On the Road Again

*unfinished story, but I've been away from writing so long, I thought I would try this out again...

On the Road Again

Lost

The shiny pimply faced teen looked back at her, “Never heard of it.”

“You dumbass! It’s in Massachusetts, everyone knows this. Did ya go to school ever?” another voice came from one of the aisles.

“Dad says you ain’t s’posed to call me names in front of customers.”

“Seein’ as she ain’t buyin’ she just askin’ then she’s not a customer, fuckturd.”

“Listen, I’ve been driving for over six hours already, the last thirty minutes I have been driving in circles in this town trying to get out of it. I either end up at that McDonald’s parking lot over there or at this gas station here. Someone has to know how to get to Camburgh, New York.”

Maybe this was payback for when her boyfriend had taken the drive across the state to visit her? It was much simpler to see one another when they lived in the same dorm, ate in the same dining halls, and walked to classes together. College gave them a bit of freedom. Now that they had to actually plan trips around summer jobs it became a bit more complicated. This is also when they learned just how big New York State is. 

He called from a payphone on the side of the Thruway, “I’ve gone through the tollbooth. The thruway has ended. I’m going to end up in Pennsylvania! Are you sure I wasn’t supposed to exit somewhere?”

She giggled, “Nope, just keep going. You won’t end up in Pennsylvania, trust me. You will find my exit way before Erie.” He finally appeared at her parents’ house, a bouquet of flowers in hand and a grin on his face. 

But today it was her turn to take the six hour trek across the state to his parents' house. It was now turning into a seven hour road trip. Her mascara smudged. She was sweating and swearing and losing patience with herself and others. She had long ago lost the fresh and clean feeling she left the house with. She had put on the shirt that he always complimented her on; the one with the peach trim on the collar. She had let her hair air dry to let the curls sit softly on her shoulders. But now she cinched it up into a high ponytail. And did these shorts always give her a wedgie and she just never noticed before? 

She had worked at the warehouse the night before for her four to twelve shift. The guys had teased her about how she had stars in her eyes and her head in the clouds. She almost dropped a pipe on her toes and had successfully forgotten to drop her forklift when turning a corner, almost knocking an entire pallet of sockets off a shelf. 

She had then gotten up early to work the six am to two pm shift at the nursing home, just so she could have the entire weekend off to spend time with her boyfriend. This was her first time going to visit him at his parents’ house. She didn’t want to waste another moment wandering around searching for his hometown. “So neither of you are able to help me?”

She turned around and left the gas station to drive in some more circles. Maybe this time she would stop at the McDonald’s to buy a coke. Why not? You know, make the best of a bad situation? She might need the caffeine to keep her awake long enough to find his parents’ house. Or at least the town. 

Her twelve year old ford tempo badly needed an oil change but that would have to wait for her next paycheck. Her parents thought she was saving her paychecks for textbooks for the fall semester. She was spending her money on long distance phone calls and gas money. 

****

Flat 

“Didn’ anyone ever tell ya not to drive on a flat tire?” Pimple-face smirked at her. She couldn’t believe she had ended up at the same gas station again. He really should wash his face more often, or invest in some acne cream, she thought. 

“How was I supposed to know it was flat unless I had stopped for gas?” She tried to keep her composure and her hands still as she spoke to the teen. “Is there anyone here who can help me?”

“Let me ask my brother. He knows all about cars. He’s just in the back acting like he’s busy counting bags of chips for the manager.”

“Isn’t your dad the manager?” she asked.

“Yeah, but I’m s’posed to call him ‘manager’ at work,” Pimple-face grinned, making air quotes with his middle fingers.

“Is he here? I don’t think I’ve ever met him in all the times I’ve stopped.”

“He don’t spend much time here since ma died last year,” Pimple-face said.

“Don’t you ever stop talking? Stop oversharing! She don’t need to know our life story. Don’t you have something you need to be doing?” said Big Brother.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I’m sorry to hear about your loss. It must be hard for all of you.”

“Yeah, it sucks,” Big Brother said. He ducked his head down, but not before she could see his eyes start to water. 

“Everyone needs their mom. Big kids and little kids. I know I would miss my mom terribly if she were gone.”

He shuffled his feet and cleared his throat, “So you need me to look at your car, right? Flat tire? I should have that changed in no time. Do you know if you have a spare tire in your trunk?”

She read the signs and knew he was done with the conversation. Time to switch gears and move along. 

“Do you have a payphone so I can call my boyfriend to let him know I’m going to be a little later than expected?” Maybe he could even drive over to meet her and take her to dinner while her car was being repaired. There were lots of good restaurants in the area. She began to smile at the plan taking shape in her mind. This could be a good thing afterall. “Can I use your restroom to freshen up too?”  

***

Smoke

“I didn’t know you smoked,” Pimple-face’s brother said to her as he handed her change at the cash register.

For once Pimple-face was the one stacking cans of beans on the shelf in the back. He gave her a quick wave before standing up to walk over to the counter. He glanced out the window to look at her car.

“Yeah, smoking isn’t good,” Pimple-face scrunched up his face. His lips looked like the butt end of a balloon.

“Huh? What? I don’t smoke. Why would you think I…” her voice trailed off as she followed their gazes out the plate glass window to look at her car. 

There was a thick black plume of smoke coming out of the hood of her car. 

She turned back to the counter to two sets of amused eyes staring at her. “I don’t suppose you…”

Big brother was already handing her the phone from under the desk for her to make the call to her boyfriend. “I’ll go out and check it out. When was the last time you had your oil changed?”

Dammit, she was always forgetting to budget for those oil changes. 

***

Storm

Her wipers squeaked across the windshield uselessly. Maybe Pimple-face and Big Brother would be able to help her out. For fuck’s sake, she really needed to stop calling them that before she slipped and said it to their faces. 

They had names: Daniel and Charley. And, she had spent more than enough time with them to use their names by now. She knew that their mom had died the previous year in a car accident. Their dad hardly ever left the house anymore. Daniel had just barely managed to graduate from high school and Charley had stopped going to his college courses in order to start running the family business. They knew if the gas station went under, their dad would have nothing once he came out of his mourning. If he came out of his mourning.

In the meantime, she thought, they haven’t had time to mourn their mom either. Their dad is being awful selfish. What an asshole. She chuckled as the wipers went squeak again, here she was pissed at someone she never even met! Well, she was angry on behalf of her friends. Is that what Daniel and Charley have become? Her car skidded on the wet pavement.

She really couldn’t see and these wipers weren’t helping. She needed to slow down and think about the road, not dead mothers and people she hardly even knew. How much further until the gas station anyway?  

***

Found

She was determined that nothing would go wrong on this trip: oil changed, tire pressure checked in all four tires, new wiper blades installed. She had a full tank of gas and a full eight hours of sleep last night. She had everything going her way this morning. 

Except she couldn’t find her keys. “Mom, have you seen my car keys?” She yelled from the front hallway.

Mom called back from the kitchen, “Where did you last use them?” 

Ever so helpful, mom, she thought. If I knew that, I would have them in my hand right now. “Yesterday, I think? When I ran to the store to grab broccoli for your disgusting quiche. I mean, delicious quiche. Thank you for making it.” 

“What? I can’t hear you over the water running, come in the kitchen if you want to talk to me,” mom said.

Her mom stood at the sink washing the plates and cups before placing them into the dishwasher to be washed.  “If you put your keys in the same spot every time you would know where they are. It seems like you spend twice the amount of time doing twice the amount of work for simple tasks.”

“Yes, mom, whatever you say mom,” she rolled her eyes. “And why do you wash the dishes before washing the dishes?”

She dashed out of the kitchen just as her mom was reaching for the spray nozzle to soak her, “Not the hair! Not the hair!” she giggled. Oh, the hair! That’s right! She set her keys down in the bathroom when she went in to grab her brush and toiletries to pack. 

Soon she was on her way with her music cranked, windows rolled down, and sun shining. As all long car trips go, she had to pull into a rest area for a quick stop. She had a voice message on her new cell phone from an unfamiliar number. She tapped out the code to listen, “Um, hey, er, hi? I, um, found your number in, well, I um, your number was in Charley’s, oh, this is Daniel, from the station, the gas station, um, well, I found your number and I was wonderin’ if maybe you were comin’ this way this weekend? He’s in a bad way. I was thinkin’ if you could talk to him? I wa..” and his voice dropped off as someone called out his name in the background. She didn’t know the voice. Maybe it was their dad/manager? 

Should she call back? It was worth a try. She dialed the number and Daniel’s hopeful voice said, “Hello?”

“Daniel, I’m so glad you found my number. Of course I will be there. I’ll do what I can.”