ceiling and prehistoric gum under the stools.
But now, forty-eight hours later, sitting in the food court of the Thirtieth Street station, her stomach rumbled like one of the trains passing beneath her.
This was the life of a runaway. She knew what she had to do.
Desperate times and all…
The man was watching her.
Lilly had always had the ability to sense when someone was observing her, even if that person was behind her back, even if they were on the other side of the room or the other side of the street. She registered the feeling as a slight warming of her skin, a minute tingling of the hair at the nape of her neck.
She turned, glanced at the man, then looked away. He could have been thirty, he could have been fifty. He sat two tables away. He moved closer.
'Hi,' he said.
Lilly took a moment, playing it out. Here we go.
'Hi,' Lilly replied.
The man's face lit up. He clearly wasn't expecting a response. He cleared his throat. 'Have you just come in by train?'
Lilly nodded.
'Just now?'
She nodded again, a little too animatedly. She felt like a bobblehead doll. She backed off on the act. 'Well, just a few minutes ago.'
'How exciting,' he said. 'I love train travel.'
Oh, yes, how exciting, she thought. Train travel. Let's see: burnt coffee, stale sandwiches, smelly passengers, grimy windows, crappy houses passing by that were so low-rent they were built right on the train tracks. Yeah. This is my dream vacation. This and Cozumel. 'It's okay,' she said.
'Is this your first time in Philadelphia?'
'Yes, sir.'
He arched his eyebrows. 'Sir?' He laughed, but it sounded phony. 'I'm not that much older than you are. Am I?'
He clearly was, and it was so gross. 'No,' she said, trying her best to sound sincere. 'Not really.'
He smiled again. His teeth were the color of old mushrooms.
'Well, seeing as this is your first time in the City of Brotherly Love, I'd be happy to show you around,' he said. 'If you have the time, of course. It's a great city. Lots of history.'
Lilly glanced toward the doors that led to Twenty-ninth Street. It was almost dark. The lights on the street shone in the near distance, a grainy canvas of green and red and turquoise. She looked back at the man, assessing him. He wasn't that much taller than she was, did not look all that strong. She, on the other hand, had played soccer and lacrosse since she was seven. She had strong legs and deceptively strong arms. And she was fast. Lightning fast.
'That would be totally great,' she said, infusing the word with just enough enthusiasm.
The man looked at his watch, then at the huge area of the food court. The evening commuter rush had long since faded. There were just a few stragglers.
'Tell you what,' he began. 'I have to make a few calls. I'll meet you at the corner of Twenty-third and Walnut. We can take a stroll.'
He didn't want to be seen leaving with her. She understood the play. This told her just about everything she needed to know. 'Okay.'
'Do you know where that is?'
'I'll find it,' Lilly said.
'Are you sure you can?'
Lilly laughed. It sounded creepy, almost sinister, but she was certain this man would not notice. 'I found my way to Philadelphia, didn't I?'
The man laughed with her. Those teeth. Ugh.
A few moments later the man got up, looked at his watch again, and crossed the huge room toward the Thirtieth Street entrance. She saw him adjust the front of his trousers. She wanted to hurl.
Lilly closed her eyes for a moment-not having any idea how she was going to handle this. She thought about her house, her bedroom, her TV and cell phone, her dog, Rip. Rip was a thirteen-year-old cairn terrier, almost blind. Lilly started to tear up at the thought of Rip and his scuffed white bowl, Rip bumping into door jambs, then retreating, embarrassed. She stopped herself. This was no time for weakness, for sentimentality or dependency on the past. She had something to do.
He tried to make small talk. He succeeded. It couldn't possibly have been any smaller. 'You know, Philadelphia was once the capital of the United States.'
She knew this. Every school kid in America knew this. 'I didn't know that.'
'Do you know who discovered the place?'
Gee, she thought. Penn and Teller?
'William Penn, of course.' He pointed down Market Street, toward city hall. The statue of William Penn glowed in the dusk.
'Wow.'
She felt his hand reach out, try to hold hers. Gross. She reached around to her backpack, covering. She unzipped it, pulled out some gum. She didn't offer him any. He didn't notice. Every time she caught him looking at her he was staring at her chest.
'There's something down here I think you should see,' he said. 'There's history everywhere.'
They walked down the alley, around a corner. They stopped. There was nothing to see.
'You know what?' he asked.
'What?'
'You're very beautiful.'
And there it was. On top of it, she knew it was a lie. She looked like crap. She probably smelled, too. She was a runaway. Runaways were skanks. 'Thank you,' she said.
'Can I ask you a question?'
Lilly almost laughed. 'Sure.'
'Do you like me? Even, you know, a little bit?'
Oh, about as much as a blister or a cold sore, Lilly thought. 'Of course,' she said. 'I'm here, aren't I? Why would you ask me that?'
'Because boys are insecure,' he said with gnarled smile.
Boys. She was just about ready to puke. Time to get this party started. 'You know, you don't strike me as all that insecure.'
'I don't?'
'Absolutely not. You strike me more as the Matt Damon type. Older-like my father's age-but still pretty cool.'
He smiled again. It was the last thing she wanted.
'You know, I was thinking,' he said. 'If you're a little short of cash, I could help you out. You being from out of town and all. I did the Jack Kerouac thing myself when I was a little younger. I know how it can be.'
'Well, I've never been to Philadelphia before,' she said. 'I have no idea how much things cost.'
'It can be expensive. Not quite like New York, but pricier than, say, Baltimore.'
Lilly smiled, winked. 'How much do you have, big spender?'
Another laugh, as phony as the others. He reached into his back pocket, extracted a camouflage nylon wallet-pure class. He opened it. It bulged with plastic cards, business cards, ID cards. He pulled them all out, and she got a glimpse: Visa, Macy's, American Express, a Borders gift card. She also saw what looked like a lot of cash. About an inch or so. It might have been all singles, but still.
'Wow,' she said. Girls her age were supposed to say 'wow' a lot. Like they were all Hannah Montana. 'How much is in there?'
