"It's me," said Cami.
Josie relaxed. She was hoping Cami would call as she'd promised.
She looked around to make sure nobody had walked into the office. "How is your day going?"
"Easier than I expected. It feels good to be here." Cami paused. "I like having others around."
After a month since the kidnapping, Cami had decided to apply for a new job—knowing she couldn't go back to working at the community library without answering questions surrounding her absence. At the same time, Curley from Tarkio Motorcycle Club had come to the apartment to check up on her and mentioned Lainier's Towing company needed someone to work in the office because their current employee had decided to stay home with her children.
As Josie pulled up to her apartment after work on Friday, Cami had opened her door as if waiting for her to arrive. She'd never seen Cami so happy. She believed it was because the company was owned by Tarkio members, and after her rescue, she'd come to idolize them. They made her feel safe.
"That's great. Is the work hard?" she asked.
"No. I pretty much know how to do everything, except deal with the insurance companies and use the radio. I keep messing that up, but so far, everyone has been patient with me."
"It's only your first day. You'll learn."
"I hope so."
"Have you had lunch?" she asked.
"I'm eating at my desk now."
Josie smiled. Cami continued to take care of herself for the baby's sake. Her friend was stronger than she knew.
"How about you? Don't you have an hour lunch right now?"
"Yes." She looked over at the window into the garage. "I'm going to stay here and get something out of the vending machine."
"Gross."
She laughed. "It's not bad. I have a craving for junk food."
"I better let you go. I don't want to get caught making personal calls, even if it is my lunch break."
"I'll pick you up a little after five o'clock, okay?" After getting a reply, she said, "Bye."
Hanging up the phone, she swallowed her worries and concentrated on her happiness. Things were going to work out for Cami, and that's all she wanted for her friend.
Since they worked the same hours and only a mile apart, they decided to carpool each day, so neither one had to drive home alone after work. Right now, with it staying lighter later in the day, it was okay if one of them had to make the drive alone. But by the end of the year, it got dark early and made them both nervous. It was better to use the buddy system.
She watched Chrischris throw an air tool across the garage. The music from outside filtered into the office. All the men were booked solid all day with vehicle repairs.
Needing something in her stomach to keep it from growling, she collected the coins from the bottom of her purse and walked out of the office. In the garage, she went straight to the vending machine on the far wall.
Not often had she resorted to eating junk food for lunch. Usually, she packed a bag with a few items or drove back to the apartment to make her a quick meal, but since the kidnapping, she'd made sure to stay around other people and be aware of not letting herself be alone.
But, that morning, she'd overslept after waiting up late into the night for Paco to return again.
He never came back to her apartment after the first time. Just like he never stopped in at work to see his friends. She was starting to think she'd dreamed the whole night, and he really was Thunder Bird.
That would be better than letting herself accept that he'd used her, and she was only a one-night stand.
Slipping the coins into the slot, she looked over the selection, knowing to leave the Snickers for the men. Every single one of them enjoyed that candy bar the best.
Buying a Pepsi, a pouch of peanut M&M's, and a bag of Doritos, she loaded everything up in the crook of her arm and headed back to the office.
"Hey, Josie. Slick's heading over to Dairy Queen in a few minutes. Do you want anything?" asked Banks.
She looked down at the snacks and then met Banks' gaze. "No, thank you."
He chuckled. "Suit yourself."
Returning to the office, she dumped the items on the desk. She sat down and popped the top on the can. Every time she had a pop, she missed the pull tabs that she remembered while growing up on the Rez. Somewhere in her childhood bedroom, there was a ten-foot chain of pull tabs she'd made from all the tops she'd found on the ground around the casino.
Like everything else she'd owned, someone probably dumped that too in the garbage. Once she left, and there was no one to live there, they would've sold the house to another family.
She was dead to her people.
Not everything the elders permitted to happen was right. Some of the laws worked against the people. The reservation was meant to be a temporary stepping stone. Those who remained were there to better others' lives, helping them achieve a sustainable living anywhere they wanted to go.
She had no other option but to leave her home after her father sold her to Askook and was murdered. She was never going back, even if the council sent her a personal invitation to return.
Opening up the M&M's, she picked out a red one. She popped the candy in her mouth.
It was strange that Paco never returned to the apartment. She would've thought he enjoyed himself.
But it was like he'd evaporated into thin air.
After having sex throughout the night, she'd fallen asleep in his arms. When she woke, he was gone. The only sign that he'd broken into her apartment and spent time with her was the used condoms in the wastebasket in her room.
They'd hardly said two sentences to each other, and yet because she'd enjoyed him sexually, she felt like she
