In the back of the truck

In the back of the Truck

Jackie was between boyfriends. Way between boyfriends. The last two guys had turned about to be dating other women; actually, not just dating, in long-term significant relationships with other women. Jackie had been a fling, twice. So, was taking a break from men, a very long break.

This didn’t sit well with Karen who had a fabulous love life and was planning on getting married. She wanted Jackie to be happy too. Jackie assured her friend that she was quite happy and quite busy, after all she was working on her master’s degree in literature and really didn’t have time to date. Karen didn’t believe her.

“I think you should meet my cousin.” Jackie looked up from her mocha latte and narrowed her eyes at her friend. Families are always dangerous territory. She gave a quick shake of her head and pretended to be engrossed in her coffee. “I haven’t told you anything about him yet!” Karen reached out to give Jackie’s hand a little slap. “He’s really interesting. He was going to start law school but then he decided he wanted to explore a bit, see the country, so he’s working as a truck driver now.”

“What?” Jackie choked on her swallow of latte. “You want me to go on a date with a truck driver? Aren’t they the guys that park at the road side rest stops and invite a whore into the cabin behind the driver’s seat?”

Karen rolled her eyes, loudly. “That’s a stereotype. Joey is an intellectual. He did English as an undergrad. He’s kind of like the Beat poets on Highway 66.”

“A lot of the Beat poets were alcoholics or drug addicts. Or both. You’re not really selling him.”

Karen made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “Not exactly like them then. But he’s creative. You could talk about literature. Seriously, you’d like him.”

Jackie had finished her coffee and leaned back into the booth. “If he’s so perfect for me, why did you never introduce us before?”

“He lives on the other side of the country. But not now. He’s on the move. In fact, he’ll be in California next weekend.”

Jackie let out a long sigh. “And I suppose you’ve invited him out with you and your fiancé and need me to make up the numbers.”

Looking truly hurt, Karen shook her head, her hands held to her chest. “I would never do that without asking you first, but if you would like to double date…”

“No,” Jackie closed her eyes momentarily and let out another sigh. “I don’t want to date anyone right now. I’m right in the middle of writing my thesis and I don’t want to get involved with a truck driver who rolls into my life and then rolls right out again.”

“I’m sure he could request more west coast routes.” Jackie gave Karen a hard stare.

“I haven’t even met him yet. In fact, I haven’t even agreed to meet him.”

Karen leaned forward and bestowed her brightest smile on Jackie, “But you will, I know you will and I’m sure you’ll love him.”

A week later Jackie was going through her closet trying to figure out what to wear to meet a truckdriver. Skinny jeans, a crop top and stiletto heels? Not that she had anything like that in her wardrobe. Should she wear a tweed jacket with corduroy elbows and go all academic? A dress? No, she never wore dresses. Finally, she settled on a pair of jeans and a light blue sweater. It was a boring outfit but she was a boring person. She liked reading and writing about what she read. She didn’t have any hobbies and the only sport she practiced was cycling onto campus. Her part-time job was at a call centre for university fundraising. No wonder she didn’t have a boyfriend. Where would she meet one unless she ran over a guy with her bicycle?

Karen had arranged for them to meet at a local bar that served excellent Long Island ice tea and then go onto the adjoining restaurant. Jackie decided to drive instead of take a taxi. That way she would be regulated to only one drink and wouldn’t run the risk of getting tipsy and foolish. When she pulled into the parking lot, she noted a long-haul carrier at the edge of the lot. That must be the cousin’s truck. Damn it was big. How did anyone drive those things? She parked and then took a sneaky tour around the monster truck. If there were mudflaps with naked ladies on them, she was getting back in her car and going home but the vehicle was unadorned. Jackie forced herself towards the bar.

Karen waved a bit too enthusiastically from where she was seated at the bar. Her fiancé, Mike was sitting on one side of her and another man flanked her. The two men turned as Karen called out, “Hello!” Mike’s tanned face split into a smile and his blue eyes crinkled. Sweet guy. Vapid, but sweet. The man on Karen’s other side peered through his black framed glasses intently. He was acutely thin and his dark hair was slightly greasy. As if noticing her assessment, he reached up and pushed a loose lock of hair back off his face. He had pimples. Of course, living on the road would do that to you. All that junk food. And he probably didn’t have a power shower to get his hair thoroughly clean. Or an iron. The chinos he was wearing were decidedly wrinkled and it looked like the t-shirt he had on bore a ketchup stain – a faded stain, as if someone had tried really hard to get it out but hadn’t succeeded. Oh shit. He was awful.

Jackie tried to paste a smile on her face as she was introduced. She let Karen order her a drink. She reminded herself that she was driving and couldn’t get drunk. She would have to endure this evening sober. She stifled a sigh and the urge to kick Karen in the shins.

“Karen tells me you are into literature,” Jackie tried not to look at the enormous pustule on his chin while Joey spoke. His name was Joey. Jackie and Joey. Ha, ha, Karen.

“Um, yes. I’m doing a masters.”

“What for?” the tone was belligerent. Jackie leaned as far away from Joey as she could, giving that she was on a bar stool.

“Because I want to. Because I love literature. Because I’d like to share that love with students.”

“Is that what you are going to do with your life? Read, and talk about it?” He had shifted forward and Jackie got a good whiff of him. It wasn’t pleasant. She looked for Karen but her friend was in an intense tete á tete with her fiancé.  Jackie would have to defend herself.

“Yes, I’m going to read and talk about. What are you going to do? Drive back and forth across the country?” She knew she sounded like an intellectual snob. She didn’t care.

“I’m getting a feel for the country and then I’m going to do something. Not just talk about things, but do things.”

“Oh, good. I hope you enjoy that.” Now she hoped he could hear the sarcasm in her voice. What a charmer! He didn’t even get cleaned up for the date and then opens the conversation with an attack on her career.

“The problem with people today is they don’t want to do anything. They just want to watch, or read. They don’t want to make things happen.” He almost slammed his fist down on the bar top.  

“Actually, teachers have motivated students to achieve great things in their lives and reading books can be inspiring. I think I will be contributing to society when I finish my education.”

“Do you really think so?” He studied her, looking her up and down. He’s noticing my unimaginative outfit, Jackie thought. At least it was clean. He probably thinks I’m the most boring person in the world. Well, she didn’t think very much of him either. Maybe she could have a second drink, get a taxi and leave her car in the lot overnight. What she really wanted to do was leave but she knew she couldn’t be that rude. Too bad she had been brought up with manners.

“Oh look,” Karen said, jumping up, “our table is ready.” Jackie tried to catch Karen’s eye but her friend dodged the effort and led the party over to a hostess who was beckoning them towards a table. Menus were passed around and another drinks order placed. Jackie refrained from a second cocktail and ordered a diet coke. Mike recommended the seafood platter since he had had it before and Karen said the cobb salad was delicious. Jackie went with the salad. Joey ordered a steak.

“Hey, do you want to see my truck while we’re waiting?” the other three looked at Joey. He suddenly seemed eager, as if looking forward to a hot meal had erased his dour mood.

“I’ve seen it,” Karen piped up. “It’s very impressive.”

“Well, I’d like –“ Mike began but was kicked under the table by his other half. All eyes were on Jackie.

As much as she didn’t want to spend time alone with Joey, she was interested in what a giant truck would look like. When would she ever get the opportunity again? Hopefully never, but perhaps a tour would be an improvement on the combative conversation. At least the offer had been made with some sort of zest. She shrugged. “Sure, let’s go.”

Joey led the way, pulling a jangling ring of keys out of his pocket. “It’s empty now of course, so I can show you the storage area as well.”

Jackie almost said, ‘Whoop de doo,’ but managed to restrain herself.

First, they climbed up into the cab. He had to take her hand and hoist her in as it was a long way from the ground. Sitting in the passenger seat, the pavement looked miles away.

“Gosh, you wouldn’t be able to see a low riding car.”

“Nope, they just have to stay out of my way.” She raised her eyebrow at the cavalier statement but Joey seemed immune to subtle commentary.

Then he opened the door into the cabin. It reeked of dirty sheets and a bin that needed emptying. Most of the room was taken up with a bed. Jackie nearly leapt backwards out of the space.

“This way. Look, you can go through the cabin into the storage area.” Joey grabbed her hand and pulled her through a small door at the foot of the bed. She had to crawl over the edge of the mattress as he led her into the vast area where cargo was transported. It was dark inside and she stumbled, falling against Joey.

“Sorry,” she recoiled from him and felt for the wall. “I can’t see where I’m going.”

“I know. I haven’t turned on the electrics. I like it like this. It’s like a cave. Sometimes I sit in here for hours, just thinking.”

This was getting weird. “I think our meals are probably being served now. Shall we go back?”

“I’ll drive for miles and miles looking at the road spinning out before me and then I unload and get to sit back here. All peace and quiet. No lights. No sound. It’s like a decompression chamber.”

“Um, cool. I’m glad you have that in your life. Everyone needs peace and quiet.”

“Yeah.”

The stood in silence. Jackie waited for him to lead her out of the cavern. She heard a sniff and then Joey wiping his nose on his sleeve. Was he crying?

“You, ok?” she asked.

“I didn’t get into law school. I don’t want to teach. What could I do with a degree in English? I want to be a writer. I thought if I travelled I would find something to write about but I’m so tired all the time that I can’t make myself write. All I am is a truck driver.”

“Well,” she scrambled through her brain, trying to find something appropriate to say. “John Steinbeck worked in a cannery.” She got no response so she continued, “Robert Frost worked in a lightbulb factory. Burroughs killed bugs. I work in a call centre.”

“You do?” he sounded so incredulous that Jackie was ashamed. Had she been that snooty?

“Sure. I can’t pay the bills by reading. We’ve all got to start somewhere.”

There was another silence. Jackie started feeling along the wall, hoping to find the door back into the cabin.

Joey’s voice stopped her explorations, “Do you want to leave?” He sounded hurt. She didn’t want to be heartless after he had confessed his feelings of failure but she didn’t like the dark (you can’t read in the dark) and she was getting anxious. I mean, she hardly knew the guy and he seemed sort of unstable. What if he felt rejected by her and got angry? Did he have any weapons back here? Was she about to be knifed or strangled?

“Joey, I’m really hungry. Can we please go now?” She heard him drop something. It was metal. Christ! He did have a weapon!

“Dammit, I just dropped the keys. Help me find them!”

“What?”

“Get down on your hands and knees and feel around for them. We can’t get out without them. The door to the cabin locks automatically.” Jackie felt her heart rate double. This was definitely the worst date she had ever been on. She was going to kill Karen if she ever got out of this damn truck.  She realised Joey was already crawling around when his head bumped into her shin. She gave a little yelp and leapt away from him. Maybe the best thing would be for her to join in the search and find the keys herself.

The floor was not clean. There was straw and some sticky stuff. It turned out the last delivery had been soda. When she escaped, she would go back into the restaurant with filthy clothes and bits of straw stuck to her. Karen’s life was getting shorter by the minute. Sweeping her hand over the disgusting floor, Jackie put her hand on the keys. Too bad that she wasn’t sure where the door was. She stood up, her hands out stretched, feeling for the wall. Then she tripped over Joey. He heard the keys jangle as she fell.

“You found them! Why didn’t you say? Here, give them to me and I’ll open the door.” Jackie hesitated.

“Where is the door?”

“Right behind me.”

“Show me.”  She grabbed Joey by the back of the shirt but retained the keys. He stood up as she yanked on the shirt. “The door Joey, lead me to the door.” He moved forward until she heard him collide with something.

“It’s here, can you hand me the keys?” but she pushed past him and felt the lock for herself.

“You don’t know which key it is.”

She stamped her foot. “Fine. You open the door but if you hesitate one second, I swear I’ll knee you in the balls so hard you won’t ever stand up straight again.” She heard an intake of breath and then felt Joey tap her on the shoulder. She handed him the keys and stepped to one side. When the cabin was opened, they fell over the bed and out towards the cab and the late evening light.

“Sorry about that,” Joey mumbled, looking down at her stained jeans and blackened hands. “I guess you don’t like the dark.”

“I’m going to the ladies’ room,” Jackie jumped out of the truck, jamming her ankle and limped back into the restaurant. In the rest room, she washed her hands for a full five minutes. There was nothing she could do about her apparel, other than pull some pieces of straw off her sweater. When she got back to the table, Joey was seated with the other two who had already started eating.

“You were such a long time we couldn’t wait for you,” Karen apologized. Jackie gave her the ugliest look she could manufacture and then seated herself in front of her salad.

“What did you think of the truck?” Mike asked, oblivious to the ice in the air.

“It was dark.”

Karen tittered. Jackie was sorry she had ordered salad and did not have a steak knife. Joey kept his eyes on his plate.  Mike intervened again, “We thought after the meal we’d go…”

“No,” Jackie cut in. She was done. She was sorry Joey had writer’s block but that was his problem. All she wanted to do was go home and curl but some 18^th century literature and a highlighter. When she finished this degree, maybe she would get another one. She wasn’t changing the world but at least she wasn’t sitting alone in the dark.

Joey looked up from his meal then and put his utensils carefully on either side of the plate. “Someday, I’ll write a poem about tonight, or maybe a short story.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?” Jackie spit back.

Joey smiled at her, “Both.”