Runaways (20 page)

I brought in the Tylenol and she gave Butterfly two tablets.

“She isn't going to be all that hungry, but we'll bring her juice and fluids to drink all morning,” she said. “For now, let's get to the restaurant. You go and I'll follow. I want to make Butterfly as comfortable as I can before I leave. I want to sponge her down and see if I can help reduce her fever, too.”

“Right, Doc,” I said and Crystal smiled and then looked very serious.

“This could be it, Brooke.”

“I know, but Butterfly's health is the most important thing.”

Patsy was curious about Butterfly, of course, but when Crystal arrived, she did a good job of making Butterfly's problems sound insignificant.

“She's been fighting a cold for days. I told her bed rest, lots of liquids and some hot oatmeal would help,” Crystal said as if she had already acquired the medical degree she dreamed of having.

Patsy nodded, looking from her to me and Raven.

“It's very nice the way you girls look after each other. It's almost as if you've been together for years and years,” she remarked. “You're more like sisters than friends.”

I nearly gave it away when she said that. I had to look down quickly.

Crystal didn't want to ask her for a thermometer. She was afraid that might stir up her concern, so as soon as the breakfast rush was over, I went back to town, stopped at a drugstore and bought one.

When we took her temperature, we found Butterfly had a fever of a hundred and one. By the late afternoon, it went to a hundred and two.

“And that's with Tylenol,” Crystal reminded us. “She's having a hard time.”

Crystal and I continued to sponge Butterfly down. Raven was terrified of getting too close to her and continued to shiver with the thought that she would soon be following in Butterfly's footsteps. She racked her brain trying to remember if she'd had measles, but she just couldn't remember.

“You should probably stay away just in case, Raven,” Crystal warned her. “We can't afford to have both of you get sick.”

Suddenly, we heard a knock on the door. Everyone froze.

“It's Patsy!” I said peering through the improvised curtains.

Crystal told Butterfly to turn over on her side and pretend to be in a deep sleep. Then she opened the door.

“How's she doing?” Patsy asked.

“She's sleeping comfortably,” Crystal said.

“Poor little dear. Let me know if there's anything you need. If you want to take her to a doctor, I'll call my physician and get you an appointment. He's very nice and . . .”

“Oh, I think she'll be fine,” Crystal said.

“Any fever?”

“No,” she said quickly.

Too quickly, I thought. Patsy's eyes filled with that gleam of suspicion again as she looked from Raven to me and back to Crystal.

“How do you know?”

“We have a thermometer,” Crystal said. “We took along a small first-aid kit when we left on our trip,” she added.

“You mean Brooke didn't just buy one?” she asked with a smile. “I heard you drive off,” she said to me.

“No, I just sent her for some Tylenol,” Crystal replied.

“I have that. You should have asked. In fact, we have some in the restaurant under the counter.” She stood there a moment longer. I thought she was going to ask to examine Butterfly, but she just said, “Okay, girls. Rest up. Tonight's a big night. Call me if you need me,” she added.

I flashed a smile and Crystal thanked her. We watched her walk toward the trailer and then Crystal closed the door softly.

“I hate lying,” she said. “Making up our past is fun, like story-telling, but sometimes I hate being deceitful.”

“You had to do it, Crystal,” I comforted.

“I just hope she doesn't get suspicious,” Raven said, shaking her head.

“I'm sorry I'm sick,” Butterfly cried. We all returned to her bedside.

“Don't be silly, Butterfly. You couldn't help it,” Crystal said.

“I'm going to get it. I just know I'm going to get it,” Raven worried. “What'll we do if I can't work? It will take us forever to earn our money back!”

“Let's not worry about things until we have to,”
Crystal advised. “We've got enough problems right now without thinking up more.”

And that was the truth.

We had a very busy dinner that night and could have used Butterfly's help. Danny popped in almost an hour after the rush had begun. He started to bus some tables and then disappeared in the back when two friends of his arrived. Raven said she thought they were smoking dope. She had gone to the stockroom for Charlie and observed them through the partially opened rear door.

“Don't tell Patsy,” I said. “Not now.”

Whenever we had a lull in activity. Crystal left to check on Butterfly. The second time, she returned to tell me her fever was nearly 103.

“If it doesn't break in an hour or so, Brooke, I think we ought to take her to the hospital. I'm afraid I might not be right. Maybe she's having a reaction to some virus, or something she ate.”

Raven and I looked at each other. Disaster was looming. The hands of the clock ticked us closer to it every minute. Working hard was the only way not to dwell on it. Finally, business slowed and the last few customers began to think about leaving. That was when Danny reappeared.

“Where were you? You saw how busy we were, Danny. Why did you leave the restaurant?” Patsy called after him.

“I hate the restaurant,” he screamed back at her.

Her shoulders sank as she raised her head to hold back her tears. No one said anything. We all went back to work, helping Charlie clean up. Before we were finished, Taylor showed up for Raven. He'd asked her out for a second day in a row.

“Maybe you shouldn't go with him tonight, Raven,” I said. She wore a pained expression.

“Brooke, I can take care of myself. Besides,” her eyes got that dreamy look again, “no one has ever been as nice to me as Taylor's been. He really likes me, I know he does.”

“I'm sure you're right, Raven. We just don't want to see you get hurt.” From the look on her face, it was clear that Raven didn't hear anything I had to say.

Crystal tried to break through Raven's love-induced haze. “C'mon Raven, why don't you stick around tonight. Butterfly could use some cheering up.”

“Would you guys please stop worrying. I'll be fine. Besides, even you said yourself, Crystal, I shouldn't get too close to Butterfly in case I never had the measles.” And with that she grabbed her sweater from behind the counter and headed for Taylor's table.

Crystal and I just shrugged at each other in defeat and wished the lovebirds a good time as we made our way out of the diner and over to our cottage.

When I awoke the next morning I found Crystal sitting at the tiny kitchen table counting our tips. I groggily made my way to the table and asked where everyone was.

“Raven's helping Butterfly wash up—she must have had a good date last night. She's got a smile permanently attached to her face.” Crystal's tone was wary and from the way she shook her head I could tell she was just as concerned as I was about Taylor's intentions.

“Do you think Patsy could be wrong about Taylor?” I asked. “Raven wouldn't fall for a jerk.”

Before Crystal could answer, the bathroom door flew open and Butterfly and Raven appeared before us. Butterfly was still flushed, but at least she was giggling, a sign that maybe she was back to her old self. Raven on the other hand looked suspicious.

‘What are you two crows talking about so quietly?” she asked.

Crystal, always the quick thinker, had a ready answer. “We were just discussing the fact that we should have enough money in a week or two to get back on the road.”

Raven paled and we knew she was thinking of Taylor. “I wish we didn't have to leave . . . at least not so soon.”

“This guy has really gotten to you, hasn't he, Raven?” I wanted to understand what had come over Raven in the past few days. I'd never been in love and couldn't imagine what it could feel like.

“I know you guys are worried.” Raven began, “but Taylor really is special. And there's something . . . something almost magical about Taylor and me. I've always dreamt I would meet the perfect boy and I think maybe I finally have.”

Finally Butterfly spoke up. “I hope my heart leads me to Prince Charming one day too.” A huge coughing attack hit her and Crystal escorted her back to bed.

Up until now Patsy had accepted our excuses for Butterfly staying in the cottage, but by the next morning she was beginning to get a little suspicious.
Thankfully Butterfly's fever had broken during the night and she was feeling well enough to join us for the lunch shift.

Just when we thought we were safe, Patsy made an announcement that made our blood run cold.

“Payday tomorrow,” she declared cheerily. “I'll need everyone's social security number and addresses.”

We looked to Crystal.

“Can't you pay us off the books, Patsy? We'll accept less money,” Crystal proposed.

Patsy shook her head slowly and a curious expression came over her face. “You girls should be able to tell by now that that's not the way I run my business. I'm totally on the up and up.” She shifted around to glance at each and every one of us, and it felt like she was waiting for one of us to crack.

I couldn't stand the silence any longer and finally spoke up. “We'll have to dig through our things for the social security cards. Is it okay if we bring them tomorrow?” Crystal glared at me while Raven and Butterfly looked on wide-eyed.

Patsy let us go that evening without another question, but as soon as we got to the cottage Crystal let me have it.

“What were you thinking, Brooke? How are we supposed to come up with those cards?” She was livid.

“I couldn't help it. Patsy was staring at us with those big eyes and I just thought we had to make up something!” I knew I'd gotten us in bigger trouble, but as far as I could tell we were already in pretty deep.

“Well, I suppose we can tell her our social security cards were stolen . . . and we'll have to just make up our addresses,” Crystal conceded.

Raven finally spoke up. “What if Patsy checks up on us and finds out the addresses are fakes?”

“She won't,” I answered, trying to sound confident.

Once again, I had the feeling that our lies were tangling up around us, trapping us in a web of deception that we'd never be able to flee.

T
hat night Crystal worked out what everyone's home address would be. She did have her social security card with her and decided she would give hers to Patsy and explain how ours were stolen.

“I think we'll get by with this, but I don't know how much longer we should stay here under false pretenses,” she said. “Lies are like bubbles. They eventually float to the surface.”

“We'll stay until we get enough money, at least, won't we?” Raven asked. She was pacing by the cottage window. Taylor hadn't shown up as he usually did after the dinner rush and Raven was getting anxious.

“I can't make any promises, Raven,” Crystal said in a careful, noncommittal tone.

“Promises? Why does everyone all of a sudden think I'm looking for promises?” Raven cried. She went out, slamming the door behind her.

“Why is Raven so upset?” Butterfly asked.

“I think she and Taylor had a fight. At least he hasn't shown up yet tonight,” I told her.

Crystal sat at the table working on some kind of revised budget for us based on the money we had already made and the money we could anticipate making. Butterfly wanted to go out and be with Raven, but Crystal told her it would be better to leave Raven alone for now.

“You can help me, instead,” she told her and spread the map out on the small table before them. ‘Let's look at where we should go next and what we can see along the way.”

I went to take my shower. When we had first moved into the cottage, the water had come out brown and it took a while to get it reasonably clear. It was running clear now, but there wasn't very much pressure. Taking a shower was more of a pain than a pleasure. For one thing, the shower head wasn't tall enough, so all of us but Butterfly had to crouch. There wasn't much room to move and adjusting the hot and cold took a laboratory technician, but we managed.

I went into the bathroom and began to undress. Naked, I played with the faucets and worked on getting the water not too hot and yet warm enough to enjoy. As I did so, I caught some movement in the corner of the small window above the tub and I froze. I waited and saw it again. It was definitely someone's head.

I didn't scream. Calmly, pretending to still be interested in my shower, I backed away until I was out of sight and slipped my shirt and pants on as quickly as I could. Then I crouched down, keeping below the sight line of the window, opened the door and crawled out.