Sheila…
Everything had gone pretty smoothly…beforeit hadn’t.
The previous night, after talking to Tabbi and hearing how happy she was, Sheila had spent several hours researching Bangor, Maine. She’d liked what she saw and had begun preparing; picturing herself there.
Sheila had, before very long, firmed up her resolve.
She’d quickly, thereafter, turned her efforts to sussing out the available bus routes that would take her north.
She’d easily gleaned all the information she needed to make the trip, then before she forgot, she changed the setting on her computer to a VPN. Being on a virtual private network—Sheila knew from her research—would make it so that she couldn’t be tracked.
That was an extremely important part to her plan.
She’d barely been able to sleep after that. A combination of excitement and trepidation had her dropping in and out of slumber, jumping up every now and then to accomplish the necessaries before she left.
When the morning light had finally shone through her blinds, Sheila had gone to the kitchen to gather up food.
People needed food when they took a trip.
In the sunny kitchen, she’d encountered Mindy. Mindy was nice. Yeah. Mindy was nice, but not so smart. Not as smart as Sheila.
Sheila had easily fooled Mindy into thinking she wanted to be alone for the day.
Having already—during the long night—packed her one piece of rolling luggage with her computer, some clothes, and all of her most-favorite things, she added the chips and cookies she’d taken from the cupboards, then slipped out of the first-floor window in her room.
Just like she’d seen on TV.
Her escape had gone smoothly.
Glancing over her shoulder every two seconds once she left the property, Sheila had finally determined nobody was following her, and she’d finished walking a route that she’d taken with Tabbi so many times before. The one to the bank.
Once there, she’d withdrawn most of her money and stuffed it into a fanny-pack she wore around her belly. Sheila didn’t like pocketbooks. The strap that went over her shoulder always bugged her. No way would she be able to put up with that annoyance all the way to Maine. Just thinking about it had made her itchy.
After the bank, things had gotten a little harder.
Making her way to the bus station in Orlando had proven to be more complicated than she’d suspected.
She’d pretty confidently pulled up an app on her phone for Uber, to request a ride, but had quickly found they didn’t accept cash. If she paid via the app, a car would arrive to get her, but the transaction could be traced, sothatwas a no-go.
After some thought, and digging about for answers to her dilemma on her phone, she found that calling a cab should work.
She’d done that, and it had. Cabs took cash.
Sheila had felt pretty pumped at how she’d used her skills, and couldn’t help but sport a silly grin all the way to Orlando in the back of her yellow ride.
Shehadbegun worrying again, however, once she’d queued up in line for a bus ticket. Maybe the bus-line was like the ride shares, and wouldn’t take cash?
But she’d fretted for nothing. They’d accepted her money.
She’d settled down to wait for her bus.
With her one-way ticket in hand—that in a little more than nine hours would bring her to Atlanta—Sheila had done something that had sounded good on paper, but in practice… The thought of it had almost sent her into a mental abyss; a tailspin she couldn’t afford. She’d fretted over what she knew she needed to do.
While she’d fretted, she’d been so afraid that someone might see her rocking, or hear the little moans she hadn’t been able to keep from exiting her mouth. She’d been certain someone would confront her, but they hadn’t.
And in the end, after much angst, she’d finally done what she’d needed to do.
She’d ditched her phone.
