The day after her birthday Jen was up earlier than usual as she had a special reason to get to work early. She was s surprised by her Moms sudden appearance in the kitchen. It seems that despite all her attempts at being quiet Mom heard her, she filed away the sharpness of Moms hearing for future reference. When questioned about the earliness of the hour Jen said she had been asked to do the opening set up.

It was less than a 10 minute bike ride in the beautiful pre-dawn hours. As she peddled her way through the deserted streets a multitude of doubts and questions flooded her mind. What could she do to ensure Vlad's help? What if he refused? What if he told her Mom? She had just chained her bike to the telephone pole behind the restaurant when she spotted Vlad's car silently pulling into the alley. She got in and slid across the seat and greeted him with a long passionate kiss.

He handed her a white paper bag with a cup of coffee, cream, sugar and a stir stick. After fixing the cup to her liking and taking a sip she went into great detail about her plans of leaving. Vlad sat there sipping his coffee and smoking a cigarette, his face showed no emotion as he was listening intently. When she finished he must have asked her about a hundred questions about her plan. Did she sense hesitation in his voice?

"I'll give you anything you want if you help," she placed his hand of her left breast.

"Jen, don't you ever use your body as a bargaining tool," he responded with just a touch of anger in his voice. She apologized to him for her comment. 

"So what do you need?"

"A ride to the airport from my house."

"So why me?"

"You are among the handful of people I trust not to tell my Mom."

"I should have my head examined for agreeing to be a part of this."

"Does that mean you will help?"

"Yes, but there are a few things you need to do prior to your departure."

Over the course of the next week, Jen wrote letters to her father and brothers as Vlad requested. She expressed the love she felt for them but added could not stand being under her mothers thumb anymore. She then composed a letter to the local police chief advising him that she had not been kidnapped and despite what her Mother told him she had left of her own free will.

She gave notice to her boss who was sorry to see her leave, but totally understood her reasons. She even presented Jen with two weeks salary as a going away gift, and extracted a promise from her to keep in touch.

Vlad came over as he normally did on Fridays and joined the group already there, and as usual her mom kept a sharp eye on her if she got too close to him or any of the males. She excused herself around 10:00 pm saying she was tired and was going to bed. However as soon as she entered her room she doused the lights and watched the upstairs bathroom hallway again until Vlad appeared to use the facilities.

"So are you all packed?"

"Yes."

" Did you write the letters?"

"Yes."

"Does your bedroom windows open wide enough for you to crawl out of ?"

"Yes it does."

"When do you want to leave?"

"This morning."

"Be ready at 3 am."