Page 8 of Einar

“Yeah,Ihave it with me.”

“Goget your money youngin andI’llget the title.Mydaughter has already signed it, so all you have to do is take it to the title agency to get it transferred over.”

“I’llmeet you back here in a minute, then.”Iwatch as the man just nods his head and turns to walk back toward the house.Rubywatches him for a brief moment before turning and hurrying back over to her car.Ireach down and unzip the bag at my feet, quickly counting out the money we need to buy ‘the new to us’ car.Rollingthe window down the rest of the way,Ihand the necessary funds toRuby, speaking asIdo.

“I’lltake your car and meet you at thatWalmartwe passed a few miles back.You’llfind me parked out back near their service area.”

“I’llbe there as quick asIcan,Rowan.”

Planin place,Iclimb over the console and into the driver’s seat.Turningthe key in the ignition,Istart the car and after looking both ways, pulling out onto the highway headed to theWalmart.Thankfully, driving is like riding a bike because it’s been years sinceI’vebeen behind the wheel of a car.

Irefuse to get cocky, soIdrive cautiously.Ican’t afford to be pulled over for something stupid like speeding, or failure to yield.Myeyes dart around for any sign that we may have been followed.IknowI’mbeing paranoid, butIdon’t care.Veryfew people can understand the depths of hellI’velived in for almost the entirety of my marriage.Itdoesn’t matter what anyone thinks about how cautiousI’mbeing.Rubyunderstands, and that’s all that matters.

Thetrip back up the road toWalmartdoesn’t take long, andIbreathe a sigh of relief when the vehicle service bay comes into view.Itdoesn’t take me long to find a parking spot under a light, ensuringRubycan spot me easily.

Thankfully,Idon’t have to wait very long.

SpottingRubyin our new wheels,Ipop the trunk on theCivicand get out of the car.Rubymust have seen me the open trunk because she pulls up directly behind her soon to be old car.Thehatch on the back of the smallSUVis slowly opening asRubygets out and grabs the bags out of her car.

Walkingaround theCivic,Iopen the passenger side door, grab my little bag, shut the door and walk back over to theSUV, tossing my bag in the back asIgo.Glancingat the license plate onRuby’scar,Irealize we will have to do something about that.Wecan’t leave an abandoned car here that is directly attached toRuby’sname, nor can we be driving around in anSUVthat doesn’t have a plate on it at all.Kneelingdown,Isee a dime on the ground and pick it up.Itake it as a sign thatI’mdoing the right thing.

Usingthe dime,Ipainstakingly turn the screws holding the license plate on untilIhave it completely loose.Movingover to the back of theSUV,Iput theCivic’splate on the empty spot on its bumper.Hopefully,RubyandIdon’t give a cop a reason to run the plates because they won’t match at all.

Somethingto worry about later, if it even happens.

Aswe get in theSUV,IseeRubyshoot a small, melancholy glance at her car.Regretfills me; she wouldn’t be in this mess ifIhad listened to her aboutRobert.Hernext words pull me from my musing.

“Hey,Rowan?Ialmost forgot to ask, but do you have your meds with ya?”

“Yes,Ihave them tucked in the bottom of this bag.Shouldhave enough to last me a few months ifIdon’t have a bad attack.”

Idon’t know ifI’mtrying to reassure myself, her, or both of us.

“Onthe way here,Inoticed a gas station up ahead.I’mgonna pull in and get us some snacks and a burner phone.Insteadof driving in no particular direction,Ineed to make a few calls.”

Reachingdown into my bag,Ipull out an old flip phone.It’sancient, but it should work.Ifound it in a junk drawer the servants in the house kept, and along with the phone, there had been a solitary charge card to add minutes to the phone.There’sno clue who it used to belong to or who tossed it in that drawer to be forgotten.Noone knows it exists, especiallyRobert.

“Wow, that is a magic bag, isn’t it?”

I’msure she wants to get some sort of reaction from me that isn’t negative, butIjust don’t have it in me.

“I’vehad a lot of time on my hands,Ruby.Thisis allI’vegot; the rest is up to you.”

Thelow murmur of my words makes her face crease with unease.She’snot used to me being so soft-spoken.

And.

Well.

Broken.

“Well, then dial this number and give me the phone.”

Iwatch as she pulls a receipt out of her pocket and hands it to me.Peeringdown at the haphazardly written numbers,Ipower the flip phone on and dial the number.Themoment it starts ringing,Ihand the phone over toRuby.Tensionfills me asIwatch her.Surelysomeone should have picked up by now.

Rubystarts to pull the phone away from her ear when a tinny voice on the other line says a faint hello.Rubyuses her thumb to click the volume button all the way up soIcan hear both sides of the conversation.

“IsthisJanet?”

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