Page 9 of Kandie Shoppe

Grabbing the remote control that sends a spark, I head down the stairs. “Come on,” Daddy urges me. “Where is your sister?” he hisses, canting his head, looking left and right as the knocking becomes more persistent.

“She’s coming,” I say. Just as I hear a clear, “Take it down,” from the sheriff.

Just as the battering ram hits the door the first time my heart stutter stops at least three times, Kerania slides past Daddy smelling like gasoline.

“Gotdammit. What did you do, firebug?” he asks exasperated, already knowing.

“They ain’t taking what you worked so hard for, Daddy,” Kerania says with cool calm assurance I never seem to have.

I think I see a glimmer of pride in Daddy’s eyes as he looks down at her just as they bring the door down.

Silently he nods toward the false wall he made out of a shelf full of preserves that Mommy left slightly ajar.

“Wait,” I say as he gets ready to pull the door closed. Sticking my hand out, I depress the button I jimmy-rigged. After a second, a chain reaction of firecrackers go off, triggered by the deputies tripping the now active wire.

Shouts follow us as Daddy closes the secret door softly after Kerania and I pass through. “Y’all two are a mess and a half.” He winks, knowing full well he taught us all his mad genius ideas from the time we were old enough to handle wires and understand safety. He may not have become the chemical engineer he planned on being, but that didn’t stop his genius.There is nothing my daddy can’t do. If not for his occasional spells, as he likes to call it, he would have gone on to pursue his career, instead of folks always trying to lock him away in Bryce Hospital up in Tuscaloosa.

Lights illuminate the space as we trek down the passage leading to our family’s freedom.

“Our own little Underground Railroad,” Kerania whispers.

“You are egregious,” I tell her, giggling. She ain’t lying, though. This is the only way our family is ever going to be free to live without people trying to tear us apart. Mommy says Daddy already has a plan to take us off the grid. We are going to live with a traveling carnival.

I don’t know how long we walk, but my legs are tired. I know that much. Finally, we come to the end where Mommy stands holding our baby sister. Neither look good. Nicolette is not even a full month old. Mommy took her for her first check-up and said they had a lot of sick babies at the little regional clinic two counties over. Mommy gave her medicine, but we ran out this morning and haven’t had a chance to get her anything.

Nicolette’s head lolls in the crook of Mommy’s arms. “Poor baby,” I whisper, going over to my baby sister kissing her hot forehead. “She’s burning up, Mommy.”

“I know, sugah,” Mom says, casting a worried glance from my baby sister to Kerania and me.

“We’ll get something on the way,” Daddy assures us. “We need to leave now.” He heads up the ladder leading to the surface, pushing it open. Light spills in. The night is clear, and the stars provide the right amount of light to let us see our way up. Climbing out he gets out and surveys the area like we practiced. Coming back down he takes the baby. Fitting the carrier across his chest he straps her to him and climbs out of the tunnel followed by Mommy, Kerania, then me.

Climbing out of the tunnel, the smell of grass and soil fills my lungs along with the crispness of the night. Rising to my full height, I stop seeing the blaze my sister set eating up our house, like a ravenous dog.

“Well, I see y’all have been busy.” Mommy slides a dispassionate gaze our way. I look down knowing how much my parents loved that house.

“It was the only way,” I say in our defense. “They would find the secret door otherwise.” Which is true. The sheriff knew my father well enough to know that he would have made an escape route. Daddy’s been known for slipping past the gates and out of windows his entire life.

“Alright, there is nothing for it. We don’t live here anymore. We are going on a grand adventure.” Waving us to follow him deeper into the woods, Daddy takes us down a trail he’s already marked to show up in the dark if you know where to look.

Eventually, we come up to the brand-new truck. With new tags and new IDs the guy from the local biker club, El Diablo assured Daddy would be in the glove box.

And just like he promised, they are exactly where he said they’d be. “Here.” He passes Mom hers.

“Goodbye, Shelby-Love,” I whisper, watching the flames fade in the distance as Kerania’s hand squeezes mine.

“Okay,here’s twenty dollars. Get baby acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Keep your hoodie up,” Daddy gives me instructions handing the folded bill to me.

“She doesn’t know those words, Daddy,” my sister chimes in, followed by a loud, “Ow,” when I jab her hard in the side. We don’t talk about my reading problems just like we don’t talkabout Daddy seeing things or Mommy’s fears or anxiety, as she calls it.

“She knows what they look like, and it probably has a baby on it,” Daddy says as my hand closes over the money.

Sticking my tongue out at her I say, “Plus you ain’t got no act right. You have money and still be trying to steal. And we can’t have that while we’re on the lam.” I scoot out the door.

“I’m coming too. I’ll be good Daddy, I promise.” I hear her as she jumps out behind me before they can say anything.

She knows they can’t risk discovery yelling at her to come back. This girl, I swear. “Don’t do anything dumb.” Frowning at her, I pull my hoodie closer around me. “They’ll probably think we’re stealing gas.” I sniff her way at the strong smell wafting off her. “Firebug.”

“Wildcat.” Looking over, she grins back at me, totally unbothered, having caught up so that we are walking side by side. She’s the older twin and can’t ever be the one in the back.

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