Annie grinned, showing the spot where her front teeth were missing. “I promise.”
It was almost three miles to the highway and there was a possibility she would have to carry Annie part of the way, so Suzanna took nothing she didn’t absolutely need. It meant leaving behind the photo album she cherished, the milk pitcher that belonged to a grandma she’d never met, and most of their clothes, but it was a choice she’d made; not an easy choice, but one she was determined to stick to. Suzanna knew that somewhere out there was the life she was supposed to live but it wasn’t here, and it sure as hell wasn’t with Earl Fagan.
——————
ROUTE 70 WAS A NARROW road frequented mostly by grove trucks hauling oranges or cattle off to market. One lane ran west, the other east, and on any given day you could stand there for twenty minutes with nothing but overloaded citrus haulers passing you by splatting grapefruits along the road. Suzanna hoped that would not be the case this morning. In fact, she was counting on it. Before noon, before Earl woke and discovered them missing, they had to be long gone from Sun Grove. East or west made no difference; they’d go whichever way a driver was headed, then head north once they were safely away from Earl.
Stopping alongside a clump of palmetto bushes, Suzanna set the suitcase a few feet back from the road and told Annie to squat down beside it.
“Pretend we’re playing hide and seek,” she said and then stepped out onto the road, craning her neck to catch sight of a vehicle headed their way. After several minutes, a tanker headed west came into view. She crossed the road, stood on the westbound side of the blacktop, curled her mouth into a sexy-looking smile, and stuck her thumb out.
The tanker rolled by without slowing.
After the tanker, there were two fully loaded citrus carriers, a Buick headed east, and, behind it, a red pickup that slowed and rolled to a stop twenty yards past Suzanna. Grabbing the suitcase and motioning for Annie to follow along, she hurried toward the truck.
“Thanks for stopping,” she said as she yanked open the door.
The driver, a man with sun-weathered skin and dark stubble covering his chin, gave a nod. “Where you headed?”
“Jersey.” Suzanna stuffed the suitcase behind the seat then hoisted Annie up.
A look of surprise flickered across the trucker’s face. “Where’d she come from?”
Catching the sound of apprehension in his voice, Suzanna scrambled into the seat and closed the door before he had time to change his mind. “Don’t worry, she’s a good kid and won’t be any bother.”
With his forehead furrowed and a look of concern settling on his face, he pulled back onto the road, drove for a mile or so, then asked, “What’s your name, kid?”
“Her name’s Annie,” Suzanna answered before Annie had the chance. “And before you go getting any weird ideas, I’m her mama.”
“Let the kid answer for herself.” He glanced down at Annie. “That true? Is she really your mama?”
Annie nodded.
“You don’t have to be afraid of telling the truth. If she’s stealing you away from your family, speak up. I’ll see you get back to where you belong.”
Annie giggled. “Mama, he said—”
“I heard what he said,” Suzanna replied. She looked across with an icy glare. “You’ve got balls suggesting a thing like that. I appreciate the ride, but that doesn’t give you the right to—”
“Hold on, missy! I’m just concerned for the kid’s welfare. Most parents with children travel by car or on the bus; they don’t stand out on the road thumbing—”
“If they’ve got money enough for a bus ticket, good for them,” Suzanna snapped.
No one said anything more, and several minutes lumbered by before he broke the silence.
“Sorry. I was thinking about my own kids. Maria and me, we got three girls, and I worry about them all the time. The youngest, she’s eight.” He pointed to a snapshot rubber-banded to the visor. “That’s them,” he said and smiled.
The rigid set of Suzanna’s mouth softened. “Sometimes I’m too touchy. No harm done.”
He introduced himself as Joe, said he was only going as far as Georgia, then started talking about his family and how his girls were growing like weeds.
“Before you know it, they’ll be married and gone,” he said sadly.
An easy exchange of words followed, but Suzanna offered little about her haphazard life and nothing about Earl. She glossed over the past and focused on the future.
“Once we get to Jersey, I’m gonna look for a job taking pictures or maybe designing ads like you see in magazines.”
“Nice,” he said. “How’d you get into a profession like that?”
“Well, I’m not actually in it yet.” She looked over with a mischievous grin. “But I figured I could fudge it a bit. You know, everybody’s got to start somewhere. I’m real creative, and I’ve got an eye for design.”
“Good for you.” He laughed. “Good for you.”
Shortly after they crossed the Georgia line, he asked where they were going in Jersey.
“Hoboken,” Suzanna answered.
The sorry truth was she’d left home knowing only that she had to get away from Earl. Beyond that she had no plans; at least nothing concrete. Gladys, a onetime friend she’d worked with before Annie was born, had moved to Hoboken three years ago. They’d stayed in touch for a while, but the last postcard was almost two years ago. She had to hope Gladys hadn’t married or moved on since then.
Forcing a smile, she said, “We’re planning to stay with a friend ’til I get a job. Once I’m set with a steady income, we’ll find a place of our own.”
Not long after they’d passed through Ben Hill County, Joe turned off the highway and headed west. Fifteen minutes later, after a long stretch of sparsely-traveled road, they came to a sign that read, Welcome to Cousins, Georgia – Population 16,897.
The center of town was a lineup
