A Strange New Life
Prologue
She sat nervously eyeing the strangers rushing past. There were so many people
here, not that she wasn't used to people, just not so many that she didn't know.
Suddenly this seemed like a huge mistake, but what else could she do? The
question had been posed many times in the past week as she had screwed up the
courage to get on the bus. Then the announcement came over the speakers, her
bus was boarding. She grabbed the hiking backpack from under her feet and slung
it over her shoulders. Her shoulders were already aching from carrying it this
far, she wanted nothing more than to stow the pack under the bus, and fall
asleep, though she knew she wouldn't be sleeping for the next 2 days. She had
been on a Greyhound a few times before and knew she couldn't sleep on them, too
many unknown people, waiting to do too many unknown things.
Tammi spied the bus driver standing by the doors, and pulled her ticket from the
right hand pocket of her jacket. It was February, and in Toronto that meant it
was still pretty cold. The bus driver eyed her wearily, and pointed to a spot
on the ground by the open cargo compartment for her bag. She gratefully set the
bag down and smiled at the handler. Turning to the driver, she handed him her
ticket, he glanced at it briefly and then tore the multitude of tickets apart at
the perforations.
"Going a long way?" He asked.
Tammi knew the question was rhetorical, so she smiled shyly and waited for him
to permit her onto the bus.
Once in a seat three quarters of the way back she leaned her head against the
window, closed her eyes and began to think about the situation which had brought
her into her current predicament.
Running from situations was nothing new for Tammi; she had been running for the
better part of her adolescent life. At seventeen she knew she didn't know
everything, but she hoped she didn't have any more hard lessons to learn, she'd
learned enough of those.
She was very sorry she had ever cheated on Scott, even sorrier that she had told
him. This trip had been coming up; she had just taken it early. She had
friends in Indiana, and she was supposed to spend March Break with them, but she
was leaving in the middle of February and she was starting her life over,
something Scott didn't know...yet.
She had been working in the worst job she had had yet, sales. The people were
great, but the commission stunk, and there was no wage, so she'd been working
very long hours, and since Scott had gotten fired from the sandwich shop the
month before, he had been concentrating on school rather than finding another
job, this was a source of endless frustration, not to mention arguments between
them. She and her sales partner Joe had worked late, and unfortunately the bus
to the suburbs stopped running at midnight, and she had just missed the last bus
home. Joe offered her his couch, and she had called Scott and told him what had
happened. He told her he'd see her tomorrow and she went to Joe's. She took a
shower, put on his bathrobe, dried off, dried her hair, Joe had offered her a
shirt to sleep in, her being five foot two and he being six foot one, his shirts
were large enough, she accepted, and he tucked her in on the couch. Tammi
thought this a bit odd, but said nothing as she watched him walk away; she
admired his body briefly as he walked into his bedroom, rolled over and promptly
fell asleep. A few hours later she felt someone shaking her. It was Joe. She
had looked up at him sleepily, apparently she had been tossing and turning so
much in her sleep she had fallen off the couch. She laughed sheepishly and he
gently helped her into the bedroom, she rolled over assuming he would take the
couch, and instead he got in next to her. She blushed furiously and told him
she'd go back on the couch, she moved to get up and he pinned her, kissing her
mouth, hard. She gave in and as they say, one thing led to another.
The next morning she went home to Scott and told him everything. After a loud
argument, he slapped her across the face. She packed a few things and went to a
motel she couldn't really afford, telling Scott as she left that she would be
back to discuss things in two weeks.
As promised she came back after two weeks and they started a discussion, which
once again escalated into a heated argument. Scott hit her again, and she told
him she was going to take her March Break early and see her old friends. She'd
be back in a few weeks. Scott was upset, but said next to nothing to dissuade
her. After paying up the rent and other bills for the month, she had bought her
ticket and waited. Scott had offered to escort her to the bus depot, and she
told him that was probably a bad idea.
Now here she was rushing towards a fairly unknown town (it was bigger than a
town, but she couldn't bring herself to think of it as a city.) to an unknown
life.
