In the blissful quiet of the night, my time has come. I hear the bugs as I crawl out of my nook passing everyone else. I need shoes for the trip down the mountain. The only ones I can comfortably wear are Jessie’s. Her chambers are in a room built onto the side of the hut so I sliver in quietly between the shadows.
I slide her shoes with no interruptions. My racing heart is as loud as a pounding drum and I am terrified it will somehow wake them. I am paralyzed with fear but know I have to go. They will know what happened to them in the morning and I don’t want that punishment.
The walk down the mountain is long but time is not my problem, endurance is. I have become a weak and frail person who isn’t able to walk beyond my usually trek. My goal is simple, don’t fall. Make it down the road quietly and don’t fall. My bruised and aching body can’t handle a fall.
I spot the village restaurant. I avoid all human contact in this small gathering of people. I just need water so I can keep going.
I stay to the side of the road. The girl in rags in known far and wide, and I can’t have someone loyal to Domino recognizing me. I crouch in bush, listening to people chat in a language I don’t know. There are lots of smacks and whistles which I find bizarre. Sitting there, barely covered and in a bush with mud all over the shoes I stole, I panic over my next step. Time is something I have very little of and need to move fast, and I still don’t have water.
In the distance I hear a motorcycle. How strange… Almost everyone here is poor so who rides a fine sounding motorcycle. I used to own a motorcycle, oh how I loved that thing of beauty. It was so thrilling to ride it. Alas I let it go after college, but I always, wait. I know how to ride a motorcycle.
I curl up to look through the leaves, yes. The rider is coming down the road and toward the restaurant. I stole a pair of shoes and I am about to steal a motorcycle. This plan is moving forward in ways I never thought it would. It seems like I am going from one leap of faith to another.
The rider gets off but leaves the key in the ignition. Rookie mistake, my lucky night. I burst out of the bush landing on the bike. I turn the key, rev it up then bolt out of the parking lot before anyone knows what happened.
As I zoom through the dirt roads trying to see where I’m going, I hear shouting. The game of cat and mouse is afoot and all I can do is stay ahead of them. A cluster of lights in the distance is getting closer and I know I have to stop to find out where I am and how to get to the base of the mountain. I need to find Jessie’s enemy.
A metallic sound echoes around me followed by a thud coming from the bike. The cover of black darkness wraps around me and I fall off the bike.
Moving at the speed I was, falling down can be fatal.