I needed to ditch the car next and maybe hide out until I could find another one.
This one had been too easy to ‘steal’. I just took the keys from behind my drunk boyfriend’s back. It was as easy as ‘kidnapping’ Mandy. She was asleep at our house. It was as if I was taking an angry leave of absence from him.
I needed him to know I was serious. That I was gone for good.

Fortune smiled down on me. The next town had a WalMart across the street from a Holiday Inn. Sometimes the best place to hide was in plain sight.

I parked the car in the fire lane of the WalMart, taking the keys with me as if I were simply running in for a quick purchase. Mandy and I bought some doughnuts and things for later. Then we took our luggage, walked across the street and checked into the Holiday Inn.

“Let’s go swimming Mandy!” I tried to make the whole affair as fun and vacation-like as possible.

Later I noticed the car had been impounded. “Oh no Mandy! The car is gone! I guess we’ll have a real adventure now!”