I walked for miles around the bustling city. I pulled on a sweatshirt over my arms to cover the welts Scott had left on me. I sweated profusely beneath the Florida sunshine, but I ignored it all as I tried to figure out what I was going to do.
I thought of going to Tricia's, but Scott would know to look for me there. I would rather die than put her in danger.
I stopped at an ATM to take out some much-needed cash but was dismayed to find Scott had emptied our bank accounts. I had exactly zero cash on me. I was dead broke and completely on my own.
As the sky began to darken, I ran out of options and snuck into an outside restroom at a gas station. I locked the door and tried to ignore the stink of the dirty facility as I sat down on the floor in the corner. I hugged my backpack to my body
