Black Water Creek (2 page)

Chapter
3

Kelly fumbled for a wipe out of Keegan’s diaper bag and tried to gently clean the blood from her nose. She winced in pain and risked a quick glance of herself in the rearview mirror. The dried blood would eventually clean off, but her nose would swell, followed by discoloration in the morning. She knew from past experience.

She grabbed another
diaper wipe and checked on Keegan in his car seat. He stared with a glazed look out the car window and sucked his thumb, something he only did when he was upset. It tore at Kelly’s heart and she wished she could somehow take back the last hour as if it never happened. Not so much for her, but for him. She took her hand off the steering wheel, fanning her face and willing herself not to cry again.

“I’m hungry,” Keegan said softly from the backseat.

“I know, honey. We’ll get something soon.” She realized he hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was well after noon.

“Where we going?” he asked.

“Just going for a drive, okay? Look at the pretty leaves on the trees. Aren’t they colorful?”

U
nimpressed by the pretty leaves, Keegan stuck his thumb back in his mouth. Where were they going? Good question. There was no way she could go back home. She’d hit back once or twice in the past when things got rough but never actually hurt Don. Not like that. The image of him bleeding all over the floor was seared in her memory. What if he was really hurt? She saw him move a little but that didn’t mean it wasn’t serious.

Part of her knew he deserved it. Still, even if she
went back and Don was okay, he wouldn’t see it that way. Kelly knew he was capable of seriously hurting her, maybe worse. But Keegan was what was important. She saw the rage in Don’s eyes. If he ever laid a hand on her son again she’d never forgive herself. Enough was enough.

“I’m hungry,” Keegan reminded her.

Kelly pulled into the last gas station on the edge of town. “Hold on kiddo, I’ll get you a snack.” She pulled up to one of the pumps and frowned at the gas gauge, hovering just over the E. She pulled out her wallet counted her money. Including the change scattered on the bottom of her purse she had $82.47. That was all she had left after putting some of her tip money aside; the rest was change from last week’s grocery shopping.

She p
umped twenty dollars of gas in the tank and grabbed a box of animal crackers and a bottle of milk for Keegan. Her stomach was still in knots and food for herself was the last thing on her mind. She glanced down the road the way they’d came, half expecting to see Don’s truck heading her way. She pulled back onto the road and headed out of town.

Where were they going? The question still loomed ahead of her like a giant road sign.
Her friend Tammy’s place was out of the question. That would be the first place Don would look. Other than that, she didn’t have any friends in town. Nobody close enough she would be comfortable asking for help from, anyway. There might have been one of those women shelters around but she wasn’t sure where it was or even how to go about finding it. For now the overwhelming urge to put as many miles between her and home was her sole mission.

Kelly
was an only child. Her father died when she was just eleven years old and her mother passed away a few years ago. Her extended family wasn’t close and the only relative she knew of that was even remotely within driving distance was her Aunt Sarah. Her mom and Sarah weren’t very close, and the last time Kelly saw her in person was at her mother’s funeral. She was a sweet woman though and Kelly knew she would take her in and help her out. It was her only option, so that settled it. She was pretty sure Don didn’t know about Sarah and even if he did, he wouldn’t remember her last name. It should be safe.

Aunt
Sarah lived alone in a little town about five hours away. Kelly didn’t have the address but she was pretty sure where the house was, and if she had to, she could probably look her up in the phone book once she got into town. She opened the glove box and dug under a stack of napkins for the old roadmap left behind by the previous owner. She pulled over and unfolded the tattered map, tracing the route to Sarah’s town with her finger. A couple of hours on the express way and then a few different small state highways. Even though her Corolla was old, it got decent gas mileage so hopefully the twenty bucks would be enough to get there.

She jumped when her cell phone rang in her
purse. She flipped it open and checked the display: DON. That confirmed he wasn’t dead or in a coma but holding onto the phone with his name on the caller ID made her sick. She pictured him standing in the kitchen, covered in blood with the phone against his ear. She held down the power button and turned the phone off.

*****

The first couple hours of the trip were unremarkable which suited Kelly just fine. It gave her a chance to try and calm her nerves and get her thoughts together. Keegan dozed in his car seat and the car was warm and quiet.

Other than making it to
Sarah’s house in one piece and hopefully taking shelter there, Kelly had no idea what would happen next. How did she end up with her life in such tatters? It definitely wasn’t what she expected when she was younger. She got good grades in school and planned on going to college to major in English. She always loved writing and dreamed of becoming a famous author. It all seemed so ridiculous now.

Her life quickly unraveled when her mother
was diagnosed with leukemia during Kelly’s senior year. She received a scholarship at State but with her mother’s health quickly deteriorating, there was no way Kelly could go to school six hours from home. She enrolled at the local tech college after graduation and took classes at night. During the day she worked a few hours as a checker at the grocery store to supplement her mom’s disability checks.

That’s when Don entered the picture. They’d graduated in the same class but never spoke
once in all the years they went to school together. He lived in a world of football jocks; she was a bookworm with few friends. He started stopping into the store almost every day after work to buy a few items and flirt with her. Don didn’t go to college, instead he landed a welding apprenticeship at a metal fabricating plant after graduation. With most of his buddies off to school and no longer one of the big men on campus, Don started considering what was left of the girls in town.

At least, that’s what it felt like to
Kelly. All those years together in school and he never so much as glanced at her until he ran out of cheerleaders. Still, he was cute and when he smiled at her from across the checkout stand in his work uniform, she had to admit she liked the attention. Eventually he asked her out and she accepted.

It was too easy to fall for Don
and it didn’t take long for her to find herself spending most of her free time with him. Her mother spent so much time in bed that Kelly was lonely. Don filled the void and made her feel loved and cared for. His union job paid well and he often bought her gifts and helped out with her expenses.

They quickly became serious and things
started out great. She was able to balance her time with Don, work, school, and her mother. Don drank more than she liked, but she never said anything for fear of scaring him away. Besides, he never missed work or was a mean drunk or anything, so what was the harm?

Keegan whimpered from the back seat, his face twisted in a nightmare induced grimace.
Kelly reached back and gently rubbed his leg. Her right shoulder protested from the awkward position and her ribs hurt. Tomorrow new aches and pains would emerge that she didn’t notice today. Something else she knew from experience.

Her son settled down
and fell into a deeper sleep, hopefully out of reach from bad dreams. Kelly glanced at him in the rearview mirror and felt an intense yet simple rush of love in her chest. Every mile that took her farther from home helped her feel she did the right thing by running.

When
she found out she was pregnant, Kelly’s life turned upside down. Within the span of just a few weeks, Don lost his job at the plant, her mother passed away, and she was over a month late. Finally unable to put it off any longer, she cried for over an hour sitting on the toilet, the positive pregnancy test resting on the counter among her mother’s toiletries she couldn’t bring herself to throw away.

Don didn’t take the news well. He was drinking more than ever while he sulked about his apartment, angry at getting fired and not making any effort to find another job. With the baby on the way and her mother’s final expenses
taking every penny she had, Kelly reluctantly moved in with him.

Kelly
turned the heater down a notch and was about to turn on the radio when the car lurched and suddenly lost power. She shrieked in surprise and wrestled with the steering wheel as the car swerved to the side of the road and came to a stop on the gravel shoulder. Keegan woke up and looked around with puffy eyes.

She
tried the ignition. She knew absolutely nothing about cars but the sound coming from under the hood was anything but normal. She looked at the surroundings and saw nothing on either side of the road but trees and farm fields. Before the gravity of the situation could sink in, the sudden appearance of blue and red strobe lights behind her made her jump again.

A police car seemed to appear from nowhere and
pulled up directly behind them. “Mommy, what’s that?” Keegan asked with a sense of alarm.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s just a policeman.”

Her world spun. Don must have called the police. Why didn’t she even consider that? The baseball bat, the bloody wounds on his head—he probably came up with a story of how she attacked him and kidnapped their own son. Every police department in the state probably had a description of her car by now. How could she be so stupid?

She watched the cop get out of his car and tightened the grip on the steering wheel. “I’m so sorry, honey
.” Her voice cracked as she looked at Keegan in the mirror. “I love you more than anything.”

Kelly
almost screamed when the officer gently tapped on the window. She rolled it down with her shaky hand and tried to force a smile.

“Afternoon,” he boomed. “Saw you pull over pretty quickly. Everything okay?”

“Yes, yes,” she stammered. “I’m fine. We’re fine. This is my son, we’re okay.” She was doomed.

“Are you okay, miss?” He pointed to her face. “Looks like you ran into a little trouble there?”

She touched her sore nose and forced a laugh. “Oh this? I feel so dumb! I was pushing my son on the swings this afternoon and wasn’t paying attention. I pushed him too hard and he slammed right into my face. They make those plastic seats so hard these days.”

“Ah…”
The cop nodded but didn’t look too convinced. “All right then, can I ask
why
you pulled over so quickly?”

“Oh, that. Um, actually I think there’s something wrong with my car. It just died and I can’t start
it.”

The officer tipped his hat back and scratched his chin. His bright blue eyes bore
intensely into Kelly’s and even though she longed to look away, she didn’t dare. “Well that explains it.” He glanced back at Keegan who seemed properly impressed his mommy was talking to a real policeman. “Hi-ya, kiddo.”

“Hi,” Keegan
quietly responded.

“Where are you folks headed?” he asked
Kelly.

“We’re going to visit my aunt in Allenton
.” She was convinced this whole rouse was just to keep her occupied while swarms of reinforcements sped towards them.

“Well, don’t know too much about cars myself, but I’d be glad to call in a tow truck for you. Ed’s
place is a few miles down the road. I imagine they could come give you a hand pretty quickly.”

“
If it’s not too much trouble. Thank you.”

“No problem
.” The officer started to turn back to his car before stopping. “Can I take a look at your license real quick please?”

Kelly
fumbled though her purse and handed it to him, trying hard to control her shaking hand. He studied it for what seemed like minutes before bending down and smiling at her. “I’ll be right back, hold tight.”

Kelly
watched him as he got in and picked up the radio receiver. The flashing lights were beginning to make her head hurt.

“I wanna go home,” Keegan whined from the back seat.

After a couple of minutes the officer returned and handed her license back. “Here you go, Miss Raney. There’s a tow truck on the way. Would you like me to stay here until they arrive or will you two be okay?”

“No, that’s fine,” she said with a rush of relief. “I’ve got a cell phone, just in case. We’ll be okay.”

“All right then, you take care,” he said. “Good luck with the car. Hope it’s nothing serious.” He turned to Keegan. “Keep an eye on your mom, Sport!”

Kelly
realized she was holding her breath and finally exhaled when the strobe lights stopped and the officer’s car drove off. Was she being paranoid? Probably. Maybe Don did call the cops but at least the word hadn’t gotten out here in Hicksville yet.