February 18th 1974

"You were with out with another man, weren't you, you little whore!? I work my ass off for you and this is how you repay me? By sneaking off with some man who probably doesn't give two shits about you!" Screamed my mother as she tossed my belongings out of the 2nd story window. I had just showed up at home after a day of my crappy part time job at a diner to find my mom in a drunken rage over God knows what. Now apparently it was about me leaving the house and not spending all of my time cleaning it. "Mother, I told you I had work today." I said, trying to calm her down. She shoved a bag full of clothes and that, along with everything else, flew straight out of the window. The enraged woman made her way up to me and placed her face close to mine. "You told me no such thing!" She screamed right before my cheek had started stinging. I glanced at the hand that made contact with my face and sighed. I thought she was done. "I want you out of this house. Now!" I'm surprised she didn't toss me out the window like everything else she wanted out of the house.

Walking around the house after leaving if I found the bag she tossed in the middle of the pile of my things that are now sitting on the dirt. Sighing I slung it over and cursed at what my clothing choice was. My work uniform consisted of a mid-calf length pleated, white keds, dark blue skirt with a plain white short sleeve shirt along with a lighter blue, lightweight cardigan. Not exactly the best clothing choices for mid January weather in Montana. I started the walk to a nearest gas station. I stick my hand into my pocket and looked at the money that I had collected from tips, $4.53 That should be enough for maybe two days depending of how well I can save.

The streets were quiet since no one really comes here in the middle of the night. This town is rather small, everyone knows everyone and their secrets. Rumors spread like a wildfire around here and it's hard to keep anything to yourself. Almost impossible. The only reason to ever come here is if you ever want to get away from big cities, but even then there are better choices. Maybe if you like the smell of farms and farm animals then this is the perfect place for you.

The lights of the almost empty gas station came into my vision as I picked up my pace. There was only one car and it seemed to belong to an old truck driver who must have been passing towns. I gave a small smile, trying to be polite as my mom taught me to, when he looked at me and his face seemed tired. I pulled open the glass door and it made a small chime sound. As I made my way to the back I heard a small "welcome" come from the lone worker in the building. I grabbed some food items and some water and stepped over to the check out counter and leaned against it. "Cheyenne? What are you doing here at this hour?" Jason asked. Jason was a 30 maybe 40 something year old who was the manager of the place. I normally came here for my mom when she needed anything. Beer, cigarettes, food, the normal things. "You know, the usual." I said nonchalantly. "Then why are you carrying that bag and not buying 'the usual'?" He questioned. "Decided to get out of town." He shook his head. "And what about your mother?" I shrugged. "She'll have to buy her own things. He'll maybe it'll be good for her to not have to use me to bring in the money." Jason gave s short sign and started to count up the items that I placed in front of him. "And where do you plan to go exactly?" I gave another shrug. "Anywhere but here."

The chimes sounded again as another man walked through the door. He had brown hair and seemed to be in his 40's. His glasses were falling from his nose and he had to push them back up while trying to grab a few waters from where I had been previously. Jason picked up the pace of pricing the items but still spoke. "It would probably be a good idea to find out where you're headed before just wandering around in the dark trying to figure it out as you go." He placed the foods into a bag and handed it to me. "That'll be $1.64." I grabbed the money out of my pocket and handed him two dollars. As he was finding the correct change I noticed the stranger had found what he'd been looking for and was now standing next to me. I took in his vibe and it seemed fatherly. He glanced over at me and I turned my head quickly. "I'll probably just go to a rest stop and stay there all night and look at a map, try to figure out where to go. As long as it's out of this town I'll be happy." I said, looking at the wall clock, 2:48 AM. I moved out of the way to let the man buy his things. " Don't you think you're mom'll miss you?" The man asked, stepping into the conversation. "Nah, she'll be too drunk to remember she even had a daughter. She probably thought I was the maid or something." I replied with a sarcastic smile. "Anyway, it was nice knowing you Jason. I guess I should head out and actually make it to the rest stop." I said and walked outside, leaving Jason and the stranger alone in the gas station.

I got a few yards down the road before a car started slowing down next to me. "Excuse me, would you like a ride?" I looked over into the window and saw it was the man from the gas station. "I'm not so sure I should get into cars with strangers." I said quietly. "That's okay, but it's probably safer than walking alone in the dark." He replied giving a slight chuckle. "What do I got to lose?" I asked myself before walking towards car as the man opened the door. " I can take you to where I'm headed." He said before starting to drive again. "Where are you headed exactly?" I asked. "Santa Carla." Hm, I've heard it was an interesting place. "And you don't mind me riding with you?" He shook his head, "It'll be nice to have some company. What's for your name?" "Cheyenne." He smiled. "Well it's nice to meet you, Cheyenne. I'm Max."