“Where are we going?” Jude winced as he leapt over a rock along the dark path hardly visible beneath age-dimmed street lamps.
“It’s a surprise,” Joanna said. She pulled his hand close and led the way to a jagged fence at the end of their path. They jumped over to the other side, where an old shopping complex stood with the little pride it had left to flaunt. Jude was tempted to ask about their destination once again, but figuring he’d at best get the same answer as the first time, he merely shrugged and followed.
Joanna scooted up to a glass door near the side of the complex, pulled out a pin from under her knit cap and poked it into the lock. The door creaked open obediently.
“Jo, what are we doing here?” Jude demanded in a whisper.
“Come on.” Joanna gave him an inviting wave as she crossed into the shop.
Jude wrinkled his brows when he pushed through the door. “I probably sound like a broken record saying this again, but we could get in trouble.”
“No, Jude,” Joanna smiled sweetly, looping her arms around his neck. “We’re getting married.”
She slid one hand off him to find her flashlight and pointed it at a line of wedding clothes along the wall.
Jude’s chest deflated. “I, uh… don’t think this is a good idea.”
“I know it’s a big deal, but trust me, I have everything worked out,” Joanna said. “We’ll look around here, take what we like and go to the registry tomorrow. Bonnie’s agreed to give us a ride and be our witness—you have nothing to worry about.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Jude took her hands and held them gently in his. “I love you, Jo, and there’s nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you. Just… not like this.”
“Not like this?”
“I want us to build a life together, not steal our way into it.”
“But,” Joanna sniffed, “we’ll be legally wedded anyway. It doesn’t matter where the resources came from.”
“No, Jo, not like this,” Jude shook his head. Then, he shuffled closer. “You see, I’ve applied for a job. And I really think things will start to get better.”
A bright light flashed through the glass door, forming a spot on their faces. They jerked, and the shadowy figure of a uniformed warden appeared before them. As he yelled, asking who they were, Jude pulled Joanna to his side and burst out the door, knocking the frail warden off his feet. The two vaulted over the fence and ran back down the path they came from, a chilly night wind whirring over their shoulders.
They heard the sound of heavy boots scraping the ground behind them. Joanna glanced over her shoulder and caught the tip of a bobbing light growing out of the corner they’d just turned.
“He’s coming,” she groaned.
Jude slid to a rough stop at the junction where their path split—to a concrete lane on the right and a red-brick arch on the left. He snatched the flashlight in Joanna’s hand and flung it to the right while he pulled her left towards the arch. Huddling quickly beneath it, they watched the warden sprint up to the junction and follow their bait flashlight to the concrete lane.
Joanna rested her head on her knees and sighed as a small wind beneath the arch raced through the ends of hair peeking out of her cap.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was a warden,” she muttered.
“It’s okay,” Jude said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow glow stick. It brightened when he smacked it against his wrist, illuminating the ‘love you’ sticker tattoo on his hand, which had come in the same gift pack as the glow stick that morning. He held it up to cover their little space under the arch in a warm light.
“You were saying something about a job,” Joanna asked tentatively.
“Yeah.” Jude nodded. “At the shoe factory.”
“But… how do you know you’ll get it?”
“I have a good feeling about it. Plus, the manager seemed to really like me.”
Joanna only gave a dry chuckle in reply.
Jude lifted a brow. “Are you all right, Jo?”
“I’m fine… of course. I’d love for you to get the job. It’s just…” The ends of her lips drew downward. “I’m scared. We’ve spent all of our lives prowling on the streets to make ends meet, and… I’m afraid I might never be able to get anything else right.”
Her eyes glazed over. Jude reached out and wiped the teardrops forming along her eyelids.
“I know doing things differently isn’t going to be easy. But Jo, you’re braver than that. We’ve always done things that aren’t easy, and you never look back, ever. We can do this. The two of us, together. Just trust me.”
Joanna sniffed, then nodded. “I trust you.”
She laid her head on Jude’s shoulder, and he draped his arm protectively around her.
“Now, let’s get out of here,” he whispered.
Fatimah Akanbi writes fiction and poetry. She has been writing since she was five, and is currently pursuing a degree in Information Technology at the University of Ilorin. Her favourite genres are sci-fi and mystery, but she tries her hand at romance every now and then.
Featured image by Ruthson Zimmerman on Unsplash.
