The Runaways (Abridged)

“So, what's your name?”

“Jana.”

“Jama?” Judd thought she said, meaning he must have not been listening earlier.

Jana’s brother, Radamuz, walked into the living room now. “That's what I call her, Jam. Because of her accent and all.”

“You used to have an accent,” Jana mumbled.

“Jam,” Judd’s voice cut through her words.

“Or J,” Radamuz said, heading to the kitchen, left of the living room.

“Shush, Rad. It's Jana with an N, like... Newlyweds.”

“Newlyweds?” Judd mused.

Jana shrugged, sitting down on the couch as far from Judd as possible.

“So, y’all are siblings, huh? Where are your parents?”

“Where are yours?” Radamuz came in with, opening cupboards and drawers to prepare for them all a meal.

“Good question,” Judd responded, breaking his gaze from Jana to Radamuz.

She hardly noticed, pretending to be busy on their version of videogames: a silver square Gameboy device, the one that looked like a fat flip phone.

This made Judd smile, but only for a second, as he continued. “Dead. I was actually trying to make it to a, uh, funeral. Missed it, sorry to say.”

“That is sorry—unless it isn’t,” Radamuz responded, eyes slit to pry of more information.

“It is,” Judd concluded.

“Which parent?” Jana found the courage to ask.

“Pops. Good man, and friend, which not everyone is lucky to have both in a pops—or ma. He was both. He helped me in times, like only a good friend would.”

“Care to elaborate?” Rad chimed in again, clearly good at multitasking.

“I don’t,” Judd said shortly, matter-of-factly. “Nothing against you all. I just... Came a long way.”

“Why stop here?” Jana looked at Judd now, echoing her sibling’s quizzical style of chit-chat. “I mean, why Alabama?”

“That’s a good question, too. To be honest, I don’t know. I had to stop somewhere, and I guess it just happened to be here.” He met her dark brown eyes that were almost exactly like a baby deer. “Why Alabama for you all? From the way you talk,” he motioned at Radamuz. “To the way you...” He let imagination finish that sentence, Jana wrinkling her brow in response. “Well, you just don’t really fit in Alabama, you know.”

“You and I both have that and many other questions,” Radamuz shut him up with. “We’ll be out of here before it’s too late, right, Jam?”

“Guess so,” she shrugged.

Judd stood up. “I’ll be right back.” He took a final look at Jana, which she could not read for the life of her. Then he was out the door.

Jana stood at once, following him to the window, peeping out of it.

Radamuz could sense something off about their sister. They just didn’t know what; and the same could be said for Judd. There was something about him, especially in the presence of Jana. Why had they always been the nice person? Made new friends, lent them a place to stay, and soon they would be gone, and it would be just Jana and Radamuz again.

Jana muttering something broke their thoughts in two. “So he followed you here? Where did you all meet anyway?” She watched as Judd got into his vehicle, sitting there for some time, giving her time to now interrogate Rad.

“He didn’t follow me. I mean, I met him getting off of work at the store. He was beat and beautiful, and distracting—as I am sure you would have noticed had you not been so busy ignoring him—that I totally forgot to get what I came there for.”

“What did you go there for?”

“Groceries, like I asked you to get for me, but you were too busy playing that stupid Gameboy that is mine, by the way.”

“I don’t have a car or a cellphone, like you, or a stupid Gameboy. So how do you expect me to go anywhere or do anything else?” Jana argued.

“You know what? It’s fine, J. I don’t expect you to do anything when no one ever taught you how. Could you just try to be decent for this guy while he’s here, and maybe put some pants on?” Radamuz actually threw a pair of her sweats hung on a chair at her.

Jana lifted her t-shirt up to reveal pink shorts underneath and stuck her tongue out at him. “Screw you, Rad. I got pants on.”

“Technically, those are shorts.”

“And technically, those are shorts. Stupid short, yellow shorts,” she said, pointing at theirs. “Are you trying to impress your friend?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s not interested,” they eyed her.

“He was interested enough to come to your house,” Jana walked away from the window and to the kitchen, tired of waiting for Judd to come out of his vehicle.

“Trailer. Our house, but not really... Anyway, it’s getting late, so wash up because dinner is about ready.” Rad urged their sister.

Jana approached Radamuz, recognizing tension in them suddenly. She poked their side lovingly. “Okay, Rad.” She took the sweats with her. “I’ll be back,” which she said in her best Terminator voice, causing Radamuz to laugh because, again, that damned southern drawl.

Eventually, Judd would come back in their trailer with a backpack of belongings. What they didn’t know is that he contemplated leaving these kind siblings behind because he knew he was no good to be sticking around, but he liked that Jana girl for whatever reason. He would never say it out loud, though.

The next day came, where Jana woke to her sibling gone at work, a note from them at her bedside that contained their laptop password written in marker: R4dizth3mOK.

Jana chuckled to herself, stretched her small limbs, and climbed out of her tiny twin-size bed in her tiny bedroom. Quickly, she remembered a guest was among them, so she put on the pants Radamuz had asked her to last night, as she slowly crept out of her bedroom.

No one was out there, and the couch where Judd slept was already made up, blankets and pillow folded atop an arm. The bathroom door was open, and before Jana would go there to pee, what was more important right now was to look out the window, once more. She peeked out the blinds only to find no vehicles parked there.

She sighed of relief, went about her day as normal, taking advantage of Rad’s laptop access, but really had no idea what to do on it. So, as any person would, found herself buried in a series of YouTube videos that would eat at the majority of her morning until she heard a vehicle approaching.

Jana shut the laptop quietly. She slowly got up from the couch and walked along the carpet. She heard a door open and shut loudly, causing her to jump a little. These sounds were not familiar; and before she could even reach the window, the door burst open—which, was somewhat expected due to the loud footsteps that preceded—except that Jana was caught off guard entirely.

Who would it be, then, other than the stranger, rather, Radamuz’s friend himself, Judd. He was not so stunned, while Jana stayed planted in place in a similar getup from the night before, but with sweatpants this time. Her mouth was slightly open, which amused Judd somewhat, if well-hidden.

He simply raised his brow at her, which seemed to be a common greeting from him. He had groceries in his hands. He spoke first. “Didn’t mean to barge in. Were you...busy?”

Jana blushed away from him, feeling kind of stupid, as his back was to her to make way to the kitchen. “Not really. I mean, no.” Changing the subject, she continued, “Did Rad ask you to buy those?” She pointed to the plastic bags.

He faced her now, glancing at the bags himself. “Oh, nah. He—they mentioned they may have forgot due to my bothering them. I thought I would do y’all a favor for letting me stay here, which is really kind of both of you, even if you... You know, don’t approve. I get it. I’ll be gone soon enough.” He shrugged, then motioned to her. “Wanna give me a hand here, show me where things go?”

Jana stared dumbly again, not sure what to make of his words or what he thought she didn’t approve of about him. Instead, she just followed after him to help put groceries away.

Things got quiet and awkward quickly as they had waited for Radamuz to come back, although, Judd stayed occupied on his cellphone after he made them both a sandwich for lunch about half past noon.

As they sat on the couch later, no one saying anything for quite some time, Judd finally turned to Jana to say, “ So, what’s the deal with your parents?”

She faced Judd slowly. “I don’t know. There is no deal,” she said.

“Didn’t mean to overstep. Was just curious since it’s just you and your brothe—”

“Sibling,” Jana corrected, even though she got it wrong sometimes.

“Right, I am sorry—”

“No, no, it’s nothing. And I mean, you’re not overstepping. I really don’t know. I don’t remember them, and Rad says they left when I’s a baby anyhow, so only Rad remembers them.” She goes quiet, not offering anymore.

“Least you got Radamuz, then. My, uh, ma passed away when I was young. I don’t remember her much.” Judd shares, though he did not mean to.

“Least you had a dad—I mean, rest in peace, by the way.” But Jana starts a new sentence before he can respond. “What did you mean by me not approving of you earlier?”

“Oh, nothin’, except that maybe it seems like my presence is a bother to you. Somethin’ like that,” Judd scratched his knee, studying it for a second.

Jana watched him closely now. “I don’t mind. It’s no bother you being here, honestly. It was just...unexpected, I s’pose.”

He caught her eye again, a spark always present in his murky green eyes. “So how do you like it here in Alabama? I’ll be real, I’d never stopped through here before, and it’s definitely interesting. Kind of feels like North Carolina, I guess.”

Judd suddenly had Jana in a sharing mood, and little did she know, the feeling was mutual. She turned to face him, warming up a bit. “Kinda sucks, really. I don’t care for it, doesn’t care for me. Aside from Rad—but if I could, I would leave tomorrow, you know, with Rad. We really only got each other.”

This statement spiked curiosity in Judd, but he dared not further inspect. He kept a smile on his face, which was not usual for him. “I get it. As much as I loved pops, I left as soon as I could—maybe too soon. I was probably younger than you. Seventeen.”

“That is young,” Jana replied. “Feels like yesterday I was seventeen. I’m not, though. I’m nineteen, and that still feels really—I dunno, small, like I’m still a child. But they say I’m an adult now, still treat me like I’m dumb and naïve...”

Judd considered this answer that interested him. “Nineteen. Well, that is young. You’re still just a girl, and you definitely look it.” He almost flushed at his candor but contained it, gladly.

“Yup,” she said frankly. “So, how old are you, Judd?”

Judd’s silence through private thoughts got the best of him, so Jana spoke before he could. “You don’t have to tell me, but you do look young yourself, so I just wondered. And you kinda asked me.”

“Hmm? I was just thinkin’—”

“About what?” She was too eager again, needed to hold back.

Judd responded anyway. “Life. I’m twenty-one, actually. Sometimes I feel older, though, stupid as that may be.” He looked away, caught up in another time, alas.

“Oh, twenty-one. You’re about Rad’s age, actually. When’s your birthday?” She could not hold back, as it turned out.

Judd hesitated for a beat, looking at Jana as he decided what to say. He really looked at her. Her summery brown skin, dark hair pulled in a loose bun with one of those colored scrunchies—pink this time—and the sweat that gave sections of her face a shiny glow. She was sweet, he just knew, and she said it herself, just a bit naïve. But dumb, he doubted that very much; and maybe he would even test it.

“February seventeenth,” he finally replied.

“An Aquarius,” Jana said. She looked away from him, thinking on it. Judd didn’t mean to chuckle.

She turned back to him. “You’re one of those people who thinks that stuff is silly, huh? That’s fine. We all got our beliefs.”

He nodded. “I don’t not believe. I just never thought much about it. And when is your birthday and all that?”

“I think you asked me enough questions for today. I might tell you another day,” Jana said, mischief in her eyes.

“Alright,” Judd put his hands up in pretended surrender. “You did ask me.” He stood up. “I kinda gotta do something, if you don’t mind. I’ll be back for dinner—if you all will have me.”

Jana quite liked Judd, she decided. He wasn’t pushy or mean and never seemed to judge or question her one way or another. She wanted to ask where he was going, but she knew that she had ended the conversation, perhaps, prematurely. For Judd, it was perfect timing. He did have something to take care of, indeed, and he would try to be back for dinner if he could help it.

“I promise to tell you another day, like, before you leave, if you tell me—never mind. You are welcome back for dinner. In fact, I’ll make something, save Rad the trouble, and they won’t have a thing to say to that.” Jana stood with Judd, putting her hand out without realizing it.

Judd took it and shook it for whatever reason, like, all this was normal. Were they making a deal, a pact? “Okay,” he said, looking in her eye. “I hope it’s good. Might be our last meal ever.”

“You think I can’t cook?” Jana played offended, letting go of his hand before he could. “I’ll show you,” she wagged a finger at him.

He hid his grin this time, back to the same old Judd he usually was. “Lookin’ forward to it, Jana. I’ll see you later.” And he raised his stupid eyebrows, taking off out of the trailer, shutting the door behind without looking back.

It kind of did offend Jana now, really, that he had said her name in a sentence that seemed so indifferent towards her and anything that went on that afternoon, walking away with such caprice. Maybe that was it: he really didn’t care, so why would he make the time to indulge her by any means? I guess he was just another passerby, and would be gone in a night or two.

Still, Jana made dinner, the best one she could. She cooked traditional Mexican food, which was rare, if at all, because it made her think of the parents she never knew that made her who she was, which oftentimes brought upon feelings of shame because of the way the only other Latin people she knew made her feel like the butt of their every joke with her accent.

That was why she liked that she had Rad, who happened to have a Black father. Both parentless, no one taught them how or who to be when it came to their skin and features that made them, too often, stick out like a green thumb amongst everyone, including their own. She understood, now, why Radamuz had rid of their Alabamian accent and their assigned binary.

As Jana cooked an easy but favorite dish, chilaquiles, she thought these things over. She changed into real pants and a clean shirt. She patted down her sweaty face and let her hair down.

Radamuz came home, and was very grateful and glad to smell the food as they walked in the door, joking that she never made them a special meal. Not any of their other friends either, so what was so different about this one?

She asked herself the same thing, privately, and simply told Rad it was because Judd was kind enough to buy them groceries, to which they were even more thankful for, especially considering they never asked nor gave Judd the money to do so.

They both waited for Judd to come knocking, maybe walking through the door, like the couple times before, but he never did. It was so late and they were both so hungry that they ate; they went to bed; and they both wondered in silence what had happened to their friend, Judd. Similarly, they both landed on that he was never going to come back, and perhaps that was why he bought the groceries in the first place, as a final gesture of gratitude.

It was early in the morning when Jana would wake to her bedroom door being burst open—too early for her, as she was never up before 10 AM. Radamuz left really early for work as normal, so he would not be home now.

Once again, she was entirely caught off guard and completely mortified, especially to see it was him, Judd. He really didn’t mean to alarm her, but he was in a bit of a hurry, so he did what he had to, and that was to see her. He wore the same clothes as the day before, but they looked rustled and kind of dirtied, which was odd. His face was mostly clean, if somewhat appearing distressed.

This all frightened Jana, so she immediately jumped off her bed and away from him, too stunned to be embarrassed that she only had a t-shirt and underpants on. She grabbed a stuffed animal by instinct, as if it would protect her in some way. More or less a comfort.

Judd put his hands up again, but for real this time, as if he meant no harm. “I am sorry—I just—I needed to see you before I left. I didn’t mean to not come back. I felt bad, but I got caught up, okay? And now I have to go. I told you only a couple days, so... I have to leave.”

Jana had no idea what to make of this rant. Why did he need to see her? Why was he here at all? She felt sick and wanted to cry, scream, something—but could not say anything at all—just look afraid and stay as far away from Judd as she could, pressed up against her dresser on one side of the bed, while he was on the other side.

“Why did you come?” It was all she could ask.

“I don’t know,” Judd said numbly. “I have no idea, but I did. And I’m sorry for missing dinner last night. I really am, but I shouldn’t be here; and you all are kind, good people, and not that many are, so I wanted to say that because I don’t know... I scared you, didn’t I?” He looked worried and frazzled, and almost sick himself.

Jana just swallowed hard, like a thick pill that didn’t make it all the way down her throat, just stuck there. “You are scaring me, Judd,” she admitted. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

Judd finally looked at her, whereof he was frantic before, brow still furrowed in something like fear. He swallowed now. He could not answer that, which was an answer on its own.

Jana still held the stuffed animal—a little tiger Radamuz won for her at a fair once—barely noticing it there, as she stepped away from the dresser she was clinging to, remaining on her side of the bed. She spoke again. “I mean, maybe I can help. Is there anything...?”

“No,” Judd said firmly. “I dragged you all in enough. I guess I just needed to say goodbye in case I never see you or anyone again. I have to...” He couldn’t finish the sentence because he didn’t want to. Why did he come, damn it?

Jana looked at the laptop Radamuz never took back from her, sitting on a bedside table near Judd, the password he wrote down next to it. “I was watching a video yesterday about these people,” she began to say in a bizarre tone that sounded far away from her now, unclear what had compelled the words.

Judd glanced at the laptop, for she stared at it too long, then down at her stuffed tiger, Jana fiddling with the ears mindlessly. He hated to see the terror he had caused her, while he anticipated what she was to tell him, listening eagerly.

“They travel, like, like, vagabonds,” she continued, still not looking at him. “On the outskirts of town. Not because they’re criminals or anything, or because they’re running from somethin’...”

Judd took no offense to this. It was all matter of fact, and he scarcely had time for much else.

“Maybe you could sell your car and buy another one, hide out, travel the backroads for a while. Live in a van or something.” She suddenly felt foolish for saying it. She was confused and scared, and maybe for him more than herself now.

Judd could only smile at this—while his world had been crashing in on him far before this girl and this room—because it was so simple and pure and ridiculous of her to suggest, yet it was all he could do but smile.

Jana saw this, and she thought he was laughing at her like everyone else. He was just like everyone else, so why was he here? To mock her? To hurt her? She didn’t think he would, but then, she did not know this strange man. But he should probably go now if she would never see him again. That truth was beginning to gnaw at her unpleasantly.

Finally, Judd spoke. “I’ve been doing that. But I don’t have time to get a new car. People are looking for me, and I am stupid and got myself in trouble last night again, which I think got me found out. I have to leave now, Jana, so thank you for letting me stay here. And I hope you get out of Alabama one day. I know you will,” he said sweetly, Jana not knowing there to be such a side to him.

“I wish I could help,” was all she said back at him. “I wish I could...” And she said these words with great caution, so slowly, so quietly. “Go...with you.”

It was exactly what Judd wanted to hear, maybe exactly why he came here—that test. But Jana was no stupid girl. She was just young, hurt and alone, like he had been a lot of his life, despite the love his father provided. A boy doesn’t just leave at seventeen years old, away from a loving home or parent, to find something greater than that. He leaves because he has to. Like now.

Judd knew he was wrong for seemingly tempting the words out of Jana by simply being there, interrupting these people’s lives the way he did from that first day when he noticed the boldness and kindness in Radamuz; that he could trust them. Even use them for a night or two to rest after pain and emptiness had caught up to him, travelling all alone on backroads, away from whatever trouble he had caused wherever. A boy doesn’t just decide to make that his life one day. It just happens to someone, and one day they must acknowledge it.

Judd should have said something by now, so he began. “You don’t know me. Why would you wish something like that, with what I’ve told you?” He wouldn’t even entertain it. He turned to go, taking a last look at Jana. “If I do see you again somehow, I won’t take that for granted. I wish you so much better than this all. You’re a good person, Jana.” And he walked out the door, swallowing his own pill whole.

Jana was shellshocked, still clutching her stuffed tiger, and she was so numb yet overcome. She could not move. She knew she had to. She could hear Judd’s footsteps retreating, growing further away. The door opened, it closed, his boots hit the pavement so loudly they reverberated—or was that her heart pounding?

She could even hear his vehicle door open and close, and the engine start up. Such a noisy motor she never noticed until now—or again, was it her heart? It had to be, and she had to move her feet somehow. Everything felt slow motion, but that did not matter.

Jana was on her feet, the socks she wore threatening to slip on the old, carpeted floors, and before she knew it, she was out the door, running for her life toward Judd’s vehicle that was pulling out. He was looking back as he did this, so he did not see her at first.

She yelled his name to stop him. It was alarming, unbelievable, like no one and everyone could hear it—had anyone been around, that is. “JUDD!”

He snapped his neck around so quickly, thinking something terrible happened, the vehicle jerking at a halt. He just stared as Jana approached his vehicle in her underwear, at that, and she still held onto that stuffed animal, which made him shake his head in further disbelief.

Judd waited for her to come to him. He would not be the cause of whatever this was that she was doing. Jana stopped directly in front of the car door. They stared at each other lamely. She appeared beside herself, as was he. This was not in her nature, surely. Judd rolled down the window because he could not take it.

“What are you doing?” He asked her slowly.

“I—” She stuttered. “I have an idea.”

“I told you, I already—”

“No, listen to me. It’s not like what I said before. I go with you. You leave this car here, okay, or park it somewhere away from Rad—”

“You can’t leave them, Jana.” He interrupted. “Rad needs you.”

“Stop. Let me talk. We take a bus. Yes, you’ll leave this car near there and we walk the rest of the way—it’s not far. We can purchase the tickets on Rad’s laptop, and we leave, okay? Judd, we leave Alabama for good.” She sounded so desperate, and Judd knew it wasn’t just him pulling these words out of her.

She was serious and he was her way out, he realized now. Maybe they needed each other, whether it was using or not. Even though they were only a couple years apart, it was obvious how much younger, perhaps inexperienced in matters of life, that she was in this moment, yet he couldn’t resist the offer.

His words said otherwise. “No, Jana. You don’t know what you’re saying. You don’t know me.”

“You don’t know me,” she fired back.

“What would Rad think, huh? He’d think I took you or somethin’. Imagine what he’d say—and he’d turn me in. Then they’d really start looking for me—for us.”

“I’m not a child, Judd.” And she didn’t sound like one suddenly. He knew she was smarter than she let on. “You’re not much older than me, and this isn’t even about you. We can go our separate ways eventually. I just can’t stay here, and you’re the best bet I have right now.”

He almost smiled at that, so she was kind of using him, and he wasn’t even sure what he was using her for, other than escaping his problems and past that would always come knocking, no matter what corner or unknown town he tried to disappear in.

“Open the door,” Jana told him since he had no response. “Come on, I’ll order the tickets now, and we can leave as soon as possible.”

Judd could not believe he might agree to this, what he was about to do. He opened the door. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

She just said plainly, “Yeah, well, maybe stopping here wasn’t a good idea either, but here you are, and here we are. And I reckon if someone was comin’ to get you in this very moment, if they even knew where to find you, you wouldn’t still be parked in that car of yours. I promise you, though, it’s always been hard for anyone to find Rad and I—not that anyone ever cared to.”

Judd cocked his head a bit, and stepped out of the vehicle. “I promise you that whoever may have been following me got lost, which is exactly why I didn’t come back last night. I wasn’t about to bring my troubles your way.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked with uncertainty himself, closing the car door.

“I’m not sure about anything,” she studied her pink socks. “But this feels like...what I need to do. I don’t know why, but it’s my decision, and it’s not for long, is it? We’ll separate at some point.”

“Right,” he reminded himself. She just needed a way out, and so did he, even if temporarily. Somehow Judd ended up with the stuffed animal in his hands, not realizing it, as he followed Jana back into her trailer.

Judd would borrow Radamuz’s laptop for unknown reasons after buying Greyhound tickets for that night, and would ask Jana to write these words on a paper for her sibling: You’ll have to reset your password when you log back in. She added, I’m sorry :(.

And they would be gone before Radamuz would arrive...

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| UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 7th, 2023 - The Runaways was completed and written in under two weeks at the beginning of the year. No edits have been made to this version! The novella is about 50,000 words, while the screenplay is not finished as of yet. I am working on that and then some... To whom it may concern, this {abridged} chapter's word count is at 4,966 without my "update." Thanks for reading if you made it this far. ❥