“Any security personnel going with you all?”
I scoff. “They relieved our guards to nothing the moment they drop us at the apartment in Maxwell.”
“You want to just leave with no security?”
“I don’t have anyone, anyway. I’m at a place everyone and their mothers know about. We’ve been changing the door password every other day.”
“What? Why?”
“People have nothing else to do besides stand in front of our door and try their hand at guessing our password until they get it or it locks, and we have to make another password.”
“Have you guys reported it?”
“Yes.”
“And they haven’t done something?”
“Nope. So please lend me your van. I’ll check in with you as much as possible.”
She sighs. “I feel I’m gonna regret this. I’m gonna call my brother and he is gonna call you to coordinate the drop off.”
I squeal and thank her until she ends the call. Five minutes later, my uncle calls and he promises to leave the van tomorrow before sunrise.
I jump in the driver’s seat the second my uncle gives me the keys. We have our bags done before he arrives so we could leave while the sun was still down and the town was still asleep. Even Ginny is up for this crazy idea. We pass the ‘your are leaving Hastings County’ sign as the first rays of sun lit up the sky. It is a pleasant surprise when we open the side door of the van to find a little kitchen and a bed towards the end. The passenger’s seat reclines far enough for someone to sleep and my uncle left sleeping bags under the compartments that were the bed’s foundation in case we want to camp.
Ginny chuckles when I take the wrong exit. “I guess we are heading south,” she announces.
I smile and turn the volume up as we all lose ourselves in the music playing on the radio. The van is too old to connect our phones or an mp3 player. We find CDs of mostly 90s and early 2000s music. Ginny is sitting beside me on the passenger’s seat using her phone as our GPS. Vivi and Maggie are lying on the back, talking and resting for the first time in years. I can’t hold my surprise when Ginny pushes the seat back and hoists her legs up on the van’s dashboard. We open all the windows and let the wind play with our hair.
I’m glad I braided mine because I’m not gonna deal with a nest of knots thanks to the hours of wind running wild through the van. There aren’t many places to stop. They take blurry photos and videos of stretch out land, cows and the sporadic horses. Our first stop is at a gas station. I don’t know exactly where we are going, and I don’t know how long the drive is to the next gas station. I still have half of the tank, but for my peace, I would rather stop and fill the tank than stress if we are going to make it.
Thankfully, the station is small and is empty beside the employee tending it. Maggie grabbed snacks for all of us. Her beautiful curly hair is in a bun and she is wearing a face mask, just in case.
Two hours after the gas stop, Vivi request to stop to stretch her legs. I slide off the highway and stop. It is not ideal. We are in the middle of nowhere, but the van is out of the way for any speeding car or truck. We all got out and stretch our body. I rummage inside my bag to find my sunglasses. I lay on the side of the van and stare at Maggie and Vivi goofing around.
They are the youngest of the four, with Vivi being the baby of the group. They have a bond that I used to envy until I realize I have a different bond with each of these three girls. We didn’t know each other before we came into LuxeMuse Entertainmentand they put us together. Now I can’t imagine my life without them. Throughout the scandal, they never blamed me and stand beside me. I know I didn’t put us in this situation, but I’m sure I’ll find the way to get us out.
For now, I’ll enjoy this sense of stolen freedom while it last. It is nice to stand outside, breathe fresh air without flashing lights and the clicking sound of the cameras. Silence, or just the sound of the wind, is nice. Something I never thought I would appreciate. Ginny calls them before giving me a bottle of water she saves in the small refrigerator the van has.
I hop in the driver’s seat and turn the key just to hear the van sputter twice before dying. I try two times but stop the moment smoke comes out from under the hood. Fuck!
I get out of the van, grabbing two towels so I can open the hood without burning my hands. After all the smoke is out, we four women stare at the van’s inside, clueless how to fix it. I check my phone and I’m glad to see I have phone signal but who I’m going to call? I am not exactly sure where we are.
“We might have to wait for someone kind enough to stop and help us,” Vivi says.
“We have to be careful. Not only many people know us, but we are also four women alone,” Ginny points out.
I keep scrolling through my list, thinking who can I call to help us, but the ones I would call are nowhere near close. We remain idle for an hour before Maggie squints her eyes and points at something.
“There is a sign ahead. Let me check what it says,” Maggie says before jogging ahead.
She comes back, a little out of breath. “It says hundred and twenty miles Saddleback, Tennessee.”
“We are not walking in this sun for a hundred and twenty miles.” Vivi shakes her head before getting in the van.
“Hundred and twenty miles is a lot,” I say.
“I know, but aren’t we used to dance for eight hours with no breaks? Hundred and twenty miles of walking can’t be worse than that.” Maggie argues.
