Run Away Baby

“Okay. Forget I said it. Come over to my place for a little while. I could leave your cell phone with my cousin, so it looks like you’re still here.”

“I don’t know about that.” Abby glanced back at the cousin. His hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks. He was simultaneously swatting at a fly and scratching his butt. Sensing that Abby was watching him, he looked up and his eyes met hers. He winked. She repressed a gag and looked down.

“You cold?” Charlie asked.

“It’s eighty-five degrees out.”

“You were shivering.”

“No I wasn’t. Are you literally related to him, or is cousin a figure of speech?”

“He’s literally my cousin. Are you going to come over to my apartment? Don’t you want to be with me?” he whispered, leaning in and putting an arm around her back.

“Please, not in public,” Abby said under her breath.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked, pulling away from her.

“Nothing. Sure. We

can go to your place for a little bit.” It seemed like the only way to make this stop.

“Cool. Give me your phone.”

Abby looked back over at Charlie’s cousin, just as he was looking down, pretending he hadn’t been watching them. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she asked.

“Sure I’m sure. What are you afraid he’s going to do?”

“Call someone, and then I’ll be in trouble for it.”

“I’ll tell him not to.”

“Fine,” she said. She handed the phone to him. “You might as well give him these too.” She handed over her keys. “Randall told me they also have a tracker on them. I guess in case you lose them you can log in and find where they are. I don’t even know if he’s telling me the truth, he just mentioned it the other day, and I felt like he was making it up, but just to be safe…”

“You sure?”

“I guess. I’ll meet you at your truck.”

She walked past the booths, retracing the long way back to the parking area. Halfway back she bought a few old perfume bottles and some cast iron trivets, for the purpose of creating receipts. Everyone who looked her way seemed like a spy. The back of her neck prickled despite the heat.

She found Charlie’s truck and wandered around near it. She considered opening the tail gate so she’d have a place to sit, but she thought it was better to not be associated with it. On the unlikely chance that Randall or Krissa suddenly showed up looking for her, at least she could say she was lost and looking for her vehicle if she was wandering around. She wasn’t sure how she would explain having no keys for it.

The minutes ticked by. Without her phone she wasn’t sure how many, but it felt like an awfully long time. Just as she decided to walk back to the flea market, she saw Charlie making his way toward her.

“Sorry that took so long,” he said.

They got in to his truck and started on their way back to the city. Both windows were down, the wind cooling Abby’s sweaty face and neck.

“So, what took so long? Was everything okay?” she asked when Charlie offered no explanation for the delay.

“What?” he yelled.

She raised her voice. “I said, what took so long?”

“Nothing important. My cousin’s an asshole. That’s all.”

“Why? What did he do?”

“Don’t worry about it.”