"And I still think of you, and the promise we made, that we'd never part"
He tipped his sunglasses down and looked right at me. He sent a wink my way and I immediately dropped my head to the ground in hopes that he didn't see me.
But I knew I was in denial. He saw me and he was coming for me.
Antonio then pulled out his gun from his waistband and knocked on the bus door tauntingly with his weapon.
The men behind him followed suit as they all pulled out their guns and cocked them. The cars that were once stationed around the exit circled around the bus trapping us in. I watched in horror as each car door opened and revealed armed men that were trained to taint the city with blood just at my wicked husband's command.
And just like that, I was back in his claws.
And the only way I was getting out was in a body bag.
His knocking intensified. His patience was growing thin and I could tell that if he wasn't let inside of the bus he would break it down.
He knocked his pistol on the door of the bus quickly and roughly. Almost as if he was imagining my head being the door.
I couldn't see him but I could envision what he looked like. His usually clean and kept hair was wild and loose.
I knew a frown was set on his face like always, it was simply his resting face but it wouldn't be out of character for him to frown at another crazy act I've pulled once again.
What was in my line of vision was the floor, the bus driver's brown combat boots, and the bottoms of the bus chairs that were withering away.
But the image of Antonio and his men could not leave my mind.
Antonio looked more disheveled than he ever has and his men and business associates looked like they were ready to rip apart the skin of the Earth to return me to Antonio.
His men looked like they were in a trance. Antonio just needed to utter a single word and the animalistic killers inside of them would unleash ruthlessly.
Although Antonio appeared to be growing more impatient with the stalling of the bus driver, the bus driver didn't seem bothered at all. Rather lost.
My eyes never left him. He looked just as confused as me but this could not just be a conjunction.
This man had to have betrayed me. You can't trust anybody, especially simple-looking men like him, they always turned out to be the most corrupt.
I watched as he turned back around eyes searching for me.
I quickly ducked my head when his eyes connected with mine.
I didn't need to say a word, he seemed to already know what was going on.
Just when Antonio seemed like he was going to break down the door with his pistol, one of his men called out to him.
I couldn't make out what he was saying but it must have been important enough to draw his attention away from the bus.
The bus driver took notice of this and slowly walked towards me.
"Please don't hurt me," I begged as he stood in front of me.
He was a tall man with chestnut brown hair and a scrubby beard. He had his cap on backward and on a regular day, I would have found him kind of cute.
But today was far from a regular day.
"Lady what are you going on about? What the hell is this, who are you?" He said accusingly.
"Who am I? Who the hell are you?" I fired back.
"Carl. A damn bus driver from the south. Now I don't know what kind of business you have with this man but he seems dangerous."
You have no idea.
"So you didn't set me up?" My eyebrows furrowed
"You know this man?"
This guy might seem innocent now but Antonio could get to him and I couldn't let that happen. Just one threat from Antonio could leave this man spilling about all of my whereabouts.
I had to cut all ties with Antonio and not associate with him at all.
"No, I've just...seen him in newspapers." I lied.
"Mhm. Well, then you won't have any issues coming with me to see what he wants.."
"No, no I think I'll stay back here." I quickly cut him off.
The man stared at me for the longest time before placing his hands on his hips and narrowing his eyes.
Before he could throw any more accusations my way Antonio's voice could be heard from outside.
He was yelling something in Italian to someone and a shot sound was heard.
Antonio firing shots and screaming profanity in Italian is a regular occurrence but it still managed to make my heart beat faster in nothing but fear.
"Oh god please hide me." I pleaded quickly.
The bus driver stared out of the window in horror. His once relaxed and welcoming eyes were enlarged and fixed on something awful happening outside.
I wouldn't be surprised if Antonio recklessly killed someone in a fit of rage. I can admit that I was most definitely what kept him from truly being a devil and without me there he will go absolutely mental.
Another gunshot was heard and that seemed to trigger Carl somehow.
Like a switch, something awakened in him and he moved quickly.
Without a single word, he picked me up, pushed back curtains that I didn't even notice were there, pulled something up, and lightly shoved me inside. He then placed his index finger on his mouth shushing my cries and closed the door or whatever it was that was going to hopefully keep Antonio from hurting me.
I heard a few metal sounds and curtains drawn and the bus driver's boots descended.
I have no idea where the hell this secret trunk came from but I didn't care. All that mattered was that I was safe away from my impending doom.
The sounds of his gun tapping against the door resumed and I stilled my movements just waiting for my husband to unleash hell.
Suddenly everything went quiet. No more sounds of boots, no more guns hitting against the surface of the bus, and no more faint chattering.
My soul left my body when I suddenly heard his voice.
Nothing could prepare me for it. I felt like a big bucket of ice-cold water was poured on me.
"Where is she?" I pushed myself further into the back of the bus hoping that it will protect me from him but I know nothing will.
"Who, sir?" Carl said.
"The girl."
"The girl..."
"The woman I saw on the bus, where is she?" I could hear how upset Antonio was by Carl's cluelessness.
"There was no girl on this bus, not that I know of."
I then heard the sound of paper.
"This woman right here, she's my wife. She's missing, have you seen her?"
"Nah, I don't recall."
Antonio released a dark chuckle and I heard a gun cock. I shut my eyes tightly and hoped that Antonio would not kill another person as a result of me.
"Maybe this will help jog your memory."
"Mister, I can swear to you that I ain't see a woman like that at all today. I swear it." It was quiet for a long and I dreaded the silence.
"Then you won't mind if I look around." Antonio inquired.
"Go right ahead." I don't know how Carl sounded so calm based on his situation.
It had been just a long few minutes of the sound of Antonio and Carl's shoes walking around the bus.
Whenever I felt them getting closer I fought so hard to refrain from screaming.
"Well, it looks like she's not here. Thanks for your time." I breath I tried so hard to sustain came out and I felt my body relax.
Thank the universe that I won't be the reason another innocent person dies.
Just when I thought the coast was clear, two words uttered by my wicked husband were enough to send an ocean of tears to my eyes.
"Kill him." My body tensed at his words.
The sounds of his men trailing onto the bus were enough to make me lightheaded.
Will I be stuck on this bus, in the back of a weird secret trunk with a dead body and no way to escape?
I don't know how I will ever live with myself by the number of innocent lives taken at the hands of my husband.
Like in the woods and many times before, I felt a force pushing me to turn myself into Antonio. If I do it now, Antonio will maybe spare Carl and unleash whatever pent-up anger he has on me.
Just when I was getting ready to stand up, the sounds of his men came to a halt.
"Boss, there's been a sighting of her."
Antonio didn't need to hear a word, I heard his shoes practically zoom off of the bus. He must have ordered his men to follow because I didn't hear anything.
Much to my relief, not a single gunshot was heard.
It's like the instant he heard my name nothing else mattered and he rushed to get to me. I guess that was a good thing because it saved Carl's life.
When Carl made sure that the coast was clear he let me out of the secret hideaway he had in his bus.
"What did he want?" I played clueless.
"Missing wife," Carl said as he walked towards the driver's seat.
"What did she look like?"
Carl stopped and turned around staring me dead in the eye.
"Almost like it was your twin." A dreadful feeling filled my gut.
If Antonio went around shoving whatever pictures of me he has in others' faces and they recognize me, all hell would break loose.
"Oh," I replied.
He shot me a reassuring grin and the look in his eyes was different.
Almost as if he knew deep down that I was the runaway wife of the man that had a gun in his face less than a few minutes ago.
___
For the rest of the ride, he let me sit in silence for the most part. He respected my request to not let anyone else on the bus and send me to a location far away. He also provided me with a change of clothes that I desperately needed.
Occasionally he would crack corny jokes to bring light to my dark situation. He also made frequent stops to fast food restaurants.
I was never allowed to eat fast food whilst being with Antonio. It was forbidden.
It wasn't because he wanted me to stay fit, in fact, he's voiced many times how he'll love me no matter what I looked like.
But it was rather to keep me healthy. Antonio would die before I could leave his side. He was and still is highly obsessed with me. He needed me healthy and alive for as long as possible. That's just how selfish he was when it came to me.
"What you thinkin' about back there?" His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror.
Carl is a good man and I am so lucky to have run into him. He almost sacrificed his life to ensure my safety which was a trait I bravely admired.
Without him, I would be in the darkest place back with my horrifying husband.
"So what's the deal with your secret hiding spot?" I asked out of curiosity trying to avoid a conversation that was going to spark if I answered his question truthfully.
Carl let out a long sigh and began to speak in a clipped tone.
"My sister was in a crazy relationship with some joker that ain't know how to respect women."
My eyebrows rose at his confession and the similarity I shared with his sister.
Maybe he was so adamant in protecting me so instinctively because he's had to do it many times before.
"So when things would get bad she would come to ride around in my bus. He couldn't get to her since it was constantly moving. Sooner than later that fucker caught on. So I fixed me up a personalized bus. Eventually, this bad boy came in. It was a larger bus that had that big ol' cool trunk in the back and it became good use. My sis, she would stay in the back of the bus. Obviously, it's quite uncomfortable back there so it was temporary. But, hey, at least she was safe." He let out a dark chuckle.
"Where is your sister now?" I inquired.
If she was able to leave such toxicity, that would give me hope about me and Antonio.
The bus driver cleared his throat and was quiet for some time.
"Dead."
"I'm so sorry to hear that."
"The funny thing is that I really thought I got that fucker. I bruised him up real good and threatened him to back the hell off. But he was just so...obsessed...with her and ended up killing the both of them."
"Jesus," I muttered under my breath.
The fate of his sister genuinely made me fear for my life even more. Antonio killing himself and I wouldn't be a plot twist in our story. He's fully capable of that.
"Now I don't wanna be too invasive, and I'm gonna respect your privacy. But whoever or whatever did that to you just don't ever go back to that, please."
I didn't think I needed to hear that but I did. Many times in my scheme to escape I've felt like submitting myself. I needed to hear from another person to never even dream about going back or else I fear that I might actually end up doing it.
___
For the rest of the ride, Drea and Carl made small talk. Drea was slowly but surely developing a crush on the man that put her life above his.
When she finally arrived at her location she felt a painful feeling in her heart that would miss the good company that Carl provided.
However, she couldn't tell if there was a genuine connection or if she was just leaching onto any positive male attention she received.
It reminded her of the man that Antonio killed at the restaurant he owned. He showed her kindness and she felt like he could be her knight in shining armor.
If she kept going on like this she might end up in an awful situation again.
I seriously need therapy, she thought to herself.
"Here's my number if you need anything. I'm not gonna be near here but if you're ever in any danger, anything, just call me and I'll get to you as soon as possible."
Drea couldn't help but hug him tightly and longingly. Carl was too good to her. Drea didn't even know men like him existed. Being with only Antonio romantically her whole life left her believing that all men were like that.
With a few laughs and farewells, Drea headed off of the bus to the unknown.
She didn't feel like asking Carl where he took her, she didn't want her wondering mind to calculate how many miles away Antonio can reach her. Ignorance was a bliss as of right now and her whereabouts weren't her top concern.
Although she didn't know where she was, she was glad it was far, far away from him.
The new environment was magnificent. It was as if it was filtered. The sun was glowing, the air was perfect and the wind was light but just enough to provide a comfortable breeze.
Drea walked towards the small town as all of the townsfolk watched her intently.
After all, it was a small town and they probably weren't used to newcomers. She was also sporting a few scars and bruises on her face.
However, the curious looks quickly changed into welcoming looks.
Drea relaxed as she took notice of how the whole demeanor changed. All of the townsfolk smiled and waved at the new beauty that entered the friendly environment.
This town and its people were beautiful. There were little kids playing around in their yards, clothes being hanged for drying outside and people just living like normal average people.
Drea has realized plenty of times how long she yearned for this. For a simple, minimalistic life.
She would much rather prefer making her own food and having it be imperfect and slightly burned than having cooks prepare every meal to perfection.
It was eerie how contrasting her life was. She would receive ruthless abuse from her filthy rich husband and live like a queen at the same time.
That was probably what made her stay longer. The thought that her being abused was payment for getting to live so luxuriously without even trying.
Drea was so caught up in her ogling that she didn't see a short old lady walking towards her. She sent her a smile that Drea returned. Behind her followed a small girl with beautiful dark hair. She almost looked like her doppelganger when she was a small child.
The young girl latched onto Drea's leg and smiled up at her.
"Hello miss." The cute girl said to her.
"Poppy!" The older woman scolded the girls' extroverted behavior.
"No, no it's fine," Drea said reassuringly.
Drea bent down to her height and greeted her.
"Hi, cutie pie." She poked her nose and she giggled adorably.
The young girl, whom Drea soon came to know as Poppy tackled her with a comforting hug.
She needed this. A hug from a little girl to remind her that she was once a little girl. An innocent girl that was too naive but had finally grown up to escape her bad situation and finally live an independent life in a town far away from the nightmare life she survived.
Through her locks of dark hair, Drea could see the same lady watching their interaction with a soft smile on her face.
Drea stood back up and held Poppy in her hands. The kind old lady who she assumed was Poppy's grandmother sensed Drea's comfort in hugs with strangers and opened her arms wide and gave her a gentle hug.
"Welcome, dear."