Chapter 6 – Camille
Thankfully, it wasn’t a long drive from the gas station to a small, quiet town by the name of Norwald, still within the state of Tennessee. With a population of only a couple thousand people, there wasn’t much there. A Sonic Drive-In, a few motels, and a Dollar General. It was one of those forgettable, cookie-cutter small towns kids dream of leaving—but never do, because they don’t have many other options.
My trust in Erich’s survival skills began to deplete as I realized we had landed in a dead-end town like this.
“What now?” I asked, my hands buried in the pockets of my stolen flannel jacket. With no clothes to change into, I had to make do with what I’d taken from my brother.
“Lying, cheating, stealing,” Erich answered nonchalantly. “We have to eat and sleep somehow.”
And just like that, he pulled into the parking lot of a tiny grocery store and turned the car off.
That threw me off. This man—who had gone out of his way to make sure I wasn’t alone and hurting—made a living by deceiving others? What kind of twisted morals did he have? Was he selective about who he helped and who he used? I felt my respect for him slipping faster than I expected.
Erich noticed my silence—or read it in my body language. “I don’t need to explain why this doesn’t bother me,” he began. My patience was wearing thin, but I kept my mouth shut. “I’m not perfect. No one is. I’m just trying to get by like anyone else. So what’s the difference between someone like me and a door-to-door salesman selling shitty vacuum cleaners to old ladies?”
His fingers ran through his hair, leaving the loose locks framing his forehead.
“The difference is I wouldn’t scam an old lady.”
I studied him. That was the most I’d heard him say—and the most thought-provoking. He didn’t seem shaken by what he’d admitted.
“So what falls into black and white for you?” I asked, half wondering aloud, half directing the question at him. “Why is this a morally gray area? Do your needs come before someone else’s? And if they do, what would you be willing to do to survive?”
A sarcastic laugh bubbled in my throat.
“Would you pick up a rich girl and bring her back for the reward?”
Erich turned toward me fully this time. His light blue eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening as he processed what I’d said.
“Are you trying to talk philosophy with me? We’ve only known each other a few hours.”
The answer was no. And since he didn’t laugh, maybe I wasn’t far off. I didn’t know anything about philosophy, and the truth was, I was a hypocrite for judging him. I came from a family that did horrible things in the name of God, opinion, and entitlement. I had been raised to believe I could treat peoplepoorly because I had more rights than they did—and my family thrived on those beliefs.
If Erich needed to pickpocket someone—whether it was a man with four kids to feed or a man who spent his money on booze and gambling—I had no place demanding an ethical explanation.
My silence answered his question.
“If you want to live this life, you’ll have to do it too,” he said. “But if you want to die on that hill, I won’t stop you.”
“Just how long have you been on your own?” I asked, again letting my thoughts slip out before I could stop them. I hoped I wasn’t pushing too far—but it also didn’t matter. I planned to leave him as soon as I could. He’d be nothing more than a footnote in my escape.
Tension rolled off him in waves, and I immediately regretted asking. The way his jaw clenched and unclenched… it wasn’t my business. Yet here I was, making it mine.
Before I could apologize, his posture loosened, and he let out a small chuckle.
“Most of my life. Traveling? Several years, if I’m counting right.”
“Several years?” I repeated.
“Yup.” He cut the conversation short, already shifting away from himself. “It’s too early to try winning drunk people’s cash, but I’ve got enough from Belham to buy breakfast. We’ll figure out the rest.”
Despite the fact we’d just come from a gas station where we bought nicotine, candy, and caffeine, he stepped out of the car and headed for the grocery store without checking if I was following. I hurried after him, trying to match his pace, but it was useless as the giant shoes he gave me stomped awkwardly behind, my toes pushed to the front to avoid tripping on them. Iran my fingers through my hair, spreading it over my neck while the baseball cap kept most of it in place.
I had to admit—I was starving. Reese’s and Twizzlers only went so far.
“Are you afraid anyone will recognize you here?” Erich asked. He stopped beneath the canopy at the entrance.
I watched as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes, slipped one between his lips and dug for a lighter. I had just caught up to him.
