Disclaimer: I own nothing!
A/N: Joz and I would like to thank those who reviewed! (Bowlingforshrimp, kaitou angel, and Veriea Fornnan) sigh This chapter won't get us far either and we really are working as fast as we can... though I might have all the time in the world (which I don't, I'm currently updating from my computer class) Joz really doesn't have all that much time... we should all poke her into action.
Chapter 2: Bubba to the Rescue
Tal's POV
So Jocelyn wasn't completely sane. She actually suggested walking and she hates walking! But the insane part is she actually suggested we walk in the rain! I wouldn't have minded walking in the rain, I used to all the time. But this was insanity slipping out of Joz.
So we were both a little hysterical. And now she was suggesting we sleep in the car in shifts… why shifts?
"How am I suppose to sleep!" It slipped out of my mouth before I could think.
"I could hit you." Jocelyn threatened.
"Haha." In reality Joz would never hit me, she rarely did and only in return for the bruises I left on her arm. Maybe I should shut up and go to sleep, but I was curious… shifts? "Shifts?" I asked Joz.
"In case serial rapists or inbred hicks try to attack us."
I was puzzled by the inbred hicks part. We were in New Jersey, there are no inbred hicks here… or that's what I thought. I just raised my eyebrow her way.
"This is how all horror movies start! You get stranded somewhere and then they come after you!"
She was obviously insane but now that she's said it, I believe it. I can't sleep. "I can't sleep now." I told her, looking around outside the car for an suspicious shadows.
She looked around too. "Dammit."
We were obviously not going to be sleeping tonight. We were good at this though. Every time we had a sleep over with the gang, we would be the ones to stay up all night.
"So we don't sleep during the night. No big deal. We'll just be sleep deprived when the stalker comes."
"Taliya!" She punched me. Obviously something she didn't want to hear. I sighed and rubbed my arm. Wow it hurts.
We sat and talked most of the night, by 3 in the morning we got to our state. The state where we've both a little sleepy and we keep saying are you awake and the other person who's obviously drifting off says 'yea yea I'm awake' and snaps open their eyes. And then we loose track of our conversation and nothing is really rational anymore.
--
Wow, this is really weird. There's a parrot pecking at a coconut tree… I've seen woodpeckers do it but not parrots. And worst of all it's making a very loud knocking sound. Dreaming right.
I opened my eyes slowly and saw a very bearded man in Joz's window. I let out a shriek which woke Joz who saw the face in the window and let out a shriek of her own which caused me to shriek. After lets out our line of shrieks we sat there breathing hard. So we were a little jumpy. The man was still there and he gave a small wave.
Joz opened her door and the man leaned in.
"You ladies need some help?" he asked.
"Help would be nice." I said.
"What's wrong with your car?"
I couldn't help but smile at this. He won't believe me. I pointed through the windshield to the hood. "Got hit by lightening, I think the circuits are fried."
He straightened up and took a look at the hood of the car. "Whoa, you ain't jokin'." We were both shaking our heads. "Good think I drive a tow truck."
Our eyes shifted to the front where there was indeed a tow truck parked and waiting like a gift from heaven; we both looked at each other and our eyes brightened. I was ready to do a happy dance… I'm not sure I could say the same for Joz.
I was so happy, I was ready to kiss the guy, instead I jumped out of the car and gave him the keys.
He went to work on loading the car while Joz and I watched. I know… so wrong. The guy is being nice and giving us a ride and everything and I'm just standing there watching.
When he finally had Prongs up in the back we got into the truck. It was nice and large and spacey with a bench seat in the front. I was in the middle.
"By the way, you can call me Bubba."
"Hi, I'm Taliya."
"I'm Jocelyn."
"What are you ladies doing out here?"
I looked at Joz to see if she wanted to answer that but she gave me that look. The look that said this is all your fault. So I turned back to Bubba. "Road trip. School just ended and we just graduated. Thought we'd go down to Florida and see Disney World."
"You still got a long way to go. This here is going to delay you a little."
I bet Stephanie could never say she destroyed a car with lightening, though I suppose I haven't destroyed it… just damaged it… a lot. Not my fault really. It was a freak storm.
I turned to Joz. "You think I have worse luck with cars than Steph?"
She gave me a look, so I explained. "A pillar jumped out at one, I nearly drowned another, and then lightening of all things?"
Joz's POVSo this guy, supposedly, is a mechanic or can get us to a mechanic. I forget. There was a whole haze of being scared shitless going on while he was talking.
Now Tal is talking to me about Stephanie Plum! Doesn't she realize that this guy at any time could pull out a gun and walk us into the woods? Oh god, now I'm paranoid.
Okay he seems cool. Wait Tal almost drowned a car? Must ask about that later.
So…Bubba (I hope that's a nick name) has offered to take us to the nearest phone. This means getting into a car—okay rundown truck—with him. Hmm…
I try to signal to Tal as we walk towards the deathtrap. Dammit still talking about Stephanie Plum. Okay here is where all of my skills at allusion and memory of pop culture are going to come in handy. I'm going to pretend to discuss this character with her and in some way subliminally tell her to be on her guard about Bubba and the truck-o-death.
Ahh! I only read those things for the jokes and the Ranger and Stephanie romance. I can't remember details!
I kick her instead.
"Oww! You walked into me."
So much for subtlety.
"Oops."
Okay well never mind. Now we're in the truck-o-death. But we're still alive and I'm willing to look on the bright side of the situation.
The nearest phone turns out to be in the lobby of this skanky motel, whose name sounds vaguely familiar, off the freeway. We thank Bubba—okay Tal thanks him and I try to put as much distance between us and him—and enter the lobby.
The very not helpful desk clerk eventually pulls out a phone book. What the hell? We're in New Jersey. Now I don't know a damn thing about geography…but I don't think we're supposed to be anywhere near New Jersey. But again, don't know geography. I could be wrong—there is that thing where I don't know geography.
Anyway so I let Tal randomly select a mechanic. I know it's not a smart practice and could easily lead to us being screwed over—but it's not like we can call anyone to ask for the name of a good mechanic.
Tal picks a name—apparently based on the fact that it matches a name in the Evanovich novels. We call, there's the arrangement of a tow truck, and then we're off the phone again. The mechanic is based in Trenton. Tal goes crazy.
"You know what this means?"
"That we're about to pay a lot of money to fix what probably is a very small problem?"
"No! Yes! No—well that's not what I mean."
"Uh…okay."
"Trenton, Joz…its Trenton." She starts poking me for effect.
"Okay, okay. It's Trenton I get it. Steph, Ranger, wacky adventures. Stop poking me!"
She gets this look in her eyes. I don't like that look. That's the kind of look that puts me at a Starbucks at ten o'clock at night or midnight preview of the new Harry Potter movie. Which by the way she just picks a part…so really what is the point of going to see them? Whatever, back to the matter at hand.
"Do you think we could look for her house? Or better yet let's find Rangeman."
And we have just entered crazy town.
"Um how about we first make sure the car is okay. And that we have somewhere to live while it's being repaired. Then we can…oh god…find Rangeman."
"Yay!"
I hope she knows that she's paying the cab fare.
So anyway. I call my friend Mary who lives in Trenton. Yay for going to a college in New England, everyone is from around here. She offers to put us up for a couple of days. The mechanic said that he wouldn't be able to look at the car until tomorrow…so there's no reason to go over that way today.
Well then. I guess we have time to go find Rangeman. Maybe I should put out it out there that those books are fictional…Nah. Besides, I might slightly maybe want to find Rangeman myself.