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It was getting dark as Tammy ran through the woods. She knew she had made a safe distance but she wasn’t going to take any chances. She knew if he found her now, he’d kill her. She knew any moment his beat up old ford would rumble up their driveway, that big drunken man would walk into their home, ready to fight the wife that wasn’t going to be there.
His rough dark face would turn red with fury and he would get back in that truck and spin down the driveway. He’d look high and low in search of his missing wife. The wife he was sure to beat to death if he caught her.
Tammy knew she had to get out of there. She couldn’t let him know about what suddenly gave her the courage to leave, she was pregnant. She could hardly protect herself, and she knew there was no way to protect a baby. So she kept running, no matter how wet her sandals got or how heavy her back pack and bag felt. She just kept going, not looking back. She was afraid that if she did he’d catch her. If he caught her, he’d kill her with no remorse for her or their unborn baby.
She had been on the move for about 4 hours now. Her feet were swollen already and the weight of her backpack wasn’t helping. She had to stop. She dropped her pack and sat down. She rubbed her belly. The baby bump had just started to form. Thank God Eddy was too drunk to notice, and it’s a good thing too, knowing she was carrying his first born would just motivate him more to hunt her down. She opened her backpack and took out some saltine crackers and began to nibble, her appetite grew now that she was pregnant. Tammy was a tiny girl, standing 5 ft 5 and weighing 105 soaking wet.
She was so skinny because food wasn’t really a necessity in Eddy’s opinion. Eddy had spent there money on himself. He’d blow his whole paycheck and hers down at the bar, drinking, and betting. He gambled away her car a few weeks ago. That’s why she’s running. The sky flashed lightning, she needed somewhere to sleep for the night. She had no where to go. She had no family, her mom had died when Tammy was only 8 and her daddy is locked up in the nuthouse because he pretty much lost his mind after that. She’s been on her own most her life. She met Eddy when she was just 18.
He was a charming young gentleman then. He treated Tammy like royalty. They were in love, and her in-laws were the best. She was wondering about them. Barb Cohen, Eddy’s mother is a sweet, plump, little lady who adores brushing Tammy’s long blonde hair. Tammy stops to wonder, Barb would adore meeting her grandbaby, but letting her know what a brute Eddy, her beloved son was would break her soft little heart. Eddy’s all she has left. Her other two sons we lost Elijah, the oldest, died in Iraq, he was killed when a car bomb exploded in his platoon. He was lost along with 5 other brave young men. Ethan, Eddy’s younger brother died when he fell through the ice. He was only 12, Eddy was 14 at the time. Eddy used to talk about how much he missed his brother and how hard it was to be there when they pulled his blue body out of the water. Eddy’s sister Effie, left home when she graduated as valedictorian and went off to Princeton. Six months later she went wild and started partying. She soon after dropped out and since has been blowing in the wind. She only comes around looking for money and filling her mothers heart with broken promises to turn her life around before leaving again. This is why Barb took to Tammy as her own. 1

Tammy looked to Barb as a mother and Barb treated her as her own. Eddy’s Father looks mean and stern at first. His face is worn rough from so much heartache but he’s warm and sweet. You just have to get to know him and below that rough callused surface in a soft hearted man. She wanted to run to Barb and feel her warm chubby arms around her. She wanted her mother to tell her everything was going to be alright. 2

Tammy picked up her backpack and began to walk again. It was getting really dark and she had no Idea where she was or where she was going. Alls she knew was as long as Eddy was there, she wasn’t going back alive. She soon came to the highway and realized she wasn’t as far out as she thought. She began walking along the highway but in the woods where she wouldn’t be seen. Being so close to so many people made her uneasy. every time she heard a car or truck that rumbled and roared like Eddy’s she jumped and laid down until it quieted down to the normal rumble of newer cars. The traffic on the road died down and the sky let loose a storm. It rained and rained. Poor Tammy was soaked through and through. Her cloths were wet and pasty. After the rain stopped her cloths got more and more gritty and sticky. She had to stop and rest, but were? Tammy walked on in search of a resting place. Soon she found a grove of pine trees and it was seemingly dry underneath so she sat down and rubbed her aching feet. The strap to her sandals had worn into her heel but she was so tired she barely felt it. She laid back and put her head on her backpack.3

Tammy hadn’t meant to fall asleep that night, it just kind of happened. She awoke to the sound of a truck backfiring. She glanced up to the highway and saw that old blue ford go roaring by. She froze and didn’t move. He didn’t see her. At least she hoped he didn’t see her she watched his taillights for any signs of him hitting the brakes but those dreaded lights never came on. She laid still frozen in a trance staring down the road. She wanted to make sure he wouldn’t come back. She waited until she couldn’t hear that roaring engine anymore. She hoped she’d never have to hear it again. She stayed there all night staring down the road. 4

Soon the birds started singing and the early morning traffic started to move. She stood up, the mix between the baby and the hard ground left her back stiff and sore but she had survived the night. That’s what mattered, now alls she had to do is survive the rest. She held her grumbling stomach, she felt sick, like morning sickness but she had nothing to offer to throw-up. Her stomach was empty, so she opened her pack and pulled out a orange it was warm and a little too ripe but she needed it. It might be the only thing she’d have to eat for a while, and with the baby she knew she’d have to find more. She ate the orange slowly so she wouldn’t sicken herself. She learned that fast, if she ate fast after not eating at all she only threw it back up, and she couldn’t afford that. She ate the skin, it was bitter and tough but she read somewhere it was nutritious. It made her mouth dry and the flavor was terrible, but she was doing it for the baby. After she finished trying to swallow the peel she went deeper into the woods to pee. She’d been holding it for awhile but she felt like she’d explode. 5

After her needs were taken care of she started to walk. She walked through the woods until she came to a old building. It looked like a motel but the windows were boarded up and there was graffiti all over the walls. She walked around looking for signs of daily visitors but there was none. She figured it would be a safe place to rest for awhile and maybe store her belongings while she walked into town and bought some food. She had managed to save 40 dollars and she thought once she got far enough away into another town where no one would know her or recognize her she could get a job. She started to pull at the board covering one of the doors. It took her a good hour and three splinters to get it off far enough to squeeze behind the board and open the door. She walked in and to her surprise the lights worked, well one lamp did and that’s all she needed. She didn’t want to drawl attention to the building. She looked around it was dusty but it was furnished. She wondered why they closed it and left all the furniture. There was two beds and a bathroom. There was still running water. There was no hot only cold. Tammy didn’t care she was just happy to find somewhere dry to sleep. She went back out and made sure the board over the door was back in place. When she was satisfied she went ahead and took all the blankets off the bed. She shook the dust off one by one and made sure there were no bugs hiding in the sheets. Once she was satisfied she remade the bed and laid her head down. She closed her eyes and was out like a light. She probably would have slept through the rest of the day and through most the night if her growling tummy and full bladder hadn’t jolted her awake. According to her watch it was 6 o’clock in the afternoon. She picked up her backpack and pulled out the last of her crackers and started to nibble. She ended up eating the whole pack. She was stiff from all the running but she managed to go to the bathroom. She ran a bath and undressed. She took a wash cloth and started to sponger herself on the side of the tub. It was too cold to get in but the water felt good. She had packed two changes of cloths. After she was done washing herself she took the first pair of cloths out and dressed herself. Getting out of the sticky cloths she was wearing felt good. She pulled her long blonde hair into a ponytail and put her damp, sticky cloths into the tub to soak since she had no soap. She pulled out 5 dollars and left in search of a store. She walked for about an hour, being careful to remember the way back. She walked into a store on the edge of the town she had made it too and bought a bag of potato chips, a box of Cheerios, a small pint of orange juice, and a bottle of water. She handed the cashier her five dollars and headed back through the woods to the old motel. It was getting dark when she finally found the broken down building. She pulled the board forwards and squeezed into the door. She then made sure the board was back to where it was, then she closed and locked the door. She sat on her bed and opened the orange juice and started to sip. Her grumbling tummy seemed to take it so well. She laid down and looked up at the ceiling, what’s next? She thought. She took a deep breath in. She pulled up her shirt to look at her little tummy, it was no longer flat it was slightly rounded in a convex type bump. She traced her finger around her belly talking and singing to the baby. She had read that somewhere, that the baby can recognize its mother voice. She was amazed that there was a mini person in the making growing and living inside her very own body. Tammy wondered if it was a boy or a girl. She hadn’t thought of names. She hoped for a girl, a boy might look too much like Eddy. If it were a girl she’d name her, Beyonca, or Natasha, names that were pretty, and strong. If it were a boy she knows Eddy would want a Edward Jr. but now its not what he wants. Tammy smiled at that thought, its what I want now isn’t it? She thought. As long as Eddy never found her. She remembered there was a time she followed Eddy’s every word. They met at a pool hall when Tammy went their to meet a friend. Eddy had been so charming. He had asked to see her again and soon after they started dating. They would lay out on a blanket and watch the stars. He bought her everything she could need. Barb had accepted her with no hesitation. Two years later they were out to dinner and Eddy popped the question.