CHAPTER 9

  Becky decides she must escape before she is sent to a real jail: Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri to be precise. Maximum-security ERDCC. Too far for Becky to visit. Too hard to escape from. Especially since she’ll be on Death Row. Surely, medium-security St. Louis County Jail would be easier?

  Becky noticed the convict trustee used the utility room to store mops, buckets, et cetera. Just what et cetera was in there, she wondered? Every morning, a guard unlocked it for the trustee and locked it back up when she finished. Hence, the bump key.

  According to Rocky, you just insert the bump key, give it a bump, and twist slightly. The pins jump and the bump key catches them all in just the right alignment. Then twist all the way to open. $20 on Amazon.

  Another Chloe visit, and Becky had the key. She claimed sickness at meal time and bump, she was in. She thought: Can’t stay too long, but what else is up there? Becky climbed up there. Examined the vent. Peered into the guards’ locker room. Jackpot!

  OK, I’m gonna need a wrench to twist the nuts from the bolts. Climbed back down and searched the utility closet. Yes, a loose screw driver and The Holy Grail: an adjustable wrench! Do I hide it so it’s there for future use? Or, will that cause a search? OK, leaving it in its expected place.

  Next visit, she told Chloe she must be home all day Monday through Friday. Becky has determined the best time to get out, get Chloe, and get away.

  It’s when people (except loser boyfriends) are at work. And especially while momma is at work.

  But tonight, just after sundown: a tumult. Men at the prison – there should be no men in a women’s prison, duh – are collapsing and cannot be revived. Guards, Police, EMTs coming and going. Chaos. This seems like a great time to escape, no?

  Bump key, vent, wrench. Now, Becky is shimmying through the vent feet first. Thud, her feet hit the floor. I think I nailed the landing, really. 10 points easy.

  Becky can hear guards and inmates running to and fro outside. Still chaos. Bump key: a guard’s locker is open. Yes, civilian clothes! Oh no, that won’t do. Can’t walk out of here in civvies like my guard shift is over. Not this night. Another locker, another bump. Yes, a spare uniform! This I can work with.

  Becky calmly walks out the prison through the front door. What’s this? A police car just for me? With engine running, door open, and lights still flashing? And nobody in it? Gets in and drives away.

  Half hour after Becky’s jailbreak, her silent and relatively inconspicuous police interceptor (complete with crash bar on the bumper) glides to a stop in front of momma’s trailer at the edge of town. Cars are zooming in and out all over the place. Doors open and people shouting and packing and loading. People fighting on the front lawn (nothing new).

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  Good, Becky thinks. Chaos here, too. Absolutely nobody is interested in her.

  Chloe is home alone. Becky grabs clothes, boots, raincoats, winter jackets, toiletries, Johnny’s protein energy bars – all go into the garbage bag.

  Grabs Chloe, Chloe’s stuffed animals, and Chloe’s not-stuffed animal (her orange cat Pumpkin) – all go into the car. Almost forgot: grabs the travel kennel.

  One last trip for her cash stash and The Children’s Bible (illustrated), her two favorite books (The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer), Chloe’s two favorite books (The Runaway Bunny and The Poky Little Puppy by…um well, somebody rich), and a single gallon of water.

  Becky recalls the time Becky offered a sip of her water to Chloe. Little Chloe said, “well, we share the same DNA so OK.”

  That’s it: ready to run. And not too pokey: 4 minutes flat. Ha, faster than Hannah Long’s Missouri state record for the 1600m, Becky crows.

  Becky: “Don’t worry, baby girl. We’re just going on a little trip. No, they didn’t let me out. We’re going to our old girl scout camp. Yes, the one by Mark Twain National Forest. “

  Down Interstate 44 they go. Right away Becky sees it: There, an outdoor equipment store. Need to load up.

  Ah, already closed. Gets late early around here.

  Bump key: no joy.

  Smash the windows? No, not yet. Don’t need another police car here.

  “Chloe, start searching for a hidden key. Yeah, like the Easter egg hunt.”

  Flashback

  Becky recalls little Chloe in her pretty Easter dress with the bright polka dots (polka dots are severely under-rated), excited at the idea of her first Easter egg hunt and carrying her empty basket like an after thought. Baby girl freezes and strikes a delicate pose. (Such a natural Disney Princess)

  “Oh, a pretty egg!” Chloe exclaims. Other children hustling, snatching it up before Becky’s Pokey Little Puppy can get to it. “Oh, another pretty egg!” Same thing, one after the other. When the hunt is over, her basket is still empty. But, Chloe is totally unconcerned and just happy to have seen all the pretty eggs. “Wasn’t that fun?” Chloe exclaims.

  Becky replies, “Here, have a carrot, Runaway Bunny.”

  Now, here they are both runaway bunnies. But first, a hunt. Hustling, looking for hiding spots around the store front. No pretty eggs. No hidden keys.

  Only a hidden pack of cigarettes. Somebody is not really trying to quit.

  The Holy Grail of the Wrench and the police car exhausted all my luck, Becky fears.

  “OK, Chloe. Let’s pray! Dear God: First, I ask forgiveness for my many sins. Which you promised to forgive because Jesus died to pay for all of them. Including killing Johnny if I wasn’t allowed to. (Remembered lyrics start to play in her mind: No guilt in life/No fear in death/This is the power of Christ in me.)

  Second, I thank you for forgiving my sins and for my baby girl (Chloe interjects, ‘And Pumpkin’). Yes, and for Pumpkin. And third, I ask you to guide me into this store for some supplies. I will pay for it, of course. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

  A black cat presents herself and begins meowing. Becky thinks that was fast and wonders, Maybe God wants us to adopt?

  “Can we, can we?” Chloe pleads.

  “If you can catch her, you can keep her,” Becky concedes.

  Chloe exclaims in joy and runs to hug the cat and black cat says, oh no you don’t.

  Black cat leaps and climbs high out of Chloe’s reach to a perch that must have been placed there just for that purpose. Right next to a plastic Pumpkin.

  The cat then deigns to take her leave. Lost and clearly not cats, the cat thinks.

  Becky – hoping to become lost to law enforcement – thinks, can’t stay here too long, but what else is up there? Becky climbs up there. Examines the perch. Peers into the pumpkin. Jackpot!

  “Pumpkin, you just got a sister.”

  Chloe catches Boo using her oh-so subtle plan. Yes, I am just cooing to you softly because I love you and all cats and I’m totally not a threat. Grab you? Of course not! Why would you ever think such a thought, silly suspicious cat? Oh no, I am not here to grab you at all (and when enough time passes and I do grab you, it’s completely unrelated.)

  THE DOXOLOGY

  Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow

  Praise Him, all creatures here below

  Praise Him above, ye heavenly host

  Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

  Cedarmont Kids