The cardboard suitcase I used for camp last year is in bad shape, but it is all I have. The drizzly rain is not doing it or me any good. With the few dollars I have saved nickel by nickel into my piggy bank, there should be enough for me to run away from home for ever. My cute, but nasty little brother, Barry, is an angel /devil who plays jokes on everyone, who sometimes lies and cheats. Mother blames me for not teaching him right from wrong and punishes me in all kinds of ways.
Now I am eleven and am protecting myself. Yesterday she stopped my allowance because Barry threw a mud pie at the baby collie that lives next door and I should have stopped him. ‘Young lady,’ she screamed at me. ‘Why weren’t you watching your brother? How would you like him to throw a mud pie at you? You had better teach him right, like I am teaching you. Get in the house and wash the kitchen floor.’ I was so angry I back sassed her and told her off good. ‘You’re the mother, Mother. You are supposed to teach him, not me.’ The two slaps on my face didn’t make me cry. I just turned away and went to my room, thinking all the way.
Where can I go? Where can I hide? All night I racked my brain, trying to figure out how to get my suitcase out of the house without anyone seeing. Ah ha! I’ll let her see it and I’ll lie. After breakfast I tell her my class is giving a play today about orphans and I offered my cardboard suitcase to Martha. She was going to be the Superior. Mama actually smiled and told me that was kind of me but added, ‘Tell Martha to be careful with it because you might need it again this summer.’ My plan was working. She gave me a peanut butter sandwich and a tangerine for lunch and sent me down the cellar to put a load of clothes in to wash.
Free, free at last. The #25 street car is only two blocks away. It clanged and stopped for me. I put my nickel in the box, heard it clink, and asked for a transfer to car #39. ‘Mr. Conductor, will you please tell me when to get off for #39?’ ‘Sure, Cutie, sit close where I can see you and I’ll let you know.’ When he motioned to me, I think I wet my panties a little and didn’t want to stand up but I had to. I put my little suitcase behind my tushy and almost jumped off the step onto the platform.
I was already downtown. Shoppers were going in and out of the ladies’ stores, the 5 & 10. Woolworth was better than McCrory my mother told me a dozen times so I went in there, sat down at the soda fountain and ordered a malted milk shake. The waitress asked for my fifteen cents before she would make it. I took a quarter from my shoe and told her, like my Daddy does sometimes, ‘Keep the change.’
From there I walked from one side of the street to the other, looking in windows, going inside, pretending I was all grown up. The escalator was fun. I went up to the 3rd floor and back to the first three times until a saleslady told me to stop. ‘You might get hurt, Kid. Where’s your mother.’ I was getting good at lying and told her she was on the second floor looking for a new brassiere. She thought that was funny.
My belly was growling. It had to be past lunch time. Macy’s had some benches outside the store and I squeezed onto the end of one. When I opened my suitcase to take out my sandwich and tangerine, the handle broke off. Tears of fright came running down my face. The old lady who had moved over to make a little more room for me asked me what was wrong. Wiping my eyes on my sleeve, I told her that I need something to put my things in as my suitcase was broken. ‘Don’t worry, Little Girl. Sit right here. I’ll be back in a few minutes. The minute was long but she did come back . She held a strong double shopping bag for me while I put my clothes, umbrella and raincoat inside. I knew she knew I was running away, but with kind, twinkling eyes she smiled at me and left me to do what I wanted. In the next trash can I saw, I threw my broken suitcase.
My heart was singing. I was happy. Free from being picked on, downtown closest to the most beautiful movie house I had ever seen in Peoria, the Valencia. It cost 35 cents to go in for a child and fifty for an adult. I had plenty, plus enough for a Good Humor. There were lots of empty seats so I put my shopping bag on the one next to me. If only the movie wouldn’t end, would play all night, I could sleep on two seats–but it did end. It was time to go someplace else. Night had come, neon lights were everywhere, all colors, blinking on and off. It was magical.
Mother and father came to mind. They must be worried, frightened where I am. Barry may be getting blamed for something he did. That would be nice, I thought. My shopping bag felt heavier with every step I took. Where can I go? As I thought and thought about that, a policeman stopped me and asked where my parents were. ‘Home,’ I said. ‘And where is home, Missie?’ I was getting good at lying and did it again. ‘I don’t know where home is.’ The policeman looked at me with a strange and mean look on his face. ‘A big pretty girl like you and you don’t know where you live? I don’t believe you.’
He reached for my hand and carried my shopping bag with the other. At the corner, he opened a box and made a call. I couldn’t hear what he said because the street car going past made too much noise. ‘You are my prisoner, Miss. If you try to run away from me, I may have to shoot you. ‘ I didn’t move.
It seemed to take forever but wasn’t really long. My Daddy drove to the corner where we were, got out of the car, thanked the policeman and almost hugged me to death. Mama and Barry were waiting for us. They were so happy I came home....AND SO WAS I!
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