The two women were loading the last of the luggage’s into the Ford Explorer when Koda helped his baby sister Bella into the back seat. She was holding her doll and pointing to the DVD player. Koda knew that it was going to be a long trip and it would be even longer if he had to watch Bella's favorite movie “Alice in Wonderland,” one more time. As he fastened the button to her seatbelt, he thought how many times she had watched it. She could already say each character’s line from memory before they said them. After pushing play on the player, he went to the opposite side of the vehicle putting his backpack in “Hey mom, is that all,” he shouted. Crystal, the older woman looked at him with a glanced and said, “No, Koda that's it thanks to you.” Koda knew his mother would take her time talking to her best friend for a little while so he got into the front seat, he unzipped the black bag he had sat on the floor. He reached in grabbed another small bag and pulled it out and zipped the other bag back up. He opened the small bag grabbing the earplugs and putting them in his ears he pushed play on his iPod, the faint music could be heard as he turned on the DS. His plan to entertain his self for as long as possible. He was not amped up for moving
Crystal gave Sasha a hugged and said, “I will call later when I stop tonight at the hotel.” As Sasha, a younger woman, embraced her best friend “you better.” Crystal put Bella's headsets on and kissed her daughter on the forehead. She then opens the door and slides behind the steering wheel looked behind her at her daughter. As Bella was content with her movie, Crystal turned the key to the vehicle and turned up her music just a little, a Tim McGraw song came across the radio as she put the vehicle in gear and headed toward the highway leaving her hometown. She wanted to stop in to check on her father before leaving town. That was one thing Crystal hated doing was leaving him at the Waters, a retirement home for the elderly. Her father who was in his sixties pushing seventy was using a walker now and stumbling over his feet more. Her brother was on the road more and couldn't afford to stay home and take care of him. She parked the truck. Koda frown he knew he needed to go inside not be rude. He didn't understand why when neither of them got along very well.
Crystal stopped Bella's movie and unfasten the young child. “Are we visiting Papaw long?” She asked. Crystal looked into her daughter’s blue eyes and said, “Not long sweet pea we have a long way to travel.” Bella frowns a slight bit she loved her grandfather but also knew just like her brother that her mother didn't get along with her father.
The three of them walked into the brick building. Bella saw him and wanted down so she could run to him. She knew he would stop walking to pick her up against doctor orders. “Papaw, Papaw!' she yelled as her little legs scurried to him. “Bella, my love how are you sweetie pie?” “Good, we are leaving Papaw.” By this time everyone had caught up and Crystal could tell her father was about to start the argument. “So, where to now? He constantly has you moving?” “Actually dad, I left him this time hopefully starting over fresh somewhere no one can find us.” Her father cleared his thought, Bella and Koda had wondered over to the fish tank as he said, “I am glad, that last beating had you pretty beat up and you need to get away so that he isn't controlling you anymore.” “Thanks, dad,” as she saw that Koda was looking at them with a questioning faced. “Jacob will check on you when he gets in as usual and Sasha will come by to get you to run you anywhere you need to go.” Jacob was her brother who was
always on the road traveling he got his break early in life and loved to travel. Her father laid his hand on her shoulder balancing with the walker as he looked at her and said. “Just remember
this isn't the way you should raise children and you deserve better than that.” Crystal fought back the tears and pain as for how could he stand there and lecture her on how to be a parent when he was the one who forced her to marry this monster. To go through all those years of Logan’s abuse she was lucky to still be alive. “I didn’t come to hear you lecture me on how to run my life. Bella, come and say good-bye to your grandfather and gave him a kiss. Koda, please take Bella out to the truck when you are done.” Koda knew without a word from his mother to him it was that time where she would leave, she did not want to make a scene or continue the conversation. “Bye- papaw, I love you and I am going to miss you.” “Bye my Bella I love you too and I am going to miss you also.” Bella started crying as Koda shook his grandfather's hand and picked up his sister as she let go of the hug to her grandfather's side. As the two men stood shaken hands the younger one said only one word. “Bye,” while the other one told his grandson “listen to your mom and stay out of trouble.” Koda turned and walked with Bella who was trying to skip down the hallway now past other patients. “Why did you have to start in front of them? They don't know yet what happened that night yet. Just because Logan is from Chicago does not mean that he will not come looking for me since I am filling for divorce. I know too much, and he wants me to stay quiet. I only came to let you know I was leaving. I am done talking to you. No matter what I do dad, you make me feel as if I am always screwing up.” As she put her hand on the door to push it open, a tear ran down her face. He touched her shoulder and said, “I am sorry, we all make mistakes just be careful I love you all and mean that.”
She shoved the door open and walked out wiping the tear quickly away so the children wouldn't see it. Her father watched from the window as she got into the vehicle to leave. He waved to Bella as the vehicle drove by the window. The little girl looked toward the window and wave she knew in her heart and mind that he was standing there waving, as she cried silently in the backseat.
Crystal drove past the houses and the familiar streets that she knew as she got to the stop sign, she turned left and headed toward the interstate. Koda ask, “So where are we headed exactly mom?” Crystal sighed she really didn't have a clue and the unknown phone call from last night scared her so much she knew they weren't safe. After two years Logan had found out where she was and was going to make her life miserable. She knew she had to answer her son. She looked at him and asked, “So where would you like to go?” “Seriously mom, do you have a plan or are we just running as grand-paw said?” Crystal wanted to sigh again but hesitated against it. She didn't want to alarm or stress her son out she could tell he was tense already. “I have some friends down south that I thought we would go see, some that I have not seen in fourteen years. Then maybe Italy, Australia, China, Mexico. What do you think?” As she looked to him smiling, “funny mom so down south near the beach, somewhere right?” He wasn't looking at her; he was in the middle of playing a game, so his thumbs were busy pushing buttons. “Not sure how close it is to the beach, I know very little of Charlotte, NC. For now, it will be highway till dark and we will get a hotel.” She said looking straight ahead eyes watching the other cars as a semi was about to pass them it was snowing again, she was glad to be leaving the snow and cold temperatures. “Cool,” was the only response she received as he put his earplugs back into his ears as loud music with what seem to be screaming instead of singing begin to come from the earplugs. Crystal was glad she gave Bella her headsets. Now she could play her radio a little louder as she drove through Indianapolis. But it worried her had Koda heard about who beat her up the other night. She had told Koda that she had fell sleep-walking. Koda had already known what was going on but didn’t want to upset his mother she had a lot to deal with he could tell.
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Logan White picked up his belongings he was being released from county jail. He had been in there for assault against his wife now estranged wife. He dressed in a navy-blue suit with loafers. Anyone could tell he had money and looked important not someone to be in jail. He had bronze hair cut short and stylish welled groomed with a hint of a mustache grown apparently from the stay in the cell. The District Attorney did not like Logan at all and had asked for the sentencing of three years. Logan got off with a week. The DA was furious thought Logan had bought the judge. Logan had only been out of jail for a short time after the divorce. Crystal tried to make it on her own with no help from him. She did not want to be alone mostly afraid of Logan or his men coming after her. That was the reason she had to leave. Logan had started acting crazy with his constant controlling acts even when he was locked up. An old friend told her to leave. To come to the south, she would be better and could start over fresh. So, she decided to load the kids up and head south. At first, she thought she would only visit with Jonathan's family for a brief moment and then go to Lee and Katie's afterward. She didn't want to be near Jonathan afraid of ruining everything for him. He was engaged and was expecting to have a baby. The last time she and Jonathan had talked had been six months when he posted about the news of his girlfriend being pregnant. All Crystal could do that day was to fight the tears from showing up at the wrong time. It was good at that time that Sasha was living with her. She needed a friend back then to help.
She had reached Nashville, TN and pulled into the small motel. The A in the vacancy was out. It looked like the grass was dead in front and that not many people stopped in to stayed. She nudged Koda to let him know that she was going to go pay for the room. Bella was sound asleep in her booster seat. It was not dark yet, but Crystal knew that the kids would also be getting
hungry and she wanted to eat and rest. “Hello,” said the young lady at the front desk. Her name tag said Costello, “Hi, I need a room for three, please.” “Yes, ma', would that be non-smoking or smoking.” “Non-smoking will be fine, thank you.” The lady told Crystal the price and she handed the lady the money in cash. She knew it would be better this way than to use her credit card that Logan could have traced. She used a bogus name on the hotel card and wrote down the wrong license plate number. She hated lying and felt bad about doing it, but she had to protect her children in case Logan did have any of his men following her. However, it would be days before he would find out that she was gone and had left Chicago. While he was in jail, he told her she was to stay in Chicago except when visiting her father, he knew she didn’t do that a lot since they didn’t have a good relationship. Only Sasha and her brother knew that she had put him into a nursing home back in her hometown in Covington. She had reached the vehicle and asked the kids if they what they want to eat. Bella asked if they could go to McDonald's, Koda had suggested Chinese. After taking in some of their luggage the closest restaurant was Chinese. "Mommy, where are we going, we have been driving for a long time.” Koda looked at his sister and said, “Deal with it, we are going to China.” Bella, with a horrifying look on her face, looks toward her mother. “No, we are going to Charlotte, NC so, mommy can see some old friends.” This eased her daughter's feelings and they enjoyed their meal and went back to the motel to get a decent night sleep. She had to call Sasha as she promised and told her they were in the motel and that she was so far okay. She didn’t know for sure if Koda was asleep or not, and she was afraid that her phone may have been bugged also. Too many NCIS and criminal shows she thought maybe what was causing that fear. Or the truth that Logan was in some dangerous stuff and she didn't know who was watching her or listening to her call. She had planned to get a new phone once she got to North Carolina. So that way no one would know where she was, and she could call Sasha and tell her more. But for now, she needed some sleep. She still had at least eight hours to drive.