CONVICTED
Chapter Twelve
The following day, Jack and I
spent the morning moving furniture about and getting settled in. I knew we
weren’t going to stay for long, just until the two of us could survive the next
cold winter before we moved along.
I was one of those people who
can’t stay in one spot for too long, as was Jack. After we fixed things up to
our liking, we went out to explore the town. Small town, but it was best that
it was near the ocean. Despite our bad luck with the ocean, I positively loved
it!
Jack and I sat down on a
boardwalk near the sea and I began to sketch the sunlight as it danced across
the sea.
"Oh, it’s beautiful!" I
breathed.
"I know. It’s just as
beautiful as you," he replied in a dreamy voice.
"Oh, Jack."
I added in the sparkling sunlight
and drew the waves when they crashed into the boardwalk. I closed my sketchbook
and we continued to go step by step through the town. I was pleased that I was
with Jack; I was never good at directions.
Finally, we steered ourselves
back home. I took off my jacket and stretched out on one of the couches.
"Wait! Wait! Don’t
move!" Jack ordered, putting his hand up.
"Why?" I asked.
He sat down on the opposite couch
after tossing off his jacket and pulled out his sketchpad.
"Jack! Haven’t you done a
portrait of me already?" I asked with a smile.
"Yes, but I want one of you
like this. Now, put your hand up here by your head and the other one stretched
across your stomach with your palms out," he said.
I did as I was told and relaxed
my face.
"Good. Now, don’t
move."
Jack dimmed the lights a bit and
put on his serious face. He began to draw, and moments ticked by very slowly.
On occasion, he would look up or move a strand of hair out of his face.
As soon as that wonderful moment
had come, it ended. Jack showed me the picture and it turned out beautifully.
He tacked it up right next to the one I had drawn of him.
"We belong together,"
he whispered in my ear.
"I know. I’ve always
known," I replied softly.
One moment we were smiling. The
next, we were kissing.
*****
Later that day, I was cooking
dinner, something else that I randomly threw together hoping it would make
something. Jack was building up his strength by taking a nap, sweat beading his
forehead.
I smiled to myself and was
humming a tune I had heard recently. Suddenly, the doorbell rang just as I had
finished making something. I turned off the gas and opened the door a crack.
Two police officers were at the
door, looking rather mean.
"Excuse me, ma’am. Police.
We’ve heard you have an escaped convict from Ireland."
Damn it! my mind screamed.
"Yes. Give me one minute,
please," I said, and before they could protest, I slammed the door.
Jack jolted upward.
"What’s going on?" he
asked.
"The police are here for
you! Let’s go now!" I said hurriedly.
Jack tore the drawings off the
wall, grabbed our sketchpads, and headed for the back window.
"Ma’am, open the door now,
or we will break it down!" a police officer ordered.
"Come on!" Jack said.
We climbed through the window and
raced down the street, making random turns and trying to stay in the shadows.
Now we had done it. Now we were both wanted convicts.
We stopped after about five
miles, both of us out of breath, and collapsed against an alley wall.
"That was close," Jack
panted, almost laughing.
"No kidding," I
replied, smiling.
Suddenly, we heard sirens coming
from down the street.
"Oh, damn!" Jack
cursed.
Suddenly, the police car
headlights spotted us in the alley and we jumped over the fence. As we ran
through the alley, we ended up right back at the main street, where two more
cars were waiting.
The police got into the car and
started chasing us. We ran, trying to beat the cars, but they sped up.
Abruptly, Jack pushed me into an alley and the cars kept chasing him as he went
into a different one, climbing over a fence.
One car did a U-turn and came
after me. I understood what Jack had done and ran down the alley, hearing the
deafening blare of the siren and the police officer shouting for me to stop.
When I came to a rather large fence, I slowly began to climb it.
The car stopped and the police
officer got out.
"Come down now!" he
ordered.
"Hell, no!" I replied,
and kept climbing.
When I reached the top, however,
I accidentally fell off the fence and crashed down, nearly cracking my skull.
My head throbbed and stars danced in front of my eyes. To top it all off, my
stomach was twisting up on me.
I staggered down the alley,
trying to focus, but I couldn’t. I sat down on something and fell into a pool
of darkness.
A Few Hours Later
I don’t know how long it was I
was out, but the afternoon had suddenly turned into night. I climbed out of a
pile of garbage and rolled onto the ground. My stomach was still in knots and
my head was still throbbing.
I staggered out of the alley,
trying to remember what I had been doing before I blacked out. It hit me like a
ton of bricks.
Jack! The police! Everything!
I made my way out to the empty
streets. The stars glittered in the nighttime sky.
Everything was perfect. I was
lost, cold, alone, and in pain.
But worst of all…I didn’t know
where Jack was.