She slipped outside the door.
Immediately, Petal wished she’d thought to bring the pretty jacket Auntie Lia had bought her for her trip. It was covered in sequins and when it was sunny outside, bursts of sparkles reflected off it in all directions. Instead, it was placed neatly on the chair next to her sister, Arwen. Arwen was nearly three and past the fussy stage she’d gone through where she put everything in her mouth. But she was clumsy and Petal worried that she might spill her juice on it or something.
She eyed the door cautiously, wondering if she should pop back inside and grab it, but dismissed it because someone would probably see her.
The streets were busy, but she remembered that the beach was just across the road. There, she’d find the dancers she’d seen earlier when she’d gone for a walk with Uncle Jordan and Arwen and Daniel. They would help her.
People swarmed around her, but the funny thing about adults is that most of them never took any notice of her. They were too busy laughing with friends, and if they were alone, they were usually on their phones. Hardly any of them looked down at her as she weaved between their legs to the beach.
It was a very grown-up feeling to be out on her own. Petal pulled her shoulders back because Auntie Lia had always told her to be proud of who she was and to never slouch.
A loud bang made her jump, and she turned to see a car on the road that was actually bouncing. Her heart raced as she watched it move jerkily down the road. It was the coolest thing, and she added it to her list of things she wanted. She’d asked her daddy for a pony. She’d also mentioned it to Uncle Jordan as back up. She’d also asked Uncle Jordan for the bright red scooter she’d seen. She’d asked Uncle Nik for three boxes of her favorite candy, and Uncle Elliott for another baby girl cousin. Perhaps she’d see if Uncle Lennon could buy her a car.
A loud growl right by her ear made her scream. The dog had its teeth bared and, for a moment, Petal thought it was going to bite her face until the owner pulled on its chain.
“Uther, stop,” the dog’s owner shouted. Petal watched, open-mouthed as he forced the dog to sit and told it off. “You okay, kid?” he asked.
With her pounding heart and shaky hands, she nodded. Tears welled in her eyes, but she bit them back.
“Where are your parents?” he asked, scanning the sidewalk.
But she didn’t want to tell him, didn’t want him to ruin the surprise she had for the wedding, so she did the only thing she could think of.
She ran.
She ran the length of the street until she reached the long road that went in the other direction. The beach was just on the other side, the boardwalk that Auntie Harper loved to run along. They’d seen her in her sneakers and a pink vest while they’d been walking earlier.
The light was green and lots of other people were walking, so she continued to sprint across the road. Now she was running, people were looking at her. A lady called out to ask if she was okay, but she didn’t want to look at her. When she hit the boardwalk, she couldn’t remember which way the dancers had been. She looked left and right to see if she could see them.
The lady from the crosswalk was still staring, and when she took a step in Petal’s direction, Petal ran as fast as she could.
She weaved in and out of the people ahead of her. The beach was right there, and because it was dark, she could hide out there. Petal looked down at her shoes, her special shoes for the wedding. She didn’t want to get sand in them and get them all ruined. But she didn’t have the time to take them off without people noticing she was on her own.
Where could she go?
There was a humungous thing with plants in it right in the middle of the boardwalk, and Petal took a chance, running to it, and crawled into the space behind it.
She didn’t feel so confident now. All of the lights made her feel dizzy. It was too loud, too noisy, and if she was honest, instead of feeling brave, she felt scared. Her pretty dress now had at least three dirt marks on it. But it was her shoes that made her cry. The crystals on the toe of her shoes were scuffed, which meant tomorrow, when she walked down the aisle, all everyone would be able to see was her ruined shoes.
Auntie Harper was going to be so mad because the shoes had been a special gift to make sure the wedding was perfect. And Uncle Reid was going to be mad because she’d ruined one of the dresses Auntie Lia had bought her especially for this trip. Momma and Daddy were going to be angry that she left. And she knew how much it bothered Uncle Jordan when he couldn’t find people that he loved.
Tears fell down her cheeks and she didn’t even have a tissue to blow her nose on. She dragged her arm and hand beneath her nose and stood up.
The best thing she could do was head back to the place they were having dinner, but she couldn’t remember what it was called.
Momma had always told her that if she ever got lost, she should ask a lady grown-up for help, a momma who had babies of her own, but as she looked around, she couldn’t see a momma. And if she couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant, where would she tell them to take her?
Her stomach squeezed and she thought she might be sick. She got that funny taste in her mouth when it seemed to make too much spit for her to swallow.
What if they called the police?
Then she’d be in really big trouble. Then her momma and daddy might go to prison for not looking after her properly when it had been her fault.
And if they were in prison, who would look after her? Uncle Jordan had his new baby. He wouldn’t want her, his old baby.
Petal plopped back down on her butt, hidden out of sight, and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly.
Lost, in the dark, she didn’t know what to do.
6
Daniel chewed his last mouthful of pizza and washed it down with a chug of cola. “God, I’m so full.”
Cujo laughed. “Not surprised. I think that was slice twenty-eight. You’re going to be the same size as me if you keep that up.”
If only. Daniel yearned to be the same size as his stepdad, Elliott, with his broad shoulders and muscular arms. They’d been working out together, and he’d been trying everything to add some weight onto his scrawny frame.
Years of surgeries to address his burns had left him stationary for large chunks of his life. There had been times when his legs had looked like matchsticks, pun intended. Thin and burnt. Elliott respected his need for macabre humor, his mom, on the other hand, lost her shit every time he made a joke along the same lines. At first, he’d kept on doing it, but then he’d heard Elliott comforting her while she cried about it. And then Elliott had come to talk to him and explained how their ways of coping with what happened were different and he needed to respect what his mom had gone through, being by his side all those months in the hospital.
He looked over to where Elliott was holding Holly, who was in a foul mood. He was so patient with her, even when Holly grabbed a handful of his long hair and tugged on it really hard. He simply took hold of her little hand gently until she released it. And he never got mad.
Not like his own dad, who was perpetually angry. He hated his father. Daniel had long ago gotten over the fact his father had sided with his brother, Daniel’s abuser, when Daniel had first confessed to what had been happening. But what he couldn’t forgive was his father’s refusal to give consent for Elliott to adopt him.