Fire

Accusing Eyes

It seemed like a good idea to just keep walking, to get as far away from the water as I could. They probably wouldn’t want to stick around and look for me, since buddy in the baseball cap would be completely freezing when he got out of the water.

Freezing. I should be freezing in nothing but a thin sweatshirt and jeans. But I wasn’t. As I walked I watched my breath puff up in white columns ahead of me, hands clenched at my sides, darting a look back over my shoulder now and then as the dock got smaller and smaller. Nothing was really moving, there were no frantic footfalls or yelling behind me.

I relaxed a little bit. Maybe I could find somewhere to sleep for the night and in the morning I could resume my search for Aunt Mary. The idea of sleeping on a park bench like a homeless person wasn’t particularly inviting, but what other choice did I have? I kept walking though, in the back of my mind was the big green field that I’d seen earlier when I was on the bus. That might be okay, it wasn’t looking like it was going to rain or anything, so I’d probably just have a little snooze in the grass. No problem, right?

There was one last shop open, a starbucks, and as I passed it by the yellow light shining through the windows lured me inside. The thought of sleeping in a dark field all by myself had me kind of spooked, and though I hated to admit this to myself, I sort of wanted some human company, or at last, to talk to someone one last time before I gave up. Maybe someone would know where Aunt Mary lived.

The coffee shop wasn’t super crowded, there were a few people, a boy reading a book in the corner, and a couple that appeared to be completely engrossed in one another, hands twined together over two steaming cups of coffee. My stomach rumbled again, and I tried to ignore the gnawing pains of hunger. Tonight wasn’t going to be fun.

The table directly in front of me was occupied by a couple of blonde girls, so alike they could almost be sisters. They were both dressed in extravagantly tight jeans and dangerously high strap-backed high heeled shoes. The one nearest to me had her purse on the table, a large bag that had colorful Ls and Vs all over it. She was exclaiming loudly,

“Oh my God, look at that girl walking by. She totally shops for all her clothes at walmart!”

They both giggled, leaning sideways in their seats to peer out the window, her friend snapped chewing gum loudly, flicking her bleached hair back over her shoulder, “awesome clothes, I wish I looked so good!”

They both dissolved into laughter again, and then the one on the opposite side of the table got a text message, pulling out a pink and yellow leopard print phone, “Oh, Derek is texting me again!”

I watched, trying to keep my lip from pulling back in disgust as she attempted to text message “Derek” back, her progress impeded by the length of her pink, sparkly fake nails, “Oh, screw it! I’ll just call him.”

The other blonde announced loudly, “I’ve got to pee,  I’ll be right back.” She stood up and clip -clopped her way towards the bathroom, drawing looks like magnets. Her friend didn’t even seem to notice, she turned her body away from the table, stuck her finger in her ear and crowed into the phone, “Hey baby!”

The purse was still on the table, the mouth of the bag yawning, wide open and inviting. Nestled in the center was a pink coach wallet, and it drew my eyes immediately. Something surged in me, a guilty mixture of temptation and terror. My right hand twitched and my eyes darted back to the remaining blonde. She wasn’t looking, in fact nobody was. The boy in the corner was deep in his book, the couple in the other corner were lost in one another’s eyes. There was nothing stopping me, and I was starving.

Impulsively I darted one hand out and snatched the wallet, feeling a shock of terror run through me once it was in my hand, I moved back again, trying not to move too fast and attract attention, eyes fixed on the blonde at the table.