Runaways (Orphans 5)

"Well actually, I opened the door and said if you don't stop and let me out, I'll jump. So he stopped and I got out there. He drove away with the door still open."

"What kind of boyfriend is that?" Butterfly asked.

"The worst kind," Sunshine said. "Good riddance, huh? Men make me sick anyway. They always think just cuz you're pretty or funny you're up for grabs."

"I know exactly what you mean," Raven said.

Sunshine looked at her, a small smile on her lips. It was obvious that they were kindred souls.

"Who are you guys? Where are you all from?" "Back east in upstate New York," Crystal said quickly, "except for me. I come from Ohio. How about you?"

"I was born in California, but I haven't been back there since . . ."

"Since when?" Crystal asked.

"Since good old Mom and Dad split," she answered.

"Oh, sorry," Crystal said quickly.

"It's all right. There's nothing to be sorry about," she remarked.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Raven asked.

"Probably," Sunshine replied.

"Probably? What do you mean by that?" I asked. "I mean probably. Knowing my father, I'm sure I do somewhere." She looked at me. "Maybe one of you is related to me. I don't know."

"Where are your parents now?" Butterfly asked. Sunshine's appearance was definitely getting her out of her funk.

"Last I heard, Mom went to Rosarita Beach in Mexico and Dad went to Oregon," she replied.

"You haven't seen or heard from them since?" Butterfly pursued.

"Nope. Far as I'm concerned, I'm an orphan," she said, "and I don't mind "

"That's because you really aren't one," Crystal muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said.

"How old were you when you left home?" I asked.

"Sixteen. Well, maybe just fifteen. It seems so long ago now, I can't remember."

"How old are you now?" Butterfly asked. "Seventeen?"

Sunshine laughed.

"I'm twenty," she said.

"Twenty!"

"Yeah, I'm an old lady." She dug into the pouch she had swinging on her neck and came out with a sad-looking cigarette, the paper barely holding the tobacco together. "Anybody want a drag?" she asked as she lit it.

"We don't smoke," Crystal said sharply. "Me neither," Sunshine said.

"That isn't a cigarette," Raven said, suddenly suspicious.