Chapter 12

Desperation

Since my plot to drug my family into sleepiness so I could rob them had failed along with all my other plans I was down to one final option. That option was to sneak out of my house, find a way to get to Stamford and Club G and then shoplift the things I wanted. I did not know how I was going to do it but I just had to succeed.

Since my punishment had been extended another month though, I had all the time in the world to figure out how to pull off the most gigundoly brave thing I had ever done. Due to my punishment, no one would even notice if I was gone. I decided to try it next weekend and use the week to plot. Maybe Hannie and Nancy could help me out at school.

On Monday morning, I decided to find out. At recess, I confronted Hannie and Nancy on the playground. "Girls, I have a mission I need to accomplish. Can you help me?"

Nancy sounded suspicious, "What kind of mission?"

"Well I was curious. When I grow up and am big like Kristy how would I get to the mall if I did have a car?" I did not want them to guess what I was really doing.

Hannie rolled her eyes, "Karen that is a really long time until you are old enough to do that. Why do you want to know now?"

Rats! Hannie and Nancy were not much help and I was worried they would tattle on me to my daddy. I saw a substitute playground monitor wandering around and ran up to him. I asked, "How can people get places if they do not own a car and it is too far to walk?"

I guess the playground monitor thought I was cute and innocent since he was a substitute and had not heard the lies about me around school because he gave me an answer. "Well little girl, a lot of people ride on the city bus to get where they need to go. The bus schedule has all the routes they need listed."

I thanked him and scampered off to join my friends. Now all I had to do was figure out how to get a bus schedule. There was a bus station near my school. We passed it everyday on the school bus and it was not far at all. I could remember exactly how to get there just from going by it.

A sneaky and gigundoly genius plan began to form in my head as I joined Hannie and Nancy for a game of tetherball. We had forty five minutes for recess after lunch every day. That would be more than enough time for me to sneak off the school property, run to the bus station, grab a bus schedule and sneak back to school without being noticed. Then I could plan the next phase of my wonderful plan to shoplift from Club G since I would know how to get there and back by bus. Oh and I would also know exactly what the bus fare would cost. I do not know much about riding the city bus but sometimes Kristy and her friends ride it. I have heard them talk about it before.

I could hardly wait to get to school the next morning. Then I realized that I had a problem. Hannie, Nancy and I played together every single day at recess. How was I going to sneak to the bus station without them getting suspicious? I knew that they would tattle me out to Ms. Coleman and my daddy. I would have to think of a way to trick Hannie and Nancy.

I thought very long and hard about it on the bus ride to school. Hannie kept trying to distract me with some whiny story about her baby sister Sari coloring on her homework with a color crayon. I felt very grumpy by this. Hannie should have seen how hard I was trying to think about my plans for getting to the bus station.

As the bus arrived in the school parking lot, it occurred to me what I could do. The school gym had an indoor recess area set up every day for kids who wanted to play board games, do homework or read books. My friends and I never went there unless there was rain but some kids went every day.

At lunch I put my plan in action, "Hannie and Nancy, I forgot to do my homework that is due this afternoon last night. I am going to go to the gym and do it at recess. I am sorry I can not join you outside."

Hannie shrugged, "Sorry to hear that Karen."

Nancy took a sip of milk then said, "We will miss you. Try and get your homework done fast so we can play for a little bit together."

Of course I had already done my homework the night before so I was just lying. As soon as no one was looking I snuck down the halls of the school building to the front door. I slipped outside and then began to make my way out to the main street. I was careful to hide behind bushes and trees so no one would catch me. I peeked behind me and when I was sure no one was looking, I dashed down the street, away from school and towards the bus station. I was gigundoly excited. I ran as fast as I could and hoped that no one would recognize me.

I was panting very hard and breathing heavily when I finally spotted the bus station. I smoothed my ponytail and looked at my reflection in the plate glass door. I hoped I looked grown up enough that no one would be suspicious. The bus station was not too crowded right then so maybe I could sneak in unnoticed.

I stepped inside the building. It was air conditioned and gigundoly cold. I shivered and looked around. I spotted the bus schedules sitting in a bin near the door. I walked quickly to the bin, snatched a bus schedule and then walked outside again. No one had really noticed me. There had been a group of little kids from a preschool going on a field trip sitting on a bench near the schedule bin. I hoped that the people running the bus station just thought I was a very big preschooler. I was just relieved it was not Andrew's preschool.

It did not matter what anyone inside had thought of me though. All that mattered was that I had a bus schedule and it was going to be my ticket to Club G. I skipped back to school with a smile on my face.

I managed to get back to school with fifteen minutes of recess left. No one at school had noticed my absence. I slid the bus schedule into backpack and then I went outside to spend the rest of recess with Hannie and Nancy. As soon as I got home it would be time to implement phase two of my wonderful plan. I was getting very excited and impatient.