All We Had to Keep Us Safe

After another loud bang, I had my purse and Bob had his wallet and a sleepy Chloe. “Come on!” he called to me, sprinting to the sliding glass door that led to a balcony. He ushered me out, turned on the balcony light, closed the curtains, and shut the glass door behind him.

I didn’t ask questions. I knew I just had to trust Bob. He began, “We’ll have to climb down. Luckily” – he was interrupted by another slamming sound – “we’re only on the second floor. Listen closely. I’ll climb down to the balcony below us first. Then you pass me Chloe. Then I’ll help you down.”

He shoved Chloe into my arms before I could ask questions. Once again, a loud crash came from inside the apartment.

The railing around the balcony was just a metal pole with glass beneath it. Bob pushed me back out of the way as far as he could before slamming his foot into the glass. Most of it shattered and fell out, but he had to kick out a few remaining sections of glass. As far as I could tell, he was unharmed thanks to his shoes and jeans.

He crouched down, used a thin metal strip to grab onto, and dropped his legs down so they were dangling. Soon he lowered himself so I could only see his hands. Another booming sound came from inside the apartment.

“There are poles to hand on to under the floor, kind of like monkey bars,” he said in a gruff voice. I saw one hand disappear, and then the other. I heard a soft thump, and I guessed it was Bob’s feel hitting the balcony below. I heard his voice milliseconds later. “Pass her down.”

“Close your eyes,” I instructed Chloe, tears of panic and fear forming in my eyes.

Her eyes only widened, and she looked more terrified than me. I pulled her into a tight hug. “I love you, sweetie. I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t have to,” I murmured more soothingly than I would’ve thought possible. “I won’t let you fall. Bob will be right underneath you.”

When I pulled away, she was trembling, but her eyes were glued shut. I sat her on the very edge of the balcony, hooked my feet on the bottom of the sliding door, and stretched out on my stomach. Clutching her wrists as tightly as I could, I warned, “Ready!” And basically pushed her out and caught her by her arms. She whimpered weakly.

“I have her,” Bob said before I could ask. I trusted him and let go. I couldn’t believe I trusted him that much. Once again I heard someone banging on the door in the apartment. “I’m coming down!” I warned before repeating what Bob had done without looking to see how far down the ground was. Before I knew it, I was dangling.

I looked up at my hands and saw the bars he’d been talking about. Using them as monkey bars like he’s suggested, I climbed farther in. Then I dropped the three feet to the floor.

Bob was already pulling hundred dollar bills out of his wallet and setting them on the stranger’s table, using an ashtray as a paperweight. He handed me my trembling daughter and repeated the process of kicking out the glass under the railing. When he dropped down this time, the thunk of feet hitting something came much sooner.

“There’s a closed dumpster down here,” he explained grimly. This time I saw the tips of his fingers stretched up. “It will be easier this time.”

Chloe closed her eyes before I told her to, and I passed her to Bob with more ease this time. An earsplitting crunch came from Bob’s apartment. The intruder must’ve finally managed to break down the door. Hurriedly I scrambled to the opening, gashing my arm on a piece of glass in the process. I sucked in a deep breath and ignored it, dropping down onto the springy top of a dumpster. Seeing Bob a few feet away, I jumped off the dumpster and onto the ground.

We sprinted towards the car he’d bought. When we got there, Chloe whimpered, “Mommy.” Bob handed her to me, and she clung to me impossibly tightly. Bob got in the driver’s seat, and I got in the back with Chloe. I held her in my lap, and he started driving.

Chloe was shaking and crying. It didn’t take me long to realize there were tears streaming down my face too. I stroked her hair soothingly, crooning, “It’s alright now. It’s over. We’re safe. Go back to sleep.”

She didn’t speak, and eventually she did fall asleep. I carefully put her in her car seat and demanded in a quiet voice, “Bob, who was it?”

“Mark,” he replied, his mouth a grim line. His face was strangely expressionless.

“Mark!” I hissed angrily. “We didn’t have to –”

“He didn’t knock,” he interrupted. “He was trying to break down the door, he was angry, and…”

“And what?” I inquired.

Bob shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Just tell me,” I pressed. “Why did we have to nearly kill ourselves to get out of there?”

“Because he would’ve killed us if we didn’t get away,” he retorted sharply. “He had a gun.”

I was stunned into silence. Suddenly I was very, very scared of the man that I loved, and not so scared of jumping out of balconies. But my poor daughter would most definitely be emotionally scarred by this. There was no way I could make her understand what was going on.

“What do we do now?” I asked, as quiet as a mouse.

Bob slammed his hand on the steering wheel, making me jump. Luckily, Chloe was dead asleep. “I don’t know!” he exclaimed, the frustration finally clouding his face.

I noticed he was driving very fast. “Where are we going?” I squeaked.

“I don’t know,” He replied more softly, sighing wearily. “I’m just driving. I’ll drive until I’m almost falling asleep. You try to sleep now. I’ll wake you up, and we’ll switch. Try not to go in circles. We’re going to get as far away from Chicago as possible.”

I nodded, and I had a million things to say and ask, but I knew now was not the time. So I leaned against the window, and surprisingly I fell asleep despite all the thoughts and worries that were flooding my mind. I suppose my mind was so strained and exhausted that it shut down without a fight.