The One Who Was Taught To Survive

I stared out the window of the bus carrying me to my new home. I leaned my head against the window, I was so exhausted. Three buses and 69 hours later I could see the lights as we started pulling into town. I saw the city limit sign “HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA” and knew we were close. I had my ear plugs in listening to a random playlist I’d made before leaving home, well maybe not home, from where I used to live.

As the bus slowed down closed to what looked like the pier I gathered up my belongings, luckily most of the other riders had gotten off in LA. Most people don’t need a ride when their destination is only an hour away. I thought about staying in LA but I’d heard all about the violence and crime rate and decided that I needed to look somewhere that was a bit safer. After all, most places now days isn’t safe for adults, let alone a seventeen year old runaway.

As the bus halted, I stood grabbing my large duffel bag that I’d been able to say was a carry on and exited the bus. The warm air hit my face and I felt myself amazed that it was fall. The California air, though a tad chilly because of the ocean being so close by, was warmer than what New York usually was this time of year. When I’d left, New York was around 36 degrees, I knew that it had to be at least 60 here.

As I took in my surroundings I tried to decide what I wanted to do first, I knew I needed to find a place for shelter before it got too late, it was already midnight and thanks to my natural internal clock, I felt like it was already 3am. I sighed and thought about how much money I had, I’d stolen about two-grand from my Step-Father before I left and I sold my BMW that he’d bought me. We lived in New York, no one needed a car, especially not one that fancy. Traffic was always a mess and there were too many opportunities for public transportation.

Total I had about four grand, I had enough to where I could get an apartment, but let’s be real, I wouldn’t be able to work a job that required a social security number. I wasn’t going to be River Atkins anymore, I was going to be River Rhoades, teenager at large. “I’ll get a hotel room tonight and decide on an apartment tomorrow.” I decided talking to myself, I was sure I’d be able to find one that was only $500 dollars. After all, I didn’t need much room, just a studio would be enough. However, I’d need food and electricity and all that jazz, I had to be careful.

I chewed on my lip as my stomach growled, it’d been about 48 hours since I’d had a decent meal. Usually when the bus stopped it was just long enough for me to get through the line for the bathroom and grab a snack before they were hollering for us to get back on. That’s the lucky stops though, other stops we barely had enough time to get through the lines for the bathrooms before we were being rushed back to the bus.

I sighed, I needed to find a hotel, and fast so I could go eat. I saw a sign for “The Huntington Beach Inn” and decided that would do for now until I figured what I was going to do. I walked into the lobby and the attendant at the desk looked halfway asleep, “Hey can I get a room?”

The attendant looked at me suspiciously, “Are you old enough to get a room?”

“I’m 21 and am requesting a room,” I stated matter of factly. Thank god I could pull off looking older than I was.

“May I see your I.D. ma’am?” he insisted.

“Look, I forgot my I.D. all I have is cash. I’m just looking for a room for one night,” I told him trying to hold my temper back.

He nodded and looked through their system, “We have a room for 99 dollars, with a 30 dollar tip I won’t insist on a form of identification.”

I handed him $130 dollars, “Here you go.”

He looked astonished, as though he didn’t expect me to actually have the cash like I told him I did. It took a moment but he accepted the cash and booked the room for me. “Room 321, elevator is on the left, do you have any luggage you need assistance with?”

I shook my head and took the key from him, “I’m good, thank-you though.” I carried my duffel over to the elevator and took it up to the third floor. I saw a sign saying that 21 was to the left and I followed the hallway down until I got to the last room on the left hand side. I slid the key in and the electronic reader clicked allowing me to enter.

The room was more spacious than I imagined it would be, there was a big King sized bed in the middle of the living area, there was a 48 inch TV on top of the dresser cabinet. The bathroom was big enough to basically do your business and get out. There was a chair that sat in the corner and there was a sliding glass door to the balcony which had looked directly over the ocean.

I sighed looking out, I felt free and safe, amazing that I felt safer on my own than I did back in New York. As I changed into a new bra, panties, black tank-top, and jeans I noticed the purplish mark on my arm. The bruise from where he grabbed me. My mom had seen all the bruises before, she’d seen the busted lip he’d given me. She never cared, he’d succeeded in coercing her into believing that he was always right and I was always wrong.

I’m sure they’d noticed I was missing by now, but they wouldn’t know where I went. Even if there were cameras at the bus depots. They didn’t have cameras everywhere and I didn’t get off the third bus in LA. They’ll assume that I got off somewhere along the way in a big city. Honestly I’d had enough of big cities, too many things could go wrong. This quiet town I’d picked seemed like it had potential to be a permanent home.

My stomach gurgled again, reminding me that I needed to go figure out what I was going to eat. I pulled out the wallet I had on me, as I had literally 8 different ones with about 200 dollars each in them and then the rest scattered between different pairs of socks, this way if someone broke into my bag, they’d only get a portion of my money and not all of it. I couldn’t take any chances, and kept my duffel bag with me at all times, unless like this instance, it was in a secure spot. I looked under the bed and saw there was just enough space for me to stash my bag there before grabbing my jacket and key then walked out the door in search of some food.

After about 20 minutes of walking I came across a small strip mall, in it there was a place called Johnny’s. I went inside seeing that they were offering food. The place seemed pretty slow, must be a local’s only bar. I figured with it being California that there was another bar somewhere else that was geared towards tourists. However, I liked the atmosphere of this place, there were a few kids that looked to be around my age that were hanging out in a corner booth, drinking what looked like beer but that couldn’t be. I shrugged and made my way over to an empty booth before a waitress came up.

“Hey sweetheart, how old are you?” The waitress asked me, her name-tag reading ‘Bobby’.

“I know I’m young, I’m 18, but I just got into town and I’m starving,” I explained softly not wanting to alert everyone.

“Where are your parents?” she asked carefully.

I shrugged, “I don’t know. I just got hungry so I came in search of food, this was the first place I saw.”

She nodded, “Well we have pizza, what kind would you like?”

“Pepperoni and Sausage please?” I asked, “Just a personal pan or if you sell by the slice 3 slices please with ranch dressing.”

“Alright, three slices of pepperoni and sausage pizza with a side of ranch dressing, anything to drink?” She asked as she wrote everything down.

“Just a coke please,” I smiled slightly trying to stay on this lady’s good side.

“Alright, I’ll have that right out for you,” she smiled sweetly back at me before walking back to the bar.

She gave the kitchen my order and filled my coke, the place was very cozy. The lighting was dim, there were pool tables lined up along the far edge of the bar where those kids I’d mentioned earlier were. God they were loud, I slowly felt my anxiety creeping up as Bobby brought back my coke. “You sure you’re alright baby doll?” she asked me obviously seeing the look on my face.

I nodded, “Sorry, just loud noises sometimes don’t mesh well. I’m River by the way.”

“I’m Bobby, I am the bar manager. Where are you from?” She asked as she sat across from me.

“Originally New Jersey but I kinda move around a lot,” I deflected giving her part of the answer she was looking for. I had been born in Newark, New Jersey and we moved to the city when I was 12, when my mom had married Kevin. God I hated that man.

Bobby watched my movements as I nervously glanced over at the kids in back, “Who are they?” I nodded in their direction.

Bobby smiled looking at the group of boys, “Those are the orneriest bunch of kids I think I’ve ever met in my life. They’re good kids though, just a bit rowdy. They like to spark up the old cats in the bar. I can introduce you to them if you’d like?” she asked.

I shook my head almost immediately, “No, it’s okay, I’m sure I’ll meet them at school if they go to Huntington High.”

“I believe they do, I’ll be right back, that pizza should be just about up,” she stood and walked back to the kitchen and grabbed the plate sitting in the window with a bowl of ranch next to it. She brought it back to the table and set it down in front of me, “Here you go. I’ll let you eat, but if you ever need anything, give me a call. I’ll put my work number and my cell number.” She wrote down her number on a napkin real quick and handed it to me. “The meal is on the house, welcome to Huntington Beach.”

“Thank-you Bobby,” I smiled slightly as she walked away.

“Brian! Put that chair down, you break it you buy it!” She yelled at one of the guys in the back corner.

“Aww but Aunt Bobby, that’s not fair, Jimmy started talking shit!” The guy I’m assuming named Brian stated. I shook my head, boys are so damn immature.

“I don’t give a damn who fucking started what. You break it you buy it, don’t make me call your father,” Bobby threatened as the boys all rang out in a chorus of “ooooo”. “Also, keep it down, we have new patrons and they’re not used to you rowdy assholes.” She joked.

“Alright, we’ll keep it down,” Brian said then turned back to his friends.

I giggled a bit and ate my pizza so quick I swear it only took 30 seconds…well maybe not that fast, but it was clear that I was hungry as fuck. I finished my coke and stood pulling out a $20 and threw it on the table as a tip. I waved at Bobby who hadn’t really let me out of her sight until now.

She waved back as I exited the bar, I hope she really knew how much I appreciated her help. “Fuck I gotta get enrolled in school too,” I thought to myself. I shook my head, another project for Monday, since it was already 1:30 am on Saturday. I walked briskly back to the hotel and stopped at the vending machine before going to my room.

After I got settled, putting a soda in the fridge and the poptarts I’d gotten out of the vending machine on the dresser; I decided to get ready for bed. I stripped off my jeans and bra, staying just in my t-shirt and panties. I knew it was unconventional but I was finally on my own, no one to tell me how to dress or act. As I sunk down into the bed I sighed happily and turned out the light. Falling asleep almost instantly.

Notes

Hey guys, new story that came to me while I was at work today, let me know what you think.