It was well past midnight as Boris read on. Traffic had died down on the street outside quite a while ago, with only the occasional passing of a vehicle. A dog barked in the distance.
“On what was supposed to be our final stop, I took the pouch I had with my meds into the restroom with me because I was due for an insulin shot. One of the female officers, in a tone as snappy and as unempathetic as ever, told me to move as fast as I could. I had to remind her that I couldn't rush it and risk screwing up. The last thing I wanted was to return to the hospital. I also thought it was odd that she told me to leave the bathroom door unlocked, even though she said it was only in case I had an emergency.”
“After I peed, I got right to work on the injection when she asked if I was okay. I told her to wait and not distract me, and that I would let her know if I had any problems. I shot myself and then, almost as if I was on autopilot, I wasted no time getting the hell out of there. The first bathroom had no window, but this one did. It was one of those long, skinny ones up by the ceiling. I looped the pouch’s strap around my wrist, stepped one foot on the toilet seat, the other on the tank, and then I pulled myself up and through the window after popping the screen out with my head. I was relieved not to see anyone in sight.
The building was shaped like an L, with the store at the short part of the L and the bathroom in the middle of the long part. There was nothing on the window side of the building but a dirt area where a car could drive around. No need for the cops to be there—though I’m sure they came to wish they had been. Beyond the dirt area were scattered trees on a hill that sloped down to the freeway.”
“At first, I was really worried that I was going to get stuck in the damn window, and I almost lost a shoe. I couldn’t have gone back for it, and it would’ve been hard to book it with one foot bare. With no one there to stop me and both shoes remaining on my feet, I sort of tumbled out the window and landed on my feet—and then my butt a second later. I immediately jumped up and ran down the hill. I waved frantically at the cars passing by, hoping to hell someone would stop since I was a woman, and before the bacon could notice I had escaped.
I’d never been luckier in my life because an older, heavyset guy did stop. Thinking quickly, I told him I was running from an abusive boyfriend. He said he could only take me a short distance, and I said that was fine. Any distance I could put between me and the cops was better than nothing. But of course, I couldn’t tell him that part, lol.
The ride felt a bit awkward, and I thought he was going to ask me a bunch of questions, but he didn’t. He simply dropped me off in the parking lot of a Walmart and asked if that was okay. I said that would be fine and that I could get to a phone and call my family. I knew I couldn’t call anyone, of course, and that taps would immediately be placed on anyone’s phones who knew me. I certainly couldn’t go to their place, either.
By now, I knew they were aware that I had escaped, so as soon as I was dropped off, I continued moving. I had no idea what direction I was going. All I knew was that I had to keep moving. Staying in one spot was simply not an option at the moment. However, I knew I couldn’t keep moving forever.
My mind was racing as far as what to do. So finally, I found myself away from stores where people might recognize me and walking along a stand of trees where a train was approaching. It was moving very slowly because it was still in a populated area. It was a very long train, and I noticed some of its doors were slightly ajar, like maybe the cars were empty. I ran as fast as I could and hurled myself into one of the cars. There were enough trees around that no one could have seen me do this, and thank God for that much; otherwise, I might have been caught when the train stopped.
Thank God for the bananas that were in the car with me, too. There was just enough light left to make out boxes and boxes of bananas toward the back of the car. I ate a couple of them and then realized we were slowing to cross the street. I quickly scooted back away from the open door so none of the people in the other cars or parking lots or whatever could see me.
It was getting a little chilly, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. In no time at all, the train was moving faster and out in the middle of nowhere. It was pitch dark except for a near-full moon. I ended up falling asleep as I was dead tired, and it was for many hours because when I awoke, the train was still, and the sun was shining brightly.
I was terrified of being caught because I knew I would be screwed if they had been bullshitting me all along and I would be screwed if they hadn't because I basically broke our deal. I still felt that I was doing the right thing because not doing so would have been walking into a trap. What frustrated me was the fact that I couldn't change my appearance. I had no clothes to change into, I had no makeup, and I had no scissors or dye to change my hair.
Terrified of being caught, I peered out and found what looked like some kind of warehouse in the area, but not too many people. Knowing I couldn’t stay on the train forever, I grabbed a handful of bananas and my medicine pouch, hopped out, and proceeded to move through a sparsely wooded area. But it was dense enough to hide me while I crouched down to pee.
I wandered around aimlessly for a few days and I was starting to panic and feel hopeless and desperate. Then, realizing how thirsty I was, I found myself wandering through a residential area. I’m not sure how long I walked, but I was thrilled to find a backyard that I could see into and confirm there was no dog, but a nice, inviting hose. I helped myself to a drink of water from it. That was when the man came out and said, ‘There’s more of that in here if you’re interested in drinking out of a cup rather than a hose.’”
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