Running from life

Running from life Mafia and Motorcycle Jane Pragor Copyright © 2022 Jane Pragor All right reserved The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarities to real persons, living or dead, are coincidental and not intended by the author. No parts of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher. Table of Contents Table of Contents Zoe Zoe Zoe Zoe Top Zoe Zoe Zoe Hollow Zoe Zoe Tough Zoe Zoe Zoe Top Zoe Zoe Zoe Zoe Tough Matt Zoe Zoe Zoe Prologue Zoe Age 7 Mommy forgot to give me dinner. Yesterday she took me to school to meet my teacher and she was so nice; she held my hand and told the teacher that I am smart, we even went for ice cream before we came home. It might have been the best day ever. After that, she shut me in my room and told me not to come out for anything. I kept thinking that she was going to bring me something to eat but she never did. I could hear her moving around in the kitchen at one point, but she didn’t come to my room. I must have been so quiet that she forgot I was here. I think it was a long time before I snuck out to go to the bathroom. I left the lights off and I tiptoed down the hall, I didn’t even flush because I was scared that she would hear it and be mad that I left my room. I would have gotten a spanking if I had an accident in my pants though. I have tried to be extra good this week. School starts soon and last year there was a bunch of people that came and went from the house when school started. They had all these questions for my parents, sometimes I could be in the room others I couldn’t. Sometimes we knew they were coming, but most of the time they were just here. All of them wanted to talk to me. They kept asking me questions I didn’t understand and saying that they thought my parents weren't taking care of me when they are the ones with me every night. I told them that my parents loved me and that I had the perfect bedroom and all the toys that I wanted to play with. They kept asking though. Saying things that made mommy mad and daddy acted funny the whole time, sort of like I do when I think I am going to get in trouble for something. I couldn’t figure out why the purple marks on my arm and side caused such a problem, they were only there because I was being too loud. Mommy had told me to be quiet but the barbies that I was playing with were fighting. I guess they got too loud too because mommy put them in the trash when I tried to explain what happened to her. I cried for them but when daddy came into my room that night, he told me that he would get me new ones. Daddy always buys me the toys I want. We had been outside for recess at school when I got hot, so I took my jacket off—even though mommy told me not to—and the teacher started asking me all these questions. The next day the police showed up at my house with this lady from CSP—I think that’s what she told me—and wanted to talk to me. When I got home, I told mommy what the teacher saw and all the things that she asked me. Mommy told me that people were probably going to come asking more questions and that I should tell them that I fell out of the tree in the backyard, even go as far as showing them the tree, so I did. They left us alone after that. Mommy was still mad. She took a lot of my toys, and I only got them back when daddy decided that I had been good enough. So, this year I am going to do better. I am going to be quiet when I am supposed to be and try not to upset her so that we don’t have those people in our house again. Mommy told me that if they came back, they would take me away, and the family that I would be put with would be bad to me. My mommy and daddy love me, and I don’t want to go and live with someone who won't. “Zoe!” Mommy’s voice scares me out of the book that I was reading, my teacher told me that I am so young to be reading already but books are so cool! The pictures and the stories can take you out of the room you are stuck in—that’s my favorite part. Mommy leaves me in my room a lot, sometimes for a very long time, and books let me go somewhere else! That is the coolest thing ever. “ZOE! Get out here!” I jump off my bed and run to the door, I don’t know what she is mad about but if I don’t hurry, she will only get angrier. “Yes, mommy?” She is standing in the bathroom looking at the toilet. “Did you use the bathroom and not flush?” “I really had to go, but you told me not to leave my room, so I didn’t want to make any noise.” I should have just told her yes, without an explanation, because she always says the same thing when I try to explain. “I don’t need your excuses! This is fucking gross!” She slams the lid of the toilet and grabs me by the arm, pulling me roughly from the room and back into my bedroom. “Mommy, I’m sorry! I was trying to be good!” She pushes