Page 45 of Queen of Nothing

Serena makes herself comfortable on the bed, then starts nursing Sal. “Did you see the guy out there? The one with the plastic bag?”

I push off the bed and start on the pop-up cot. Sounds easier than it is.

“He’s at the phone booth now, but he was pacing near the diner earlier. He looked nervous.”

I just hum in answer.

I’m used to this now.

Serena thinks every person we see, at the shop, at the filling station, at the motels, is suspicious.

A witch on the lookout for us.

A tracker on our tail.

Every car that travels behind us for more than a few minutes is following us.

Every stranger glancing our way is a spy.

But I say what I always say, “They are looking for two women travelling alone. Not a couple with a baby.”

And that’s what we are.

Me, a man, and Serena, a woman whose complexion is pale and freckled, and whose arms are painted with tattoos.

Only Sal is unchanged.

We don’t illusion him—but even if we did, I doubt Serena could summon the energy to do it. She’s always teetering on the edge of her lassitude limit.

We will need to stick around here for a while, let her recover and restore her energy.

So that is what we do.

In a room that smells like dust-mites, surrounded by thin walls and shouting neighbours, and sometimes randy ones, the baby cries and sleeps on repeat.

But we make use of our time here.

We go through every rental listing, every print-out that details the towns and the demographics and jobs—until, on the third day here, we make a decision.

I drive.

The notebook sits on the passenger seat.

It used to be Serena’s, but over time, it became mine. It’s my manual to the krum world.

Everything I have learned is in that book. And everything I sometimes need help remembering.

Price ranges for food, gas, motel rates, diapers. And in the pages at the back of the book is our list of spending. And on another page, we track how much money we have left.

Serena and Sal stay in the backseat for the drive.

Mostly, they sleep.

I pull over for the feeding, because Serena gets in a twist about driving with the baby out of the car seat.

It’s a long drive to the cold, stormy coast.

But by the time the hatchback is rolling into town, a town small enough to walk, like the village near Elcott, Serena is awake and Sal is rested.