Page 18 of Escaping the King
The second reason was so he'd sleep.Whenever we really—went at it—he tended to fall asleep hard and for a long time.
And that was what I needed tonight.
I'd slipped out of bed about twenty minutes after he'd come.For the third time.
He'd made me come four times.And yes, I was counting.
Directly after his head hit the pillow, he was out.
I laid there beside him, memorizing the hard edges of his face and committing them to memory.I never wanted to forget what Carlo looked like.
Once I was satisfied that he truly was asleep and down for the count—I slipped out of bed and started collecting the few things I'd need.
I pulled the small cooler out from under the sink.I tossed a few sippy cups of milk in there for Dani.And then I slid in some of the leftover Indian food from tonight.
Then I picked up the baggies of fresh fruit and cheese I'd chopped up and set in the fridge for tonight.
I was methodical in my packing.I'd done this before.
And I could do it again.
We'd be okay.
Or at least that was what I had to keep telling myself.
I quietly opened the front door and walked out with the cooler.
I'd left my car doors unlocked.It was a risk.And a pretty big one.
But I weighed the odds of waking up Carlo with the chances of a random thief.
And I figured my odds were better of not getting robbed tonight of all nights.The universe owed me this much.
I opened the back door closest to me and shoved the cooler onto the floorboard.
All I needed now was the stash of cash I'd been saving, and my daughter.
I hoped against hope that she wouldn't wake up crying when I got her out of her crib.
I'd made sure not to turn on the monitor in my room.I didn’t want Carlo hearing me when I got Dani up.
The cool night air made me pause for a minute.I breathed in deeply, trying to settle my nerves.In the distance, I heard sirens of some kind.Probably an ambulance.
I looked over at Eve's old house, where Asher stayed now.“Bye Eve's old house.Goodbye, Asher.”My eyes started to well up, but I quickly blinked back any tears.
This was not the time for crying.I was too close to being gone.
I turned toward my house and said, “Goodbye, house.You're small and cramped and generally pretty shitty.But you were there for us when Dani and I needed you.So,” I took in a deep breath, “thank you.”
One more fortifying breath and I tiptoed back inside.
I shuffled silently through the living room and into the hall.And then into Dani's room.
I touched her back, and she moved a little bit.“Baby, come with Mommy.”
She snorted and I could tell she just might start crying.
But she didn't.
