The Escape Plan

It’s just before eight in the evening, in a quiet neighbourhood in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Two guys wearing black clothing and balaclavas, run in the middle of the street. They run fast and occasionally look behind, as if someone chases them. One of them holds a suitcase close to his chest. Police sirens can be heard from afar. They stop outside their front door, all sweaty and anxious.

One of them shouts “Bro, what happened? THE NOTE said that the cops wouldn’t know where to find us, and the security alarm didn’t even go off!”

The other responds nervously “Oh my god. We’re so screwed. I knew this was a really stupid idea! Quick, just get rid of the suitcase! They’re almost here!”

They enter their house leaving the suitcase outside, by the bin.

Inside the neighbours’ house, Martha is yelling at Chloe, her thirteen year old daughter. Martha is on drugs and holding a bottle of wine. Chloe holds a mobile phone and calmly tries to erase the last outcoming call. The screen reads ‘911’. Chloe has severe bruises on her wrists. She wears a quirky outfit which resembles a school uniform and looks apathetic.

Martha comes towards her, stumbling.

“How many fucking times did I tell you not to play with my phone?“

Chloe listens to her mother and doesn’t respond.

“You know, I didn’t sign up for this” Martha continues, while looking exhausted and in a really bad shape.

“It’s your father you need to blame for all this shit”. “Just live in the moment” he said, she continues full of irony.

“Now, give me back the fucking phone and get the hell out of here!”

Chloe, glances at the window and sees the police entering the neighbour’s flat. She smiles, as the first step of her plan has worked. She handles the phone back to her mother and goes towards the kitchen, picking up trash on the way. Martha is on the floor drinking from the wine bottle, when she sees Chloe exiting the house, holding a bag full of trash.

“That’s right” Martha shouts. “At least, you can do something right around here!”

Chloe shuts the door, after giving an indifferent look at her mother. While stepping outside, she sees the police car and confidently heads towards the bins, where she notices the suitcase cripping behind them.

“Yes!” She exclaims triumphantly, while her heart wants to jump out of her chest. She quickly bins the trash, picks up the suitcase and casually walks back home. Her legs are shaking as she enters her bedroom. She opens the suitcase. Her hands are all sweaty but she doesn’t stop. Counting the money, she expects to find $10,000 but quickly realises, there is way more in there. For a moment, she looks confused but then notices some random pieces of paper in between the dollar notes. “A black coffee and a cinnamon bun”, “A skinny cappuccino and a cheese twist”, “Two bacon baguettes take away”.

“I specifically wrote ‘Go to the betting shop and NOWHERE else!’” she says out loud.

“Morons” she sighs.

Suddenly she hears footsteps outside her room. She quickly shuts the suitcase and pushes it under her bed. Her father walks in and finds Chloe sitting by the bed.

“What the fuck did you do to your mother again?” He says with his usual beer and cigarette-infused breath, wearing his shirt upside down.

“You know I can’t stand her squeaky voice!” he says and grabs Chloe from the wrist pushing her aside. Chloe, bits her lips from the pain but manages to hold it together. She knows that if she reacts, it will get worse.

“And look at you, sitting here doing nothing!”, he continues.

“Where is the beer I asked for, ages ago? When are you planning to bring it over, you little shit?!”

Chloe sits on the bed uninterested, holding her bruised wrist, not saying a word.

In the meantime, the neighbours are taken away by the police.

“You see?” he says and points towards the window. “You’re going to be just like them one day! Useless and unable to do anything right!”

Chloe is looking at him indifferently until he leaves the bedroom. She stands up, fixes her hair and shirt while looking at herself in the mirror. Her heart beats faster when she approaches the bedside table. She opens the drawer. Her little black book is there, she sees it, smiles and picks it up. The first page reads ‘The Escape Plan’.

She looks confident and determined. She leaves the little black book open on her bed. The page reads ‘Step 4: Dress casually and only pack one bag’. She goes to her closet and starts packing the few clothes that she has. She smiles, thinking that the money is much more than she originally planned. It’s the first time that she can actually be excited for her future. She can even afford new outfits!

It’s six o’clock the next morning. Chloe stands by the bedroom door in a quirky and bold outfit, the suitcase on one hand and the little black book on the other. She looks polished and confident. She fixes the end of her shirt to fully cover up the bruises on her wrist, thinking that that was the last time. She slowly closes the bedroom door behind her but it makes a squeaky noise. She hears her father’s snoring as he mumbles something and stops.

“Shit” she thinks, “what now?”.

On a second thought, it’s school time anyway, she thinks to herself. There is no need to worry... She goes down the stairs on her tiptoes and finds Martha lying on the floor and her father halfway on the couch with six empty beer cans around him. The living room looks like a battlefield. “Alright” she thinks, “This is it. I just need to get to the front door”. The front door is located on the other side of the living room. She starts walking among the scattered stuff, making her way out passing among her parents. For a moment, Chloe looks at them with deep sadness. She becomes overwhelmed with memories of her childhood and freezes. “C'mon Chloe, you can do it. Freedom is three steps away” she encourages herself. She takes a deep breath and starts walking again full of determination and finally reaches the front door. Her heart is pounding. “Goodbye” she whispers, giving a final look at the house and her parents.

Everything is quiet outside and she is the only one awake in the neighbourhood. The birds are singing and the sun starts to rise. Chloe, holding a suitcase full of money and a few clothes, walks pensive in the middle of the street.

While approaching the main bus station, Chloe’s hands start to sweat and the suitcase seems to be getting heavier by the minute.

“Just follow the steps from the book and you’ll be fine” she says out loud, commanding herself.

She joins the queue to buy a ticket, examining the girl behind the counter. Her name tag reads: Lynda. She looks around 20 and wears funky clothes. She has her earphones on and listens to dub techno.

“Cool” thinks Chloe, “Shouldn’t be that hard”.

The lady in front of her leaves and she is up next. Lynda takes her time scrolling through her phone, while chewing her gum in a very irritating way. Chloe gets a bit annoyed by the sound of the chewing gum but waits until Lynda notices her.

“So are you going to stand there all day?” says Lynda in an indifferent way, while still scrolling through her phone.

Chloe tries not to pay attention to the rude comment, keeping a straight face.

“One ticket to Appleton” she replies.

Lynda types on the computer.

“That’s eighteen fifty” she replies and looks at Chloe up and down.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at school or something?” she continues.

“I am going to a regional chess tournament” Chloe replies without a second thought and hands Lynda the exact amount of money.

“Hmm, whatever” says Lynda, and gets back to banging her head to the music.

“Hey, since you’re such a nerd” Lynda continues, “have you read today’s paper yet? Some assholes stole from a betting store and the coffee shop next to it last night! says Lynda enthusiastically. “The police say that they've stolen around $20,000 but the money is missing! The two guys they caught, keep talking about a NOTE, insisting someone has framed them!” Lynda starts laughing. “I mean, how stupid can you be to follow some random note if that’s even true? Morons” she sighs.

“That’s what I said!” Chloe quickly responds.

Lynda gives Chloe a suspicious look and the two girls exchange glances.

“Well, I wish I would find the money,” says Lynda, breaking the awkward moment. “I could really use a new pair of jeans”.

Chloe picks up the ticket from the counter, the suitcase from the floor and walks towards the bus.

“That was close!” she says to herself.

She enters the bus and takes a window seat, placing the suitcase besides her. She is finally free. She puts her earphones on and presses play on the phone. The song ‘We’re Through’ by The Hollies starts playing. The bus leaves.

She opens the little black book and the page reads: ‘Step 7’.