The Girl in the Big Shirt - Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Luz grips the bottom cushion of her seat hard, her fingernails dig into the plush fabric as the van lurches forward suddenly. The engine groans from the effort, and the strangers in sunglasses all exclaim and point. The Luz lifts off her seat slightly as the van jostles violently. They just mounted the curb.

“Holy fuck!” Luz shouts, “Mom?”

“Not the time for conversation! Shit!” Eda shouts, spinning the wheel wildly. Luz squeaks as they just barely avoid a lamppost. They drive over the cracked sidewalk before stumbling back onto the road. “You need to trust me kiddo, these guys are bad news.” Mom finally says, slamming the gas and running a red light in the process.

Luz is about to shout, scream about how this is crazy, about how Mom has clearly lost her mind. Just then she hears horns blaring behind her. She quickly peeks out the window, looking back through the side mirror, and her heart jumps hard in her chest. The black SUVs are following them. The vehicles swerve and veer around the sparse mid morning traffic. Mom growls, and the van whips into an empty left turn lane.

“Holy shit, Holy shit!” Luz yells, bracing with her feet against the floor as she practically crawls out of her seat. Eda steers them on through the left turn lane, straight into oncoming traffic. Mom blares the horn, and the little Miata that was making a lane change gets out of the way just in time. They careen through the narrow opening between the car and the median.

Luz shrieks as Eda slams on the brakes. She’s thrown forward, or would be save for the seat belt holding her back. Mom doesn't miss a beat, turning the wheel with a strange confidence. The van skids on asphalt, before a loud bang echoes through the interior as she drives over the median and back into their lane.

“Oh god. Aye Dios!”

“You're doing great kid, I need you to do a little more though.” Mom says putting a hand on Luz's clenched one. She manages to drag her eyes away from the road to look at her step mom. Who looks eerily calm. Luz nods. “Atta girl, grab my phone out of my purse.”

“Phone, right.” Luz reaches down between her legs, fumbling with the leather bag for a minute.

“Fuck! You gotta be kidding me. One sec!” Luz barely sits back up before the tires skip, the van swaying side to side as the brakes screech and two black SUVs shoot past them. Luz sees the vehicles, sees the snarling woman in the driver’s seat of one racing vehicle.

Luz swallows as her eyes fly wide. The gun the woman has in one hand flashes as she points it out her window.

“GET DOWN!” Eda screams, a hand roughly shoves Luz forward while Mom floors it. Several loud popping sounds ring out, audible even over the sounds of the van. Luz yelps as something ricochets off the exterior of the vehicle, all the while Mom’s hand keeps her down and out of the way. They’re shooting at them. “FUCK! Okay, okay… here we go.” She hears Mom mutter, what is this? Luz covers her neck as another volley of popping sounds fill the air outside. Another ricochet pings off the side, then she hears glass shatter. The van sways and jolts, and Luz curls up tighter as they drive over something.

“This is crazy! This is crazy!! THIS IS CRAZY!” She yells, her voice quickly rising to a scream. Her heart is hammering so hard in her chest she’s sure it’ll burst, her muscles are drawn so tight it hurts, and she’s screaming so loud her throat already feels raw.

“Kid. Kid, Luz. It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay I promise. You’re safe with me.” Mom says, turning rapidly, eyes glued to the road ahead of her. “One more, hang on!” Luz clenches her eyes shut, and hangs onto her seat as the van turns sharply she bumps into her door. The tires squeal, the tired old engine roars. Then Mom swerves the other way, and laughs loudly. “SEE YA, SUCKERS!” Eda stops swerving, and then slows down to a much more reasonable pace. The pressure on Luz’s back fades, and then she slowly sits up. She looks back through the side view mirror, and sees nothing but a few scattered cars behind them while they turn up a highway ramp. “Lost them, see? Told you I had it under control.” Mom says matter of factly, and Luz looks at her as a frantic energy runs through her body.

“What? The!? FUCK?!?!” Luz cries shrilly, throwing her hands up in the air, “What was that? Were we just in a fucking car chase?!? They shot at us??! THEY SHOT AT US! How are you so calm?!” Luz all but shrieks, her skin feeling like a live wire. She wants to crawl out of her seat and or skin.

“Kid-” Mom tries, but Luz ignores her in favor of looking over her left shoulder.

“OH GOD, Amity!” She says, quickly undoes her seatbelt and scrambles into the back. The broken glass crunches underfoot as she fumbles with the knots a few times, “Fuck!” After another few moments of making no progress, she groans then goes for her pocket knife. “Shit. What the shit…” She mutters while cutting the ties, then she yelps when she nicks her finger. Mom silently keeps them rumbling down the highway as Luz opens the footlocker. Amity looks up at her with teary eyes, her face scrunching up the instant the lid is open. Luz lifts her out of the locker without a second thought, “I’ve got you. It’s alright now. We got away.” She soothes.

“Don’t-d-don-don’t disappear.” Amity whispers, and Luz somehow manages to carry her while also trying not to eat shit in the moving vehicle. Amity’s wracked sobs pierce right through her ears and burrow deep in her mind. God, how fucking terrifying that must have been.

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Don’t go to sleep forever, okay?” Amity asks, clinging to her arm with thin fingers, “Please!”

“I… won’t.” Luz says, suddenly realizing what Amity must mean by all of that talk of disappearing and sleeping, holy fuck. She sways again, but this time it’s not from the motion of the van. It takes a bit of effort, and a lot of swearing, but she manages to get herself back in her seat, and manages to get Amity on her lap. After she’s sure they’re both buckled in, she stares out the windshield. The road zips by underneath them, the yellow lines almost seem like a flashing light of some kind. Minutes pass in utter silence, save for Amity’s whimpering and sniffling. The buildings around them get shorter and shorter, and Luz takes a long, shaky sigh. The tension in her body melts away, and she slouches against her seat.

“Luz?” Mom finally asks, “You okay?”

“No. This is insane, what the fuck is… what was? How?”

“Breathe kid, just focus on breathing.” Mom answers smoothly, she leans forward on a straightaway to snatch up her own purse. Luz blinks, and looks down at Amity’s head.

“Oh right, the purse… sorry.” Luz mutters, Mom ruffles her beanie around with a soft grin, she closes her eyes as her hair droops into her face.

“Nah, you’re good. Promise.” Mom says, “Gimme a minute, I need to call someone.” She seems to deflate at that, like she’s REALLLLY not looking forward to this. Amity whimpers, and Luz pulls the girl closer, wrapping her arms around her like she can keep her safe from all the insanity surrounding them. “Pick up, pick up you fuck.” Mom mutters, frowning at the road ahead with her phone squished between her cheek and shoulder. “Pick up you lousy-no-good-cowardly-spineless-son-of-a- HEY Morton! It’s E.” She fumbles with the phone, before putting it on speaker and plopping it on the dashboard. A tinny voice rings out through the van.

“Eda?! Why are you-”

“SO Morton, I need a favor.” Eda cuts this Morton guy off, “It’s kind of an emergency.” All the while, Mom has her head on a swivel. Luz is just focused on keeping Amity calm. Though that doesn't seem strictly necessary, the girl hasn't yelled or cried or screamed at all. In fact, she seems calmer than either herself or Mom. “I’m in trouble. I’ve got my kids with me and we need to ditch this ride, it’s been made. Whaddya got?”

“Awwwe, your kids?? Ar-”

“MORTON!”

“Right E, I’ll have to get approval from-”

“MORTON!!!” Eda shouts. Luz yelps as Eda’s head snaps to the passenger side window. Luz follows her gaze, and sees a (thankfully) unrelated black van drive by. “Okay coast is clear, damnit Morton we’ve got thugs after us! We’ve got a trafficked kid here! Work with me!” Luz’s heart drops at her mother’s words, trafficked? Like… she looks down at the still indifferent Amity and wonders. Amity called that scary sunglasses lady ‘Mommy’, so how the hell could she be trafficked? She can hear this Morton person hum and haw.

“O-Okay, give me a minute. I'll see what I can do.” He says.

“Make it 30 seconds and you've got a deal.” Eda counters, swerving around a station wagon going 15 miles under the speed limit. She flips them off while keeping her eyes locked on the road.

“Right. Okay, I’ve got a car in a parkade on Northwest Naito Parkway. Just below the top floor.” Morton says, drawing out his words. Luz swears she can hear loud clacking as he talks. “And I can get you some supplies too, delivery box at Whole Foods, Northwest Couch at Northwest 12th. A burner phone, first aid, and I’ll get you some guns too.”

“We don’t need guns Mort, it isn’t gonna come to that.” Eda barks, pulling to a stop at a red light. Luz squirms in her seat, constantly checking the side view mirror. She fully expects to see an army of black SUVs rushing them. Instead she sees the lady in the station wagon from before, some old grandma.

“E, knowing you it’s gon-”

“Mort! Shut it! Just get us the supplies and the car. Where’s the key for it?”

“Tell the parking attendant that ‘M needs a hand.’” Morton says, “That’s the code phrase.”

“Okay, we’re heading to the parkade now.” Mom says, accelerating slowly through the now green light. “Thanks Mort, bye.”

“Be careful-” Morton manages to say before Eda snatches the phone and hangs it up. The older woman sighs while she flicks on the right turn signal. Luz pulls Amity closer, and the girl starts to hum like nothing in the world is wrong at all. Luz tries, she really does. She looks out the window, still scanning, her heart jumping up her throat every time she sees a black vehicle. She clenches her fists. She grits her teeth. Mom’s just driving silently, and seemingly refusing to meet Luz’s eye. Luz slams her hands on the dashboard, and the other two jump at the sound.

“WHAT THE HELL!?” Luz shouts, her blood boiling. “WHAT THE FUCK?? WHO’S MORTON? MORE GUNS?!? WHY WERE BAD GUYS FROM A MOVIE CHASING US!??!?”

“Luz, easy…”

“No! Why should I be easy? What’s happening? Is Amity trafficked? Like sex trafficked?! What? Huh?!?! WHo?!?!?!” Luz rants, her muscles tremble as she clenches hard. “Will someone tell me what’s going on?”

“Luz, the kid.” Mom says gently, and Luz looks down at Amity. The girl is still in her lap, but she’s almost shrinking in on herself. Her head is bowed, and Luz thinks she can barely hear the slightest whimper. It feels like her blood freezes, she could smack herself in the head. God, whatever she's feeling… the last thing a little girl would want is for people to scream about her.

“Amity?”

“M’sorry. Didn't mean to… Didn't want to ask for help.” Amity murmurs and she whips her hands around in jerky motions. Luz bites her lip, looking at Mom for a minute as her throat stings.

“No Amity, I'm sorry. It's good that you asked for help, I shouldn't have yelled.” She says, “Can I give you a little hug?” Amity sniffles, then nods. Luz shifts slightly, and wraps her arms snugly around the thin girl. Amity grabs her forearm with both her thin little hands. Amity doesn't cry, but she does huff and sniffle a bit. Luz's heart cracks at the sound. “I’m sorry. I promise that we’re gonna keep you safe.” She tells Amity as she looks over at her mom. “Promise.”

Mom drives them around for about 20 minutes before pulling up to a dingy old concrete parkade. The attendant looks half asleep as Eda stops near their booth.

“Hey.” Mom says casually, “How ya doin’ today?” The pimply teen blinks at her, scratching their head.

“Yeah, whatever. Whaddyah want?” They say.

“M needs help.” Mom says. It's like night and day, the teens sits up and ditches the working zombie mode.

“Of course ma’am, it’s in stall 512.” They say, handing her a key. They park Eda’s van right next to an old green station wagon, buckle Amity up in the back seat, then both of them settle in the front. Mom wordlessly starts the car, and they drive out of the parkade without incident. All three of them are silent as they navigate through downtown Portland, the city itself seemingly indifferent to the madness they've been thrown into. Fifteen minutes later they stop at the Whole Foods that Morton mentioned. Eda is only in there for a few minutes max, before she's packed out with a black backpack.

“Got more guns in there?” Luz asks.

“One, Morton didn’t fuckin listen to me. It’s mostly clothes and snacks and shit.” Mom answers. If she can hear the slight dose of venom in Luz’s voice, she doesn’t say anything about it. “Now we lay low, don’t text anyone either.” Luz opens her mouth to argue, but thinks better of it. If these people are willing to chase them down, then she definitely doesn't want to involve mama or Willow. They drive in near silence, save for Amity’s absent-minded humming in the backseat. They drive straight out of town, and just keep on driving. The town gives way to rural countryside, and Luz stews over everything that's gone down.

It's 6:30 at night when Eda finally pulls into a skeevy looking motel called the Casa Sunshine. Ten minutes later they have a room, and Luz climbs out of the car, groaning at the stiffness in her back from sitting for so long. Eda rummages through the bag, and tosses Luz a handful of clothes.

“Why don't you help Amity get changed out of that raggy lot huh?” Eda says before jerking a thumb behind her, “I’ll bring the rest of the stuff.”

“Sure. C’mon Ams.” Luz says, “Let’s go get changed okay?”

“Okay!” Amity chirps, taking Luz’s hand before following her up the corrugated metal stairs. The stairway turns back on itself before reaching the second level. Their breaths come out in little puffs of mist, and she can hear the low buzz of the transmission power lines across the silent highway. She can hear each of her steps as they make their way to the room, the jangle of the key against the lock is nearly deafening. Thank goodness that the inside is a bit quieter, if not dingy. The carpet is clearly dated, from the late 70s or something. The kind that looks like a calico cat; all weirdly orange and dark brown. Two queen beds flank the main living space, standing opposite of a small dresser with an old TV on it, there’s an ancient old wood bistro table right in front of the door. Luz drops her purse on it, and the table wobbles violently. Okay, it’s definitely not wood. She shuts the door and locks it, before sighing as her shoulders sag.

“Alright, let’s get you-” Luz stops in her tracks, mouth agape, eyes wide. Amity has stripped completely naked in the blink of an eye, she’s standing there with her hands behind her back. She’s swaying side to side slightly. Luz barely registers what she’s looking at before her eyes are inevitably drawn to her sternum. Her pale skin is broken up by vibrant marks. “... dressed…” Luz finishes numbly. She kneels, grabbing the fresh shirt as she goes down. A gold triangle, the top point directly lining up with the center of her collarbone. Angelic wings frame a sword pointing down. There’s a circle in the center. It’s… A tattoo.

Amity has a tattoo on her chest. Luz’s blood runs cold. Despite the rising pressure in her own chest, she tries to keep the mood light hearted.

“Wanna get this on?” Luz asks. Amity steps closer, keeping her hands behind her back. In hindsight, Luz should have seen what happened next coming from a mile away. Especially if what Eda has speculated about Amity is true. Luz moves to pull the shirt over Amity’s body at the same time Amity closes the distance. Luz feels lips press against hers. Amity is-Amity is kissing her.

Alarm bells ring out loud and clear in her head. Bile rises violently in her throat, she drops the shirt and grabs the small girl’s shoulders. Amity gasps as Luz pushes her away, and for an instant neither of them move. Then Amity frowns, and tilts her head.

“Do you not want me?” Amity asks, and Luz barely keeps it down.

“Wh-what?”

“Do you not want to fuck me?” Amity asks again, and Luz actually does heave. Her throat burns, and her eyes water. Amity’s words echo in her head over and over again, louder and louder each damn time. Her grip on Amity loosens, and she starts to shake a little.

“No.” Luz says, “Grown ups shouldn’t do that to kids.”

“They do all the time.” Amity says plainly, “Daddy loves it. I thought you’d want to.”

“No Amity, that’s wrong. You shouldn’t do those things until you’re older; and only if you actually want to.” Luz explains, failing to hold back all her tears.

“Really?” Amity asks in the tiniest voice Luz has ever heard. Luz nods, and grabs the shirt again.

“I promise, I won’t let anyone hurt you again.” Luz says, “Arms up?” Amity lifts her arms up, and Luz pulls the shirt over her head. “There, why don’t you put on some fresh undies hmm?” Amity nods, and grabs some underwear before putting them on. Amity’s expression has fallen to a relaxed neutral. Luz helps her into pajama shorts, then fixes her wild hair. “There, all dressed. Comfy?” She asks. Amity throws herself at Luz again, only this time she doesn’t try to kiss her. Instead she huffs softly.

“I don’t like it when Daddy does it.” Amity says, “I don’t want to go back to Mommy and Daddy.” Luz holds her, sitting there while Amity sobs quietly in her arms. It’s all true. Amity’s a victim of human trafficking. She has a tattoo, a brand, to mark her as property. This Daddy and Mommy’s property. This is, so fucking far beyond anything she's comfortable with. This is way fucking out of her wheelhouse. Mom unlocks the door and steps in with an armful of stuff, and Luz looks up at her.

“Come on Ams, let’s get you something to eat. Then we should get some rest huh?” Luz says, standing up and turning away from Mom to lead the girl to the table. This has been the weirdest, scariest; most insane day of her life.

No matter what it takes, she’s going to keep her promise to Amity. Her promise, but right now, she’s gonna get some answers.