Page 22 of Breathless
“He was hunting for me, and I knew he wouldn’t come in here,” she said.
“Don’t worry, Tom is going to go find him and have a talk with him.” Lydia sat down at her desk. “Chaney, it’s almost lunch time. You take Josie down to the staff break room and get your lunch and then she can show you the cafeteria. You can eat with her today. A staff member will be there shortly but stay with her until that happens. I’ll come to find you later. And you don’t have to worry about Roger, he’s in a therapy session.”
“Okay.”
Chaney and Josie left Lydia’s office and went to retrieve her lunch before going to the cafeteria. Josie got her plate, and they found a table for two to sit at for privacy. They chatted about girl stuff and Chaney got to know Josie a little better. She told her about Justus, how they met at college and how her parents didn’t want her to see her anymore, and how hard that was.
“Are they controlling like Roger?” Josie asked.
“Very perceptive of you,” Chaney said. “Yes, they are. I’m sure they mean well, but it is stifling.”
“I’d give anything if my parents cared even half that much,” Josie said.
Chaney thought about that for a moment. Did her parents care? It was hard to tell. She couldn’t remember the last time they told her they loved her or tried to let her know she meant something to them.
But she got what Josie was saying. After all the girl was in a youth shelter. Chaney had parents who at least were in her life. For that she should be grateful, and she was, even if they were too busy to give her the time of day.
Chaney closed her sandwich container and finished her bottle of sparkling ice flavored water as Josie finished her lunch.The staff member that Lydia had promised would come meet them hadn’t arrived yet. Chaney didn’t know how long Roger was going to be in the therapy session but sitting here in the open seemed like an obvious location for him to find them.
Josie glanced around the cafeteria looking nervous. “Would you want to go for a walk? Maybe I can show you around the facility?”
“That sounds nice. I haven’t seen much of it so far,” Chaney said.
They quickly disposed of the trash and left the cafeteria to go outside, and Josie gave her a tour. “Those two buildings over there are the living quarters. One for the girls and one for the boys. It started out as one, but the population grew and two years ago a donor gave enough money to fund the second building. The girls got that one.”
“You’ve been here that long?” Chaney asked.
“Yeah. Sad, isn’t it?” Josie said. “I’m hoping to start taking classes to get my GED soon. I can’t take the test until I turn seventeen, but I want to be ready when that day comes.”
As they crossed the grassy quad that met the cement basketball court, Roger came out of a building. Seeing them, he ran towards them before they could retreat. “Josie. Josie, I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“Go away. I don’t want to see you,” she said, stepping back.
“Come on, don’t be like that.” He reached for her hand, but she pulled away.
“You heard her, Roger, leave her alone,” Chaney said, stepping in front of Josie to block his access to her.
“Mind your own business, bitch,” Roger snapped, coming to stand nearly nose to nose with her. “Or I’ll smear the pavement with your face. You got that?”
“I’m not scared of you,” she shot back, catching a glimpse of Josie running toward one of the buildings, hopefully to find help.
“Oh yeah?” Roger yelled, stepping in to tower over her. “You better get out of the way, or I’ll move you.”
“Go right ahead if you think you are man enough,” Chaney challenged. She was not going to back down from this punk.
He stared at her for several moments then grunted when she didn’t budge and instead, stepped away. “Looks like Josie ran scared. Don’t you worry. I’ll find her. She won’t always be by your side.”
“You lay a finger on her and you’ll regret it,” Chaney warned.
“No, you’ll be the one who regrets it, bitch!” Roger sneered, sticking his finger in her face and then he ran off.
Chaney shoved her hands in her pockets to keep them from trembling and breathed deeply through her nose to steady herself just as Josie ran back and flung her arms around her. A grim-faced Hannah was with her.
“You have to be the bravest person I’ve ever met. I can’t believe you stood up to him like that,” the girl said against her shoulder.
“Are you okay, Chaney?” Hannah asked, joining them. “Josie found me coming out the side door. I caught the last of what Roger said to you.”
Chaney slowly nodded, hoping her legs wouldn’t buckle beneath her. “I’ll be fine. He was trying to get Josie to go with him, but I wasn’t going to let him.”
