[ WP ] You abduct a child to hold her for ransom , but as you begin to talk to her you realize her home life is actually way more troubling than being kidnapped .

God I'm starving. Thank fuck she seems pretty calm, a little confused. I think there's a McDonald's up ahead. We might be fine going through the drive through. 
 
 In the dim lights from the street lamps the girls face looked sleepy. Her chubby cheeks were red from the winter air, but she was probably warm now in the car. 
 
 `` Can we go inside? I want to play on the- on the play pen.'' Her voice was n't harsh and desperate like kids who only rarely are allowed to do something they love. Good. Her parent's probably love her. Probably cater to her every insignificant whim. 
 
 She is pretty calm. 
 
 `` Yeah. And - if you're a good girl and do as you're told, you can have whatever you want to eat too.'' 
 
 She did n't react much to that. I should soften my voice a bit. 
 
 `` Deal, Jenna?'' 
 
 `` Ohhkay,'' the girl responded, with a little smile. 
 
 The snow crunches a bit as we park. We run inside together, I grab Jenna's hand. I order a McDouble, and she orders two chocolate chip cookies. Takes probably a minute before our food is up. 
 
 `` Can I get milk too?'' Jenna asks, halfway through the first cookie with melted chocolate all over her fingers. 
 
 `` Sure, hold on.'' I purchase the milk and come back, keeping one eye on her the whole time. I sit back down and open the plastic lid. 
 
 `` Are you my new daddy?'' 
 
 `` N- no. I'm not your new dad. You're daddy misses you very much, he'll be happy once you're home.'' 
 
 `` No he wo n't. He's not my dad.'' She shoved some more cookie in her mouth. `` I do n't want him.'' 
 
 Kids. They always hate their parents from time to time, especially when the parents do n't give them anything real to worry about. At her age I'd have been happy to have anyone to call a father. 
 
 `` Well, your mommy will definitely miss you.'' 
 
 Jenna looked down at her cookies unhappily. Her eyes reddened and welled up, and her chin dimpled as she frowned. 
 
 Shit. `` It's okay! You'll see her soon, I promise. I'm just taking care of you for a couple days while your mommy and daddy put together a special surprise for you!... You're going to love it!'' 
 
 I do n't think she heard me really. She keeps getting redder. Cheeks, eyes, lips - all bright red. 
 
 `` Nobody loves me. I'm just a stupid idiot.'' 
 
 Six year old, adorable privileged girls do n't normally talk that way. 
 
 `` Are there mean girls at school telling you that? You know what you could say to them?'' 
 
 `` No.'' 
 
 `` You can tell them to shove it up their twats.'' The mental image of this adorable girl chewing out the mean girls seemed precious. 
 
 `` Nooo. It's not girls, it's mommy.'' Tears began streaming down her cheeks after she could n't hold them back any longer. 
 
 Those fuckers. Who calls little kids names like that? Well, aside from teaching them to call each other that. But that's self defense. Mean girls deserve that. And I guess it's not that uncommon, my parent's did it. 
 
 `` My parent's used to call me that too.'' 
 
 Jenna looked up. 
 
 `` Have some more cookie! It's gon na get cold!'' 
 
 `` It already is cold.'' Jenna sounded like the most miserable creature in the world. 
 
 `` Okay, hold on, I'll get it heated up again.'' I grab the cold cookie and take it back to the counter. The clerk rolls her eyes at me as she turns away to put it back into the oven. I watch as Jenna sips some milk. The cookie comes out pretty hot. I walk slowly back to the booth so it'll cool a bit. 
 
 `` Here you go! One nice, warm cookie!'' Jenna looks much calmer, but the redness remains in her face. She accepts the cookie and begins to alternate bites of cookie with sips of milk. I wait for her to finish quietly, unsure of what else to say or do. 
 
 We clean up ( Jenna picks up her own trash ) and go back to the truck. I recline her seat as much as I can and turn up the heat so she can go to sleep. We have a bit of a drive ahead of us. 
 
 
 

