Page 70 of Protecting Maggie
“Youjail?” Artem asked with big eyes.
There was no way this boy could know that, yes, she’d been in prison. She hadn’t talked about it in front of him. But she also didn’t want to lie. These kids had probably been lied to way too often. “Actually, yes. I’ve been in jail. A man I was dating put drugs in my car. The police stopped me and found them and thought they were mine. No one would listen when I said they weren’t.”
Artem nodded solemnly. “Like here. Police bad.”
“No,” Maggie said sharply. That wasnotthe lesson she wanted the kids to learn. “The police aren’t bad. They’re there to help. But the bad guy, the man I was dating, is very important. So everyone believed him. The drugswerein my car. They had no reason to believe me over the very important man. All I’m trying to say is, no matter where you live, there are bad people. They might seem like they are good, but sometimes they’re not. You have to be smart, to lean on those you trust to stay safe.”
She was messing this up. Maggie knew that, but she had no idea how to explain well enough to get through the cultural differences.
“Like Shawn. And Ricky,” Borysko said firmly.
“Yes, like them,” Maggie agreed.
“We smart,” Artem said. “We keep you safe.”
Maggie’s eyes filled with tears. “I know you are, and that you’ll keep me safe. Thank you.”
“You welcome,” Yana piped up with a smile.
Her eagerness to be included in the conversation made Maggie smile. She hugged the little girl against her side.
“I go to America one day,” Artem said firmly. “I help people who police no believe.”
For some reason, Maggie believed him. That he’d someday get to the US and help those in need like she’d been.
“Next day we get Ricky free. And Shawn,” Artem said firmly. “You sleep so you can run.”
Maggie wasn’t tired. She was thirsty and hungry and too keyed up about tomorrow to even think about sleeping. But she nodded anyway and stretched out on the hard, dirty floor.
Artem fussed over his siblings for a while, then the room went silent.
“Mag?”
She turned her head to see Artem looking at her. “Yeah?” she whispered.
“Take Yana when go?”
“What?”
“Take Yana when go?” Artem repeated. “No safe for baby. She gooder in America.”
Maggie had no idea what to say to that. It was obvious Artem loved his little sister. That he’d do whatever he could to keep her safe. And right now, the only way he could think to do that was to send her as far away from this place as possible.
She wished she could reassure him. Tell him that of course she’d take his sister with her. But she had no ideawhat the future held. It was certainly not legal to take a child out of the country, especially when she wasn’t supposed to be here herself. But she couldn’t bear to say any of that to the little boy who was doing all he could to survive.
So she simply nodded.
It was apparently enough for Artem. He gave her a solemn nod in return, then turned onto his side, facing away from her.
Maggie wasn’t a crier. But it seemed as if she’d cried more recently than she could ever remember doing for her entire thirty-five years. Even when she’d been behind bars, she hadn’t allowed herself to get too emotional, for her own well-being. But now the tears ran down her temples into her hair as she stared up at the broken ceiling.
She cried for herself, over her worry for Shawn and MacGyver, about tomorrow’s plan—which was surely going to go wrong in one way or another—and for the children sleeping around her. She wanted to scoop up all three and hold them tightly and tell them everything would be okay. But she didn’t know if it would be. With a lot of luck, she’d be leaving soon, going back to her life in California, and they’d be stuck here in this bombed-out city, eking out an existence, scrounging for food and water. It was unfathomable. But what could she do about it?
Nothing. And that sucked.
As she lay there, Maggie made a vow to do whatever she could to help Artem, Borysko, and Yana. Shawn had that computer genius friend. Maybehecould dosomething. Get a hold of someone who could come here and take the kids away. At least somewhere safer. Maybe find a kind of foster home for them. She had no idea if that concept existed here, especially in the middle of a war, but there had to be something she could do.
Feeling better, if not great, Maggie closed her eyes. As soon as she did, thoughts of Shawn snuck in. Was he okay? She’d seen the beating he’d received, and it was bad. Would he and MacGyver even be able to walk tomorrow? She had so many questions and worries, and no way of easing her trepidation.
