Part Three: The Last Southern Gentleman
Chapter 44
“MY NAME IS BOBBI,” she had been taught to say. Always her new name. Never the old one. Never, ever, Maggie Rose.
She was locked inside a dark van, or a covered truck. She wasn’t sure which. She had no idea where she was now. How far or how close to her home. She didn’t know how long it had been since she’d been taken away from her school.
Her thinking was clearer now. Almost back to normal. Someone had brought her clothes, which had to mean she wasn’t going to be hurt right away. Otherwise, why would they bother with the clothes?
The van or truck was filthy dirty. It had no rug or covering on the floor. It smelled like onions. Food must have been kept there. Where did they grow onions? Maggie Rose tried to remember. New Jersey and upstate New York. She thought there was also the smell of potatoes. Maybe turnips or sweet potatoes.
When she put it all together, when she focused her mind, Maggie Rose thought she was probably being held somewhere down South.
What else did she know? What else could she figure out?
She wasn’t being drugged anymore, not since the beginning. She didn’t think Mr. Soneji had been around for a few days. The scary old lady hadn’t been there, either.
They seldom talked to her. When she was spoken to, they called her Bobbi. Why Bobbi?
She was being so good about everything, but sometimes she needed to cry. Like now. She was choking on her own sobs. Not wanting anybody to hear her.
There was only one thing that gave her strength. It was so simple, but it was powerful.
She was alive.
She wanted to stay alive more than anything.
Maggie Rose hadn’t noticed that the truck was slowing down. It was bumpy going for a while. Then the vehicle came to a full stop.
She heard someone getting out of the cab up front. Muffled words were spoken. She’d been told not to talk in the truck, or she’d be gagged again.
Someone pushed open the sliding door. Sunlight burst in on her. She couldn’t see anything at first.
When she finally could make something out, Maggie Rose couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Hello,” she said in the softest whisper, almost as if she had no voice. “My name is Bobbi.”