“Come here.”
The little boy looked at her, then back at the kitchen door.
“Come here!”
Something crashed in the kitchen. The boy turned away and stumbled over to her. She took him by the hand. “Come on, we have to go.”
“What's wrong with him?”
“Doesn't matter, just come on. We have to hide.”
“Why?”
“I did something, and now he's mad.”
“What did you do?”
“We have to hide.”
“What did you do?”
“I stole all of it.”
“What?”
“After school today, I stole all his drinks.”
“All of them?”
“Yeah.”
“You know he gets mad when he doesn't have those!”
“He's even madder when does!”
“Where did you put them?”
“We have to hide.”
She pulled him down the hall with her, shooting glances behind her back every other step. Noises in the kitchen began to escalate.
“Tell me where you put them.”
“I flushed them.”
“What?”
“I flushed it all.”
“I heard you! Why did you do that? He's going to kill you!”
She gripped his wrist harder. “Which is why we have to hide.”
“Where?”
“I don't know, where he can't find us.”
“He'll find us. He'll find you. Remember last time?”
“Course I remember.”
“He said he'd kill you if you did it again! Why did you!”
“He's not going to hit us anymore. I'm sick of it. Aren't you?”
“I'm scared.”
The sounds ceased in the background. They stopped moving.
“I'm scared.” His voice was small.
“Don't be.” She opened the door on their right. “Go into the basement and leave through the back, okay?”
“Wait.” She was pushing him.
“Be as quiet as you can. Be quick.”
She was pushing him harder. “Wait! What—”
“When you get out, run as fast as you can to Auntie's. Tell her what happened. Don't come back alone. Just listen to Auntie, okay?”
They heard footsteps.
“Go.” She pushed him onto the first step. Her hand was resting on the door, ready to close it behind him.
“Wait! Wait, you're coming with me, right?”
“Sh! Be quiet.”
“You're coming too, you can't stay, you have to leave. Come on!”
She pried his small fingers off her wrist. “If I don't stay, he'll catch you. He'll catch both of us. It's okay, I'll meet you at Auntie's, don't worry. Everything will be okay.”
“No! You're a liar! You're a liar just like Mom! Come on, just - come!”
The man burst out of the kitchen door. His bloodshot eyes met hers.
“Run.”
She slammed the door shut.