Unexpectedly, Milo - Matthew Dicks [119]
After parking the Honda and entering the restaurant, Milo had told Emma that he had forgotten his wallet inside the car so that he could access the trunk and retrieve two jars of grape jelly. He placed the jars into his coat pockets, one in each, and reentered the restaurant, making a beeline for the bathroom before Emma could see his bugling pockets. Once inside the privacy of a stall, he spent about a minute opening the jars, hoping that they would be enough to satisfy the demand.
Thankfully, they were. After resealing the jars, Milo placed them on the floor and left them there, wondering what the stall’s next occupant would think upon seeing two full jars of grape jelly alongside the toilet.
“I used to run away all the time when I was a kid,” Emma said, still chewing on the remaining mouthful of sandwich. “There were probably times when I ran away once a week. Whenever things got tough at home, my solution was to leave. I guess all those times running away were dress rehearsals for the big one. I’d hide under the bridge at Getchell’s Stream or up in our tree house until my parents would finally get around to looking for me. But I never went too far, so they’d always find a way to track me down.”
“But they never found you once you made it to Chisholm. Right?”
“Nope. That was the plan. When I was hiding in the tree house, I knew they’d eventually find me. A tree house isn’t much of a hiding spot when your parents know about it. But Chisholm was the real deal. When I decided to head for North Carolina, I knew that there was no turning back.”
“Why Chisholm?” Milo asked. “Was it the only place outside of Massachusetts that you had family?”
“No. I chose it because my Aunt Kaleigh and Uncle Owen lived there. I knew that if I showed up at their door, they would take care of me no matter what.”
“You didn’t think they’d call your parents?”
“No, I didn’t. The last time we had come to visit, the summer before I ran away, my aunt had said something to me. Something odd. Like she knew about my father and what he was doing. What he was trying to do. We were in the kitchen, drying the dinner dishes together. Everyone else was outside in the front yard, playing Whiffle ball. She was telling me stories about when she was a a little kid, and then she just stopped talking. All of a sudden. Right in the middle of a sentence. Then she put down the dish cloth and grabbed my arm, real hard, almost to the point of hurting me, and she pulled me close. She said, ‘If you ever need a place to go, just call us, Tessie, and Uncle Owen and me will be there lickety-split.’ Lickety-split. That’s just how she said it. I think it was her way of telling me that she knew what was going on and wanted to help. So that’s what gave me the idea. Only I did one better. They didn’t need to come to me. I made a plan to come to them. I knew that if they came to Blackstone, my father would have me back in a month. But if I disappeared … if I went to North Carolina and just disappeared, he might never find me. Six months later, I did.”
“I don’t understand. Your mom didn’t know where you were going?”
“Nope. She didn’t even know that I was safe for a long time. I didn’t want her to know. I know it sounds terrible, but she just let things happen, Milo. She knew what was going on and did nothing. She was afraid of my father and couldn’t stand up to him. Couldn’t say no. I was thirteen years old, and even then I knew I couldn’t trust her.”
“So how did she find out?”
“Auntie Kaleigh started to get worried. I had been gone for almost a year and I guess my mom was pretty depressed.