Page 11 of River Wild

His car engine starts.

I hear it pull away.

I wait a beat to be sure he’s definitely gone.

And then I spring into action.

I run upstairs and dress quickly into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and then I slip my feet into my sneakers. I grab my old beaten-up brown leather duffel bag from the closet. The one that I brought my clothes and memory box in when I moved out of my foster home at eighteen and moved in with Neil.

I don’t have any family. I’m a foster kid. I was taken from my drug-addicted, prostitute mother when I was a baby and placed in foster care. It was never known who my father was. Probably one of her johns.

I guess that’s why I fell into Neil’s arms and lies so easily.

He was older. Mature. And I was desperate for stability. A family of my own.

I was eighteen. Fresh out of school and hoping to start community college. I was mugged one night, walking home from the subway. Neil happened to be walking past when it happened. He was off-duty at the time.

He caught the guy and arrested him. I got my purse back and a date with an older, handsome cop for the following night.

I moved in with him a week later.

My nightmare started six months later when he beat me for the first time.

The night after we were married.

Before that, he had been so wonderful. I couldn’t believe that this amazing guy wanted to be with someone like me.

Now, I realize that I was an easy target.

Easy to manipulate and control.

I’d thought I was lucky to get him when, in reality, it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me.

I go into my closet and get my memory box. It has a few things inside, like our wedding certificate. A ticket stub from our first cinema date. The champagne cork from when he asked me to marry him.

All those things can go in the trash for all I care.

I open it up and take out the two things I need that will help me disappear. The identification card and birth certificate with my new name.

I put them in the inside zip pocket of the duffel bag and zip them safely up.

Then, I get the clothes and underwear I already planned to take with me and put them in the duffel bag. There’s no point in taking too much with me. Less to carry, and I won’t fit in those clothes soon anyway.

I tie my long blonde hair up into a tight bun, and then I pull on a baseball cap over it.

I go into our bathroom and get my toothbrush, toothpaste, and other toiletries and put them into my cosmetics bag. That goes in the duffel bag with my clothes.

I carry the bag downstairs and go into Neil’s office. The silence is eerie. I hate this room the most.

Even though I know I’m alone, a shudder still runs through me.

I’m still afraid that he’s going to show back up at home and catch me.

I walk quickly over to his desk and crouch down, putting my duffel beside me. I open the door on the desk.

I move the folders stacked in front of the safe, putting them on the floor.

I slip the key to the desk from my pocket. The key I had to steal from him, copy, and put back before he knew it was gone.