Determined To Live by C. M. Wright Page A

sick bitch!" the man screams into the phone.
    "Mr. Hunter,"
I scream back with steel in every syllable. "If you would stop
being such a jackass, I can prove I have Melody right here with me."
    "Fine. Try and
do that." His voice drips with hatred and disgust.
    "Fine.
I will !
She has black hair and blue eyes, and was kidnapped on her fifth
birthday from a pizza party. She―"
    "So you can
read and watch TV. Not good enough."
    "If
you would shut the hell up and listen to me, maybe you'll hear something you didn't post or broadcast, you
ass!" My own anger comes through loud and clear. "She had
'twelve whole friends'
at the party" - apparently,
she says that a lot, as the man gasps - "she had a big pink princess cake. You always called her Mel,
and she says 'baffroom' for bathroom, 'din't' for didn't, and she
calls the pizza place you had her party at 'Kid Plant' instead of Kid
Planet. Sound familiar, Mr. Hunter?" Only when I stop talking do
I hear his sobs.
    "Where is she?
Is she with you now? Is she hurt? Please let me talk to her. Let me
hear her voice," he begs me.
    I
look over at Mel just as she gives a light snore.
    "Mr. Hunter,
she's asleep. She's had a rough couple days - well, rougher than
normal. She was hiding in the bathroom because the people who
kidnapped her had turned to zombies. But she's ok," I rush to
assure him. "I'm not sure if waking her up and thrusting the
phone at her is a good idea."
    I hear her daddy
sob even harder, and my heart breaks for him.
    "Alan, look,
here's what we'll do. I'll go ahead and wake her, we'll be leaving
shortly, anyway. I'll explain all this to her so that it doesn't give
her a shock when she talks to you, and maybe you ought to explain
things to your wife. Then I'll call you back wh―"
    "No!
Please don't hang up. Please ?
Can't you just leave the phone on while you talk to her? Please, I
just need to know she's ok. I need to hear her voice."
    I think about it
for a minute, then agree it might be best. Maybe by the time she
talks to him, he'll have calmed down - at least a little.
    "Ok, Alan. I
can do that. I'm setting the phone down now."
    "Ok." And
then I hear him scream excitedly for his wife.
    I lean over and
lightly shake Mel. She groans and tries to move away from my hand,
but she can't go too far before the couch stops her.
    "Mel. Hey
honey, wake up. I need to talk to you."
    A few more
attempts, and she finally sits up slowly and rubs her eyes. After she
lets out a big yawn, she focuses on me.
    "Mel, I have
some things to talk to you about. First, my family is coming to get
us out of here."
    Her eyes light up
at that news and she quietly claps, softly saying "Yay!"
    "There's
something even better, Mel." She grins at just the thought of
something better than leaving this house. "Mel, I found your
mommy and daddy. They've been looking all over for you."
    " Really ?
You found them? They still love me?"
    I pull Mel onto my
lap and hold her tight. "Of course they do, Mel! In fact,
they're waiting to talk to you on my phone right now." I hold
the phone up and she snatches it lightning fast.
    "Mommy!
Daddy!" she yells into the phone.
    I
hear the muffled responses - although loud, I still can't make out
actual words. But
I don't really need to, now do I? It's pretty obvious.
    I ask Mel to move
to the couch so I can get up, but I have to help her because she's
shaking so hard from excitement and has a death grip on the phone. I
fumble with my crutches and finally stand, my body aching and
rebelling at the promise of rest that seems to never actually happen.
    As I leave the
room, I grin when I hear Mel tell her parents that, "Aunt Ana -
that's what I named her cause her name was weird. I wanted to name
her Buffy, but she said Buffy doesn't kill zombies she kills vampires
- but she has a broken foot and has owies all over her!" Then I
groan and swing out of the room faster when she adds, "even on
her butt!"
    Shaking my head -
my face burning with embarrassment - I enter the kitchen,