Chapter 32

They had slipped out of the house while her mother showered. Jordan was dropped at the first intersection. Stacey drove to the other possible location. Their plan was simple, when Jordan’s mother’s car was spotted, stop her. Her mother had a bright yellow sunflower attached to the antennae of the car- it was her way of finding her gray car in the parking lots. This would be the only way either girl would spot the car in time.

Earlier they had tried to flatten one of her mother’s tires, but with her father’s tools locked in the cabinet and neither girl smart enough to figure out how to do it- they both knew they would have to carry out their original plan. Mostly the fear of being caught caused their failure and they knew that in order to stop the disaster-there would be a lot to explain no matter what.

Jordan stood at the most likely place that her mother would travel. She didn’t want the burden on Stacey if they failed. She hugged herself as people passed her on the sidewalk. Business men in suits, women walking hand in hand with toddlers, the smell of coffee from the café’ across the street and traffic whoosing by filled her senses and she shook herself to focus.

Glancing at her watch, she almost missed the yellow flower bobbing in the wind as her mother’s car approached. She was about 100 yards from the intersection and Jordan prepared herself. This was it. She either stopped her mom or she’d witness her death.

Without another thought, Jordan dashed out into the street, narrowly avoiding the cars that whizzed by. She threw up her hands and waved them, yelling for her mother to stop. Instead a delivery truck swung out from its parking place and skidded to a stop, the driver hanging out his window screaming at her to get out of his way.

Jordan glanced at her watch, one minute before the event and she couldn’t help but wonder about her father. Instead of moving, she held her ground, the traffic behind the truck honking for the driver to move. They couldn’t see her, which meant her mother couldn’t see her either. Smiling, Jordan crossed her arms and stood there.

     Really ticked off, the driver jumped from his truck, his door hanging open, and he stalked toward her.

“What is your problem, kid?” he yelled. “Get out of my way! I’m gonna call the cops if you don’t move!”

Jordan just tilted her head as if she didn’t understand. Rather than continue yelling, the man stormed back to his truck muttering that he was calling the cops. People stood watching from the curbs and Jordan was relieved to see that she knew none of them. The fuming man climbed into his truck and produced a cell phone. Jordan glanced at her watch, 9:03. She took off running. Behind her she heard the truck driver’s angry curses, the rumble of a heavy Semi blocking it out as it blasted through the intersection in the opposite direction. She didn’t turn to look, presenting a backward wave at the driver as she rounded the corner.

     Then she peered from around the corner as traffic began to move, holding her breath in fear. Had her mother seen her? Would delaying the event even matter?  Her mother’s car approached the intersection and Jordan jerked her gaze from left to right searching for impending disaster. The light turned green and her mother’s car safely sailed through. It was evident that her mother was oblivious to Jordan’s presence. Shaking from the adrenaline rush, Jordan pulled out her cell phone to call Stacey. They had lucked out and her mother was safe. In the back of her mind, she wondered if her father had been so lucky.