Turn Now

Take a slight right in 2 miles.

Dan loved his new car. And although it wasn’t brand new, it was new to him. A 2018 Volvo sedan, “best car in its class.” However, despite being the “best” technologically at the time, Dan still used the GPS on his phone, which protruded proudly from his dash via a connector he bought from Walmart.

           “What the hell does ‘slight right’ mean?” Jack sat up in the back seat, his new girlfriend sliding off his shoulder like a loose sleeve. Dan heard her head hit the leather seat with a soft thud.

           “I know, right?” Dan said a little too loud, glad that someone was awake. He looked back and forth from the road to Jack in the rearview mirror like an eager dog wanting a treat. Sarah, Dan’s sixth-month girlfriend, hated that and watched with disdain as the man in the back woke up and Dan’s personality disappeared. Sarah had been awake the whole time, staring down at her phone and purposely ignoring Dan. 

           “How far we got to go?” Jack’s girlfriend sat up. Dan loved hearing her voice. It was soft, but her tone was direct, as if she were really talking to just you. 

           “About two hours. That’s if we don’t stop again for piss-breaks.” He looked tauntingly over at Sarah, only to find a middle finger floating in the air beside him.

           They drove on.

In three-quarters of a mile, take a slight right on to interstate 419.

“I think ‘slight right’ means it’s not a direct turn, y’know?” Dan explained as if he had been thinking about Jack’s question for five minutes. Sarah decided to play along and, in the same volume as Dan, she said, “I don’t know, Dan, I think a ‘slight right’ still means right, so it’s still a turn.” She watched his uncomfortable eyes dart back at Jack.

           Dan breathed, “Whatever, Sarah.”

           “Yeah, you’ll think ‘whatever’ tonight, driver boy,” she said and then made a sad face for a Snapchat picture.

           Dan looked at her with a frowned brow, “What’s wrong with you?”

           Sarah felt useless and bored and said, “Better not miss your turn, driver boy…”

Turn Now.

           “Shit!” Dan exclaimed as he drove a little too fast into the turn, and Sarah laughed a little too loud.

           “Heh, heh, sorry ’bout that, guys,” Dan said.

           “Those ‘slight rights’ are harder than ya think, huh?” Jack’s girlfriend was fully awake and looking forward, as if watching for another turn.

           “They’re a riot,” Sarah said, never looking up from her phone.

           Stay on 419 for 93 miles.

           “Alright,” Dan yelled, “ninety-three miles free of the GPS bitch.”

           “That’s weird to say,” Jack’s girlfriend said thoughtfully. Dan was the only one who seemed to hear her. Jack was still looking out the window, imagining himself in a red truck, and Sarah was beyond his sarcasm, looking at her phone that was displaying memes of sarcasm.

           “Why weird?” Dan asked, actually curious, and sadly endeared because someone was listening.

           “I always thought of the GPS as sincere and honest. She – it is always trying to find the best route for wherever you are headed at the time.”

           “I guess you’re right. Never thought about it like that, never appreciated it.” Dan smiled, looking at his phone stuck to the dash where the GPS voice emerged from.

           “Maybe you should give it a name,” Sarah chimed in. Her voice held the sticky drip of ridicule. She had been listening. She was always listening, even when she wasn’t. Dan thought at that moment that Sarah might hate him and knew at least, she did not like him.

           “Vicky. Let’s call her Vicky!” Jack’s girl said eagerly from the back.

           “Heh, she sounds like a Vicky,” Dan said, hoping this pissed Sarah off, who did indeed smirk in disgust. 

           In one mile turn left on Van Buren Road.

           Dan looked perplexed. He looked at Sarah and said, “I thought it said we were going to be on 419 for the next ninety-three miles.”

           “Maybe it’s a detour. Just to be safe, better take it. There might be a wreck on 419 or some construction.”

           “Seems like it would have considered that before.”

           “Unless it is a wreck and just happened.” Sarah spoke the whole time without looking up from her phone.

           “Vicky wouldn’t lie to us, Dan,” said Jack’s girlfriend. Dan smiled at her through the rearview.

           Take the next left onto Van Buren Road.

           “Okay, Vicky,” Dan said jokingly.

           Stay on Van Buren Road for two miles.

           “How much farther until we hit Florida?” Jack asked from the back.

           “I think about an hour,” Dan said.

           Take a left in one mile on Irwin Street.

           This bothered Dan, but he refused to voice his concern again. Another left would take them away from the original route even more. 

           Stay on Irwin Street for 22 miles.

           About ten miles in, Dan said, “This seems really out of the way. I mean look at these houses. This is not a main road.”       

           “Hmm,” Sarah replied.

           Jack was dozing again, but his girl leaned forward and rested her face on her arms on the back of the front seat. Dan could see her round face framed by her long black hair in his peripheral vision. She smelled like soap, and it was mixed with the sweet smell of bubblegum as she breathed, “I think these side roads are interesting. It’s like glimpsing a hidden world. It’s like going back to nature.” Dan was nodding in agreement.

           “Whoa! Watch the road, driver boy!” Sarah put her hand on the dash as Dan slightly swerved back onto the road.

           Take the next left on Chapel Street.

           “What? By my calculations we still have about five miles on this road…”

           “Better listen to her, Danny-boy,” Jack croaked from the back.

           Turn now.

           “Okay,” Dan said doubtfully, and eased into the turn.

           Stay on Chapel Street for 1.2 miles.

           The road was a single lane road with no divider lines. Dan’s eyes were wide as he observed the green, Southern foliage closing in upon him.

           “This is exciting.” Jack’s girlfriend giggled as she nudged up under Jack’s arm like a cat. Dan could not remember the last time Sarah had done something like that.

           “Yeah, if you like getting lost,” Dan countered, a little beyond appreciating her enthusiasm.

           Take the next right on King’s Street North… Dan.

           “What? Did you guys hear that? It said my name. The GPS said my name!” He plucked his phone off the dash and looked at it. He looked at Sarah. “Did you hear that?”

           “Yeah, take the next right,” she said.

           “No, it said my name! The GPS said, ‘Dan’.” He held the phone in front of her as if that would prove something.

           “Is Vicky talking to you directly now, Dan?” Jack’s girlfriend teased. Dan began to wonder if he just imagined the GPS saying his name and decided to drop it.

           You are still on the fastest route.

           “See there, Danny-boy, a little reassurance. Just listen to… what did you call her? Vicky?” Jack had become suddenly preoccupied with his backseat friend, so Dan did not comment. He simply drove.

           Turn right on King’s Street North now.

           Dan slowed, turned, and was surprised to find the road was unpaved. “What the hell? Where is this thing taking us? Sarah, will you double check the destination?”

           “I already did while you and nature girl were looking at houses,” she lied. “It’s fine. Just keep going. I’m sure this road will turn back onto blacktop soon.”

           Remain on King’s Street North for seven miles.

           The trees and undergrowth were even closer and, in some instances, brushed the side of the Volvo, making Dan cringe.

           After about ten minutes, Dan could not stand it anymore. He blurted out, “This can’t be right. I think the GPS has gotten us turned around somehow.”

           You are still on the quickest route… Dan.

           Everyone in the car sat up. 

           “Did you hear it? Did you hear it that time?” Dan almost screamed.

           Sarah picked up Dan’s phone and looked at it inquisitively. “Do you have some weird maps app that listens to you and personalizes information?” She turned it in her hand.

           “No. Just maps. Came with the phone.” Dan was looking back and forth between everyone in the car and the road. He felt vindicated and relieved.

           Jack’s girlfriend spoke up, “Vicky, can you hear us?” Nothing. However, they all were curious to see if her experiment would work.

           Jack still sat at attention, looking forward. He flinched as a branch hit his side of the window, then said, “I wonder if it’s something new Google is doing. Y’know, they take all our information and use it for whatever they want.”

           Take the next left on Yellow Springs Road, Dan.

           “Man, that’s weird.” It even unnerved Sarah. Sarah, whom Dan was going to break up with when they got back from Florida.

           “I think we should turn around,” Dan muttered.

           You are still on the quickest route. Turn now.

           Dan obediently turned. He was surprised the road could get any narrower, but it did. A heavy silence ensued, and the Volvo rolled on down another dirt road.     

           Turn right now.

           Dan turned again, thinking the road looked more like a driveway than a road. He also noted that Vicky was not listing road names anymore. No one spoke. Even the love birds in the back seat looked around as if they were on a daunting carnival ride.

           Stay on this road for 27 miles.

           Dan sighed. The trees had become increasingly close to the car and shut out the sun with a dark canopy of brown and black. Dan felt as if his vehicle were sliding down into some fathomless depth, and he could not come back to the surface.

           They drove on in silence.

           Forty minutes passed before Vicky spoke again.

           Take the next right.

           Dan slowed into the turn and again felt as if he were entering a long driveway. Eventually, they came to a bridge.

           Cross the bridge.

           He crossed a wooden bridge that spanned a rather deep creek, and everyone looked over the edge to see the water rushing beneath them. The Volvo eased off the wood with a creak and back on to the grind of the dirt road.

           There is a house 1000 feet ahead. This is your destination.

           “Okay, that’s it. We have to turn around. This is getting way too strange.”

           “Just keep going, man,” Jack said from the back. “Let’s see what’s ahead. You can’t turn around here anyway.”

           “That’s fine, but as soon as I see a spot, I’m turning around.”

           You are still on the quickest route, Dan.

           “Oh, shut the hell up, Vicky!”

           The house had been obscured by the trees, but soon came into view as Dan eased his car down the lane. It was a single-story unit with dirty white siding. There was a small porch on the front, flaking paint and littered with car parts and what looked like an ancient washing machine. Several chairs of different kinds were strewn about on the lawn. Some were kitchen chairs, some were lawn chairs, some were broken and in pieces. In the center of the yard, there stood a soiled, yellow kitchen table with several bottles and containers of different color resting on it.

           As Dan pulled up, Vicky spoke.

           Turn off the car and go inside the house, Dan.

           Dan stopped the car, but did not turn it off and, for one brief moment, thought he was getting pranked. However, he realized that no one in the car cared enough about him to go to such lengths. 

           He looked at the others in the car, who were looking back at him. They were waiting to see what he was going to do, then advise him.

           “You gonna go in, man?” Jack’s voice was quiet.

           “I’m going to try and turn around and back-track our route. That’s what I’m going to do.” Dan felt shocked at Jack for even asking.

           “At least go in. I mean Vicky said to go in,” Sarah said, looking at the house.

           “Are you nuts? That could be a murder house. Why the hell would I go in?”

           Sarah retorted, “I doubt maps would be allowed to take you someplace that would do you harm. I think it will be fine.”

           From the back, Jack’s girlfriend blatantly said, “Hell, I’ll go in.”

           “Wait!” was all Dan could say before she was out of the car, a hot breath of air rushing in to take her place. Once outside, she stretched and let out a long squeal. “God, it feels good to stand!”

           “Jack, stop her, man!” Dan pleaded.

           “Dude, she’ll be fine,” Jack said, not moving from his seat. “The GPS said to go in.”

           Sarah was on her phone, and said, “Did you know sometimes bees sting other bees?” She then proceeded to take a Snapchat picture of herself fake laughing at the random fact. Dan shook his head in disbelief, and wanted to ask Sarah again, “What’s wrong with you?” But he knew the reason for his alarm would not register. He opened his door and stood by the sedan with his hand on the hood.

           “You need to come back to the car!” he yelled, but she was already on the porch. Randomly, she picked up what looked like a metal box from the top of the old washer, and screws and nails fell out at her sandaled feet. She looked back at the car, shrugged her shoulders and laughed, then put the box back.

           They all watched as she knocked on the door, her jean cut-offs just high enough to see the bend in her cheeks as she stood on her tiptoes to look through the door’s high window. She knocked again and then tried the doorknob.

           It opened.

           She looked back and waved with a smile, then walked in.

           “What the hell!” Dan felt helpless and walked toward the house, but then came back and sat down in the car. He left his door open, and that was how they heard the scream.

           All three passengers in the car looked at the house, but did not move.

           “Oh shit. Jack. Did you hear that, Jack?” Dan’s voice was a careful whisper, as if awaiting another scream.

           Jack did not say anything. Sarah was holding her phone up, recording the front of the house where nothing was happening.

           “Jack, you gotta go get her, man. Go see if she’s okay.”

           “I’m not going in there!” Jack said defensively.

           “She’s your girlfriend!”

           “She’s not my girlfriend. I just met her. She got in the car when you guys picked me up at Fort Hood.”

           “She’s your girlfriend. You two have been fooling around all the way here.”

           “Dude, she came on to me. I thought she was with you guys.” Jack always said “dude” when he was serious, as if it made him sound more sincere or credible. Dan decided he did not like it.

           “We thought she was with you.” Dan tried to think, tried to remember when she got into the car. It was just before Jack got in the car.

           “Dude, I don’t even know her name.”

           I know her name.

           Dan grabbed his phone from its perch on the dash and turned it off. He looked at Sarah, but she was on her phone again. Dan could not imagine what she was looking at. She looked up and saw his outraged countenance and angrily responded, “I was looking to see if there were any strange murders in this part of the state.” 

           “And what part of the state are we in, Sarah? Where the hell are we?” Dan closed his door and put the car in reverse.

           “I don’t know what part of the state we are in, Dan. You turned off your maps!”

           He stopped the car and seriously imagined opening her door and putting his foot against her hip and pushing her out. Instead, he finished turning and headed out of the drive with a little more gusto than he drove in with, eventually crossing the bridge. None of them looked over the edge this time. He did not worry about the trees brushing against his car or the wide narrow creek as he splashed through it.

           Once on the blacktop again, it seemed like only moments before they were back on 419. After driving on the main road for a while, Dan pulled over at a diner, took Sarah’s phone out of her hand, and called the police.

           Sadly, as they sat there in the parking lot of the restaurant, Dan and his cohorts could not give the police the girl’s name, only a description.  Jack and Sarah only shrugged at questions when Dan asked for help remembering something. Dan finally got out of the car and leaned back against his Volvo as cars whizzed by. 

           The lack of details surprised the official, and Dan’s entourage was asked to come into the local precinct to make a statement, but honestly, even Dan was afraid to go. Instead, he hung up in frustration, and they all walked into the roadside dive, aptly named Debbie’s Diner.

           Later, when he crossed into the Everglade State, Dan was glad that Jack and Sarah were not with him. He left them at the diner, sitting there in a booth, looking down at their drinks. Dead to him.

           In the fading light, as Dan drove down a long stretch of wide Florida road lined with indifferent palm trees, his phone came on by itself. He had put it back on its perch, and now watched it curiously as twilight made the sky pink in front of him.

            He calmly said, “Vicky?”

            Yes, Dan?