feed the baby again?” he asked.

“Mmm hmmm,” said Sarah, hoping it was the baby ingesting all those fry calories and not her.

“Give me the leashes,” said Jonathan, holding out his hand.  “I’ll keep the dogs out here.  Just get me a meal deal.  Hamburger and a bottle of water.”

“You got it,” said Kevin, giving him the thicker leash.  “Xena, protect your master.  I’ll be back in a few.”

Sarah bent down to pat the dog and give her a quick hug before disappearing inside.  She had to force herself to not run up to the counter.  The crunchy, salty goodness of the fries was calling out to her by name.

***

Candi pulled into the designated meeting spot, drumming her fingers nervously on the wheel as she scanned the area, searching for an old lady in a dark green sedan. Her heart nearly stopped beating when a police car went by at a leisurely pace. 
Is it my imagination or are there cop cars everywhere out here?
  She’d never noticed them before when their job was to protect and serve.  Now that their job was to find her and bring her in not only to testify against drug dealers and the Russian mafia, but for stealing a car too, their patrol vehicles had a certain menacing quality to them they’d never had before.

A tapping on the glass near her left ear made her jump and squeak with fright.  An older lady stood at the window, smiling to reveal the perfectly white teeth and pretty pink gums of her dentures.  

Candi turned the crank to lower the window.

“Are you Cathy?” the woman asked.  Candi nodded, almost forgetting she’d used that fake name over the phone.  She felt her face go red with the disaster she’d come close to causing by saying,
Hi, my name’s Candi
!

“I’m Agnes.  Why don’t you come sit down inside for a few minutes and have a cup of coffee with me while we work out the arrangements?”

Candi nodded, not trusting herself to speak.  She was feeling very shaky about this whole thing.  She had never been good at lying to adults and could probably count on one hand the attempts she’d made in her lifetime.  She opened the door and stepped out.  The duffel bag was over her shoulder, now empty except for the money; all she could think about was getting attacked and having all that cash taken in a mugging.  The stress of being responsible for it felt like it was going to give her a heart attack.

“Did you have very far to travel?” asked Agnes, walking up to the door of a diner.

“Oh, yes.  I came from … California.”  She had tried to think of a place as far away from the truth as possible, but the second it was out of her mouth, she realized her mistake.

Agnes looked at her and frowned.  “I thought you said you were from Colorado.”

Candi grimaced, not even sure at this point what she’d said in that copy shop but knowing it was critical that Agnes trust her. 
Recovery!  Quick! 
“I guess it’s possible I said that.  I spent a month in Colorado with my friend on my way, but I started out in California.  Where I was going to school.  As a journalism student.”

Agnes smiled, apparently happy with Candi’s explanation.  “Oh, isn’t that nice.  What a beautiful place, Colorado.  What town were you in?”

Candi only knew the names of two cities in the state, so she picked the one that she’d memorized as the capitol in geography class.  “Denver.”

“The mile-high city.  Don’t you find it difficult in the winter?”

“Uh … yeah.  It’s cold there.”

“And dry too.  I went when I was younger; and boy, oh boy, did I have trouble with my breathing.  I prefer the lower altitudes myself.”  Agnes opened the door and gestured for Candi to go in front of her.  “Let’s sit just over there by the window, shall we?  I like to watch the people walking by.  I’m a busybody, or so my husband likes to say.  Old coot never did appreciate a good people-watching exercise.”

Candi smiled, despite her stress over the whole situation.  “I used to do that at the mall all the time with my brother.”  She stopped talking immediately, realizing she could really get into a lot of trouble by telling this woman too much about herself. 
What if she asks me the name of the mall?  Just shut up, Candi.  Be polite, but don’t make friends
.

They sat down and the waitress came immediately to take their order for coffee.  Candi wasn’t much of a coffee person, but she ordered one anyway so she wouldn’t give her new landlord any reason to think she wasn’t just your average college girl in need of a vacation cabin.

“So, you said you’re a journalism major, eh?  That sounds exciting.  What are you going to write at the cabin?  A novel?”

“Uhhh … yeah, that’s my plan.  I have an outline, but you know … it’s hard to do anything serious in a dormitory with other college students around.  They’re always noisy and having parties …”  Candi had quickly tried to imagine what a dorm would be like, and that was the best description she could come up with.

“And you had a fire in the dormitories?  That’s terrible!”

“Oh, no, the fire wasn’t at the school.  It was at my friend’s house … where I had a lot of my stuff … where I was trying to stay and do my writing.  So I figured that was an omen that I just needed to get away, far away from school.”  Candi started to sweat, the lameness of her lies freaking her out.

“Well, you sure managed to do that.  You went to the other side of the country!  Seems like you could have found something closer to home.”  Agnes was studying her closely, taking a sip of the coffee that had just been poured by the waitress.

Candi nodded, putting two creamers and three teaspoons of sugar into her cup.  “Yes, well, my story takes places on the East Coast, so I thought maybe it would seem more genuine if I was here writing it.”  She shrugged, knowing her reasoning sounded lame. 
Who drives across the country just to rent a cabin in the woods for writing?

“I think it’s romantic,” said Agnes, a faraway look in her eyes.  “I always wanted to write a novel.”  Her gaze came back to Candi.  “What’s the book about?  Or am I not allowed to know?”  Her eyes sparkled and she winked, wrapping her hands around her cup as she waited for Candi’s answer.

“It’s a secret,” said Candi, praying the woman wouldn’t press for more details.  The only story she could think about right now was a horror story that involved killers chasing teenagers across the country to stop them from testifying in a murder and drug trial.

“Well, when it’s published, you need to let me know so I can purchase a copy and read it.”

Candi smiled nervously.  “I will.”  She felt really bad for lying.  This lady seemed really nice.

“Forgive me for saying so,” said Agnes, leaning in a little, “but you seem so young to be in college.”

“Well, I am.  I mean, I’m eighteen, but I started when I was … younger.”