Catching a glimpse of myself in the dome mirror in the corner, I realize just how crazy I look. “Do you have a phone I can use to call the police?”
She stares at me for a moment, unsure of what to do. I can’t blame her for wanting to be cautious—she’s most likely here alone, and in the middle of the night no less.
“You can call them yourself if it makes you feel more comfortable,” I almost whisper, trying to calm my labored breathing and smoothing down my wild curls. Crunched up leaves and a broken twig fall to the floor. How the hell did that even get in my hair?
“Please,” I plead with her.
With one more once over, the cashier nods and calls the police on the store phone.
“What should I tell them?” she asks.
I take another deep breath and explain everything that happened tonight—purposefully omitting the info about the masked man, though. Instead, I tell her I couldn’t see his face. The more I tell her, the wider her eyes get. By the time she’s done talking to the dispatcher, her pale face is even whiter with fear.
“Oh my God,” the cashier—whose name is Tracy, according to her name tag—says in disbelief. She wraps her arms around herself and shivers. “How can someone do something like that?”
Because he’s a fucking psychopath, that’s how.
A psychopath that I’m so attracted to even after what he did.
The weight of everything that’s happened tonight finally sinks in, and my legs can’t hold my body up any longer. I fall to the floor in an exhausted heap.
Tracy comes around the counter and squats in front of me.
“The police will be here soon,” she says in a reassuring voice as she rubs soothing circles on my back.
In the fifteen minutes it took for the police to arrive, I hyperventilated three times. If Tracy wasn’t here, I probably would have had a full-blown panic attack.
“I’ll be right back,” she says softly before going outside to greet the officers. They follow behind her and crouch down in front of me where I’m sitting on the floor against the checkout counter.
“Ma’am, do you need an ambulance?” the officer on the right asks. Through my blurry vision, I can barely make out the softness of his brown eyes as he looks at me with concern. He’s older—probably old enough to be my dad.
At the thought of my dad, I break down.
Tracy wraps her arms around me and pulls me against her chest. I’m so thankful for her, because I feel like I need something to hold on to while I let go.
God, I wish my mom and dad were here. Even after five years of them being gone, my heart still hurts at the thought of them. If Dad was still here, he’d know what to do. Now, I have to figure out how to navigate this situation on my own.
Something warm and heavy is draped over my shoulders, and I quickly realize it’s the male officer’s coat. I thank him and wipe my face.
“I’m fine,” I whisper, more to myself than to them. Maybe if I convince myself enough that it’s true, I’ll believe it.
“What’s your name?” the male officer—his badge says D. Hudson—asks, pulling out a pen and notepad.
“Essence Robinson,” I respond in a weak voice.
“Can you tell us what happened?” the female officer asks gently. Her badge says A. Santino.
Swallowing, I nod and tell them everything, taking pauses to make sure I’m not forgetting anything. Officer Hudson scribbles furiously on his notepad, and when I’m done, Officer Santino stands up and walks out of the store as she speaks into her walkie. I tune everyone out; my head and ears are filled with static, and my vision begins to blur.
“Miss Robinson, do you need an ambulance?” Officer Hudson asks again, but I can’t hear him over the buzzing in my ears. His eyes scan my bruised face with concern.
“I need to call my sister,” I whisper, looking at Tracy. “Can I call my sister?”
She nods. “Of course.”
I finish up with the officers, and they give me a card with their numbers on it before leaving. The clock on the wall says it’s almost three in the morning, way too early to be calling my sister and disturbing her household, but I don’t know Dante’s number by heart. And, anyway, I just really need to be with my sister right now.
Surprisingly, she answers on the second ring.
