Fugitive

Chapter 4

I crushed my sim card guessing he was doing the same thing. Guilt filled my head. I hadn't said goodbye or thank you to Letty. She was so kind during my stay. Dust danced in the light coming in the window. A cobweb stretched across the corner. I closed the curtains. My training allowed me to blend in. That is what a sniper is trained to do. Blend in and shoot straight. Maybe I had a shot at this. Though I had to admit. North Carolina is a bit different from the desert.

 One bedroom was off to the left. It was as empty and the rest of the house. The walls screaming for a new paint job or a splash of color somewhere. The second bedroom was just as boring. Besides an old crooked frame on the wall. To satisfy my curiosity more than anything I pulled the frame back. There was a small hole in the wall. Just big enough to fit a hand in. I felt around, a bit of the plaster crumbling into dust as it broke off from the wall. On one of the structural beams just below the hole was an envelope. 

I pulled my hand out, covered in dust and cobwebs. After a quick count, I calculated that there was $1000 in there. I put it back in the envelope and placed it carefully back in the wall. I adjusted the frame over the hole as it was before. I had no intention of spending his money. 

By that point, it was still quite early. Just past nine. School would be well underway and everyone would be busy at work. Toby would be at kindergarten. Cat would be at work. Normally I would be at the my 9am weekly councilors appointment with Mr. Gibson. 

It was Cat who signed me up for counselling. After being in Afghanistan I saw a hell of a lot that I never wanted to see again. Nightmares kept me awake at night and I had post-traumatic stress. I remember when I came back from my last tour. I was at my parent's house because at the time I wasn't sure if I was going to get my own place or what. Of course, I ended up staying with Cat, but anyway. I was having a nightmare. Kicking and yelling in my bed. 

My mom came into my room to comfort me. I was in a stage of sleep where your kind of up and moving but what you see in your mind isn't what is really around you. So, Mom came in and I pinned her to the ground. Pretty brutally too, her body thumping on the ground was enough to send two frames falling. One broke. I remember now snarling at her and starting to yell for her to stop. Stop what? I'm not sure. It wasn't until Dad came in and literally pulled me off her a few seconds later that I sort of realized what I was doing. He had to pin me to the ground. A few seconds later, after struggling, I broke down. 

Tears streamed down my face and I couldn't stop shaking. At the time, I didn't really know what I was doing, but I remember it vividly now. I remember the horrified look on her face under me. Not all horror. Terror. There was terror too. After the initial apology, we never said anything else about it. Never stopped the guilt. I don't even think Kat knew. She knew something was wrong with me though. Which was why she told me to get counselling. Not exactly something I like to admit to a lot of people. 

Realising I had no food and now would be a good time to go and buy some. I headed off. I didn't want to take the truck and risk it being recognized later. Instead I walked. The shops weren't too far away. Flower boxes lined the sidewalk. The streets weren't crowded but the number of people around made me uncomfortable. I pulled my cap down lower. Wearing a hoodie would have been too conspicuous. It was warm out. Humid even. A woman wearing a bright floral dress was smiling cheerily and holding a small girls hand. They crossed the street. The small girl almost skipping to keep up with her mother.