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I spent three days talking to the police and getting to know my dad before going home with Laney for the rest of the school year. I wasn’t ready to move to a strange house with a strange man, even if he was my real father. The social worker and judge agreed. Ron understood and promised that we would visit each other often. I could stay with Laney until I felt comfortable going back to Massachusetts to live with him. I felt like a zombie, doing what people told me to do—go here, talk about this, feel this way. Certainly, I was happy that my life was changing for the better.
I still didn’t want to see Bud or Sue again. They were extradited to Massachusetts to stand trial for kidnapping and a host of other charges. Relief washed over me in waves every time I realized I didn’t even have to be in the same state as they were.
After much thought and many talks with Ron, I decided to keep the name Faye—I didn’t feel like a Violet. I wasn’t a fragile flower but a strong young woman who needed a simple, straightforward first name. I became Faye Lafferty, a combination of my two identities.
Before we left for Florida, Laney and I went through Bud and Sue’s belongings. I boxed up almost everything and took it to Goodwill. It was ironic to be donating to Goodwill instead of shopping there. My real dad owned a Cadillac dealership and had enough money that I would never have to enter a Goodwill store again unless I wanted to. The only things I kept from that part of my life were the family photo album and the pelican I had carved for them for Christmas.
Back in Valencia, I stayed in Kyle’s room under the eaves. The walls were filled with posters of near-naked women and baseball trophies, and I wasn’t entirely comfortable among such male belongings. But Kyle wrote that it gave him a lift to think of me as safe and happy in his room. It was going to take me a long while to feel safe and happy anywhere, but he didn’t need to know that.
I finally understood that although Kyle liked me, he was in love with Linda. Whatever happened with the two of them, he and I would only ever be friends. It hurt a little bit to give up the fantasy of being with this handsome older guy, but the ache was minor compared to the major pain of having my life turned upside down.
At school, everyone was extra nice to me. They must have known what had happened, because it was all over the newspapers, but hardly anyone mentioned it. I didn’t know if it was because they didn’t care or because somebody had warned them to give me a break. Most likely, Laney had told my friends to handle me with care. And amazingly, they listened. Every day, I was filled with gratitude that I was able to be a regular teenager attending high school in Valencia instead of having to work in the tobacco fields of North Carolina.
Reese came to the house most afternoons, and we played board games and listened to record albums. He tried hard to make me laugh, reciting his Romeo lines in a silly way that I would probably have thought was hilarious at another time. Unfortunately, I was too exhausted to do more than occasionally crack a smile. He was a sweet guy, but I didn’t feel anything but friendship when I saw him. He didn’t press the issue.
That must have been when I stopped laughing, stopped being the lighthearted girl who was willing to risk everything to run in a race. My mind felt frozen. It seemed that the words people said to me had to pass through a wall of ice before they penetrated into my brain. And then it took me a while to process whatever it was they said. After that, for the most part, it was just too much trouble to try to break through the icy wall to respond. So most of the time, I was silent.
I don’t think I would have survived without Francie. She made me run around the track every day, although it took me a while to manage more than a lap or two. A toddler could have run faster than I did. But Francie didn’t mention our slow pace. She’d always preferred running slowly anyway.
Thanks to Francie’s tutoring, I made it through the year with halfway decent grades. At the final assembly for the year, the principal presented Francie and me with roses for running the Boston Marathon. Even though we’d run without bibs, we were heroes for finishing the race. He said he hoped we would be willing to cocaptain the girls’ track team he was going to start the next year. Everyone gave us a standing ovation. I wouldn’t be there to captain anything, of course. The principal pretended not to know that.
* * *
IN JUNE, AFTER SCHOOL was out for the summer, I was ready to start my new life. Ron arrived in Valencia to drive me back to Massachusetts. I had my last date with Reese, and we agreed to just be friends. I could tell that Francie had a crush on him, and I didn’t want to stand in their way. Besides, I wanted to be free to go out with boys in my new school.
One of my last acts was to walk over to the cottage where I’d spent almost eight months living with Bud and Sue. It looked much the same. A new family had moved in, and a boy’s bicycle leaned against the wall. An old car was parked in the driveway. Nobody came outside to speak to me, so I turned and walked away. It was the last home I’d had with my faux parents, other than the few weeks we’d spent in North Carolina, and things hadn’t turned out well there. I hoped the new family would be happier than we had been.
I was going to a new home, and I had no idea what I would encounter. Really, I would have stayed with Laney and Richard if I could have. But of course, I needed to move on into my new life. It was actually an old life I would be returning to, but I didn’t remember anything about it—except for that swing in my grandparents’ yard. Ron said it was still there. I would get to be part of a real family with grandparents and cousins. Something I’d always wanted. Still, I dragged my feet as we were getting ready.
When the car was packed and I couldn’t put it off any longer, I hugged Richard and Laney goodbye and thanked them for everything.
“You’re family,” Laney said. “Come back anytime.”
I turned to Francie and hugged her as hard as I could.
“I’ll miss you. Write me, okay?” she said.
“Of course. And I’ll see you in August.”
Francie was going to visit me in Massachusetts in two months, before we began our senior year. I would be attending Springfield High, where there was an active girls’ track team.
She sighed. “That seems like such a long time.” She smiled and said, “Guess what? LaVonda’s going to start running with me. So I won’t have to run alone.”
“That’s great. When I come back to visit at Christmas, maybe we can all run together.”
Ron came into the kitchen. “All right, we need to get on the road.”
Thanks to Laney, I had finally gotten my driver’s license, so Ron let me drive at the start of the trip. I backed out of the driveway in our new Cadillac, into my new life.