Free Safe and Sound by Lindy Zart Page A

Part of her wanted to try to talk to her mom, to plead with her once more to leave Bob . Lola wanted to tell her what he’d said to her, how she feared he meant to sexually harm her. So many times in the past she’d tried to tell her mother things and she’d brushed them off .
      You have to do this. You have no other choice.
      Lola waited until she heard the click of their bedroom door closing down the hall. Lola would never stand in th is room again; she would never lay eyes on Bob Holden again either. Elation and sadness fought inside her. She was saying goodbye to the abuse, but also to her mother.
      She grabbed her duffel bag, slowly opened the window, and climbed out. The brisk air stung her flesh. Lola jumped to the crunchy grass, closed the window, and looked around. The sky was gray and cloudy with streaks of pink in it.
      Lola ducked as she raced past their window and stopped on the sidewalk, her eyes fixed on the dark house. Her breath left her in short bursts of air. She was doing it; she was really doing it.
      Her eyes shifted to Sebastian’s house , blurring with tears . Her throat tightened . Lola looked at the window on the second floor, knew he was there, probably still asleep or just getting up. The longing hit her suddenly and took her breath away.
      Lola said a silent goodbye and turned down the street, toward the woods. She would wait there until the bank opened.              
    * **
      Lola’ s eyes went to the slab of stone. She swallowed, disappointed to find it empty. It’s better this way.
      She told herself that, but it didn’t feel better. She hadn’t felt a connection with another human being since her lost friendship with Sebastian. Jack had been in her life a very short amount of time, but that time had been significant. He’d eased the pain a little; made her feel not quite so useless and a waste of space. He’d made her smile, made her laugh, made her forget.
      Lola set her bag down and climbed up the rock, the coolness of it seeping into her. Lola crossed her legs and stared into the dense forest of trees, thinking of the first time she’d known things weren’t right.
      It had been such a small incident. Lola had taken too long in the shower. Bob had been furious because she’d taken an eleven minute shower instead of a ten minute one. He’d banged on the door, shouted at her, and punched the wall while she was in the bathroom .
      She had been stunned at first; unable to comprehend. Soon after that the fear had found a home inside her . It hadn’t left since that day.
      Lola took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Her mother had tried to calm him down. Later she’d reprimanded Lola for being selfish. The nex t day there had been a timer in the bathroom set to go off at exactly ten minutes . Last night had been a small rebellion on her part not to use it. Not that he’d known. But she had.
      Tears turned the trees into dark blobs. Lola brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, chin on her knees. Her mother had sided with him regardless of how irrational he was. Lana had acted like all the problems were because of Lola and not because Bob was messed up.
      After a while, her mom just hadn’t cared what was going on; so lost in herself and her own inability to deal with what was going on around her. Lana lived in a fog.
      Oh, Mom. How could you let this happen to us?
      Lola’s shoulders shuddered as a sob left her. So alone. She was so alone. She looked up, eyes stinging, and checked her watch. It was time to go.
      By the time she reached the bank the temperature had raised considerably. With May came heat in Wisconsin. Lola removed her jacket and shoved it into her duffel bag. She took a rubber band from her wrist and pulled her hair into a loose ponytail.
      Outside the small gray building, she got her savings account ledger and account number ready and went inside. It smelled like apples in the bank and