Chapter 3
The hours that followed were a blur of adrenaline and quiet terror.
I knew I couldn't just walk out the front door;
my mother would stop us,
or Austin would be waiting.
I started packing two backpacks.
I didn't take much.
Just our birth certificates,
the small savings I had hidden in a box under my floorboards,
some clothes,
and Graham's favorite sensory toys.
Everything else was just stuff.
I didn't care about stuff anymore.
I heard them talking in the living room.
They weren't shouting anymore.
They were conspiring.
"She’s dramatic," I heard Austin say.
"She's been coddled too much.
She’ll come around once she realizes she has nowhere to go."
My mother’s silence was the loudest thing in the house.
Her lack of defense was the final nail in the coffin of our relationship.
I checked the window in my room.
It was a ground-floor unit,
but it led to the back alley,
an area overgrown with weeds and shielded by a rotting fence.
It was our only exit.
I helped Graham put on his shoes,
keeping a finger to my lips.
"We’re playing a secret game," I whispered.
"We have to be as quiet as mice.
Can you do that for me?"
He nodded,
his eyes full of trust.
I climbed out first,
the cold air biting at my skin.
I reached back and pulled him through,
carefully lowering him to the gravel.
My heart was beating so hard I thought it would shatter my ribs.
Every sound—the rustle of a leaf, the distant hum of a car—
sounded like a death knell.
We started walking.
I didn't have a destination,
just the burning need to put distance between us and that house.
As we turned the corner,
I heard the front door open.
"Nellie?
Nellie, answer me!"
My mother’s voice was sharp,
laced with an edge of real panic now.
She realized we weren't just in the bedroom.
She realized we were gone.
I grabbed Graham’s hand and started to run.
We didn't look back.
I felt a strange sense of liberation,
mixed with the terrifying weight of the unknown.
We were out of the frying pan,
but I had no idea what kind of fire we were stepping into.
The city of Cincinnati stretched out before us,
a maze of streets and lights.
I had a few hundred dollars.
It wouldn't last long.
I needed a place to stay.
I thought of my best friend, Maya,
but her parents were strict,
and she lived in a small apartment that wouldn't fit two more people.
I thought of my aunt,
but she lived three states away.
"Nellie, I'm scared," Graham whispered.
"I know," I said,
squeezing his hand.
"But we’re together.
And as long as we're together,
no one can hurt us."
I hoped that was true.
I prayed it was true.
May you like
But as I looked at the dark skyline,
I knew that the most dangerous part of our journey had just begun.
