I awoke from my deep sleep at twelve am, by the sound of Hale crying My bones ached as I sat up to get out of bed. After observing myself I had found numerous black and blue welts all over my body. I don't think I had enough cover up to hide these bruises. I walked into the kids' room to find all three of them awake.
"Mumma, I scawed of the wain," said Alexa. I took Alexa and Hale into my arms and tried to comfort them. The bright lightening shone through the window, and Alexa winced. "It's ok Alexa," I said soothingly, rubbing her back to try and stop the tears streaming down her face.
There was a small TV in the living room. I had wanted to turn it on and find out what the weather was going to be like, but I couldn't. James had purchased the TV for his eyes only. He had put a passcode on it, and you had to enter the passcode to watch television, which of course I didn't know. Alexa, and Abbey often time came home from daycare wanting to watch Elmo, or Dora, but they couldn't. I always had to be the "Bad Parent," and tell them they couldn't. They would always argue "But Mommy, we have a TV why can't we watch it on there," was always there persuading plea. But I couldn't give in, like I wanted to. Not with how James felt about them. He would beat them like he beats me if they ever asked him if they could watch Elmo, or Dora. The kids eventually fell asleep again, but I stayed in there to comfort them, but also to comfort myself. It was roughly two am now. The moon gave off light, making it visible, and you could hear the faint sound of cop sirens in the background. I couldn't get what James said to me out of my head.
He had never been away so long before, because he didn't want me to escape. But now, now that I had the chance to escape, could I really do it? I had nowhere to go, no car, no telephone, and just a little cash. I could buy four plane tickets, but where would I want to start over? Obviously in a small town. Maybe in Washington, it was way up in the corner of the United States. It was thousands of miles away from Flint, Michigan. I had heard my friend Alice talk of Forks before. It was in the center of Washington, or close to, whatever Alice said. I could go there.
The more I thought about it the better it sounded. Leaving Michigan and going to Forks, Washington was my best option. No, screw that. It was my only option, and I needed to take action soon.
The next morning I awoke from my upright sitting position with a cramped neck. I looked over at the kids. They were so cute all spooning next to each other. How I wish I had a camera to capture the moment, but I didn't. I gently woke the kids up, so I could get them ready to go. My game plan was to head to the nearest library to look up tickets and times, and then rent a motel room, and leave for the small town of Forks.