I hadn’t really stopped to think about who Mitta was. I should have – I was going to be alone in my car with her until further notice, living entirely off of her money. If she wanted, she could just disappear at any point and I’d be stranded, much further from home than I was at Jamie’s 24 Hour Breakfast Parlor.

And where did she get the money? I guess it didn’t really matter, but she didn’t seem too hesitant about spending it, as though she didn’t expect it to run out any time soon. It was all cash – where did people get that much cash?

Drugs.

Prostitution.

Robbery.

What if she was a criminal? I could be helping a criminal escape. Oh good Lord – could I go to jail for that? I could. I was almost certain that I could. This was a bad idea. She’d seemed trustworthy enough at the diner, but a trustworthy person doesn’t drive off ‘into the sunset’ with a stranger at four in the morning with a pile of cash in their purse. That was not a thing that happened. Only a desperate person would do that. So why was she desperate? She had to be running from the police. I was in the middle of Lord knows where with a criminal . How had I gotten myself into this?

I stepped out of the stall and looked at myself in the mirror, trying not to panic. The pants actually fit pretty well, and the shirt… well, it would work. It was better than anything else in the bag, that’s for sure.

I shouldn’t have been there; I shouldn’t have ever left home. At least I knew I was safe there, and I had clothes and a toothbrush. But wasn’t this what I wanted? To start over? Maybe it was, but I had never planned to pick up a stranger on the way. I never should have let Mitta come with me.

I needed her money, though. Without it I would have been stuck crying over those cardboard waffles for all eternity.

I took a deep breath and told myself it would be okay. Trust in God, right? Because He has a plan for us? I would have liked to have a conversation with Him about whatever the heck kind of a ‘plan’ this was.

When I walked back out to the parking lot, candy bar in hand, my car was still the only one in sight. And Mitta- wasn’t there. Mitta was gone.

No.

No no no no no no.

This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t leave me here.

I ran over to my car, hoping that maybe she was just laying down in the back or something, but she was gone. For heaven’s sake, why did I have to be right? How could I have been so stupid? Why? Why!

I could feel myself starting to cry and took a deep breath. See how much gas I had. That’s what I needed to do. I climbed in the driver’s seat and started the motor. Half a tank. Okay, that could be worse.

I grabbed my purse and pulled out my phone, hoping to figure out where I was and see… I’m not sure what, exactly, but it seemed like an important thing to know.

It was dead. Perfect.

I reached over to the glovebox to grab my car charger and froze with my hand on the handle. I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want it to be real, and seeing it… well, that would mean it was still real.

I looked the other way and opened it, just a little. I reached my other hand in, feeling along the corners for the cord.

There. I yanked it out, glad to be able to close the glovebox and forget about it for a couple hours again. Unfortunately, yanking a 2-foot cord out of a small area filled with junk is not the best idea; half of the glovebox contents came tumbling out, and just as it did, I saw Mitta walking across the parking lot in the rearview mirror. Panicking, I started throwing everything back in, not even stopping to see if it had even fallen out. I didn’t want to know. I just knew that if it had, she couldn’t see it. No one could.

I closed the glovebox just as she walked up to the window and tried to steady my breathing as I picked up my charger and plugged it into the cigarette lighter. She pulled open the door and sat down, a road map book in her hand.

“I figured I’d save us some time and go get one, since you were taking awhile. Let’s see…” She opened the book, flipping through the pages.

She hadn’t left.

I wasn’t stranded.

And she hadn’t seen anything.

None of that meant that this wasn’t a colossal mistake, but rather I still had a little time to try to weasel my way out of it before everything hit the fan.

“Here,” she said, holding it open to a full map of North America. “You want to do the honors?”

“No, that’s okay.” I was busy thinking. How could I get back home? Was I sure I wanted to?

“Okay, then our destination is…” she said, closing her eyes and holding a finger high above the map, circling it dramatically. She plopped it down onto the page, then looked down and squinted to see the name of the city she was closest to. “Laredo, Mexico!”

“Mexico? I don’t think that’s a good-” My phone charged enough to turn back on then, and it started buzzing like crazy as it loaded all the messages and calls I’d gotten since it died. I snatched it up before Mitta could see any of them. She started talking again, but I wasn’t listening.

More messages from Isaac, and a couple from his friends, even, telling me how sad he was and how much he loved me. Maybe I did need to go back. I’d never wanted to hurt him; that was what got me into this whole mess.

“Hey, earth to Margarita!” Mitta interjected, pulling my phone down to my lap. “Listen, I don’t want to know what it is, but I can see your eyes tearing up. Whatever you’re looking at, forget it. It’s in the past, okay? All that matters now is that you and I are going to Mexico, and no one can stop us. Okay?”

Mexico was a dangerous place. And it wasn’t all in the past. “Okay.”

“Beautiful. So, shall we hit the road?” I didn’t know what else to do, so I put it in drive and pulled out of my parking space, heading toward the road. “Turn left onto the highway. Our first stop, in case you were wondering, is Boston.”