Frightened, Maria jolted out of her daze, “No, we can’t do that!” They’d tried leaving, they’d tried killing Ricky and he still came back.
“We have to. This time he will kill you.” Tom spoke directly keeping his voice gentle.
Standing up and going to Tom, “He’ll find us.”
Jane stood up and faced her friend, she looked like she would go to pieces in any second “If you stay you are going to make it even easier for him to kill you.”
The phone rang making Maria jump, Tom touched her gently on her shoulder and walked into the kitchen to answer it.
“And we’ll be putting Jane and her family in danger.” Edna spoke harshly to Maria.
Maria choked on the sob in her throat. She let the tears flow freely down her cheeks, “Mama I can’t…”
She was tired of living this nightmare, but she wasn’t going to live looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life, only for him to catch up to her and take Michael away from her. She would rather live with Ricky and try to appease him.
“The sheriff is on his way.” Tom said when he came back into the room.
“So that he can do what, arrest Ricky, only to let him out after a few hours because Maria is too scared to press charges?” Edna yelled, her rage making its way to the surface, “What are you waiting for that animal to do to you before you do something?”
“Edna.” Jane said quietly pulling her back.
“She needs to realize its time she got out of his hold. Are you waiting for him to kill you, or worse kill Michael?”
Maria gasped. She lowered herself onto the seat, “he wouldn’t do that.” she whispered. She knew better than to believe her own words. Ricky was capable of anything especially now that he was out for revenge.
“Why not, hurting Michael is the best way to hurt you?”
“Nate is here, what’s it going to be Maria?” Tom asked gently.
Maria looked up at him, then at Jane and her mother. She realized how stupid she was being letting her fear decide her fate. She needed to be courageous, if not for herself for Michael. Ricky would hurt Michael to get back at her. He already hit him once, why wouldn’t he do worse? He didn’t see Michael as a son, he saw him as his way to control Maria, and it had worked for years. Edna was right. Ricky wouldn’t stay behind bars for long, especially after he told the sheriff the truth about the fire.
Without a word she jetted off the seat and rushed to the room Michael was sleeping in. She pulled out all of their things from the drawers and threw them onto the bed. Jane appeared behind her with a suitcase. She threw all the things already on the bed into the suitcase while Maria changed her clothes. Maria walked into the living room holding her sleeping son against her chest. Tom walked into the house with Nate in tow, with a large bag in his hand. He was well built, his body toned by his daily farming. She stood there and waited for the plan she hoped they had come up with. She was sure Ricky was outside and there was no way he was going to let them walk out and drive away. She was finally on board with running away, but she didn’t want to get shot trying.
“So, what’s the plan?”
Nate put the bag on the table and opened it wide, “We can’t just walk out of the house, I’m sure that maniac is hiding in the bushes, so we are going to put Michael in this bag, and I’ll carry him out in it.” He spoke with a smile.
Maria held Michael closer to her and stared at Nate as if he had completely lost his mind. There was no way she was putting her baby in a bag that looked like a body bag.
“You’ll walk out between Tom and me. You are small enough to go unnoticed.”
Maria stared at Edna then at him, incredulously. She was still stuck on the part they wanted to put Michael in a bag.
“Just try it.” Edna spoke as she wedged Michael out of Maria’s hands. She wrapped him in a blanket and carefully put him in the bag. She then zipped up the bag but stopped at Michael’s head when Maria whimpered.
“What about mama?” Maria spoke, her eyes glued on Michael’s sleeping face.
“I’m not coming with you.” Edna said quietly.
Maria’s eyes shot to her, “What, why not?” She asked, falling into a panic again.
“I can’t come if Ricky is to think you are still in the house, and I’m also waiting for someone.”
“Mama, Miguel is never coming back.” Maria said annoyed. She had always hated seeing her mother sit in one place and wait for her father to come. She had been waiting for twenty-two years and she was still waiting.
Edna hugged Maria then kissed Michael. “It’s time.”
Nate carefully picked up the bag with Michael in it and walked to the door. He waited for Tom to go out first with the suitcase, and Maria to go out after him, moving very closely behind him before he came out, blocking the shadow her body may make against the porch light. Tom opened the back door to his truck and placed the suitcase in. They pretended to talk and laugh for a while so that Maria could sneak into the car, and then Nate put the bag in and closed the door.
“See you tomorrow Tom.” Nate yelled joyously in pretence as he got into the driver seat. He started the car and drove slowly, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself. When they got to a reasonable distance from the house and he was sure no one was following them, he accelerated and sped to the train station.
Maria stayed down between the seats. She pulled the bag open wider, the sight of Michael sleeping in there like a corpse made her uncomfortable. She traced the scar on his forehead with her finger, a permanent reminder of Ricky, and then placed her face close to Michael’s, relieved he didn’t wake up. She wasn’t going to tell him the truth, one of them looking over their shoulder was enough. He was going to have the childhood she almost denied him because of her teenage crush that turned into years in hell.