EXIT LAS VEGAS – Janet Submission 2
(Background: Seventeen-year-old Anne ran
away from her Aunt Sylvia’s nursing home, where she had been recovering from a head
injury. She and seventy-seven-year-old Mrs. Black hit the road, and their journey brought
them to Las Vegas, where Mrs. Black’s nephew, Todd, lives with his pregnant wife,
Crystal. Now greedy Aunt Sylvia and her lawyer, Jeffrey, are on their way to Las Vegas
to retrieve Anne so they can file a lawsuit on her behalf and make big money off her
injuries. They have filed a kidnapping charge against Mrs. Black.)
The first thing Anne saw when she opened her eyes was her drawing of Crystal,
Todd, and Mrs. Black. Wow, she thought. Yes.
The second thing she saw was the blinking red light of the answering machine.
Sylvia on the way. Damn, she thought. Damn.
Todd came out of the bedroom, his hair
sticking up in every direction. “Gotta go straight to work after the bank,” he mumbled,
snapping his red suspenders onto the waistband of his lederhosen.
Crystal called from
the kitchen, “Scrambled eggs sound good?”
Before Anne could say they sounded divine, Mrs. Black said, “No time for
breakfast. They’ll be arriving momentarily.” She zipped her valise and motioned for
Anne to help her make up the sofa bed. “We must depart post haste.”
“Oh, I think we could take time for a bite of breakfast,” Todd protested, but Mrs.
Black shook her head. He grabbed his sparkly green hat, shoved his wallet into the pocket
of his shorts, and headed for the door.
“Really? They’re almost here?” Crystal asked. “I’ll brush my hair in the car.”
Mrs. Black hefted her valise, Anne grabbed her plaid suitcase, and the four of
them rushed out the door and squeezed into the El Camino. Todd sped away from the
house, and immediately after they turned right onto the highway toward Sin City, a silver
BMW with Colorado plates turned left into Jackpot Circle.
“How do you know those
things, Auntie?” Crystal asked.
“I’ve spent a fair amount of time around snakes,” Mrs.
Black said.
Anne knew for certain she wasn’t in Oak Grove when not a single bank employee
gawked at Todd’s leprechaun outfit—not the portly Sikh guard who opened the
door at 9:00, not a single bleached-blonde teller, not the balding bank officer who
led Todd and Mrs. Black back to open an account. Anne sat down in a maroon
chair in the lobby to wait for them. Bowls of fruit-flavored suckers sat on the
counter in front of each teller’s window, and when one of the blondes left her
post, Anne went up and took a handful. Back in her seat, she munched suckers
and mulled over her options.
Go back with Sylvia? Go in search of her mother?
Mrs. Black and Todd
rose and shook hands with the officer. Mrs. Black took a rubber band off his desk
and snapped it around a thick roll of bills. She stuffed the money in the pocket of
her black dress.
Todd stopped inside the door of the bank. “I hate to see you
carrying that much cash—especially on a Greyhound bus. Are you sure you don’t
want to put most of it back into your checking account and just withdraw it as you
need it?”
“Quite sure,” Mrs. Black said, all business. “And now, to the bus
station!”
When they got to the bus station, Todd put on his hazard lights and double-parked
so he could help them get their luggage out. “You’re positive about taking the bus?” he
asked, checking his watch. “I could drive you to a rental car place. Or you could try
Amtrak.”
“Amtrak!” Mrs. Black said. “I hadn’t thought of that. We’ll look into it. But
go ahead–don’t be late for work. We can take a taxi to the train station if we decide on
Amtrak.”
Todd hugged them both. “Well, however you go,” he said, “take care.” He
rolled down the window after he got in the car. “Call us when you get there,” he yelled.
Mrs. Black waited until the El Camino disappeared around a corner, and then she
motioned for Anne to follow her to the lone taxi parked in front of the bus station. She
motioned for Anne to get in and then climbed in after her. “The airport,” she told the
driver. “Step on it.”
“But–” Anne started.
“We did all that bus-to-find-mother nonsense to protect Todd and Crystal. They
won’t have to lie. All they know is that we said we’re on our way to Texas.”
Once they were in the airport, Mrs. Black nodded for Anne to follow her behind a
potted fern. She took the roll of bills out of her pocket and peeled off ten one-hundreddollar bills. “This should be enough.”
“For what?”
“To do what comes next. You can take a taxi back to Todd and Crystal’s and let
your aunt claim you. You can take the bus or the train to Texas and try to find your
mother. Or I suppose you could go to a town you’ve never been to before and change
your name and dye your hair.”
“Where are you going?” Anne asked.
“I’m going to the Netherlands to find Beatrice.”
“Who’s Beatrice?”
“She’s my—she’s the one who has the recipe and the spices I need.”
“Oh,” Anne said, crumpling to the bench behind the fern. “You’re going there
to make gingerbread? Mrs. Black nodded. “The threshold opens again in three
days.”
Anne focused on the pointy toe of Mrs. Black’s left shoe. “So you won’t be
coming back.”
“If the gingerbread works, this time I’ll be going home.”
Anne stood up and
took hold of the handle of her plaid suitcase. “Well, good luck with it all,” she said stiffly
and started to walk away.
“You are invited to the Low Countries, if you are so inclined,”
Mrs. Black said.
“No, thanks,” Anne said.
“No?” Mrs. Black asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Well, what do you think? What would you do if your best friend invited you to
go somewhere faraway just so you could stand by and watch her fly out of her body and
leave you alone in a strange country?”
“Oh, I’d go!” Mrs. Black said. “I wouldn’t miss an opportunity like that for the
world.”
“Even if you could only be with her for three more days?”
Mrs. Black stared straight into Anne’s eyes. “Child, do you have any idea how
much can happen in three days?”