Desperate Run

by C.J. Riggs

“I was born not to conform to what everyone would deem a good child. I was committing felonies at the ripe age of ten. It wasn’t because I had a bad upbringing, my parents were wealthy, good people. They tried to give me everything they thought I needed but…“ I shrug slightly, “some kids are just not meant to be tamed.” It gets a soft laugh out of Max, but I can see she’s watching intensely. It’s like I can read the hope in her eyes, as deep as the forest we met in, and for that, I continue. I need her to trust me, and that I will give her everything if she will only allow for it. “My sister was six when we had to move for my parents work. The furthest north of Seattle you could go, which is where I learned French,” I brush my elbow against her, “and some Spanish. “They began working a lot more, and that’s when I ‘turned my life around’, you could say. Alyson needed me, and it gave me a sense of purpose I was lacking. I would take her to her softball practices, watch all of her games, made sure she was capable of having the life she deserved.