The faster I get out of here, the better. I don’t know what’s worse, to wear this dress to the mall or the Daisy Dukes.
I opt for the polka-dot dress and Mary Janes. If I want to be incognito in this one-cow town, I’m going to have to blend in.
After breakfast, I quietly pack my things and leave the room. I still have my forty plus dollars, and staying another night at Mrs. King’s isn’t going to help me if I can’t get a job.
I doubt this place has any high-paying computer jobs. The town, Colson’s Corner, consists of a small square with a statue of the founder. He’s on the obligatory horse, but stupidly holding a pickaxe instead of a sword or rifle.
Anywho… I’ve got places to go, people to see.
I place another call to Lacy. It goes to her voicemail. Instead of leaving one, I text her.
Hey, cousin. Wondering if you’re free for the holidays. I need a lead for a job now that I’m out. Love, Sammie
I ignore the voice in my head nagging me that she hasn’t called me back, and that Brittney might have gotten to her first. If what Brittney says is true, HookLinkSinker was the company Lacy and Brandon sank all their money into.
I wonder if they, too, blame me for the stolen code.
No time to feel sorry for myself. I have to keep moving and maybe my luck will change. I stick my thumb out to hitchhike, and a nice little old lady pulls her vintage Volkswagen Beetle over. Well, that was easy.
She rolls down the window, as in hand-cranks it, and I lean over. “Is there a bus station around here?”
“Oh, honey, the nearest bus station is in Truckee, and that’s miles away. Are you lost?” she asks as if I’m a little girl. “Is there someone you want me to call?”
Like my fake dad? Nope.
I shake my head forlornly. “I just need a place to stay, and some work. You know, down on my luck.”
“I know just the place.” She leans over and unlocks the flimsy door. “I’m on my way over to volunteer. Pretty little thing like you shouldn’t be hitchhiking.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say as I get into the Beetle. At least someone, even a stranger, cares about my wellbeing. “Thanks for picking me up.”
“We have to look out for each other,” she says cheerily as her old Volkswagen putt-putts down the street.
The town lasts only a block when she crosses an abandoned railroad track and pulls up to a seedy-looking building, looking more like an abandoned barn than a place for volunteers. I don’t know what I was imagining, but I thought we were headed for an animal rescue or library.
A few tents are pitched underneath the overhanging roof, and a man lies on a bedroll behind a trailer. Shabbily dressed people line up in front of the barn doors, and the scent of broth and bread wafts to my nostrils.
“Is this the homeless shelter?” I ask the woman.
“Why, yes. It’s as far as I can take you.” She lets me off. I sling my backpack over my shoulder, and when I expect her to park, she waves and says, “God bless you, little one.”
My breath crashes to my stomach as she drives off. Abandoned again. What’s wrong with me? Why did I expect so much out of a chance encounter?
Same reason I expected Braden to be my knight in shining armor and before him, Mitch to be my rescuer flying in with a cape.
Wishful thinking.
A man looks up and winks at me, and two fellows lounging against the rails catcall me. “Hey, polka-dot, want to come to my place for dinner? Hey, wait, we’re already here.”
“New girl in town, huh?” An older man with a grizzled gray beard checks me out. “That dress looks familiar. You know anyone here?”
“No one, just passing through.” I wish I had my sharpened screwdriver, but I left it behind for Genie, my cellmate, who was framed in a robbery and had her food truck stolen.
The two young toughs, both dressed in low-hanging jeans, oversized flannel shirts, and sneakers walk alongside me, pressing me one on each side.
“Let me help you with that backpack,” Lowlife One says, hooking his fingers through the straps.
Lowlife Two puts his arm over my shoulders and bumps my hip. “How about you help yourself to my place. I’ve got a cozy warm tent and a six-pack you can play with, heh, heh, heh.”
