Don't Feed Me, I Will Come Back

in the beginning

11:58pm
April 14th, 2001

"Okay, kid," Zeppelin sniffed, unfolding the crinkled map across her weathered green bedspread. "Once it hits midnight, I want you to close your eyes, stick your finger someplace on the map, and that's where we'll go."

Her younger brother scrunched his nose, hesitation muddying his crisp blue eyes. "Why me?" His hair flopped over his face with that boyish innocence most twelve year olds seem to have, the dark brown, almost black color one of the few similarities between the half siblings.

  "Because I don't really give a shit where we go," Z admitted, crossing her legs and leaning back against the cheap plaster wall. "As long as we get out of here, Benji."

  He rolled his eyes, mimicking her position against the wall as they stared at the alarm clock perched on the nightstand. Zeppelin's best friend Veronica had given her the hot pink box that also served as a CD player, knowing their parents would never have cared enough to buy her something she might actually need and enjoy.

  That was eight years ago, and it's been weeks since she'd seen or spoken to her old friend..

  "When I'm eighteen, will you stop calling me Benji?" Her brother interrupted her thoughts as he leaned forward and squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself to play pin the tail on their escape plan. "I'd like to think I'd be the type of man who goes by Benjamin. Full names are baller."

  "Fat chance," Z snickered, her gaze lingering on the clock. Just a few more seconds, and she'd be old enough to get an apartment somewhere, find a job and put Benji in school or do it herself if she had to. Whatever it took to ensure they would escape this hell of a home and never look back.

  "You ready?" She whispered, watching his small finger hovering over the map, arcing in wide circles.

  "Ready," he breathed.

  12:00pm

  "Now."

  He slapped his finger down, softly enough as to not rip through the thin paper, almost cringing when he opened one eye to peer at the location.

  Z would've burst out laughing if she didn't fear waking her mother and stepfather.

  "Atlanta? Seriously?" Her shoulder shook with the silent giggles, shaking her head as she shoved Benji on his arm playfully. "I tell you to pick anywhere on this map of the United States and you end up two hundred miles north?"

  He sighed, his shoulders sinking as he stared at the map in disbelief. "I can do it again," he mumbled.

  "Oh, no, no," she argued, folding the map back up and tossing it next to the alarm clock. "Atlanta's fine. Plenty of work there and hey, makes our drive that much easier!"

  He nodded slowly, thoughtfully, twisting his head to gaze out the thin, glass windowpane. The moonlight illuminated the plains of his face, which had already shed the roundness of youth a long time ago due to the lack of stable meals until Z was able to find odd jobs around town. His sharp cheekbones and angled nose were the other features they shared, though their eyes were wildly different. Both framed by thick, dark lashes, his were the color of a glacier in the ocean, while hers were the same green as a forest in spring.