Page 84 of The Maverick
She pouts and narrows her eyes at me. “You’re such a brat.”
“So are you, but worse.” I return her narrow-eyed glare.
Mary glowers at me. “Everyone knows your father left you and your mom.”
It’s strange what these girls assume. What if my dad died, and I don’t want to talk about it? But they don’t have an ounce of kindness in them, so they think the worst of others.
“And everyone knows you’re both stupid and cheat on your tests.” I paste a smile on my face.
I’ve been teased about not having a father since the first grade. Kids are mean, and I hate this school. I don’t have any friends here. My mom says we’re moving to Rhode Island soon. I can’t wait to get away from here.
Miranda stalks toward me and knocks my cucumber plant container from my hands. I do the same to hers.
She huffs. “I’m telling my mom.”
“Go ahead. I’ll tell mine too. Then I’ll tell the principal you’ve been paying Kevin to do your homework.” I flare my nostrils. “Try me.”
Mary helps Miranda pick up her tomato plant as Miranda’s mom pulls up to the curb. “Ready girls?”
“Yup!” Miranda beams.
I know Miranda won’t say anything about the plant because I know her secret. Mary is just a follower and does whatever her friend tells her.
When they leave, I stand at the school entrance feeling sad and mad. I turn when I hear voices behind me. More kids come out to wait for their parents.
M?reminds me to always be wary of my surroundings. She was kidnapped and forced to do bad things. Then she was raped and got pregnant with me. Sometimes, I wonder who my dad was. But I get angry when I think about him. I don’t want to know him. He’s a bad man.
At ten years old, I shouldn’t know about these things or how babies are made, but I do. We already have sex ed in health class.
Mom says the world is cruel, and I have to be watchful. The kidnappers planned on killing my mom and the other women who were with her. But she escaped to Florida and gave birth to me. Mom loves me despite how I was conceived. She tells me I’m a miracle baby. She had polyps, and the doctor told her she couldn’t have any children. But after she had me, the polyps disappeared. So she loves me because I gave her hope.
I’m protective of my mom. She must have been terrified to raise me all by herself. I hate my dad and the people who kidnapped my mom.
I see my mom’s car approaching, and I walk to the curb.
“Hi, baby,” she greets me.
I see anxiety in her eyes. “Is everything okay?”
She looks at me. “Remember that plan I told you about:papaya salad?
Oh, no. Nerves tighten my stomach.Papaya saladis the code phrase for an emergency escape.
Danger is here, and we have to follow the plan she’s explained many times.M?drives me to a parking lot with an old warehouse and parks next to a pickup truck. The large wooden treasure chest is in the back bed. I hop on and crawl into it.
“Be quiet, okay?”M?presses her fingers to her lips and covers me with folded sheets. “We’ll be safe soon. I’ll be in the front seat.”
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“You’ve always wanted to go on a road trip.” She smiles. “We’re driving to Rhode Island.”
I feel likeM?is hiding something from me, but there’s no time to ask. Why do we have to run? Who’s after us? What if that person knows we’re in Rhode Island?
“I’ll explain when we get there, okay?” Mom puts on a red wig and a Miami Dolphins baseball cap. Why is she in disguise?
My mom is so smart. She was a sophomore in college, studying chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, when she was kidnapped.
I nod as I lie quietly in a treasure chest filled with clothes.M?closes the lid. I look through the tiny holes on the side of the wooden chest, but I see nothing. The humid Florida air sneaks in, allowing me to breathe more easily. Then I hear women’s voices, but I don’t recognize them.
