Page 10 of Point of Infinity
He snickered at me and then turned to Becky.
“I’ll see you on Tuesday,” he whispered with a tone like he would settle with her later.
“Fuck you,” she yelled, turned on her heels, and stomped back into the diner. Murray stared after her. I tapped the van with the tip of my knife and then swirled the tip around, gesturing for him to leave. He narrowed his eyes, whispered something under his breath, and peeled out, kicking up dust in his wake.
I sheathed my knife and knocked the dust off my cut.
I headed back into the diner, ready to tell Becky no way was she returning to this hellhole, when she appeared in the doorway with a backpack slung over her shoulder and her hand out.
I pressed the folded bills into her hand. She spun on her heels and retreated through the diner.
“Wait.” I followed her into the kitchen and a small staff area in the back. She grabbed a few more things from the open locker. It took her two tries to shove the back door open, and she stumbled out into the alley.
A few feet from the exit sat an old, beat-up, brown-and-tan van. It looked straight out of the seventies, but it had new wheels. She yanked open the sliding door and shoved the money into a compartment behind the passenger seat. The back of the van had a leather bench along one side.
“Nice van.”
She spun around, holding her hands out in front of her.
“Sorry.” I held my hands out to the side. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t,” she spat at me. Her eyes darted around.
“Do you have someplace to go?” Clearly, she slept in the van.
“I’ll be fine.” She opened the passenger door and placed her backpack on the seat, then buckled it in. Why did I find that adorable?
“You do understand you can’t come back here.” I stepped back to give her some room.
“Wasn’t planning on it.” She slammed the door and turned back toward me. I usually got a good read on people, but this girl was a mystery. Too pretty and innocent to be in a place like Happy Pennsylvania, population five hundred. Too smart to be working for under the counter cash for a guy like Murray.
If he hurt her, I’d kill him.
“I’m fine. You can go now.”
Did she just dismiss me? Sassy little thing, too.
“Nope, sorry, I can’t until I know you’ll be okay.” I stepped forward, and she crossed her arms over her chest but didn’t move out of the way. She didn’t slap me either, so I took it as a win.
“Listen, I’m sure you didn’t plan to move on so soon or unexpectedly, and I feel responsible.” I held my hand over my heart. “There’s a hotel in the next town that’s decent. Has a hot shower and room—” The look of pure disgust made me stop mid-sentence.
“You have got to be kidding.” She stomped forward. I backpedaled out of her reach. “Who do you think you are? You think I’m going to be so grateful to be saved by you I’d go to some hotel with you?”
“I—”
“Oh, what, you didn’t mean it like that?” She poked me in the chest with her tiny finger. “You just want to keep me safe. Make sure I’m okay. Fuck off.” She dismissed me with a hand wave of her hand and rounded the van to the driver’s side.
She slid into the seat and shut the door behind her. The engine turned right over, and she slammed it into drive and peeled off. Once again, I was left cleaning dirt off my jacket.
I watched the light of her van disappear around the side of the building and onto the highway.
I walked back into the diner through the break room. She’d left the doors unlocked, the light on. Fuck it. I hoped someone would rob the place.
I walked around, not sure what I was looking for. In the cubbyhole she had emptied, I spotted a leather-bound journal up against the side. I pulled it out and flipped to the front cover.
Theproperty ofpage wasn’t filled out. Instead, it was a sketch in black ink of a little girl holding hands with a woman. It was rudimentary but moving. I flipped through a few pages. The journal was covered with words and more drawings filled with emotion and pain.
I hated to think how upset she would be once she discovered she had forgotten it. Some things couldn’t be replaced.
