I would disappear.
A minivan pulled into the station. A tired woman stepped out while two children argued in the back seat. I approached carefully.
“Excuse me. Are you traveling north?”
She looked at me with concern.
“I can take you to the state line. Are you in danger?”
“I need to get away from here.”
Her name was Marcy. She let me ride with her for four hours without demanding an explanation. During a stop, she bought me water and a sandwich. Before leaving me at a bus station, she handed me ten dollars and a phone charger.
“Whatever you’re leaving,” she said, “don’t return simply because being alone feels frightening. I stayed too long once.”
“You saved me today.”
Marcy gave me a tired smile.
“No. You saved yourself. I only gave you a ride.”
Inside the station, I charged the borrowed phone long enough to email my mother’s sister, Aunt May. I had not spoken to her in three years because Kyle had convinced me that she was controlling.
