The Open Road

Chapter 20

Bob

Someone had heard us.

Someone was coming.

Shit!

The three of us stood transfixed to the spot, not quite sure of our next move. When the sound of footsteps became more distinct, we started examining our surroundings, plotting an escape. My eyes squinted at some cloths peeking from the corner of the room. Upon closer scrutiny, I realized what they were. I almost yelped in excitement. I swiftly moved towards where they were carelessly placed and picked them up. Yes, I had been right, they were uniforms.

"Quick, put these on!"

I tossed the first pair to Marie and the second to Jack. Marie crinkled her nose at the attire before averting her gaze to me.

"I'm not putting these on! They smell like sweat...an old person's sweat Bob!"

"I didn't know the smell of sweat varied with age-"

"Dammit shut up, both of you! Put on the goddamn uniforms!"

Marie muttered a cuss before stepping into her dirty, oversized overall. Jack mimicked her and within seconds, we were all dressed.

"Over here! I heard some movements...and whispering...yes, definitely whispering."

For a moment there was no sound. I imagined them hunched over, their ears planed on the wooden door, straining to hear the whispers their colleague had heard. I wondered if we should start speaking, won't it be suspicious if we started making conversation the moment the door swung open?

 God I hope this works.

I tapped Marie on the shoulder and made circles in the air using my forefinger. Marie quirked an eyebrow at me, the corners of her mouth slowly lifting.

She was actually enjoying this.

I watched as Marie flipped her hair, placed her hand on her side and dramatically cleared her throat. I couldn't help but smile.

"So you know what to do? You've got your orders straight?"

The door knob rattled. We all angled our heads towards the door.

"You should be done in around 2 hours..."

The door swung open.

Showtime.

"No flirting with the nurses and no smoking in the hallway got it? If I hear any bad report...something about a guy in uniform harassing someone, y'all are fired..."

Both Jack and I nodded enthusiastically, each of us carrying a tool box we had found on the shelves.

"Head to the first floor and ask for-"

Marie cut her order shot, her eyes finally resting on the guards. I saw her place a hand over her chest, her mouth widening slightly. I almost sniggered. She was one hell of an actress.

"Excuse me, who are you?"

The voice resembled the one I had heard earlier. The one that was barking orders. The man with the booming voice. I gulped inaudibly.

"My name is Catherine Maina. I'm in charge of hospital maintenance and these are my employees. Who are you?"

I slowly crouched, my eyes fixated on my tool box. My face had been plastered all over the news. If one of them recognized me, I was screwed.

"There has been a breach. We are looking for the intruder...You wouldn't happen to know anything about this would you?"

There was a pause, a long one. I felt my face grow hot. My palms were already clammy with sweat.

"No...Can we go back to our jobs now? Some of us have to work for a living..."

I went still.

What the f**k was Marie doing?

I stole a glance at the man with the booming voice. Wait, was he smiling?

"You are a feisty one, aren't you Catherine? It's Catherine right? Well...I will let you go back to work."

With these words, he turned and left the room, his men in tow. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"Do you think they bought it?"

Jack asked staring unbelievingly at the retreating figures of the guards.

"Let's move before they snoop around and find out Catherine Maina doesn't exist."

We waited until the guards were out of sight before exiting the supply room with our new disguises. Marie had found a hospital card in the room and had tossed it over her head. We soon reached the ground floor of the hospital, our eyes set on the exit.

"Do we have a ride?" Jack asked his eyes sweeping the parking lot.

I expected to see a white d-max with Jango's hand waving us over. Nothing. A feeling of dread crawled in my stomach. It worsened when I heard Marie sigh.

"He left...I can't believe he left! We have to come up with another means of transport, fast."

"What do you mean he left? He was already here?" I asked. I was genuinely shocked that Jango would betray Marie. People from the ghetto always stuck together, maybe something had spooked him?

"I guess he went to meet with the dealer without me or something. How's Kimmy?"

The latter question took me by surprise.

"You know you could just head back in there and be with Sue right? And see your niece? She's needs you."

Marie scoffed. I realized I would never be able to fully understand her. How could siblings be so different?

And what about you and Darren? Are you so similar?

"Its not what I asked but I'll take it. It's obvious she is in recovery and out of danger."

I bobbed my head distractedly. My eyes were assessing our environment. I felt n***d without my cap. We needed to move, fast.

"Guys? We might have a problem."

Marie and I swiftly turned towards the direction Jack was facing. A nurse was pointing at us while talking to a guard.

"She's the nurse we bumped into while we were trying to get into the hospital."

The nurse was probably describing what had transpired between her and Jack. The guard raised his head and I immediately recognized him. It was the man with the booming voice. I saw recognition flash across his face. He shoved the nurse aside and began charging towards us.

Shit!

"Move Bob!"

We scurried away from the parking lot towards the gate. Marie let out a cuss, there was a guard at the exit.

"Stop! The hospital is on lock down, no one leaves."

All of us turned simultaneously to look at our pursuer, he was pursuing us alright.

"No time to play pretend."

In one fluid move, Jack hit the guy across the face sending him to the ground. We jumped over him and ran. Along the way, Jack and I got rid of our uniforms.

"Damn it! They've reached us!"

I frantically searched for a way out, I could not give up now. I was so close to being a free man. All I needed was more time. Time to fulfill my promise to Jere. Time to prove that I had been framed.

God please...

"Bob...I think I see our way out."

A lorry full of construction bricks passed us. There were young men perched on top of the bricks. They were laughing and teasing their companions who were straining to climb the vehicle.

Oh the love of free transport.

I signalled Jack towards the lorry. He gave me a curt nod.

"Marie! Marie! Will you be able to get on it?"

Marie glowered at me as if that was the world's worst insult. In order to prove a point, she took off her shoes, while running and handed them over to Jack. She then proceeded to fix her eyes intently at the back of the vehicle, and leapt onto it. Using the bricks to hold her weight, Marie pulled herself onto the stack of bricks and chose a place to sit. She shot us a gorgeous smile, I heard Jack swear under his breath. The men who had been attempting to climb the lorry wolf whistled. Like Jack and I, they were impressed. I was convinced that Marie would be the talk of the estates tonight. Jack followed suit and with much ease got beside Marie. It was my turn. Did I mention I had never gotten on a moving vehicle? I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I had my own car before my sixteenth birthday for crying out loud! We owned an automobile company forgodsakes!

"Stop!"

I briefly shifted my bodyweight to view my pursuers. One had turned into five, I wondered if they had figured out who I was. I accelerated my steps, determined to fight for my freedom. Silver spoon or not, I was getting on that lorry. I pretended I was at my gym, climbing training obstacles. I took in a huge lunge of air and heaved myself up the vehicle. I lost my footing and felt myself falling. Two hands emerged at the edge of the lorry and took both of mine, pulling me up. Once I was seated I expressed my gratitude to Jack and Marie. Both of them ignored me, choosing to stare ahead at nothing instead. Their similarities made me shudder. I watched as the guards came to an abrupt spot. Some of them were bent over, clutching their knees. I watched their leader who was busy scrawling something on what appeared to be a notepad. Number plate? Vehicle description? None of that mattered. Not for now at least.

The sun was setting and time was running out. God seemed to be on my side though. I had survived going back to prison three times now. I smiled, suddenly recalling Sue's words. If she had faith I could prove my innocence, then I could, and I would do whatever it took to get my life back. My phone vibrated and I fished it out of my pocket.

My smile widened then quickly vanished. Had something happened to Kimberly?

"Hello? Sue? Is everything alright?"

Her voice was urgent, fearful, hopeless.

"Darren knows Bob...You have to get rid of that phone..."

There was a pause, then static. I winced at the noise but didn't move the phone. Sue's voice returned, this time a low whisper.

"He is coming after you Bob..."