Win, Lose, or Draw
Chapter 1
It seemed
as if she had been lying in the darkness for an eternity.
She turned her head and checked the soft
green glow of the bedside clock:
Sliding out from under the covers fully
clothed, she carefully arranged the pillows and blankets, then pulled a
backpack from under the bed. She slipped on a jacket that had been hanging on
the handle of the closet door before shrugging the backpack into place. Even
though the floor was carpeted, she felt compelled
to tiptoe as she stole across the room to the door. After listening intently
for sounds emanating from the house beyond her bedroom, she slowly opened the
door and peered out. Upon
confirming its emptiness, she stepped into the hallway and quietly closed the
door behind her. By the illumination of a nightlight she made her way past the
bathroom and her brothers’ bedroom, toward the stairs, all the while focusing
her attention on
the door of her parents’ room at the far end of the hallway.
When she reached the staircase she began to
creep down. After descending five steps, she grabbed a rail in either hand and
swung herself forward, landing lightly onto the seventh step in order to avoid
the invariable creek of the sixth. At the bottom of the stairway she turned right
and tiptoed into the kitchen. Instead of flipping on the overhead light, she
opened the refrigerator and used its illumination to first take a bottle of
orange-flavored milk from inside, then a package of crackers from the pantry. She
reached over her shoulder to unzip the top of her backpack and dropped the
items into it. She had started to zip it closed when a sound behind her stopped
her cold.
“Rina?” a small voice called.
She whirled around to find a pajama-clad boy sleepily
gazing up at
her.
“Nicholas!”
she hissed, adrenaline flooding her body. “What are you doing up?”
“I need a
drink,” he replied, rubbing one eye.
As she tried to calm her pounding heart, she
turned to take a cup from the cabinet. Filling it with water, she whispered,
“If I get you a drink, will you go straight back
to bed?”
“Yeah,”
he answered a bit too loudly for her comfort.
“Shhh!”
she hissed again, handing him the cup.
He drank
it greedily and gave it back. “Where are you going?”
“Nowhere,” she replied, stashing the cup in the dishwasher.
“You’re
wearing your coat,” he pointed out.
She
looked down at him with growing annoyance. “Look, if I give you a piece of
candy, will you go back to bed without waking anyone else up?”
He nodded
eagerly and she reached for a glass bowl sitting on top of the refrigerator.
Feeling around for something she could unwrap quietly, she finally settled on a
tiny Tootsie Roll which she also hoped would be chewy enough to keep the little
boy’s mouth busy.
She
handed the candy to him and he popped it into his mouth.
A slow
smile lit up his face. “I love you, Rina,” he slurred, brown juice trickling
from the corner of his mouth.
Shaking her head, she smiled affectionately
and planted a kiss on his round upturned face.
“I love you, too, Nicky.” She wiped his chin and turned him around so that he
was facing the stairs. Giving his backside a firm pat, she whispered, “I’ll
give you another piece of candy tomorrow if you go back to your room without
waking anyone up.” As he took a step forward, she grabbed his shoulder and spun
him around. “But you only get it if you don’t tell anyone we were down here
tonight. If Mom or Dad find out, we’ll both be in big trouble. Promise?”
He
nodded happily and she kissed the top of his blond head. “Good-night, Nicky.”
She
watched until he disappeared at the top of the stairs and waited a moment
longer to make sure he didn’t return. Turning back to the kitchen, she closed
the refrigerator and quietly made her way to the door that led to the garage.
Opening it few inches, she squeezed through and closed it again. Trailing her
fingers down the side of her father’s sedan, she cautiously guided herself
through the inky blackness. Three steps past she fumbled for the knob of the
door that led outside. The rusty squeak of its hinges made her cringe as she
slowly opened it. She patted the outside pocket of her backpack to make sure
she had her house key and then relocked the door before closing
it behind her.
After a quick glance over her shoulder to confirm that her parents’
bedroom window was still dark, she inhaled the cool air deeply and then
shuddered with anticipation before setting off into the night.