Page 3 of One Impossible Moment
Looking at the other men, watching their conversation, she stepped closer."Are you dangerous?"
A corner of his mouth twitched."Yeah.I am, kid."
She'd learned about stranger dangers in school.There were a lot of weird people at the corner store where she used to live with her mom.They'd try to talk to her and sometimes say nasty things about her mom that she couldn't repeat.
The men in town watched her.She peeked at them.Were they getting closer?She stepped toward Finn.There was something about him that made her feel safer, as if he would protect her if those men got too close.
"What did you do to be a bad man?"she asked.
"That's not something I'm going to talk about with a kid."
She nodded like that made sense.Somehow, it did.Even teenagers didn't want to talk to her.
"Can I stay here?"she asked
He pointed down the street."You have to be an adult to stay in one of the empty houses.If you need food, go ahead and eat, but after that, you need to leave.Stay away from the men around here.They're not the kind you want to talk to."
"Are you the kind of man I can talk to?"
"No."His eyes hardened."I'm worse."
He meant to scare her, but she wasn't afraid anymore.She understood that she couldn't stay and that she had no one to watch over her and keep her safe.
"I think I should go back to my foster home before I get in trouble," she whispered."Do you want to know my name?"
He cocked his head.She leaned forward so none of the other men could hear her.
"My name's Kallie Michelle Clark."She lifted her hand and shielded her mouth, whispering, "Kallie with a K."
She stepped away from him.No one moved in her direction.
"Bye, Finn.I'll come back and see you later."She ran back in the direction she came, knowing she was late and Monica probably called everyone in for dinner, and now she'd be grounded.
At the corner, she stopped.Winded from running, she looked behind her.Finn still stood in the middle of the road watching her.She raised her arm and waved over her head so he could see her.
He lifted his hand in the air.She smiled, biting down on her bottom lip.He wasn't dangerous to her.
Hurrying, she spotted the fir trees on each side of the road.Remembering the wind and the black clouds, she ran faster.In no time, she reached the corner of the fence and scurried through.
Rachel and Halsey still spoke with their backs to her.She straightened, trying to catch her breath.The little kids played on the driveway.Trevor cried over the tricycle, pushing Jasmine.
Breathing hard, she walked through the yard and sat on the porch step.It was like she hadn't left.
