Those Girls (13 page)

He shook his head. He was looking at us slowly, the ill-fitting dresses, our bare feet and messy hair. His gaze lingered on Courtney’s face.

“You sure you don’t want me to call some help? Looks like you’ve run into some trouble.”

“No cops,” Dani said. “We just want to get out of here.”

“Where you trying to go?”

Dani looked like she was debating whether she should lie, but then she said, “Vancouver. We need food, clothes. Can you help us?”

The man looked hesitant now, like he was thinking.

Courtney raised her head, her voice breaking as she said, “Please help us.”

*   *   *

We followed him through a back door into the pub and up some stairs. I saw now that his hair was long and braided down the back, and tied at the end with leather. The music was loud, vibrating through air that smelled of grease, cigarette smoke, and stale beer. I pushed away images of Brian and Gavin. I didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to go into this man’s place, but we didn’t have any other options.

His apartment was small but tidy. We sat in the living room, huddled together on the couch. I gripped the rifle across my knees, looked around at the black velvet landscape paintings, the wooden burl coffee table, the glass shelf full of model Harley-Davidsons. On the mantel over a rock fireplace a photo of a woman was carefully placed on a white doily. The woman had long hair, parted in the middle, and a big smile. She was sitting on the back of a Harley.

“My name’s Allen,” he said, then paused, waiting for us to introduce ourselves. We were mute. “Okay, well, let me see about some clothes.”

He disappeared into a back room and came out with a couple pairs of jeans and blouses he handed to Courtney and Dani.

“My wife—she died a few years ago.” He passed me a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, a gray zip-up hoodie. “These are my son’s.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“I’ll see if I can find some shoes.” He came back with a couple pairs of old sneakers, scuffed, laces ratty, and some flip-flops that had also seen better days. “He wears them until they fall off.”

He pointed out the bathroom, which was down the hall a little but still in view of the living room. Dani told me to go in first. I gave her the rifle, grabbed my packsack, then quickly changed and washed my face and hair. Next Dani went in with Courtney, handing me back the rifle. I waited outside the door, my packsack by my feet, the rifle gripped in my hands. I wondered if Gavin and Brian had another truck. If they were already back in town and looking for us.

Allen was in the kitchen, opening a can of soup, watching me. His gaze drifted down, focused on my wrists, his forehead pulling together in a frown. For a brief moment his eyes flicked to the phone at the end of the counter.

“You better not call anyone!” I said. I took a step toward him, glanced over my shoulder, but Courtney and Dani were still in the bathroom. I didn’t know what to do. My head felt light, my body shaky from fear and lack of food.

He held out a hand. “Easy. I was just thinking the cops would want to know if the boys hurt you.”

“You call them, and I’m going to have to hurt
you
.” I brandished the gun.

“Nobody has to hurt anybody, okay?”

Dani and Courtney came out of the bathroom. Their hair was damp. The clothes were baggy on them, but I was glad to see them out of the dresses.

“What’s going on?” Dani rushed toward me.

“He was going to call the cops.”

“Why?” Dani said. “We told you. Nothing happened.”

He looked at us. “Something happened.”

“We won’t talk to them,” Dani said. “But those boys, they might hear that you made a call about
them
.” She gave him a look.

The man stared at her, his hands still on the can of soup, weighing her words, then nodded.

He motioned to the kitchen table. “Let’s talk about how we can get you girls out of town.”

Courtney and Dani sat on one side, dumping their packsacks down by their feet. I stayed leaning against the wall where I could see their faces, the rifle still in my hands but pointed at the floor. The man got a pot out of a cupboard, dumped a couple cans of chicken noodle soup into it. My mouth watered. I wanted to eat it cold, wanted to run over and slurp it from the pot. I glanced at Dani’s face, noticed her staring at the stove. She looked away, slowly, her neck stiff.

“It’s better if you girls leave your truck behind,” the man said.

“We need it. We just have to drug the dog or something,” Dani said.

“The garage, it’s got cameras out back.”

“You didn’t tell us that before,” I said. The soup was boiling on the stove. The man stirred it, the aroma filling the air. My stomach grumbled.

“Didn’t want to scare you. Brian’s uncle, he checks that camera all the time.”

“Shit,” Dani said, gnawing on her nails.

“When you don’t claim your truck, they’ll chop it up for parts. I don’t know where you came from or who you’re running from, but you took a chance driving it out here. Trucks need gas, trucks break down. If you leave it, it’s like you disappeared here.”

Like we died here. I glanced at Courtney. She was holding her arms tight around her body, her eyes still vacant in that way that scared me.

“How else are we going to get to Vancouver?” I said.

“There’s a bus. First thing in the morning—”

“We can’t stay here that long.” My voice was frantic.

He looked thoughtful. “My son can drive you to Armstrong tonight. You can get on the bus there.”

“We don’t have any money,” Dani said, her chin high.

“I’ll help you. Do you have any family where you’re going?”

Dani shook her head. “No one.”

“So what are you going to do?” He pulled some bowls down out of the cupboard.

“We’ll live on the streets or a shelter or something,” she said.

He looked over his shoulder at us. “Three girls alone on the streets of Vancouver.… That’s just asking for trouble.”

“We’re already in trouble,” she said.

He nodded, looked like he was thinking something over.

“I have an old friend.… He has a gym, works with teenagers from the streets. He might be able to find you a place to stay.”

Dani looked at Courtney, who was staring down at the table, then over to me. I shook my head, frowning. She looked back at Courtney, then turned to the man.

“Can you call him? We’d appreciate it.”

“We don’t need anyone,” I said. “We can figure it out on our own.”

Dani glared at me. “Shut up and let me handle this.”

“We should get a say in this too!”

“Why don’t you girls talk it over?” the man said.

Dani and I glanced at Courtney.

“I’ll watch her,” he said. “You can use my son’s room.” He pointed toward the back of the apartment.

I grabbed the cordless, giving the guy a look, making it clear I didn’t trust him. Dani and I went into a back bedroom with hockey flags on the wall, posters from bands, a couple of carvings on his desk. His bed was tidy, his clothes folded neatly, books stacked everywhere.

“We can get our truck back,” I whispered to Dani. “By the time Brian’s uncle checks the cameras, we could be in Vancouver.”

“We still have to get past the dog—and he’s right. For all we know, the cops are already looking for our truck. We should’ve left town a week ago.”

“What about our rifle?”

“We just have to hope if the guys find it, they get rid of it.”

“We don’t know anything about this guy’s friend.”

“We don’t know anything about
him
either. We don’t have any other options. Hitchhiking is too dangerous—they might find us.”

I tried to think of some other way we could get out of town on our own, but before I could say anything, Dani had grabbed the phone out of my hand and opened the door.

“He’s our only hope, Jess.”

Courtney was slumped in her chair, staring at the floor. The man reached across the table to set down a bag of crackers, and she flinched. He moved to the other side of the room.

“Like we said,” Dani said, giving me a look, “we’d appreciate if you called your friend.” She handed him the phone and sat down.

“I’d have to dig up his number,” he said. “Been a long time, but I can give it a try.” He carried two bowls of soup over to the table, handed the girls some spoons. Then he looked at me. “You want to sit down?”

Dani shot me another look.

I sat at the other side of the table, worried he’d sit beside me, but he just pushed a bowl in front of me, then stood at the counter. I dug in, slurping at the soup, digging my spoon in so fast some of it splashed out.

“Go easy,” he said. “Might upset your stomach.”

He’d said it kindly, and I tried to slow down. Courtney was spooning hers in pretty fast but methodically, spoonful after spoonful, like a robot. Dani was eating calmly, her hand steady as she dipped the spoon in and brought another mouthful to her lips. But I saw the look in her eyes, the relief.

Allen opened a drawer and rummaged around. He brought out an address book and flipped through it, muttering. Then stopped and turned around.

“Got the number. I’ll give him a call now.”

Dani nodded. “Thanks.”

He picked up the cordless phone at the end of the counter, turning toward us as though he sensed we needed to see his face. I kept my hand near the rifle I’d rested by my legs. If I got the feeling he was calling the cops, I didn’t know what I’d do, but I wanted to be ready.

The phone seemed to ring awhile. Then finally the man said, “Patrick, sorry for waking you. It’s Allen.…” He paused, listening. “Just fine. How you been…?” Another pause. “Listen, I got some girls here, they’ve run into some trouble.” He glanced at us. “Big trouble. We’re going to put them on the bus in the morning. Can you meet them? They need a place to stay.… Thanks, buddy. We’ll talk soon, go for a ride, hey?” He said good night and hung up.

“He’s going to help?” Dani said, her face hopeful.

“Yeah, he’ll pick you up, get you somewhere safe.”

Dani’s body relaxed in the chair. I felt mad at her, pissed that she was putting us at risk again. She gave me a look across the table.

“It’s better for Courtney,” she said.

I looked down, still mad. We could take care of Courtney ourselves. Allen seemed okay but we didn’t know anything about this Patrick guy. What if he was like Brian and Gavin? It didn’t matter, though. Dani had made up her mind.

“I’m going to call my son,” Allen said. Dani nodded. He dialed some numbers. “Owen, can you come upstairs?” He set the phone back down. “Owen works in the kitchen. Why don’t you girls go rest in the living room?” He cleared away our bowls.

We grabbed our packsacks and sat on the couch. It was warm in the apartment but Courtney couldn’t stop shivering, her arms wrapped tight around her chest. When Allen came back in, Dani was tucking a blanket around her.

“Your sister’s in a bad way,” he said.

“We never said we’re sisters,” Dani said.

“You’re sisters, all right.”

Steps coming up the stairs, then a boy walked into the living room, tall, with shaggy blond hair and ice-blue eyes. It was the boy I’d seen in the alley.

“You’re those girls,” he said, surprised. He stared at our clothes, his shoes on our feet. His eyes settled on the rifle in my lap, widened in alarm.

I remembered how he’d stared at us in the back of the truck. Did he think we liked Brian and Gavin? Did he think we wanted to be with them? My face was warm, my throat tight. I blinked back tears.

I held my breath when he passed by me to stand by his dad. I leaned back into the couch, tucked my legs up so he couldn’t touch them.

“These girls are going to need a ride tonight to Armstrong,” Allen said.

“Tonight?” He looked surprised again but didn’t ask any other questions.

“You’re going to see them to the bus station.” Allen walked over to a china cabinet at the other end of the room, reached under, and grabbed something.

He pulled out a rifle and a box of ammo.

“What’s that for?” Dani said, her voice loud and scared.

“In case someone doesn’t want you to leave town.” He walked back over and handed the gun to Owen. “Load it and put it under the seat.” Owen nodded.

I didn’t like the idea of Owen having a gun, but I didn’t much like the idea of him not having a gun either. How long would it take for Brian and Gavin to get back to town? The first place they’d look was at the garage. I wondered if they’d gotten rid of all our other stuff or if it was still in the truck. We couldn’t get to it regardless. I was glad Dani had found our packsacks. I reached in, felt my camera, and wanted to cry when my fingers touched the broken lens.

I glanced at my sisters. Courtney was still curled into a ball, Dani watching her as she rubbed her leg soothingly like our mom used to do for us.

“You girls should crouch down when he’s driving out of here,” Allen said. “Even in the next town, the Luxton boys know people.”

My body filled with fear. What if the cops from Littlefield were still looking for us? Would they show photos of us to people at the station?

“We should change our looks,” I said.

“Yeah, we need disguises.” Dani looked at the man.

“We should be able to rustle some stuff up,” he said. “Owen, why don’t you go make the girls some sandwiches first?”

“Not peanut butter,” I said, my voice frantic. They both stared at me. My face flushed.

“She’s allergic,” Dani said.

The boy left the room. I heard cupboard doors opening and shutting.

Allen sat in the chair across from me.

“You should leave that here,” he said as he pointed to the gun.

“We need it,” Dani said.

“It’s probably registered. You get found with it, all kinds of trouble could come up. I’ll get rid of it for you.”

Everything was being stripped away, our truck, the gun. Dani was looking at me and I knew what she wanted me to do. I didn’t meet her eyes.

“Give it to him,” Dani said.

The man stood, held his hand out for the gun.

I thought about what he’d said. He was right, the gun was probably registered and it wasn’t like I could get on a bus with a rifle.