I wanted to say something, but I knew better. I was momentarily blinded by the lights coming from the lobby when the elevator doors parted.

“Come on,” Mason said, yanking me across the sleek marble floor. As soon as my eyes focused, they landed right on Aunt Wanda and Payton. Payton dropped the magazine she’d been reading as soon as she caught sight of us trying to make our escape.

Mason kept moving us right out the revolving doors.

As we hit the fresh air, the reality of our situation punched me right in the gut.

“If we leave them its final, it’s done. You know that as well as I do,” I said, trying to get Mason to stop walking.

“I don’t care about them. We need to save ourselves,” he said, his feet moving forward.

I was pulled back just as Wanda snatched me by the arm, her claws sinking into my flesh.

“You’re free to do what you want, but Kendall stays,” she said, her lips making a perfect line. Her eyes filled with silent venom, threatening Mason. I had dreaded this moment.

“I’ll give you two options, Wanda,” Mason glared back, standing tall and unmoved by her threats.

He held onto my hand, not backing down. He didn’t care about anyone passing by who witnessed this confrontation either. He was taking a stand.

“Mason, you have no options to give me,” Wanda tossed back at him.

“Either you get the fuck away from us,” Mason said, raising his voice, “or I go back and tell the hotel staff the whole story—the truth. Then it’ll be just a matter of time before we all go to jail.”

He didn’t care who heard. He just wanted to get us away from Wanda. His words echoed over and over in my ears. My face grew warm with fear.

I managed to look at Wanda. Her face was beet red and her eyes were nearly popping from their sockets, surprised at Mason’s demands.

“Don’t go back to Joy-Ann,” she said. Her gaze was locked on mine when she did something I thought she’d never do…she let me go.

“Why would I do that?” I asked softly, tears forming in my eyes.

This was goodbye.

“If you want to be stupid…fine. But don’t go back there…Now get out of here,” she said. She turned and I watched her walk away until I could no longer see her. She was gone.

I fought the urge to run for her. She’d treated me badly and used me for her criminal gain. She’d ruined my life, but she was my somebody…my blood.

“Come on, Kendall!” Mason yelled at me.

I swatted at him, annoyed he was still yelling at me, and I started running.

We turned down the first alley we saw and finally stopped to catch our breath.

JULY 8

TH

THE SUN STILL HADN’T RISEN. Mason and I were on a never-ending trek on a dusty road in the middle of nowhere.

We finally came across a gas station where we used five bucks on a beef jerky (that we split) and two slurpees to quench our thirst. It was by far the best meal ever when you hadn’t eaten anything reasonable in such a long time.

We didn’t know where we were going. Mason did what every man does—he pretended to know what he was doing. If I hadn’t known him all my life I would have believed him.

“So, here’s my idea,” Mason said, watching a shiny black car pull into the gas station. He slung our backpack over his shoulder, finishing up his drink.

“What’s that, Mason?” I said, pretending to be interested when all I really wanted was a bed to sleep in. We’d been walking for hours on end and my feet hurt and I was tired. And Wanda was gone for good.

“Remember my friend I told you about? The one who lives in Jersey?” Mason asked me. “Jay Archer?”

I nodded, knowing all about Jay Archer. He was a friend only because of Payton. Jay was older than Mason. And from everything I had heard about him he wasn’t a good person. He did nothing legally. He stole cars for a living. Mason had found himself in a lot of trouble in his life because of Jay Archer.

When Mason recounted really bad times in his life, Jay’s name was usually attached to each and every one.

“I know we’d have a place to stay as long as we needed it and it would give us time to figure out our next plan.” He stared at me, waiting for my response.

The first plan hadn’t panned out so well. I didn’t have a whole lot of hope left in me.

I sighed and backed away only to be nearly run over by a red crotch rocket flying into the parking lot. Mason grabbed my arm to pull me to safety, but not before he gave the driver a menacing look.

“What are you doing?” I shouted.

He threw a hand in the air, blowing me off as he headed back into the gas station, leaving me alone in the parking lot. I crossed my arms in aggravation and sat on the ground, resting my back against the light pole.

I wasn’t feeling too confident Mason could get us where we needed to go. At least with Aunt Wanda we always had transportation. Wanda wouldn’t be caught dead hiking across America.

“Kendall!” Mason said, running from the gas station with a huge grin pinned to his face.

I nearly choked on my slurpee when he shook a set of keys at me.

I jumped to my feet. “Are you joking?” I exclaimed.

“Come on,” Mason said, heading over to the red crotch rocket.

I hesitated at first. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to risk road rash, but I pushed past that and slung my leg over anyways. Mason plunked the helmet down on my head.

He walked the bike slowly around to the back of the gas station before he started it up.

And we were off.

I held on tight, leaning against him as we put more and more distance between us and Virginia.

I felt carefree on that bike—all I had to do was hold on tight. I wondered how he’d gotten the keys. Was it as bad as I thought? Was that the reason he had blood on his hands? How much longer before I regretted everything so much that I couldn’t handle it anymore? Did Aunt Wanda ever get to that place, where she couldn’t even look at herself in the mirror anymore?

No matter how bad people were, I was sure they had a conscience somewhere deep down on the inside.

Mason stopped the bike on the side of the road as it took its last breath. He dropped the bike on its side, barely checking that I was off it before he let it go.

He was angry. His body rigid, his muscles tense. He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated, and stared up at the sky like the answer he was looking for would drop from the heavens.

“You almost broke my leg, stupid ass,” I griped, dropping the helmet to the ground beside the bike. I was sure the bike was dead. The smoke was a good indication. And we never stopped for gas. That in itself proved to me that he’d done something terrible.

“Did you kill that man, Mason?” I asked, crossing my arms. I could barely see him until passing cars provided a couple seconds of light.

“Kendall, don’t worry about what got us here. Just be glad we are hours away,” he said.

I swallowed.

I caught a glimpse of something in his expression, masked behind anger.

“Where are we?”

“The outskirts of Delaware. Now what to do to get to Jersey,” he said.

I sighed, knowing what that meant. I was the ticket to obtaining a ride. Men would rather pick up a cute girl than a young guy.

Mason moved back getting out of view and plopped down in the ditch to stay out of sight.

I dropped the backpack on the ground and tied my shirt in a knot at my waist. I did my best to fluff my hair. It was all I could do and it would have to work. I stuck out my thumb.

“You know, sometimes I wish I was a girl,” Mason said from behind me.

“Shut up, Mason. That doesn’t make any sense at all,” I told him, silently pleading with the traffic.