Run Away Baby (12 page)

Abby had been concerned that Randall would want to come to the flea market with her. That fear was quickly snuffed out; both the vendors and customers at the flea market were nothing but idiots and criminals, he informed her. Especially the vendors. He said if anyone would have hired them, they wouldn’t be selling old shit to make a living. She could go there while he was at work, but he wasn’t going to be involved in her little cottage project.

Then she feared he would wonder how she was getting furniture loaded up into her SUV. Actually, though, he never asked. Once or twice she mentioned how friendly and helpful the sellers there were, but he wasn’t paying attention anyway, so she quit mentioning it.

Then she became worried that he would wonder how the furniture was getting inside the cottage, but Charlie solved that problem by purchasing some white coveralls and borrowing his cousin’s white utility van on the rare occasion when Abby couldn’t get her purchases inside the house on her own. This way, if anyone was watching, it looked like she had called a mover to help her. If she got inside the van and gave the furniture a little push, Charlie was shockingly strong at getting whatever bulky thing was in there down to the ground.

There weren’t any neighbors nearby, since the cottage was on a dead-end road by a small lake, but in case a nosy neighbor was out for a walk, Abby wanted to be extra careful. She would tell Randall she’d paid the ‘moving guy’ in cash if he asked, but he never did.

He had inexplicably become so content with his tracking systems and frequent sex, and distracted by some kind of work project that promised an eighty thousand dollar bonus, that he had little concern over any this.

The plan was working perfectly. The cute little yellow cottage with the white picket fence had been outfitted with flea market finds, most of them in the $20-80 range. By the time they’d owned it for a month, it was furnished and Abby had stowed away almost $40,000. Randall had no idea how cheaply old furniture could actually be purchased, and didn’t blink at the piles of forged receipts, created from a variety of different store-bought receipt tablets, or written on random scraps of paper, all for sales of ridiculously huge amounts.

Vintage table and chairs $250
Charlie had scrawled in slanting handwriting.
Stop back at my booth next time!
More vintage items arriving soon
, he’d then added, topping off his handiwork with a smiley face.

When Abby got home she found a black Sharpie like Charlie had used in creating this receipt and she carefully added another zero, turning it onto $2500. In reality, the table and chairs had come from a garage sale right down the street from Charlie’s apartment for $80.

Unique curio cabinet, $850; porcelain dog figurines 6 x $25 each. Total=$1000 Enjoy your treasures!
said a differently forged receipt for a pile of stuff Charlie had found in the dumpster corral a few blocks from where he lived.

“Is this too outlandish?” he’d asked. “A thousand bucks for some chipped up dogs and a cabinet to hold them?”

“No. I think he’ll fall for it. He’s been in a really good mood lately.”

“That’s good for you. Right?”

“I guess. Nice job on this one,” Abby’d said, turning the subject back to the curio cabinet receipt. “It looks like genuine girl handwriting.”

“Yeah it does. What can I say? I have skills. Hey, how are you doing saving money? You got a lot stockpiled?”

“I’m getting there,” said Abby.

“How much have you got?”

“I’m not sure. Quite a bit.”

“Like, a thousand dollars? Two thousand?”

“Somewhere in there.”

“Where are you hiding it? No place he could find it, right?”

“No, I’m being careful.”

“Maybe I should hold on to it for you.”

“Um. Maybe. I’ll bring it next time we get together.”

“Good idea,” said Charlie.

Her secret money stash was hiding in empty shampoo bottles beneath her bathroom vanity. The morning of her next encounter with Charlie she carefully removed twelve one hundred dollar bills from one of the bottles. She drove herself to the flea market and wandered about, looking for him. She was dressed in her oldest clothes and had no concerns about running into anyone important there, but she still didn’t want to be seen with him. When she caught sight of him, she passed by him and whispered, “Charlie, come over this way.”

“Did you find something good?” he asked.

“No, I need you to do me a favor.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Could you hold onto this for me?” She pressed the wad of bills into his hand.

“Sure. Of course,” he said. He shoved it into his pocket without looking at it.

“Thanks. Do you see that guy over there who keeps staring at us?” she asked.

“That’s my cousin. He’s staring at us because he recognizes me.”

“I’m glad he’s someone you know. For a second I thought maybe Randall was having me followed. God. I’m so paranoid.”

“No, you’re safe,” he said.

“Is your cousin a criminal? Randall said everyone who sells stuff here is a criminal.”

“No. He’s a regular guy. Why are we talking about Randall?”

“I don’t know. We’re not.”

“Good. What are you doing after you’re done here?”

“I think I’m going to buy some knickknacks and get going,” Abby said. She and Charlie were starting to get entirely too casual about being seen in public together. She didn’t like that his cousin was watching them, considering them a couple, learning to identify her.

“Want to come back to my place?”

“Umm…”

“Or I could stop by the cabin? That’s what it’s for, right?”

“I don’t know,” she said.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to get caught.”

“You have sunglasses on and old clothes.”

“But people might still recognize me.”

“I don’t think so. No offense, Babe, but you look pretty rough,” he said.

“You don’t have to go that far.”

“I’m just saying, no one here would ever recognize you, or be connected to your hoity-toity world. Right?”

“I don’t know. I guess not.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

“We can’t go to the cabin, though. Randall is going to be installing cameras in there as soon as he gets caught up at work. I mean,
he
won’t install them, but he’ll get someone to do it. So seriously, Charlie, please don’t even think of stopping by there. It could be really bad.”

“They’re not there yet, though. Right?”

“Probably not. But still.”

“It was just a suggestion.”

“I know, but it’s not a habit we can get into.”

“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.”

“And I left my phone and keys with him?”

“I said don’t worry.”

“Alright,” she said. She looked out the window at the fields going by. They turned to sprawling, edge of town businesses like home improvement warehouses, giant gas stations, an outlet mall.

“I mean it. Don’t worry about your stuff,” Charlie said again.

“I
am
worried. I think we should go back.”

“No,” Charlie said. “We’re almost to my place. Let’s spend a little time together. Don’t you miss me?”

“Yeah, I do. But what if Randall or Krissa calls me?”

“He’ll call me right away. If your phone rings, he’ll call.”

“He’ll call you from his
own
phone?”

“Yeah.”

“He won’t answer mine, right?”

“No, Abby. He’s not that stupid.”

“He won’t try to find my vehicle, right? He has my keys.”

“No. No way. He has his parts stand to run. He can’t walk away from it.”

“So what does he think is going on with us? This feels like a total mess.”

“He thinks you’re my girlfriend and you didn’t want to lose your stuff.”

“I feel
really
messed up right now. Leaving that stuff with him was a mistake. I don’t like this feeling at all.”

“Relax.”

“I can’t. And he’s so
gross
. I can’t believe you’re related to him.” She shuddered a little.

“You don’t have to be such a bitch about it. I can’t help who I’m related to. What is this? Guilt by association?”

“You shouldn’t call me a bitch.” She waited for him to say he was sorry but he didn’t. “Now I feel really bad,” she added.

Charlie turned down his street and put his hand on her thigh. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

“You don’t really care how I feel,” she said “You just want me to be fun. I should get over myself and be fun. I can tell that’s what you’re thinking. Admit it.”

“You don’t know what I’m thinking,” he said.

“Tell me then. What are you thinking?”

“We could kill him.”

“Your cousin?”

“No! Your husband.”

“No. No way. I’m not a murderer.”

“I’m kidding. Cheer up.” He squeezed her thigh.

“No.”

“Come on, Abby-girl,” he said, his voice softer. “Abby-girl,” he said in the sweet, secret voice he used just for her.

“You just want me to have sex with you. That’s why your hand’s on my leg. You’re trying to patch things up quick so we can go have sex.”

Charlie parked his truck and turned to Abby. “Come inside with me,” he said. “And don’t be sad. Don’t be worried. Right, Abby-girl?” He touched her face. “Come inside,” he whispered.