Read Online Escaping Fate by DelSheree Gladden - Free Book Online Page B

Hollywood
heroine, saving the day in the nick of time, but perhaps I could
still do something. I refused to turn myself over to some unseen
power, walking meekly to my last breath.
    I watched my mom clear the table and
prepare a plate for my dad as I tried to decide what to do. My dad
would not get home until after ten o’clock, but he never missed my
mom’s meals. My mom’s practiced movements unfortunately held no
divine inspiration for me. Dragging the books and pictures I had
been searching into my bedroom, I dropped it on my bed and knew
there really wasn’t any choice to make anyway. Finding the truth
was the only real way to go. Spreading everything I had acquired on
my bedspread, I surveyed the collage. What was going on? Determined
to find the answers, I settled onto the only bare spot on the
bed.

Chapter Ten

    I was scouring more of the genealogy
records when the phone rang. My mom answered by the second ring and
I went back to my search, ignoring the one sided conversation. Or
at least trying too.
    “Arra,” my mom called.
    Annoyed at the interruption, I trudged
into the living room. “Yeah, Mom?”
    “That was your dad on the phone. He
left his wallet here, and he won’t be home for a while yet. Would
you mind running to the hospital for me?”
    The hospital was a more than a mile
from our house. With no metro trains, I did not want to walk the
entire way there and back. I was about to object, when my mother
held out the keys to her car.
    “Really?” I asked doubtfully. I had
gotten my driver’s license before we left Manhattan, but my mom had
yet to actually let me put it to use. Her fear of letting a
teenager drive among other cars, was almost as great a having a gun
in the house.
    “The traffic’s not so bad here. I’m
sure you’ll be fine, right?” my mom said, uncertainly. “Maybe you
can stop and get us some ice cream on your way back.”
    From the way my mom was clutching the
keys in her nervous hands, I started to wonder whether my dad had
been behind the request from the beginning. He was trying just as
hard as my mom to get me to accept Grainer as my new home. What
neither of her parents realized was that living in Grainer was the
lowest thing on my list of worries right now.
    “Well, get going. You’re father’s
hungry. He needs a snack at least.” My mom relinquished the keys
with a smile that was twitching at one corner. “Take this too,” she
said, tossing me her cellular phone. “Just in case.” She shrugged
nervously and waved me out the door.
    Excited, I darted across the lawn to
the car. My mom’s car was a sensible Volvo S40. Known to be the
safest cars in production, my mom refused to drive anything but a
Volvo. I turned the ignition and grinned. Perhaps moving to Grainer
would provide a few perks I wouldn’t have gotten in the city after
all.
    Enjoying the freedom the car provided,
I made my way through the practically empty streets to the
hospital. Given the fact that I could see the hospital from any
high point in town I made it to the main entrance fairly easily. I
pulled up to find my dad waiting for me in front of the big sliding
doors that had a sign above it that read “Emergency”. From the
peaceful atmosphere, I doubted an actual emergency happened here
very often.
    My dad waved at me as he approached the
car. He seemed pleased that my mom had given in to his suggestion.
I jumped out and handed him his wallet. “Hey, sweetheart, thanks
for bringing me my wallet.”
    “Yeah, no problem,” I said.
    “How was the drive?” he asked, grinning
widely.
    “It was fine, Dad. Thanks for that by
the way.” There was no point in denying it was his idea so he just
shrugged my thanks away. I wanted to spend a few more minutes with
him, but his dinner hour was quickly wasting away. After a quick
hug I started back to the car.
    “Oh, hey, Dad, do you know where I can
get some ice cream around here?” I asked.
    “There’s a place on Main Street. You
can’t