Her tummy turned warm when she remembered that day. She’d woken up early that morning and tiptoed into Katarina’s bedroom, holding the I like to poop sign she’d drawn in purple marker. She was only a step away from taping the sign to Mama’s t-shirt when Katarina had reached out and grabbed her before yanking her onto the bed.
At first, Bethany had shrieked, then giggled. Once she’d caught her breath, she’d asked her mama how she’d known.
Mama had tapped Bethany’s nose. “Always time your footsteps to your target’s exhalations. That helps hide any noises you might make.”
Bethany was smart enough to know that exhalations meant breathing out, and target meant the person you were sneaking up on.
But her mama was even smarter because she knew how to sneak up on people in the first place.
Count to five, step. Count to five, step.
Walking that way was slow, but finally, Bethany made it out of the hallway and into the living room. She didn’t even look at the front door as she snuck by. She’d tried all the doors lots of times, and they were always locked. Maybe sometime soon, she’d be brave enough to search the bad man’s room for the keys, but for now, she just wanted food.
The living room was colder than the rest of the house but less stinky. Bethany tried to rub away the goose bumps on her arms, wishing she’d wrapped the scratchy blanket around her like a cape. But no, the fabric would have dragged on the floor or even knocked a lamp over, and that would be bad.
As soon as she got back to her room with her prizes, Bethany promised herself she’d jump under the covers and pull them over her head and have a mini feast until she was warm again.
For now, she had to keep going. She was so close. Almost there now.
At the entrance to the kitchen, Bethany stepped on the metal strip that divided the carpet from the stained floor that was peeling in spots. When she shifted her weight to that foot, something sharp stabbed the bottom, stinging like a piece of glass. A tiny whimper escaped before she could stop herself, and she cringed and covered her mouth. Tears prickled behind her eyes, but it was fear that stopped her breathing and cocked her head toward the hallway.
Several seconds passed. Nothing.
To be safe, Bethany waited another ten seconds before leaning one hand on the wall. When she was sure she hadn’t made a peep, she balanced on one leg and lifted the other one to carefully pluck the small nail out of the meaty part of her foot. The sock felt wet now, and she wondered if she was bleeding. She shuddered. Hopefully, her sock was thick enough to keep the blood from messing up the floor.
Not that it mattered. Either way, she wasn’t about to turn back now. Her stomach hurt too much to leave without food.
Bethany limped halfway into the kitchen before hesitating. Her head shifted from side to side. Refrigerator or pantry? The man kept all the dry food up on the highest shelves over her head, but refrigerated food went bad. If she wanted to bring snacks back to her room to hide for later, she needed stuff from the cabinets.
With a nod to herself, Bethany veered toward the pantry. She pushed her hands down on the counter slowly, checking for any loud noises first before pulling her knees up one at a time. With one hand on the wood for balance, she pushed up to her feet.
Twisting, she eased open the cabinet doors and gave a soft gasp.
The inside was crammed full of food. Everything from cooking stuff like dry spaghetti noodles and jars of sauce and tuna to all sorts of snacks. Potato chips! Cookies! Crackers! Cereal! Peanut butter! Bread!
Bethany’s mouth watered, and her empty stomach growled. Suddenly ravenous, she stuck her hand in and latched on to the closest snack—peanut butter crackers.
Even though they sounded so delicious that she was almost drooling, Bethany forced herself to put them back. The plastic wrap they came in was too tight and noisy to risk opening. She grabbed an individual packet of cookies instead, using her teeth to carefully open the bag. The sweet chocolate scent hit her as she lifted a cookie to her mouth, making her dizzy with excitement.
The cookie was almost to her lips when hands grabbed her around the stomach and yanked her backward. Bethany jerked in surprise, and the cookie and bag slipped between her fingers.
No!
Bethany wanted to cry when the single cookie hit the old stained floor and cracked into little pieces. The bag landed near the man’s foot, and she wanted to scream when he kicked it under the counter.
“Let me go!”
Bethany squirmed and wiggled and kicked, trying every move she could think of to escape, but the bad man was too strong. His hands tightened and dug into her tummy. As much as she wanted to fight, her energy disappeared quickly, like living in this house had turned her muscles into noodles.
No wonder she was so tired. The stupid, mean man didn’t feed her enough. She knew because her teacher last year had taught them all about bodies and how their cells turned food into fuel. If kids didn’t eat enough food, their cells got super tired.
Bethany was tired of being tired.
When she stopped struggling, the bad man sat her on the counter. “Sit.”
Bethany was too weak and disappointed to disobey. Once her butt touched the cold surface, the man rested his hands on her shoulders.
“That was very naughty of you, trying to sneak food while I was asleep.”
The man stood
