Chapter 5
I thought I was going to pass out from the rush of the fall, but someone had caught me. There were TWO people? I tried to fight with this one, but I was tossed into the back of an SUV and my second captor climbed in next to me, pinning me down in the seat. I tried to kick, but he had pinned down my legs. The first captor had climbed into the drivers seat, and slowly started the car and sped away. The driver turned around, and nodded to the guy pinning me down, and he took of the gag. I sucked some air in.
"Who the hell are you!" I hissed. The driver sighed, and pulled off to the side, and flipped the light on.
"Joey!" I shrieked.
"Yes, it's me. Now lay down, I'll explain in a second," he snapped, and he sped off again and down the street, making some sharp turns. He halted, and the boy next to me got out of the car and said good-bye.
"Thanks Brian," he called, and he looked at me.
"What? OK, I need some explanations here," I said. He sighed and reached out to touch my face.
"May," he started, but I smacked his hand away.
"What do you think, you're doing?" I flamed.
"I only just found out that you were in the hospital yesterday. I tried calling, and calling you, but your Mother told me that you didn't want to see me. So I didn't believe that, so I went over to your house, and she told me that I wasn't allowed to be hanging around with you anymore. Somehow, I had found out that you were being released, and I concocted a way to get you away from your family. I had to see you May."
"Wait," I said, shaking my head. "So you're KIDNAPPING me? Where are you taking me?" I cried.
"I'm taking you away. Far away. We need to be together."
"Uhh, did you ever factor that my parents are going to call the police!" I yelled.
"Of course," he said arrogantly. I growled.
"You're a bastard Joey, I hate you. Take me-" He grabbed my face and kissed me. I groaned. The feeling had been hate had suddenly turned into love. How could I hate him? He was doing exactly what I wanted him to do. He was taking me away and I was finally going to be with him forever. He pulled away and looked into my eyes.
"I missed you when I was in the hospital," I whispered, and his smile beamed in the darkness.
"Come up into the front seat," he said, and I crawled in, and he sped off.
"So where are we going?" I asked as I settled into the seat.
"We're going out of Colorado Springs. We'll rent a motel somewhere, and we'll live there until we can get an apartment of something."
"Joey! We can't just run of and live in motels! We have school, we have family, we have our own lives. We can't just get up and run!" He looked at me.
"May, did you once say that you would do anything with me? Didn't you say that you trusted me?" I looked at him, and reluctantly nodded.
"Then trust me now. Keep your word." He faced the road, and we started to get into the downtown area.
The nightlife was interesting. People walking down the street, some just coming home from work, some about to go to work. Girls, hardly dressed at all, would parade down the street, offering themselves to anyone who was willing. The men walked around in loose clothing, trying to pick up chicks, or selling drugs in the dark alleyways. Music floated out of the nightclubs and onto the streets, bright lights and signs came to life.
"What were you in the hospital for anyway?" He asked. I looked away.
"Shortly after I had talked to you, my parents had wanted to talk to me. I went downstairs and they told me that I wasn't allowed to hang around you anymore. And then from there, it was like I was having a heart attack. I was shivering, I was hot and cold at the same time, I was dizzy. I was rushed to the hospital, and I passed out from there. I found out that I had an emotional breakdown. I needed rest, and I stayed in the hospital for another day. My doctor and nurse were having an affair. Late last night, I tried to look up who my real parents were, and I was just about to, but the doctor got into his office, and I had to hide, but luckily he went away, and I couldn't find out who my real parents were, so I had went into my room and, I guess I'm here." I didn't want to mention that my mother had pulled as surprise pregnancy test. He arched his eyebrows and stopped at the light.
"I guess you've been through a lot on account of me," he said softly. I grabbed his hand.
"I'm willing to run away with you, aren't I?" I protested softly. He smiled and squeezed my hand. I looked at the clock, It was almost eleven. I yawned and outstretched my hands over my head.
"Tired?" he asked, and I nodded.
"Why don't you curl up in the back seat. I've got some blankets in the back. I waited until we had stopped before crawling into the back. I pulled the blankets out of the back and stuffed one behind my head, another I lay on top of me, and sighed.
"Goodnight," I said softly, and my eyes fluttered closed. He looked into the rear view mirror.
"Goodnight," he said, and averted his eyes back to the road. I clutched the blankets close to me, and slowly drifted back to sleep.
I had a strange dream that night. I dreamt that I had seen my parents reaction to my disappearance.
"Jim! Jim come quick!" Mommy shouted from my bedroom. She was staring at my empty bed, and my open bedroom window. Daddy scampered up the stairs.
"What's going on?" He realized that my bed was empty. "Where is she?"
"I don't know! I don't know!" Mommy wailed. Daddy searched the room briskly.
"No note," he muttered. Mommy's knees began to weaken, and Daddy supported her.
"She ran away! She ran away, not taking anything! She's gone to see her real parents!" she cried. Daddy's heart was crushed. Mommy was sobbing by now.
I woke up at that moment. I was in an actual bed, in a hotel. Joey was beside me. I flew out of the bed and brushed my hair out of my face. Had anything happened? I shivered and sat down in one of the chairs and wrapped the blanket that I had with me around me. Joey woke up later.
"Oh, Good morning," he said, sitting up and scratching his head. "Sorry about the sleeping arrangements. I could only afford one room with one bed," he explained.
"But nothing happened?" I gulped. He nodded.
"Nothing happened." I sighed and hugged my knees. "What's wrong?" he walked over to me.
"Just a dream," I muttered and looked at him. "How about we got on the road?" He smiled and walked back over to the bed and started to make it. I stood up out of the chair and went into the bathroom. The dream lingered in my brain, and I had to get rid of it.
"Joey, I don't have any clothes to change into," I called and splashed some water in my face.
"Here," he said, and tossed me a duffel bag full of my clothes.
"How did you get this?" I asked as I rooted through it to find some clothes.
"Before I got back into the car, I grabbed some clothes, underwear, makeup." I blushed when he mentioned that he had packed my underwear.
"Thanks," I said softly, and turned to the bathtub to turn on the shower. It felt good to cleanse myself, rid myself of what had occurred recently. I kept the bathroom door locked as I was getting ready.
"Come on May! Open up the door!" He shouted as he banged on it with his fist.
"Hold on a minute!" I yelled back, then opened the door once I was finished.
"You take forever," he said as he went into the bathroom.
"So?" I put my makeup back into my bag and put my hair into a ponytail and waited for him to finished.
"Ready to go?" He asked as he walked back into the room. I nodded and slung the duffel bag over my shoulder.
"OK, let's get out of here." He grabbed his things, and we headed downstairs.
At the counter, two men dressed in black suits were standing at the counter, talking to one of the men. I stopped in my tracks, and looked at Joey.
"I think they are looking for us," I whispered to him.
"They involved the FBI?" he whispered and sighed. "Um, OK. How about we just like. . ."
"Come on Joey! They are going to notice us eventually," I hissed.
"OK!" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me upstairs again. He took my duffel bag off of my shoulder and threw it on the ground. He threw it open and took out one of my T-shirts.
"What?" I asked. He grabbed my head and wrapped it around my head, tucking in my hair. "How is this going to work?" He grabbed my makeup, and rubbed brown eye shadow on my skin.
"OK, now if anyone tries to talk to you, speak in an Arabian accent. It'll work, trust me."
"What about checking out?" I asked.
"Don't worry about that. Go ahead." I sighed, grabbed my duffel bag, and started to walk forward. The officers looked at me, and I gulped and smiled. They looked at each other, nodded, and walked toward me. My heart began to pound.
"Hello, Miss," he said. "Can we speak to you for a minute?" I nodded, and one of the officers pulled out a photo of me.
"Have you seen this girl?" The second officer asked. I shook my head.
"Yes, I saw her leave with a man, it looked like she was pretty frightened," I said in the best accent I could. They both looked anxious.
"Did you see where they were going? Who she was with?" The first officer asked. I shook my head.
"I do not know. I think that he might have taken her to get something to eat, or taken her away, I do not know. Why? Is something bad going to happen to her?" The second officer sighed.
"Well, she was abducted in the middle of the night last night. Her parents are very scared."
"I am very sorry that I could not help you in your search." They smiled and headed out of the hotel door. I walked back upstairs and unwrapped the turban and wiped off the makeup.
"That was good," he said. I was surprised that he wasn't laughing. I sighed and closed my eyes.
"Let's just get out of here, and check out," I said, and grabbed my things and hurried out the door so the man at the counter couldn't see me. Joey signed out and got into the car.
"Did he recognize you?" I asked quickly.
"No, let's get out of here," he said, and started the car and sped off. We could see the FBI agents speed past us and over to the nearby fast food venders. I chewed on my lip.
During our ride, we were both silent. I think it was the agents that scared us. They were out looking. And I wasn't even gone for 24 hours. My parents probably bribed them, of course.
At that moment, I was beginning to feel that I should go back home. If I have to disguise myself all the time, what was the point? Me and Joey couldn't live like this, it would be an unhappy life. But I bit my lip and swallowed my thoughts.
"Something wrong?" Joey asked as we pulled into a fast food restaurant. I shook my head. "You're going to have to hide in the back-seat." I sighed and crawled back there and hid under the seat. Joey ordered some burgers, and the girl at the window questioned why he was buying so much.
"Have to buy for the family," he lied. He collected the food and sped off, giving me the signal that I could sit up.
"Are we going to have to keep doing this?" I asked. He scowled at me as I crawled into the front seat.
"Of course. May, you're on the missing persons list. People are going to have your picture posted up everywhere."
"But what about you Joey?" I snapped. "You're a missing person too."
"So? My parents won't care. They probably won't even notice."
"Oh yes they will!" I shrilled. He glared at me.
"There are other children on the list too, but you don't see their pictures posted up everywhere."
"But your parents May, they're doing all they can to find you. They won't stop until the find you." I scoffed and folded my arms across my chest.
"Don't pout May. Things will only will get better from here," he promised. I rolled my eyes.
"Sure Joey," I said, and took a hamburger from the bag and started to stuff it in my mouth. Joey laughed, and I gave him a dirty look, and he continued to drive.
"Are we there yet?" I asked, with an impish smile.
"Don't do that May. We're not there yet." I finished eating and lay in the back-seat.
"I'm bored."
"Don't you think that I'm bored?" He snapped. I sighed and stuffed a pillow under my head.
"Don't be mad at me May." Joey said. I looked out the window and watched as the trees passed my.
My heart ached. It was telling me that I was to go home, back home where the only family I had, loved me. I could still be in the adoption center, waiting for someone to take me as their child. But then, if that had happened, I wouldn't have met Joey. But for some reason, I was kind of regretting meeting him at all. He had gotten me into a lot of trouble, like with his girlfriend, and now with my parents. And my heart was in trouble. I was only thinking of Joey. Only Joey. Not my parents, not myself, but just Joey. I was that head over heels in love with him.
But was it worth it? Would it really be worth it in the end? We could enroll in school, get married, have children, and still, Joey and I would still be on the missing persons list. Deep down inside, we would still be on that list. And look how many people we would be hurting. Our parents, loved ones, friends. It would just more people in the end.
"Joey," I whimpered. "Can you stop up here?" He looked at me.
"What's up?"
"I need to make a phone call."
"Who are you going to call? You can't call your parents."
"Just, stop in the nearest rest stop," I said, fighting back tears. He sighed, and drove over at the rest stop. I borrowed fifty cents for the pay phone, and ran over, doubting whether I should call. But I put the money in the slot, and dialed Emilia's number.
The phone rang and rang, and I didn't think that she would answer, but she finally did.
"Hello?" she asked, breathless.
"Emilia, it's me. May." I heard her gasp.
"May! May Isaacson! Where are you! You're parents are worried to death."
"I- I can't tell you where I am," I stuttered.
"Did someone kidnap you? Who is it? Was it Ashley Bernstein?"
"No, no. I just wanted to call and let you know that I'm OK."
"Come home May. We all miss you."
"No, no, I can't," I said. "I have to go," I said softly.
"May, please, come home. Did you run away, did someone take you?"
"Good-bye Emilia," I said, and slammed the phone down, leaning against it. Joey ran over to me.
"Why did you call her?" He hissed.
"Please, Joey, I had to call her. I had to let her know that I was OK."
"Now she's on to us. Does she have caller ID?" I nodded.
"She's going to call the police on us, and your parents." I started to cry.
"I'm sorry Joey," I sobbed. He put his arm around my shoulder and embraced me.
"I'm sorry May. I got scared. I don't want anyone to take you away from me." I cried on his shoulder, and he wiped away my tears.
"Let's get you into the car, OK?" I nodded and walked over to the car with him, and he sped away.
"Joey, I think I want to go home," I announced. He kept his eyes on the road, and didn't answer me.
"Did you hear me Joey? I said I think I want to go home." He still didn't answer me. I leaned my head against the window, and I slowly drifted to sleep.
I had another dream. I was running through a dark hallway. I kept looking behind me, and there was the past that I had left behind. The family, the friends. I looked forward, and standing in the spotlight, were the two FBI agents.
"You left behind a good life," the first agent said.
"Don't do this to me." I cried.
"You left for this May." An older version of me popped into the room, carrying a baby, and two children running around me, teasing each other.
"Jamie, Brandon, please stop," I cried. My face was dirty, and the clothes I was wearing were dingy and spotted with stains. The baby started to cry, and I tried to calm it, but it screaming got louder. Joey walked through an invisible door.
"May! I home!" He bellowed, and came over to kiss my cheek. He looked at the stack of bills on the counter, and frowned.
"I thought we paid this."
"We didn't have enough money. The phone was turned off," I said. He threw it away and opened another bill.
"May! I thought we had paid these all!"
"Those were all of last month!" I yelled. The baby started screaming louder, and I finally gave her a bottle. Jamie and Brandon had stopped teasing each other and were wrestling on the couch.
"Stop! I screamed, and everything in the house stopped moving. Even the baby. "I've had enough of this! I want out!" The image faded away. The agents came back.
"Do you want to live your life that that?" The second agent asked.
"Stop. That's not the life that I'm going to live," I protested. They both laughed.
"Is this the life you want?" They faded away, and an image of me walking through the door of a massive house appeared.
"Joey!" I called. He came out of his office and smiled.
"Darling, you're home," he said, embracing me and kissing me.
"Yes, Life at the office is pretty strenuous, but I come home to a wonderful husband and three lovely children." Jamie was sitting at the top of the stairs.
"Mother's home!" she cried, and ran down stairs. I swept her into my arms, and Brandon came running down.
"Ah, my darlings," I said, kissing them. "Have you been good children today?"
"Yes, Momma. I can tell that Baby Jane has been missing you very much today. You should go see her." I smiled and went upstairs to the nursery, finding a baby in the crib.
"Baby Jane," I said softly, picking her up and rocking her in my arms. Joey stood behind me, and Jamie and Brandon stood by my side, watching. The scene faded away, and the two agents had come back.
"Is that what you want?" They said in perfect unison. I didn't answer.
"I'm not going to regret this," I said defiantly. They looked at each other.
"Are you?"
I jolted awake. It was nighttime now, and cars whizzed by. Joey looked at me.
"You OK?" He asked. I exhaled and nodded. "You're sweating." I wiped my forehead and rolled down the window a little bit.
"How far have we gotten? I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"We're almost outside of Colorado Springs. We're getting there," he said. I looked at the speed limit, and looked at the speedometer. He was over the speed limit.
"Joey, you're over the speed limit," I informed, and he grunted.
"We're OK, besides, I'm going to get something to eat."
"You know, you are going to run out of money. Then what?" I asked. He narrowed his eyes and parked at a KFC.
"Come in with me. We're far enough so that no one would recognize you," he suggested. I sighed and walked into the restaurant.
It wasn't too busy, only about 4 people were ordering. The boy at the counter looked at us, and turned to the manager. My heart started to thump.
"What's going on?" I whispered to Joey as he looked at the menu.
"It's nothing," he assured me, and I sighed and decided to order. The manager was the one who took our order.
"How may I help you?" He kept his eyes locked on me.
"Um, can I get a number 1?" I asked, my voice quivering.
"And I'll have the number 3." He nodded, looked at me once more, and went to tell the cooks our order. I looked at Joey.
"I think he knows that it's me," I said. He rolled his eyes.
"I don't think that. Now stop worrying," he commanded, and I waited nervously for our order to be called. Finally, it was finished, and we eagerly grabbed our food. Now there was no one here but us. I smiled, grabbed our order, and hurried out to the car.
"Slow down May," Joey said. I got into the car.
"Let's go," I said, and he reluctantly started the car, and we ate as we drove.
Joey was over the speed limit, again. I warned him about it, and he snapped at me.
"Just relax." I closed my eyes, and suddenly red and blue lights flashed.
"Oh God!" I cried, and Joey looked panicked.
"Okay, it's just a routine checkup," he reassured himself, and pulled over to the side of the highway. I started to shake as the officer pulled over behind us and walked to the drivers side. Joey rolled his window down. "Hello officer."
"Hello, can I see your license and registration please?" He asked. Joey leaned over and opened up the glove box to get out the registration and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out his license. The officer went back to check it. Joey looked at me.
"See? I told you, just a routine checkup," he said, and the officer came back quickly.
"Here you go sonny." He looked at me. "What's your name?"
"M- May," I stuttered. His eyebrows rose.
"All right boys," he said into his walkie-talkie, and about 5 officers came out of cop cars that had suddenly arrived, cocking their guns.
"Out of the car kids," he commanded, and I scrambled out and so did Joey. They told us to hold up our hands, and I did so. The Marshall came running towards me. He looked at me, and over at the officer.
"Well done Bob," he said. The Marshall looked at me. "This is our girl. Get her in the car." Bob dragged me over to his car, along with Joey. We crawled in back and he slammed the door shut. I looked at Joey.
"I'm sorry Joey," I said softly.
"It wasn't your fault," he replied. I rested against the seat, and waited until I could finally go home again.
I thought I was going to pass out from the rush of the fall, but someone had caught me. There were TWO people? I tried to fight with this one, but I was tossed into the back of an SUV and my second captor climbed in next to me, pinning me down in the seat. I tried to kick, but he had pinned down my legs. The first captor had climbed into the drivers seat, and slowly started the car and sped away. The driver turned around, and nodded to the guy pinning me down, and he took of the gag. I sucked some air in.
"Who the hell are you!" I hissed. The driver sighed, and pulled off to the side, and flipped the light on.
"Joey!" I shrieked.
"Yes, it's me. Now lay down, I'll explain in a second," he snapped, and he sped off again and down the street, making some sharp turns. He halted, and the boy next to me got out of the car and said good-bye.
"Thanks Brian," he called, and he looked at me.
"What? OK, I need some explanations here," I said. He sighed and reached out to touch my face.
"May," he started, but I smacked his hand away.
"What do you think, you're doing?" I flamed.
"I only just found out that you were in the hospital yesterday. I tried calling, and calling you, but your Mother told me that you didn't want to see me. So I didn't believe that, so I went over to your house, and she told me that I wasn't allowed to be hanging around with you anymore. Somehow, I had found out that you were being released, and I concocted a way to get you away from your family. I had to see you May."
"Wait," I said, shaking my head. "So you're KIDNAPPING me? Where are you taking me?" I cried.
"I'm taking you away. Far away. We need to be together."
"Uhh, did you ever factor that my parents are going to call the police!" I yelled.
"Of course," he said arrogantly. I growled.
"You're a bastard Joey, I hate you. Take me-" He grabbed my face and kissed me. I groaned. The feeling had been hate had suddenly turned into love. How could I hate him? He was doing exactly what I wanted him to do. He was taking me away and I was finally going to be with him forever. He pulled away and looked into my eyes.
"I missed you when I was in the hospital," I whispered, and his smile beamed in the darkness.
"Come up into the front seat," he said, and I crawled in, and he sped off.
"So where are we going?" I asked as I settled into the seat.
"We're going out of Colorado Springs. We'll rent a motel somewhere, and we'll live there until we can get an apartment of something."
"Joey! We can't just run of and live in motels! We have school, we have family, we have our own lives. We can't just get up and run!" He looked at me.
"May, did you once say that you would do anything with me? Didn't you say that you trusted me?" I looked at him, and reluctantly nodded.
"Then trust me now. Keep your word." He faced the road, and we started to get into the downtown area.
The nightlife was interesting. People walking down the street, some just coming home from work, some about to go to work. Girls, hardly dressed at all, would parade down the street, offering themselves to anyone who was willing. The men walked around in loose clothing, trying to pick up chicks, or selling drugs in the dark alleyways. Music floated out of the nightclubs and onto the streets, bright lights and signs came to life.
"What were you in the hospital for anyway?" He asked. I looked away.
"Shortly after I had talked to you, my parents had wanted to talk to me. I went downstairs and they told me that I wasn't allowed to hang around you anymore. And then from there, it was like I was having a heart attack. I was shivering, I was hot and cold at the same time, I was dizzy. I was rushed to the hospital, and I passed out from there. I found out that I had an emotional breakdown. I needed rest, and I stayed in the hospital for another day. My doctor and nurse were having an affair. Late last night, I tried to look up who my real parents were, and I was just about to, but the doctor got into his office, and I had to hide, but luckily he went away, and I couldn't find out who my real parents were, so I had went into my room and, I guess I'm here." I didn't want to mention that my mother had pulled as surprise pregnancy test. He arched his eyebrows and stopped at the light.
"I guess you've been through a lot on account of me," he said softly. I grabbed his hand.
"I'm willing to run away with you, aren't I?" I protested softly. He smiled and squeezed my hand. I looked at the clock, It was almost eleven. I yawned and outstretched my hands over my head.
"Tired?" he asked, and I nodded.
"Why don't you curl up in the back seat. I've got some blankets in the back. I waited until we had stopped before crawling into the back. I pulled the blankets out of the back and stuffed one behind my head, another I lay on top of me, and sighed.
"Goodnight," I said softly, and my eyes fluttered closed. He looked into the rear view mirror.
"Goodnight," he said, and averted his eyes back to the road. I clutched the blankets close to me, and slowly drifted back to sleep.
I had a strange dream that night. I dreamt that I had seen my parents reaction to my disappearance.
"Jim! Jim come quick!" Mommy shouted from my bedroom. She was staring at my empty bed, and my open bedroom window. Daddy scampered up the stairs.
"What's going on?" He realized that my bed was empty. "Where is she?"
"I don't know! I don't know!" Mommy wailed. Daddy searched the room briskly.
"No note," he muttered. Mommy's knees began to weaken, and Daddy supported her.
"She ran away! She ran away, not taking anything! She's gone to see her real parents!" she cried. Daddy's heart was crushed. Mommy was sobbing by now.
I woke up at that moment. I was in an actual bed, in a hotel. Joey was beside me. I flew out of the bed and brushed my hair out of my face. Had anything happened? I shivered and sat down in one of the chairs and wrapped the blanket that I had with me around me. Joey woke up later.
"Oh, Good morning," he said, sitting up and scratching his head. "Sorry about the sleeping arrangements. I could only afford one room with one bed," he explained.
"But nothing happened?" I gulped. He nodded.
"Nothing happened." I sighed and hugged my knees. "What's wrong?" he walked over to me.
"Just a dream," I muttered and looked at him. "How about we got on the road?" He smiled and walked back over to the bed and started to make it. I stood up out of the chair and went into the bathroom. The dream lingered in my brain, and I had to get rid of it.
"Joey, I don't have any clothes to change into," I called and splashed some water in my face.
"Here," he said, and tossed me a duffel bag full of my clothes.
"How did you get this?" I asked as I rooted through it to find some clothes.
"Before I got back into the car, I grabbed some clothes, underwear, makeup." I blushed when he mentioned that he had packed my underwear.
"Thanks," I said softly, and turned to the bathtub to turn on the shower. It felt good to cleanse myself, rid myself of what had occurred recently. I kept the bathroom door locked as I was getting ready.
"Come on May! Open up the door!" He shouted as he banged on it with his fist.
"Hold on a minute!" I yelled back, then opened the door once I was finished.
"You take forever," he said as he went into the bathroom.
"So?" I put my makeup back into my bag and put my hair into a ponytail and waited for him to finished.
"Ready to go?" He asked as he walked back into the room. I nodded and slung the duffel bag over my shoulder.
"OK, let's get out of here." He grabbed his things, and we headed downstairs.
At the counter, two men dressed in black suits were standing at the counter, talking to one of the men. I stopped in my tracks, and looked at Joey.
"I think they are looking for us," I whispered to him.
"They involved the FBI?" he whispered and sighed. "Um, OK. How about we just like. . ."
"Come on Joey! They are going to notice us eventually," I hissed.
"OK!" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me upstairs again. He took my duffel bag off of my shoulder and threw it on the ground. He threw it open and took out one of my T-shirts.
"What?" I asked. He grabbed my head and wrapped it around my head, tucking in my hair. "How is this going to work?" He grabbed my makeup, and rubbed brown eye shadow on my skin.
"OK, now if anyone tries to talk to you, speak in an Arabian accent. It'll work, trust me."
"What about checking out?" I asked.
"Don't worry about that. Go ahead." I sighed, grabbed my duffel bag, and started to walk forward. The officers looked at me, and I gulped and smiled. They looked at each other, nodded, and walked toward me. My heart began to pound.
"Hello, Miss," he said. "Can we speak to you for a minute?" I nodded, and one of the officers pulled out a photo of me.
"Have you seen this girl?" The second officer asked. I shook my head.
"Yes, I saw her leave with a man, it looked like she was pretty frightened," I said in the best accent I could. They both looked anxious.
"Did you see where they were going? Who she was with?" The first officer asked. I shook my head.
"I do not know. I think that he might have taken her to get something to eat, or taken her away, I do not know. Why? Is something bad going to happen to her?" The second officer sighed.
"Well, she was abducted in the middle of the night last night. Her parents are very scared."
"I am very sorry that I could not help you in your search." They smiled and headed out of the hotel door. I walked back upstairs and unwrapped the turban and wiped off the makeup.
"That was good," he said. I was surprised that he wasn't laughing. I sighed and closed my eyes.
"Let's just get out of here, and check out," I said, and grabbed my things and hurried out the door so the man at the counter couldn't see me. Joey signed out and got into the car.
"Did he recognize you?" I asked quickly.
"No, let's get out of here," he said, and started the car and sped off. We could see the FBI agents speed past us and over to the nearby fast food venders. I chewed on my lip.
During our ride, we were both silent. I think it was the agents that scared us. They were out looking. And I wasn't even gone for 24 hours. My parents probably bribed them, of course.
At that moment, I was beginning to feel that I should go back home. If I have to disguise myself all the time, what was the point? Me and Joey couldn't live like this, it would be an unhappy life. But I bit my lip and swallowed my thoughts.
"Something wrong?" Joey asked as we pulled into a fast food restaurant. I shook my head. "You're going to have to hide in the back-seat." I sighed and crawled back there and hid under the seat. Joey ordered some burgers, and the girl at the window questioned why he was buying so much.
"Have to buy for the family," he lied. He collected the food and sped off, giving me the signal that I could sit up.
"Are we going to have to keep doing this?" I asked. He scowled at me as I crawled into the front seat.
"Of course. May, you're on the missing persons list. People are going to have your picture posted up everywhere."
"But what about you Joey?" I snapped. "You're a missing person too."
"So? My parents won't care. They probably won't even notice."
"Oh yes they will!" I shrilled. He glared at me.
"There are other children on the list too, but you don't see their pictures posted up everywhere."
"But your parents May, they're doing all they can to find you. They won't stop until the find you." I scoffed and folded my arms across my chest.
"Don't pout May. Things will only will get better from here," he promised. I rolled my eyes.
"Sure Joey," I said, and took a hamburger from the bag and started to stuff it in my mouth. Joey laughed, and I gave him a dirty look, and he continued to drive.
"Are we there yet?" I asked, with an impish smile.
"Don't do that May. We're not there yet." I finished eating and lay in the back-seat.
"I'm bored."
"Don't you think that I'm bored?" He snapped. I sighed and stuffed a pillow under my head.
"Don't be mad at me May." Joey said. I looked out the window and watched as the trees passed my.
My heart ached. It was telling me that I was to go home, back home where the only family I had, loved me. I could still be in the adoption center, waiting for someone to take me as their child. But then, if that had happened, I wouldn't have met Joey. But for some reason, I was kind of regretting meeting him at all. He had gotten me into a lot of trouble, like with his girlfriend, and now with my parents. And my heart was in trouble. I was only thinking of Joey. Only Joey. Not my parents, not myself, but just Joey. I was that head over heels in love with him.
But was it worth it? Would it really be worth it in the end? We could enroll in school, get married, have children, and still, Joey and I would still be on the missing persons list. Deep down inside, we would still be on that list. And look how many people we would be hurting. Our parents, loved ones, friends. It would just more people in the end.
"Joey," I whimpered. "Can you stop up here?" He looked at me.
"What's up?"
"I need to make a phone call."
"Who are you going to call? You can't call your parents."
"Just, stop in the nearest rest stop," I said, fighting back tears. He sighed, and drove over at the rest stop. I borrowed fifty cents for the pay phone, and ran over, doubting whether I should call. But I put the money in the slot, and dialed Emilia's number.
The phone rang and rang, and I didn't think that she would answer, but she finally did.
"Hello?" she asked, breathless.
"Emilia, it's me. May." I heard her gasp.
"May! May Isaacson! Where are you! You're parents are worried to death."
"I- I can't tell you where I am," I stuttered.
"Did someone kidnap you? Who is it? Was it Ashley Bernstein?"
"No, no. I just wanted to call and let you know that I'm OK."
"Come home May. We all miss you."
"No, no, I can't," I said. "I have to go," I said softly.
"May, please, come home. Did you run away, did someone take you?"
"Good-bye Emilia," I said, and slammed the phone down, leaning against it. Joey ran over to me.
"Why did you call her?" He hissed.
"Please, Joey, I had to call her. I had to let her know that I was OK."
"Now she's on to us. Does she have caller ID?" I nodded.
"She's going to call the police on us, and your parents." I started to cry.
"I'm sorry Joey," I sobbed. He put his arm around my shoulder and embraced me.
"I'm sorry May. I got scared. I don't want anyone to take you away from me." I cried on his shoulder, and he wiped away my tears.
"Let's get you into the car, OK?" I nodded and walked over to the car with him, and he sped away.
"Joey, I think I want to go home," I announced. He kept his eyes on the road, and didn't answer me.
"Did you hear me Joey? I said I think I want to go home." He still didn't answer me. I leaned my head against the window, and I slowly drifted to sleep.
I had another dream. I was running through a dark hallway. I kept looking behind me, and there was the past that I had left behind. The family, the friends. I looked forward, and standing in the spotlight, were the two FBI agents.
"You left behind a good life," the first agent said.
"Don't do this to me." I cried.
"You left for this May." An older version of me popped into the room, carrying a baby, and two children running around me, teasing each other.
"Jamie, Brandon, please stop," I cried. My face was dirty, and the clothes I was wearing were dingy and spotted with stains. The baby started to cry, and I tried to calm it, but it screaming got louder. Joey walked through an invisible door.
"May! I home!" He bellowed, and came over to kiss my cheek. He looked at the stack of bills on the counter, and frowned.
"I thought we paid this."
"We didn't have enough money. The phone was turned off," I said. He threw it away and opened another bill.
"May! I thought we had paid these all!"
"Those were all of last month!" I yelled. The baby started screaming louder, and I finally gave her a bottle. Jamie and Brandon had stopped teasing each other and were wrestling on the couch.
"Stop! I screamed, and everything in the house stopped moving. Even the baby. "I've had enough of this! I want out!" The image faded away. The agents came back.
"Do you want to live your life that that?" The second agent asked.
"Stop. That's not the life that I'm going to live," I protested. They both laughed.
"Is this the life you want?" They faded away, and an image of me walking through the door of a massive house appeared.
"Joey!" I called. He came out of his office and smiled.
"Darling, you're home," he said, embracing me and kissing me.
"Yes, Life at the office is pretty strenuous, but I come home to a wonderful husband and three lovely children." Jamie was sitting at the top of the stairs.
"Mother's home!" she cried, and ran down stairs. I swept her into my arms, and Brandon came running down.
"Ah, my darlings," I said, kissing them. "Have you been good children today?"
"Yes, Momma. I can tell that Baby Jane has been missing you very much today. You should go see her." I smiled and went upstairs to the nursery, finding a baby in the crib.
"Baby Jane," I said softly, picking her up and rocking her in my arms. Joey stood behind me, and Jamie and Brandon stood by my side, watching. The scene faded away, and the two agents had come back.
"Is that what you want?" They said in perfect unison. I didn't answer.
"I'm not going to regret this," I said defiantly. They looked at each other.
"Are you?"
I jolted awake. It was nighttime now, and cars whizzed by. Joey looked at me.
"You OK?" He asked. I exhaled and nodded. "You're sweating." I wiped my forehead and rolled down the window a little bit.
"How far have we gotten? I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"We're almost outside of Colorado Springs. We're getting there," he said. I looked at the speed limit, and looked at the speedometer. He was over the speed limit.
"Joey, you're over the speed limit," I informed, and he grunted.
"We're OK, besides, I'm going to get something to eat."
"You know, you are going to run out of money. Then what?" I asked. He narrowed his eyes and parked at a KFC.
"Come in with me. We're far enough so that no one would recognize you," he suggested. I sighed and walked into the restaurant.
It wasn't too busy, only about 4 people were ordering. The boy at the counter looked at us, and turned to the manager. My heart started to thump.
"What's going on?" I whispered to Joey as he looked at the menu.
"It's nothing," he assured me, and I sighed and decided to order. The manager was the one who took our order.
"How may I help you?" He kept his eyes locked on me.
"Um, can I get a number 1?" I asked, my voice quivering.
"And I'll have the number 3." He nodded, looked at me once more, and went to tell the cooks our order. I looked at Joey.
"I think he knows that it's me," I said. He rolled his eyes.
"I don't think that. Now stop worrying," he commanded, and I waited nervously for our order to be called. Finally, it was finished, and we eagerly grabbed our food. Now there was no one here but us. I smiled, grabbed our order, and hurried out to the car.
"Slow down May," Joey said. I got into the car.
"Let's go," I said, and he reluctantly started the car, and we ate as we drove.
Joey was over the speed limit, again. I warned him about it, and he snapped at me.
"Just relax." I closed my eyes, and suddenly red and blue lights flashed.
"Oh God!" I cried, and Joey looked panicked.
"Okay, it's just a routine checkup," he reassured himself, and pulled over to the side of the highway. I started to shake as the officer pulled over behind us and walked to the drivers side. Joey rolled his window down. "Hello officer."
"Hello, can I see your license and registration please?" He asked. Joey leaned over and opened up the glove box to get out the registration and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out his license. The officer went back to check it. Joey looked at me.
"See? I told you, just a routine checkup," he said, and the officer came back quickly.
"Here you go sonny." He looked at me. "What's your name?"
"M- May," I stuttered. His eyebrows rose.
"All right boys," he said into his walkie-talkie, and about 5 officers came out of cop cars that had suddenly arrived, cocking their guns.
"Out of the car kids," he commanded, and I scrambled out and so did Joey. They told us to hold up our hands, and I did so. The Marshall came running towards me. He looked at me, and over at the officer.
"Well done Bob," he said. The Marshall looked at me. "This is our girl. Get her in the car." Bob dragged me over to his car, along with Joey. We crawled in back and he slammed the door shut. I looked at Joey.
"I'm sorry Joey," I said softly.
"It wasn't your fault," he replied. I rested against the seat, and waited until I could finally go home again.