Sunday Story Time: The 6:32 am Greyhound To Sacramento

^{Image by Katie from Pixabay}

(Every Sunday, I release a new short story in the ‘Sunday Story Time’ series!  These stories could be about anything, but they will all be brief, 2-3 minute reads.  Enjoy! )

On the table sat seven whole lemons, eight used lemon halves, a bowl of sugar, a stack of plastic cups, and a mostly full pitcher of lemonade. Kate and her younger sister Macy set up their stand three hours ago and had some initial success, but it was now mid-afternoon, 95 degrees, and the last customer had taken his lemonade without paying for it. 

“I want to go inside,” Macy said. It was understandable. She was only seven and had spent the last few hours watching droplets drip down the side of a lemonade pitcher. Kate knew that Macy wouldn’t stay out with her much longer, “We can’t go in yet, Mace. We only need twelve more dollars.” 

“Why won’t you tell me what we’re gonna spend our money on?”, asked Macy. “Because it’s a surprise. I’ll tell you if we get twelve more dollars.”, said Kate.  

Macy slumped back in her chair and rolled her eyes, “I don’t even want to know anymore.”

Kate, nearly ten years old, had a plan for the money but she couldn’t tell her sister until the very last minute. Macy was a loud talker and Kate simply couldn’t risk their stepdad finding out.   

The girls had made $188 that summer from their lemonade stand. Just a few dollars short of what Kate had calculated they would need. It was a pretty good haul considering they could only run the stand when their stepdad was at work. A requirement Kate realized the first time they set up the stand and he ripped their hard-earned cash out of her hands without saying a word. She had started to say something to him, but he raised the back of his hand at her, a familiar threat, and she ran to her room in tears. 

A car pulled around the corner.  

“Look, Mace, a customer”, said Kate, “Quick, waive the sign! Smile! They’ll stop if they think you look friendly.” 

Macy smiled as big as she could, revealing several gaps in her teeth. It had been a big summer for the tooth fairy. A small piece of innocence that Kate worked hard to preserve for her younger sister. 

The car stopped and a woman got out, “Look at you girls, you look so cute.”

“Why thank you, Ma’am.  Would you like to buy some lemonade?” asked Kate. She had learned that Macy was best at getting cars to stop, but she was best at talking to the customers.

“Why, yes I would,” said the woman, “How much is one cup?” 

Before Kate could respond, Macy shouted “Twelve dollars!”, she really wanted to go inside. As Kate prepared to tell the woman that the price was actually $2 dollars for a cup, she realized that the woman was already reaching into her purse.

“Here you go, sweetie,” she said, “don’t spend it all in one place” and she handed the cash directly to Macy. 

As the woman drove away Macy turned to her older sister, proudly grasping the cash in her hand, and asked “So what’s the big surprise?”

“Okay, I’ll tell you, but you have to pinky promise not to talk about it unless I say.”, said Kate. “I pinky promise,” said Macy, as the girls performed the ceremonial crossing of the pinky fingers.  

“We’re gonna go on a trip,” said Kate, “just you and me.” Macy’s eyes lit up, “where are we going?” she asked.  

“Sacramento”, said Kate.

The girls lived in Bakersfield, a flat, dusty little town in California’s Central Valley.  It was just the two of them and their stepdad. He found sporadic work as a farm hand and spent the rest of his time drinking warm beer and watching television. The girls learned to monitor his moods closely so as not to upset him when he was especially drunk. He got violent when he was especially drunk.

Kate took the worst of it. She had scars on her hands and forearms. Defensive wounds she sustained while shielding herself and her little sister from the blows of their belligerent stepdad. Anything could set him off and it seemed to be happening more and more. One night, just a few weeks ago, he got so upset that he threw a full beer can striking Macy in the back of the head. It knocked her to the ground and blood started to soak her hair almost immeadiately. Kate ushered her quickly into the bathroom and locked the door. It was that night in the bathroom that she came up with her plan. She was going to get them out. 

She remembered hearing about Sacramento from her mother and she was pretty sure that her mom’s family still lived there. Though she hadn’t seen them since the funeral. And she was only five at the time.

Kate felt certain that if she could just get herself and her sister to Sacramento, they could find their way. Besides, anything was better than staying.

Her plan was simple. She and Macy would ride a Greyhound bus from Bakersfield to Sacramento. And when they arrived in Sacramento they would use the payphone at the station to call every person in the phonebook with her mother’s last name.  

Macy was overjoyed at the prospect of going on a trip with her older sister and even happier at the thought of leaving her stepdad. The girls put away the lemonade stand and went into the house to pack before he came home. 

Kate’s plan was to take the 6:32 am Greyhound to Sacramento the following morning. 

The girls packed their school backpacks, they didn’t have anything else to pack in, and hid them in the closet. Their last night in Bakersfield passed without incident, though Kate didn’t sleep a wink. When it was time to leave, she woke Macy and together they crept through the house, tiptoing towards the door so as not to wake him up. He was passed out in his chair in front of the television. They made their way out and ever so carefully closed the front door behind them.  

They didn’t dare to talk until they reached the corner of the street.  

“Are you okay, Mace?”, asked Kate. “I’m tired” came the reply from Macy, as she rubbed her eyes.  

Kate felt a huge sense of relief as they made their way down the sidewalk. She could feel the cool early morning air on her face. The birds had started to sing. And the morning light was just beginning to paint the sky.

“We’re free.” She thought.

The girls held hands as they walked to the bus station.