Lindsey's old truck was never well suited for long trips. Although, a
long trip in this automobile's case was going over 6 miles of
distance at 20 mph. It had been a good truck, but it had defiantly
hit its prime a long time ago, as far as vehicles go.
"God dammit!" Lindsey shouted, as the truck slightly slipping of the
hinges before resting in its usual spot. He didn't need this
aggravation. He had just left the best/worst life he could possibly
have behind him. He was returning to a placstarted to buck and give
out. He looked ahead to see the glowing sign of a Texaco station
coming into view. "C'mon. Just a few more yards." The truck lurched
forward, using every last bit of horsepower it could muster to make
it every extra foot. But unfortunately, all of the horses were dead.
The car broke down, just as it reached the gas pump. Sputtering and
smoking, the truck gave out. Lindsey hit the steering wheel with his
fists. 'Why now?' he thought. 'Of all the times. I was going for a
dramatic exit.' He climbed the rust colored and rust covered truck
and slammed the door hard. The door slipped a little, e that he
wasn't sure he would be able to face again. But from the looks of it,
he wasn't really going anywhere until his truck decided to live
again.
He walked to the front hood, opening it revealed a ghostly steam that
disappeared over Lindsey's head. He jumped back and waved some of the
stray mist from his face. The engine was shiny with condensation, and
that what the source of the steam. He reached to touch the surface,
but the top was burning to the touch. He drew his hand back, blowing
on it as he watched small red spots appear on the tips of his
fingers. 'Just have to let it cool.' He thought.
The people at the other gas pumps stared at the Hillbilly making a
spectacle of himself at the gas station. Most were dressed in
business and climbed to expensive Mercedes-Benzes or BMWs.
That was Lindsey at one time, but not anymore, and he damn proud. He
placed the hose to the gas tank of his truck and put his ATM card in
the machine. He knew it would probably be the last time he ever used
the thing. He didn't need Wolfram and Hart tracking him down on this
little road trip of his.
While he made this unexpected pit stop, he knew he should make the
best of it. He strolled into the convenience store and headed to the
back to get a bottle of water, which was to chase a squishy pink
Snowball, that he go the urge to buy.
"$1.95, please." The cashier said in a completely monotone voice. He
was a burly man, wearing an old, oil stained employee shirt, adorned
with name Phil. The crevices of his hands and underneath his nails
were black from too many dealings with many a bottle of WD-40.
"Thanks, Phil." Lindsey said, cheerfully, which Phil returned with a
snicker.
A girl, about 17 or 18 was standing behind Lindsey's truck, examining
the backend. "Is this your truck?" She asked him, never lifting her
head as her approached her. She was dirty blonde, wearing a pair of
faded jeans, denim jacket, and a small backpack tossed over her right
shoulder. Her hair hung down, somewhat straggly, hiding most of her
face from view.
"Yeah, what about it?" Lindsey asked.
The girl pushed her hair away from her face, revealing a pair of
hazel eyes, void of almost any emotion, as if the fire that most
people had in eyes were extinguished in her. Her face was covered
with a large purple welt that traveled up her on cheekbone. "Someone
left you a present, cowboy."
Lindsey walked over next to the girl's side. "Cops Suck" was painted
in huge black letters on a sign that was clinging to his bumper by a
few pieces of twine. "Angel." Lindsey muttered. He grabbed the sign
and threw it in the back, making the few objects in the back rumble
by the disturbance. He turned back to the girl, who was trying to
hide her amusement of the situation. "Thanks."
"Welcome." She answered back, a small smile appeared across his face.
Lindsey cleared his throat as he studied the girl. She was obviously
a runaway. Nowhere to go and no one to go with you. Lindsey had been
in her shoes. He just hoped she didn't end up on the same path as he
had. He turned away and headed to the hose hanging from his truck,
removing it from it's resting place and hooking it back to the pump.
He opened his door and climbed inside and fumbled through his
pockets, searching for his keys.
"Where are you heading?" A voice asked. The girl had placed her head
in the passenger side window.
"Uh..." Lindsey searched his memory for the answer to his
question. "Oklahoma."
"Got any room?" The girl asked, eyeing the empty seat next to
Lindsey's seat.
"Why? Where are you headed?"
"Anywhere but here."
++++++++++++++++++++
The newly "fixed" pick up roared down the highway. Few cars littered
the road in during the morning hours, all-retreating home from work
or just heading off for it. The interior was quiet. Once and a while,
Lindsey grunted when the truck started to buck from too much gas,
but other then that, the two people on the inside were silent.
"So," Lindsey cleared his throat before speaking, a force of habit in
court. "What's your name?"
"Lily." She answered quickly. She seemed to want to get through the
pleasantries as quickly as possible. After all, all she wanted was a
ride.
Lindsey nodded. "I'm Lindsey."
The truck grew silent again. The headlights flashed in the front,
illuminating the slick road as the sun started to ride over the
horizon. "You Are Now Leaving Los Angeles" a sign read
ahead of them. As they passed the sign, Lily let out a very auditable
sigh of relief. But silence took over again. Lindsey reached over and
fumbled with the old radio in the dashboard. Several stations of
static and newscasts echoed throughout the old automobile. At this
point, he was looking for anything that would break the silence. He
found a song, after about 30 seconds of searching.
"Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's time to change, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey"
"What's your story?" Lily asked.
"Huh?" Lindsey's concentration taken away from the road and radio.
"Why are you leaving? You got to have a reason. Everyone has to have
a reason for leaving the City of Angels." Lily said. Her voice was
high, but she seemed to speak quieter, as if she might wake someone
if she spoke up.
"Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there
"I guess..." Lindsey paused. He had to think of something. Of course
he knew why he left. He left because if he didn't his life would be
in danger, whether he had an "evil hand" or not. But he couldn't tell
her about it. He couldn't tell anyone. They wouldn't understand. They
shouldn't understand. "I guess I just couldn't stand it anymore. The
lies, the phoniness. The city can change you, and mine was defiantly
not for the better."
Now that she's back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey
She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me that there's time to grow, hey, hey
Now that she's back in the atmosphere
I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol' Jane
Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly
he never did land
Lily didn't bother to go into further interrogation, but nodded in
understanding. If he didn't want to tell her details, he didn't have
to. The silence refused to seize between the two passengers.
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back to the Milky Way
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind
Was it everything you wanted to find
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there
"What about you? Why are you leaving?" Lindsey asked.
"Oh." The question had caught her by surprise. "No reason."
"C'mon." Lindsey pushed. "You have to have reason. You said everyone
has a reason for leaving."
Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you even
when I know you're wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance
five-hour phone conversation
The best soy latte that you ever had . . . and me
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back toward the Milky Way
"I don't know. I guess I needed a change of pace. To escape for
awhile." She lied. She knew exactly while she leaving the place she
had called home most of her life. But she didn't want to share. All
she wanted was a ride, she kept telling herself. She wasn't there to
make a travel buddy. She just needed to get away, from the City of
Angels. But these days, it seemed to carry more demons then angels.
Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
Her stomach grumbled. She was so hungry. She hadn't eaten for two
days and leaving on short notice doesn't give you much time to pack a
lunch.
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there
"Are you okay?" Lindsey asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
++++++++++++++++++
The morning sun was already high in the sky when Lily woke up. She
lifted her head from her crumbled up jacket and squinted at the
bright light. She stretched slightly and took a deep breath, her
nostrils filling with a wonderful smell. 'FOOD!'
"Good morning." Lindsey said. From the way he was speaking, it was
obvious that his mouth was full. Lily whipped her head around to see
a McDonald's bag next her and two coffees in the cup holder, one of
them open. "That's yours." Lindsey indicated the bag, with what was
left of his breakfast sandwich. "I wasn't sure what you wanted 'cause
I didn't want to wake you, so I just ordered what ever I saw first."
Lily stared at the bag for moment, as if were the Holy Grail. He
grabbed the bag and held it close to her chest, allowing the smell
waft through the air around her. She dove inside her hand trying to
locate the first edible item. She found the hashbrown and pulled it
out, breaking off small pieces and popping them into her mouth. Her
stomach gurgled at the entrance of food, but soon it subsided and
Lily continued to eat her food. After devouring the hash
brown, she moved to her bagel sandwich, hidden under a few layers of
napkins.
"Thank you." She said, her mouth stuffed to capacity.
"Your welcome." Lindsey replied, as he took his cup of coffee and
took a sip, doing his best to
avoid bumps in the road.
+++++++++++++++++
"Thanks again. You really didn't have to do that." Lily said, wiping
her mouth with one of the napkins. "But thanks."
"I wanted to. It was obvious that you were hungry."
"How could you tell?" She asked, half joking.
"Besides your stomach going 'glug-glug-glug'." He joked back, a small
smile sprouting across his face.
The familiar air of silence filled the truck once again. The truck
passed the state line from California to Nevada almost an hour
ago. 'Not much farther now.' Lindsey said to himself. Another day or
two and he would be back on his doorstep, returning to everything he
left behind
years ago.
Lily fidgeted in her seat. She kept scratching her head and staring
out the window, as if she would find an answer to something out
there. "Do you want to know why I left?" She finally blurted out. She
raised her hand, clasping her mouth, in hopes of catching the words
before Lindsey could understand them.
"Only if you want to tell me." He answered frankly. She did. She
needed to talk to someone.
Lily swallowed, trying hard to calm herself down. "My dad. He's dead.
And my mom married again. This guy's really a jerk. He's always
yelling at my mom. He's saying she's worthless and that she wasted
her life having kids." Lily's hands started to tremble as the
thoughts filled her mind. "He was hurting me and my
brother...and...he would push us." Lily's eyes started to well with
tears. She never cried or, at least she never had let her stepfather
see her. Crying was weak, and she wasn't weak. "Last week, he,
um...he pushed my brother down the stairs. And now
he's...he's in the hospital...in a coma." A few stray tears ran down
her face. "I didn't want to leave my brother, Lindsey." She turned
towards him, the fire in her eyes still missing. "But he was going to
do something to me too if I didn't." She held her head in her hands,
letting out a loud cry. "I didn't want to leave him."
Lindsey pulled over to the side of the highway, kicking up dirt as
they stopped. He tried to place a comforting hand on her
shoulder. "Don't touch me!" She yelled, batting away his hand.
That's when he could see her arm fully. It was covered in small
bruises and scars all the way up until her arm disappeared under her
shirt.
"I had to go." She repeated. "I left the minute they went to visit
him in the hospital. I just ran away. And I can't stop now. They'll
find me. I can't over go back." Tears fell again and splattered into
tiny puddles on the floor.
Lindsey, although he tried to deny it, knew exactly what she was
going through. His family hadn't exactly been the best known for
family togetherness when he still lived with them. He
knew what it was like to be worried about your family when ever your
not around. He also knew what pain it was to leave them behind, even
if you didn't want to.
"I had to go." She fell into a ball on the seat and leaned against
Lindsey's chest. "I had to get away." Lindsey held her close, trying
his best to comfort the distraught girl sitting in his truck.
++++++++++++++++
"Lily, you don't have to go yet. I still have a way to go. You can
still ride." Lindsey pleaded. Lily stepped out of the truck, trying
to gather her stuff together. They stopped at the state line of
Nevada and New Mexico later that night, in her hopes to find a ride
out East. Lindsey knew she didn't want to leave in way, and he almost
found himself not wanting to leave.
"I have to go, Lindsey." She stuffed the left over food in the
McDonald's bag into her backpack and put her jacket over her bruise-
covered arms. "Thank you." She reached in the truck and put
her hand over his new one. "For everything. I'll never forget you."
Lindsey placed his other hand over hers. "Your welcome." She pulled
her arm away and slammed the door, making it slightly slip off the
hinges and walking towards the building. "Be careful, Lily." He
called after her. She turned and smiled, wavering her to him. He
started his truck again, hearing it sputter and buck against the gas
pedal. He held up his hand in a final wave and pulled away onto the
highway.
Maybe nothing was really gained from his experience. Maybe all it did
was set him back a day from his destination, but he made a
connection. The first one he had made in a long time.