"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
My name is Tessa, I am twenty-two years old, and I did not have what you would call a happy childhood. For some reason still unknown to me when my birth parents passed, I was placed in the care of a mean old couple who lived down the street, known as the Harrisons. Since day one of living with them, they hit, kicked, punched, and nearly beat me to death. Sometimes they would lock me in the basement without food or water for days on end.
I wasn't alone in the torment, I was adopted along with my older brother, Mark. He helped me escape when I found out I was pregnant, and I haven't seen him since. I also have a seven-year-old daughter named Mallory, I had her when I was fifteen. My life's mission is to keep her as far away as possible from her biological father.
Currently, I am staying at a hotel with my daughter. Unfortunately, I will have to find a cheaper one because I cannot afford another night here. I'm running out of cash, fast, due to Mallory being sick. I have worked almost every odd job known to man and due my lack of an education, I'm running out of options for work.
I was lying down on the rusty hotel bed next to my daughter, listening to her soft snores when I heard a knock on the door.
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up as a familiar voice yelled, "Open up!" It was the woman who adopted me, Mrs. Harrison.
"We know you are in there, Tessa!" said Mr. Harrison.
Mallory was still sleeping and started to wake up. She wipes her big blue eyes and looks at me in confusion. "Mommy, who is that?"
I had to think and act fast. "No one sweetie." I lied to her. She believes the only reason we move around so much is due to my work, she doesn't need to know any more than that. "I just need you to get up and get dressed.... very quietly."
"Where are we going?" She whispered.
"Let mommy figure that out, you still need to get dressed. Okay, sweetie?"
She nods her little head of blonde hair. "Okay."
I had to take a second to thank the lord for giving me such an obedient daughter. After we both get dressed, I grab the go bag which is filled with the bare essentials. I lift the window of our hotel room and throw the bag through it. Next, I crawl through the window and jump on the ground, with a loud thud, I land on my feet. I look back up to see my confused daughter staring down at me.
"Mallory, I need you to jump."
She shakes her head no; she has a fear of heights.
"Mallory, please. Mommy doesn't have time for this."
She shakes her head again.
"Please sweetie, do it for mommy?"
"Okay." She jumps out of the window, and I catch her in my arms.
I kiss her on the forehead. "Thank you." I set her down on the floor and after she finds her footing, she stands next to me.
I pick up the go bag and throw it over my shoulder. I hold my hand out and Mallory gladly takes it as we sneak into the car. I open the door for her and hand her the bag as she sits down in the backseat, I close her door. I walk over to my door and open it; I climb into the driver's seat. As soon as I start the car, I see the Harrisons out of the rearview mirror and drive as fast as I can.
I hate doing this. I hate leaving, but I have no other choice. No one believed me when I was young....no one would listen to a teenage girl telling them about her abusive, arms dealing, drug smuggling adoptive parents and actually believe them. I wish I had a way to contact Mark, but I can't text or call anyone, it might be traced, and they could find me again. I remember the last time they found me....
I was fourteen and I was back home. I snuck out last night and hotwired Mr. Harrison's car. I tried to drive it, but I didn't know how to drive, so I crashed into a tree by accident. My arms were pierced with glass that came from the broken window; blood trickled down my forehead. I didn't care how much pain I was in, I needed to escape them. Just as I ran out of the wrecked car, Mr. Harrison caught me and dragged me by the arm back to the house where a sinister looking stranger with evil brown eyes and a scar on his left cheek was waiting for me.
"Tessa...meet Hunter, your new guard dog," said Mrs. Harrison.
"He is going to teach you a lesson," said Mr. Harrison.
That lesson ended up with me getting pregnant with Mallory. I am just lucky that I got out fast enough, so they never knew about her. Her father doesn't even know about her, and I plan on keeping it that way.
I was driving on a back road, and I could see Mallory trying to fight off sleep in the reflection of my rear-view mirror. "Mommy."
"Yes, sweetie?"
"I don't feel...so...so..." She throws up in the back seat.
I pull the car over and come to a screeching halt.
She just threw up blood on the go bag. "Ugh... mommy..."
Come on Tessa, your baby girl is dying. Think of something! "Hospital!" I get back on the road and drive to the nearest hospital. "No! No! No!" Great! The car battery just died! I open my door and grab Mallory from the backseat, her shirt covered in vomit. I grab the go bag too and decide to walk to the nearest city. Mallory lets out upset moans and grabs at me, wanting me to pick her up. Instead, I hold her hand and look at my surroundings, there is a quaint little farmhouse nearby. Maybe they can help?
"Mallory?" I look over at my pale child, she looks like she's about to faint. I pick her up in one arm and bang the front door frantically with the other. "Hello! Hello! Is someone home? Hello! Anybody!"
A handsome shirtless stranger wearing pajama bottoms opens the door. He looks like he just woke up, his eyes are a piercing blue, and his dirty blond hair looks unbrushed. His abs are as defined as his cheekbones. "Yes? How may I help you?" He says with a southern drawl.
Any coherent thought I just had left my mind. "Um...uh..."
"Yes?"
"It's my..." No one knows she is my daughter and I plan on keeping it that way, even if it means lying to total strangers. "My sister. She is sick, really sick. My car just died, and I could really use some help-"
"May I?" The gorgeous stranger asks before touching Mallory's forehead.
For a second, I forgot that I was holding her. "Um...sure."
He puts his hand on Mallory's forehead and makes a face that I do not like. "She is burning up. Here, come inside." We go inside the house, it's very rustic looking. "Put her down here," he gestures to the couch. "I will go get my mom; she's a nurse."
"Thank you, so much."
"My name is Matt by the way, Matt Green."
"Thank you, Matt. My name is Tessa."
"You got a last name?"
"No, just Tessa."
"Okay then, just Tessa. I will go look for my mom. Feel free to sit down on the couch." Matt says and disappears for a while. He returns with some clothes and a blanket. He hands me the stack of clothes and notices my confused expression. "Here, I thought she could use a change of clothes, and I figured you did too."
I took the clothes from him without saying a word. This nice, tall, handsome stranger is helping me for no reason and I can't think of one word to say?
"Um...I hope the clothes fit; I got them from my sister's closet. My mom had stashed some of her old baby clothes in there."
"Where is she?" Did he lie about getting help?
"She is probably at the rodeo with my brothers." I raise my brow at his response. "Oh, you meant my mom. Yeah, she's getting the first aid kit." He looks at the empty space on the couch. "Do you want to sit down?"
I realize I have been standing awkwardly in the living room this whole time. I take a seat next to Mallory, and I look down at her face as I brush her hair back. I look back up into Matt's kind eyes. "Thank you.... for helping us."
Matt gives me a smile in response. "No need to thank me." He disappears for a while and returns with some clothes.