Di Genta and the lawyer must have done something. The morning of the third day, I climbed into another white van with a different driver. He said about five words back to Buckeye. I sat alone in the backseat.
I’d be mortified if Darius saw me scuttling into intake like an orange penguin, wearing cuffs and shackles. On top of it, I looked like crap after barely any sleep. I would’ve prayed, but figured I was pretty far down the list for God to listen. Instead, I tried to remember what shifts Darius worked on his rotating schedule.
When I arrived, there was the same lady who admitted me the first time. She gave me a half smile of sympathy or pity before she escorted me into the superintendent’s office.
Mr. Seymour, the superintendent of Ohio Juvenile Corrections, stood up from behind a huge wooden desk. His white shirt was crisp. There were no wrinkles in his suit.
“Miss Mills, let me tell you what your future looks like.”
I avoided his eyes.
The superintendent rarely visited Buckeye Village. I was told he kept busy with the male institutions. I hoped I wasn’t the reason he showed up that day.
“Usually, one doesn’t get a chance to return to minimum security after a successful escape.”
It wasn’t successful in my book.
He pulled out lip balm from his pocket. “You’re only back here because Ms. Di Genta chose to be your advocate and dropped charges. She claims you ran because your mother is so sick.”
“She’s in a coma,” I said.
“AWOL is still a crime.”
“How much time will be added?”
“We won’t know until your case has gone in front of the judge.” He tapped his fingers on the desk. “If you try to run again, Miss Mills, you will be sent to the Women’s Correctional Facility of Ohio. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Trust me. You do not want to end up there.”
“I’m sure I don’t,” I said.
“You won’t be attending school for a while. And you definitely won’t be rejoining Ms. Di Genta’s class.”
There was a knock. Seymour opened the door. “Ms. Di Genta, we were just talking about Darlene and your class. Come in.”
I glanced down, noticing my dirty, worn-out gym shoes.
“Darlene, the girls tell me it was my fault you stole my car.” She placed one hand on her hip. “They say I should’ve kept my keys locked up. It was my fault that you took them.” Di Genta sounded hurt. “Is that what you think?”
“I just needed to see my mom. You said you understood.” I jiggled my leg. “You told me you knew how I felt—if she were to die before I got to see her.”
Di Genta winked at me.
“I saw where you kept your keys,” I continued. “And I decided to grab ’em and run while I had the chance.”
“Well, I suppose it is partly my fault.” Di Genta rested against the door. “I should’ve known better.”
“Ms. Di Genta,” the superintendent said. “Darlene won’t be coming back to your class. It’s policy.”
Di Genta cleared her throat. “I’ll send work over for her.”
“Thank you, Ms. Di Genta. It’ll be some time before Darlene will be going to classes. She’ll be in detention at first. Then she’ll be in the dorm with the other students who are on restriction.” He slipped his hands into his pockets.
“Do I have to sleep in detention?”
“Temporarily. School and cafeteria are just too risky. Your study hours and meals will be spent alone.”
I was hoping to see Darius. “I’ll be back in B dorm, right?”
He opened a folder and flipped through the papers. “No, looks like you’ll be moving to C dorm. Until we get things figured out, you’ll remain in the detention room.”
“I thought Genie was moved there and we couldn’t be together.”
“Hold on.” Seymour searched the file. “Looks like Genie Maxwell is in B dorm now.”
I clenched my fingers and felt the nails dig into my palms. “But, Mr. Seymour, can’t I—”
“I’m guessing it’ll be only two or three days.”
I couldn’t bear the thought of my enemies, Genie and Sophie, around Darius every day.
“Ms. Di Genta, can I have my journal?”
“I’ll make sure you get it right away.”
A Mr. Jones showed up to take me to detention. He used to work in B dorm before he was reassigned to A dorm. He was pretty cool and funny. He grinned. “Welcome back. Heard you took a little joyride. You must’ve missed us, since you decided to come back.”
“It wasn’t a joyride. I was trying to see my mom in the hospital.”
“That’s what they all say.”
“And I certainly didn’t decide to come back.”
On our way, I was relieved to see the motorcycle wasn’t in the lot. I hoped to get cleaned up and out of the stupid jumpsuit before Darius saw me. Di Genta’s Toyota was parked there, though. She’d be locking up her keys from now on, that was for sure.
Jones opened the door for me.
“I heard they were going to send you to the women’s jail. But that teacher lady stepped in to get you back here. That true?”
“Yeah.” I stopped. “Mr. Jones, do you think I can transfer back into B dorm?”
“Sweetie, I have no idea about that stuff.”