Runaways by Nicole Dykes
The last four days have been hell. Quiet, silent hell.He won’t look at me. He doesn’t say anything. The man I love is lost in his fury, and I don’t know how to fix anything. We have no more money. Nothing.
We don’t even really have each other at this point.
We’ve been searching everywhere for jobs, but there’s nothing that will pay us cash. We’re a day late on the money for the motel. And the manager was banging on the door last night several times, but we didn’t open it.
We both know we can’t hold out any longer, and as we make the walk to the front office of the motel, everything feels dark and hopeless.
Lawson opens the door for me, and we walk inside together. Even though I’m sure he’d rather I’d wait outside, he doesn’t seem to feel up to a fight. The owner is sitting in his chair, leaning back with his arms behind his head with a cocky demeanor. “I figured I was going to have to call the cops to get you two to come out.”
Lawson’s larger body blocks most of mine as he approaches the front desk. “As if you’d want the cops here.”
The man sneers, sitting up and dropping his hands. “Where’s my money?”
“We don’t have it. We had some bad luck.”
The man just chuckles harshly. “I’m not running a charity.”
Lawson straightens his back, not showing a hint of weakness. “I know that. We need a few more days to get the money, but we’re good for it.”
The man’s eyes move to me in a cold, ruthless glare before he smiles coldly. “I might be able to be convinced.”
I feel Lawson tense even if we aren’t touching. “Maybe I can do some work around here,” he offers.
But the man’s grin only widens as he makes a point to look even harder at me. “I don’t need anything done around here, but I’m a very lonely man.”
“I thought you said you had a wife,” I say before I can stop myself and receive a glare from Lawson at the reminder of me coming here on my own.
The man laughs humorlessly. “You can be married and lonely.” I hate the undertone.
“Fuck you.” I glance at Lawson, whose neck is pulled tight with tension. His eye is just starting to heal where the gunman clocked him, but it’s still purple and bruised. “It’s not happening.”
The man stands up, a hardship with the extra weight he’s carrying, and makes a grunting sound. “Then get out of my motel.”
“Gladly.” I look at Lawson, shocked. But he grabs my hand and tugs me toward the door without saying another word.
When we get outside, he lets go of me, but I quickly follow after him. “Where are we going to go? We have nothing.”
He turns around, his eyes flashing with anger. “You want to fuck him in exchange for a few nights of staying here?”
“What?” I knew that’s what the guy was implying, I’m not stupid, but the coldness in Lawson’s voice takes me aback.
“Is that what you want, Rae?” He points angrily at the office. “Because that’s the only way we’re staying here.”
I close my mouth and force myself to take a few shaky breaths. “N-no.”
“You sure?” He’s angry. So angry.
“Do you want me to?”
“Fuck no,” he answers immediately. “I don’t. That’s why we’re leaving. So stop fighting me on this, and let’s go pack our shit.”
“I’m not trying to fight you. I just . . . Maybe we can negotiate something else.”
He turns away from me, heading toward our room. “There is nothing else. That’s all that sick fuck wants. That or money. And he’s not getting either, so we have to go.”
We reach our room, and he grabs our bags, furiously packing. “But maybe . . .”
His eyes snap to mine. “No. There’s no maybe. Let’s go.”
I wish I could say I don’t know why he’s so upset, but of course I know. He’s upset because we’re in this position. And I wish I’d have lied to Nash about my destination, so Lawson wouldn’t have been able to find me.
Set him free.
Because nothing is worth watching the love of your life morph into something so opposite of himself like this.
We pack our bags, and he returns the key alone before we start walking. To where? We have no idea. We have nothing. We’re runaways. Missing, with people looking for us, so we have to keep our heads down and stay away from crowds.
We walk and walk some more until we’re back in downtown Kansas City. It’s getting later in the day with the sun threatening to set, and we have nowhere to go. “What about a shelter? I’m sure they have one around here?” I ask, uttering my first words to him in hours.
He shakes his head. “We can’t. They might recognize us.”
That’s probably true. I’m sure shelters are one of the first places they look for runaways. Maybe the staff is even trained to look out for missing kids, even if that’s exactly what we want to be.
“Okay.” My voice is weak, so much weaker than I want it to sound, but there’s not much I can do about it right now.
We find a seemingly abandoned area with desolate buildings that were probably once thriving factories, and Lawson leans against one of the brick walls. “I guess this is where we’re staying tonight.”
I look around, trying to hide the horror on my face. “Here?”
“Where else can we go, Rae?” His eyes flash with worry, but I nod my head slowly, trying to keep my chin up.
“Okay. Yeah. This is fine.”
I jump when I hear a low whistle, and Lawson immediately pushes me behind him. A young guy, I’d guess around our age, walks through the shadows, eyeing us up and down. He has on a blue beanie and a black puffer jacket. His jeans are ripped, but his face looks like a model’s with sharp cheekbones and pale pink lips. He’s almost pretty. “You two aren’t gonna last a day around here.”
“Oh, yeah? And why do you say that?” Lawson’s tone is defensive, and I can feel the tension wafting off him.
The boy steps closer to us, sizing us up. “First night on the streets, no doubt. First of all, you don’t stay alone. You’re just fucking asking for it.”
“We aren’t alone.” Lawson’s tone is dripping with ire.
The boy just laughs. “Yeah. You are.” He points behind him. “You stay close to your own people. And you learn who you can and can’t trust as soon as you can.”
“And we’re supposed to trust you?”
The guy’s shoulders kick up in a shrug. “Maybe.”
I’ve had enough of this and move to Lawson’s side, looking at the guy. “What’s your name?”
Lawson looks irritated, but the guy smiles and steps closer, holding out his hand for me. “Hayden. You?”
“Raelynn.”
He nods his head. “That’s unique. You might want to try a fake name so no one recognizes it.” He looks over at Lawson. “’That is, if you’re on the run and don’t want to be found.”
Lawson shifts his weight uncomfortably because, yeah, we’re that obvious. I decide we need this guy as a friend. We have no one, might as well try. “Thank you for the tip. So is Hayden not your real name?”
His smile is megawatt, an all pearly-white one, leading me to believe he either has excellent genes or he hasn’t been on the streets all that long. “I’ll never tell.”
Lawson has clearly had enough. “Okay. Thanks for the tip. We’re just going to get settled.”
“Oh, come on. Surely you want more than just the tip?” Hayden teases, and I barely recognize the sound coming from me.
A laugh. It’s faint, but it was a real laugh. Lawson, however, isn’t amused. “Go away. Now.”
“Lawson,” I lecture, and he glares at me. I flinch, realizing I gave away his real name, but whatever. I turn to Hayden. “So, he’s Lawson.”
“Another unique name.”
“We don’t want any fucking trouble,” Lawson growls, and Hayden holds up his hands in surrender.
“I’m not trouble, handsome. I’m your guardian angel.”
Lawson eyes him suspiciously. “And why would you do that for us?” He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer, which makes me internally scream.
Hayden doesn’t miss the gesture and chuckles. “Relax. Although your girl is awfully pretty, I’d be far more likely to hit on you than her. But I can tell you’re taken.”
He winks at me, and there’s that sound again. I laugh. Lawson looks slightly surprised but lets me go. “Oh, okay. Sorry.” He shifts the bag on his shoulder awkwardly. “And uh, yeah, I’m taken.”
Hayden just chuckles, but it’s lighthearted and refreshing. He looks at me. “It’s always fun to fuck with the straight ones.”
I smile brightly at him, feeling at ease for the first time in a while. “I’ll bet.”
He waves us over. “Come on. Like I said, I’m your guardian angel, and I’m going to get you through your first night out here.”
Surprisingly, Lawson doesn’t argue when my eyes shift to him and I plead for us to go along.
We could use an angel right about now.
