I would graduate, move, and start my job. Two weeks later, I would sneak home, grab the boxes and crates that Renee had marked for me while everyone was at her ceremony, slip into the gym to watch my little sister graduate, and then hide out and wait for her to call. She'd grab her "go" bag, meet me down the block, and we'd head to my house.

The only question was how long to let mom stew before answering her calls and texts. We didn't want her calling the police. We tried to anticipate mom and dad's next actions and how we wanted to handle those.

Renee was still...