Sparrow's Story - A Girl Defiant

Chapter 30

It's 10:15 PM and Sparrow has to meet Magda at 11:25. Magda's given her a window of 18 minutes, and then she'll leave. 

The twins are asleep and Dad's working in his office. Nate's light is on, but Sparrow doesn't hear music or blasters through the wall, so he's got to be wearing his headphones.

Nate's jeans bag around her legs, but Evan's belt keeps them on her hips. The sweatshirt completely covers her butt. She twists her hair and pulls the hood over it, then checks her reflection. As long as she keeps the hood up and avoids street lights, she can pass for a Muir Mustang.

Sparrow reaches into her tampon box for the money, but the roll of bills is a fraction of what it was yesterday, and the rubber band around it is gone. "Goddammit, Willie." She counts the bills. He's stolen three thousand of the nine she started with. 

She stuffs the bills in her pocket. She's tempted to haul Will out of bed, and demand he give it back, but she can't risk Dad hearing and she doesn't have time. 

"Fine," she mutters. "Keep it. I hope it makes you happy."

Sparrow's running shoes are silent on the carpeted stairs. She can hear the late night news on in Dad's office. 

She creeps across the kitchen floor, and slowly turns the deadbolt. The click is louder than she remembered, and she holds her breath, but the door opens without a squeak, and now she's outside.

The path lighting in the back is still on, so Sparrow ducks into the shadows along the wood fence. When she sees the neighbor's garage on the other side, she pulls herself up and over the fence, and drops into their yard.

Harper's bike leans against the side of the garage, and Sparrow's thrilled to see he hasn't changed his lazy habits. The bike's unlocked. She drops five hundred into his helmet, leaving it for him to find. It doesn't cover the cost of a new bike, but he should have locked it.

Sparrow pulls the hood almost over her eyes, so the neighborhood street cams can't easily ID her, then she mounts the bike and sails down the hills, following the route she mapped to balance travel time against exposure.  

She turns off Oakwood to avoid the community gatehouse, and heads for the dirt path that runs along the flood control channel. There, she dismounts and walks the bike. Leaves crackle under the wheels, but the dogs who live here must all be inside, because when she passes people's yards, they're quiet. 

Finally, she pushes through some oleanders and comes out on a street about a mile below her house. The route's mostly downhill from here, and Sparrow throws herself on the bike and pedals.  The faster she gets off the streets the better. 

For the first three miles, the route takes her past homes, but then there's a short leg she can't avoid that's commercial. She watches the pavement ahead and listens for cars behind. At the first hint of a car, she steers off the road and tucks into a dark spot until it passes.

There's a crowd at the floodlit Jack in the Box, but the driveway Sparrow's looking for comes right before it. A tall hedge shields her from the restaurant parking lot. The heliport gate is chainlink topped with razor wire, but it's unlocked so she pushes through. The building marked office is closed, but a private helicopter waits in a circle of  parked news choppers.

  A slender woman in a leather jacket and pants climbs out of the copter, followed by a man who could lift an SUV without a jack. 

The woman's dark hair swings over her shoulders. Her lipstick is very red and her eyebrows are arched and sharp. She strides towards Sparrow, holding out a gloved hand. "Good to see you, Sparrow. I'm Magda."