29

                                    

                                          
After Brian explains, I crawl out of the window and slide down the side. I run back through the streets to the foster home, and I scale a tree near the back of the house.I crawl up onto the roof, and carefully as possible, I walk across the roof. The dips and valleys of the roof make it hard but I manage. I finally reach the roof just above my window. I grip the roof below my with the strongest death grip ever and press my foot on the edge of the screen in my window. I eventually kick it in, and it doesn't clatter thank god. I step on my window ledge and move my leg into the bedroom. I slide both of my legs into the room and one by one move my hands to the top of the window sill. I slide in the window and silently push my feet into the floor.
                          
The court sessions at noon, but I have to be there at 10:00, because Brian succeeded at arranging a private, no recording meeting with Dom. Apparently even with losing his badge he still has strings he can pull.
                          
I rest my feet on the floor and quickly change into pajamas, then I replace the screen and the screws, and silently close the window. I move the comforter aside, so I can be ready to jump into the bed and make it look like I'm sleeping. I move around, looking for a backpack. I find a leather one and look carefully through my clothes, picking out clothes I'm going to need. I pick out as much as I can fit in the leather bag, which was a lot. The rest of my things go into impound when I run, so I need to figure out what I need.
                          
I read through my leather journal because I can't take it, there's truly no point. I rip out the questionable pages and pull over a metal trashcan. I grab a box of matches and put the pages inside. I strike the match on the box and drop the match in. I watch the pages burn for a second, but then I get up and carefully keep packing my bag.
                          
I open the box I'd grabbed from my room, which contained a couple necklaces that Dom said had trackers in them, along with a few he said that they'd found in my mother's possession, and the one I have is a velvet textured bag with a paper stuck to it that has my name on it. The necklace in the bag is a small crescent moon covered in intricate detail. One of the trackers was a star that had a button for a distress signal, the other was my microphone locket. I place the necklaces in the bag and leaving the box, shove the small bag into a pocket in the leather backpack.
                          
Then my phone rings. I look over at it on my desk, the quiet buzzing alerting me that someone was trying to contact me. I knew it wasn't my foster parents, though they may be out this weekend, they don't know I have a phone. I look at it and see Brians contact appear on the screen. I pick up the phone and slide the button across.
                          
"Hey, they moved up the court time, it's now at 7:00 am, and were meeting with Dom at six," I look down at my watch, and then look at the sky outside, which is brightening. It's now about 5:30, and I still have to get my car from 1327, so I hang up and quickly change, putting on black leggings, a black racerback top. I pull on my black jacket, seeing as it's cold-ish now. I pull my sleeveless black hoodie from the basket of clothes and shove it in the bag, quickly pouring water in the metal trashcan. I grab the duffel bag I also packed.
                          
I push the screen back out and pull it inside, drop the duffel bag to the ground outside, and am about to crawl through the window when I hear my door open.
                          
Astraea stands there, peering at me curiously. She then realizes what I'm doing, I watched tears form in her eyes.
                          
"You're leaving?" She asks in a quivery voice.
                          
I don't respond, but I do walk over to her and kneel down to her eye level.
                          
She looks at me and sighs.
                          
"You're just like everybody else, they always leave and I never see them again," She says, a few tears dripping down her face.
                          
"No, no," I say, wiping the tears from her face. I think for a minute and then pull my bag off of my shoulders. I place the bag next to my combat boots and dig through. Searching for the bag of jewelry. I pull it out and grab the star necklace.
                          
I unclasp it and place it around her neck. I look at her.
                          
"That necklace has a tracker in it. That means I'll always know where you are, and there's a button on the back, press it, and I'll send somebody to help you. Only press it if somebody is trying to hurt you or take you. Ok?" She nods and hugs me.
                          
"Bye, bye, Reya," she says. I smile and hug her back.
                          
"Don't tell anybody that that is from me okay? Say you've always had it," I say just before I crawl out the window. She nods and I crawl out of the window and slide down the side of the house.I grab the duffel bag and I run through the streets to 1327, and when I get there, Mia is standing in the garage, next to the old dodge charger, now fixed. I walk in and she hugs me and hands me the keys. I look at the car.
                          
"You're kidding right?" I ask and she shakes her head.
                          
"Let's go," She says and I nod. I get in the car and throw my duffel bag into the backseat. I turn the key and shift gears. I drive out of the garage, following Mia through the streets. We arrive at the courthouse, but I park about a block away in an alley and get out, locking the car and shoving the keys in my pocket. I run down the alley and across the street to the courthouse. I walk in and see Mia waiting for me.
                          
We find Brian in a random hallway, and he leads up to an office, where he asks me to check around for any type of recording device. I check each corner and dig through the desk, and turn up empty-handed, which is a good thing. I check under everything and In boxes, just to be safe. When I find nothing I look at Brian.
                          
"We're clear, no recording devices." He nods and peeks out the crack in the door. His phone buzzes in his pocket and he asks me to watch while he answers it. I watch the end of the hallway through the crack in the doorway. I see Dom walk down the hallway, a man in a suit next to him. I look over at Brian who just ended the call.
                          
"They're coming down the hallway."
                          
Eventually, Dom enters the room, while the man outside stands next to the door.
                          
He looks at Mia and I and then looks pissed, to say the least.
                          
"What are they doing here? Lorea should be at that foster home right now, not standing in an illegal meeting! I swear to god if she gets charged with anything I will beat your a-"
                          
"Dom!" I interrupt. He looks at me.
                          
"I'm sorry, we were lucky they pinned this all on me. I can't handle it if you get convicted." I look at his worried expression.
                          
"You don't need to worry. I'm not saying don't worry because I know you will, but you don't need to." He looks at me, nods, but then turns to Brian.
                          
"Why are we meeting, O'Connor? We all know they're sentencing me to life, there isn't anything any of us can do," He says. Brian looks over at me, unsure of how he was going to react to our plan.
                          
"After you get sentenced, they're putting you on a bus, and then they drive you to Lompoc. The thing is that bus isn't going to make it Lompoc with you in it." Dom looks at Bria, and then a split second later he gets it. All he does is get a glimpse of the 'don't even try' look on my face and he doesn't say anything.
                          
"How are you guys going to pull this off?"
                          
--------------
                          
I exit the courthouse and as I walk out onto the street I look over to see both foster parents down the street.
                          
"Shit!" I yell and dash across the street between the cars. I step on the tire of a moving car and flip over it. I land on the sidewalk and run down the street to the alley I parked in.
                          
They can't know that I'm driving the 70's Charger.
                          
I dash down an alley just before the one I parked in. I dash around the building when I reach the other side of the street and run down the alley. I walk with my head down and get in the car. I as calmly as I can I drive out of the alley and down the street. I pull onto the highway and Brian sits in the car next to me and sees me.
                          
"What the hell happened?" I hear through the walkie I've got on the seat next to me. I grab it and hold the button down.
                          
"Foster parents," I say and he nods. My mic locket was damaged when Dom was driving through the tunnels.
                          
After a while, it's just Brian, Mia, and I on a road alone with the prison bus.
                          
"Let's do this."