“I certainly do.”
“Thank you.”
Tessa sat silently and tense. When they got to it, she looked up.
“Is this it, miss?”
“Yes. Thank you.” She handed over some money. “Would you happen to know where the nearest bus station is?”
“Yes. It’s about ten blocks north of here.”
“Oh.” She thought about the things she really needed because it wouldn’t be much if she had to cart it ten blocks.
“If you want, I can wait for you if you don’t take too long.”
Oh, wow. “That would be wonderful. I’ll hurry.”
Tessa raced into the building and rode the elevator up to their floor. When she got to the apartment, she put in the code lock on the door and opened it. She listened for a moment beforegoing in.
She grabbed a garbage sack and raced around, gathering up the clothes she had brought with her, her bathroom things, and a few pictures. She couldn’t carry everything she’d brought, so when she was stronger, she’d get in touch with Nate to have her things picked up.
Before she left, she wrote him a note.
Nate,
I’m sorry to leave like this, but I think it’s best. We’re not working, and you deserve the life you want, not the one that fell in your lap. Please don’t look for me. It’s better this way.
Take care. Tessa
She left it on the counter, looked around, and walked out.
Tessa held her emotions together on the ride to the bus station while waiting for the bus to Little Rock and loading the bus. She went halfway back, tucked herself in the seat against the window, and let her tears fall.
She was vaguely aware of other people getting on but didn’t have the energy to be curious.
They’d taken off from the station when a grimy man sat down next to her. He smelled so bad she thought she would gag.
“Hey,” he said and looked her up and down.
She was so shocked she didn’t know what to do.
A person across the aisle smacked his arm. “Leave her be, young man.”
Tessa saw the older woman.
“Fuck off, bitch,” the man said.
The older woman snorted. “Hey, Jones,” she yelled. “A pervert is bothering a girl back here.”
The bus driver slowed down. “Boy, get the fuck away from her. If I have to stop this bus, I’ll break you into pieces and then throw you on the side of the road.”
Since she’d seen the driver, who had to be six and a half feet tall and three hundred pounds, Tessa knew he wasn’t bluffing. Tessa waited to see what he would do.
“Fuck it,” he said but stood and walked to the back of the bus.
They started moving faster when she looked over at the woman. “Thank you. I didn’t know what to do.”
“I could see that. Honey, you’re too damn innocent to be riding this bus by yourself.”