The next morning, Hanna was up and dressed with the sun. She packed a suitcase with enough clothes to last her a week. If she were gone much longer than that, she would just have to wash her things or wear them dirty.
She ate a banana and downed a glass of juice before heading out into the backyard to attend to the plants there. Not bothering to plant what was left, Hanna instead finished laying out the design she had initially envisioned. She then lightly watered each of the potted plants before typing Haley a text and scheduling it to be sent at three in the afternoon.
That left her just enough time to shower, dress, and be sitting outside when the beat-up old pickup truck pulled up in front of the house.
Hanna hadn't seen her Uncle Dale since she was ten years old. Her mother's oldest brother, he had always been Hanna's favorite relative as a child. Though she only saw him four or five times a year, the two had crafted a special relationship during their limited exposure.
Dale and his younger sister had never seen eye to eye on much in life. A war veteran, the older man had long since set aside the Christian beliefs the pair had been raised with during their upbringing. Instead, he'd adopted a more far-east approach to his spirituality, marking him as an idolator to her mother. Once their parents had passed on, Hanna's mother had cut him out of her life, and thus Hanna's.
She still remembered the day he had watched as she wrote down his phone number and could recall his exact words when she was finished.
"Now Lil' Bit, if the day ever comes that you need my help, you just dial that number. I promise that I will answer and be there to help you when you need me."
And he had lived up to his word. Hanna had half expected the number to be disconnected by now. But her Uncle Dale had picked up on the fourth ring, and after listening to what she wanted, promised that he would be there to pick her up by ten in the morning. He'd done so without asking questions and had exhibited no hesitancy in filling her request.
The door to the seventies model F-150 creaked open as the older man disembarked from its confines. Hanna's eyes drunk him in, seeing the toll the years had taken on his face. His hair had gone gray, and the lines weathering his face were now plentiful. Still, the twinkle in his eyes that had always been there remained despite his advanced years. He smiled down at her, where she sat on the stoop, revealing a mouth full of slightly yellowed teeth.
"You're still just as pretty as you always were, Lil' Bit," Dale said as Hanna stood to greet him with a hug. His embrace brought tears to her eyes. It was the first she'd had in a long time that didn't come with strings or expectations attached.
"I'm so glad to see you, Uncle Dale. I didn't know who else I could turn to for help. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Wanna fill me in on what's going on?" he asked as he studied her face.
"Or don't," he quickly added when he saw the pained expression Hanna's gave at his query.
Her expression relaxing somewhat, Hanna said, "Can I tell you on the road after we've put a little distance between us and this town. I really need to get away if only for a week or two."
Dale simply nodded his head and retrieved her bags, hefting them into the bed of the truck. He helped her get the door on the passenger's side of the ancient vehicle unstuck. Once she was seated on the bench seat and buckled into the lap belt, Dale closed the door behind her.
Once they were outside of town, Hanna checked her phone and noticed several texts from Haley and Meghan checking on her. Haley was checking in to see how she slept while Meghan simply texted reminding Hanna to eat breakfast. There was nothing new from Scottie since her text the night before announcing their plans to return home by this evening.
Thinking of Curtis, and not wishing to worry him or set off a search, Hanna addressed a text to him. She scheduled it to go out at the same time as the one Halley would receive. She was afraid if she sent it now, that Curtis might attempt to contact Haley seeking information on her whereabouts. By the time either of them knew for sure that she was gone, Hanna would be on the other side of Atlanta.
Once they approached Atlanta, Dale left the interstate saying it would be best to stick to state highways until they'd gotten north of the city. They'd been on the road nearly two hours when Hanna finally began to fill him in on the situation she found herself in. The gorgeous blonde omitted critical details about Damian, of course. For one, she didn't know how her uncle would react to Damian being black. You never could tell with people from his generation, particularly those from the south.
And because she didn't want him dropping her off at the nearest mental institution, she left out any reference to him being the devil.
Dale listened intently to the entire tale. When she was finished, Hanna studied him carefully as he took it all in.
"So, this husband of yours doesn't sound like he's a bad guy. A bit naive maybe and not very assertive, but you think it was a mistake to marry him?"
Hanna nodded her head. "Curtis is a good man. He's just wholly indoctrinated into the church and its more hard-line dogmatic teachings. And I'm just not sure that I can live that way anymore."
"What's changed in such a short time?" her uncle asked.
Hanna tried to think of a way to explain herself without giving too much information away. There was no magical means for her to go about doing it without going into detail about how she could know the things she did. So, Hanna settled for being as vague as possible.
"Well, I learned that my mother lied or misled me about a lot of things that I was taught my entire life. And I discovered some not very flattering things about quite a few people in my church. Things that don't wash with what they've always professed to me as teachings of the church."
Her uncle laughed heartily and said, "Your mother is a bitter woman, honey. She has been since she was a little girl. I sometimes used to think she popped out of your grandmother that way. As far as the hypocrites you've discovered in your church, I encountered the same thing when I was your age."
Hanna shrugged and said, "It turns out that I was every bit as naive as Curtis. Not as stubborn at accepting reality perhaps, but very naive."
Dale reached over and patted his niece's shoulder. "You're young yet, Hanna. A part of your twenties is the journey of self-discovery. It's always been that way. You have to figure out what parts of your upbringing you want to keep, and what doesn't fit the life you want to live.
"Yeah," Hanna said, "I think that's what I'm trying to do right now. But there was just so much noise back in Clayton that I couldn't focus. I haven't been eating good, and sleep has been a challenge."
"Now, what aren't you telling me about this mysterious suitor," Dale asked.
"What do you mean?" Hanna asked, feeling a hint of panic.
Her Uncle Dale cut his eyes over at Hanna, making her feel small for her subterfuge.
