Ava drove down the straight dusty road, there was nothing around her but sand and sky, she thought it was very strange to put a diner in the middle of nowhere. After a couple of hours driving she pulled over, she wasn't sure what compelled her too, she climbed out of the car and looked over the horizon. She remembered Raphael's words, she had to keep her faith, he was right she hadn't lost her faith she never would have believed a word he said if she had. She climbed back in the car and continued down the road, she was intrigued about Michael, to her knowledge he ranked highly among the archangels and he was disobeying god. She drove further along the road for about another hour before she saw the neon green sign on the roof and pulled into the sandy parking lot and jumped out of the car to kill up the gas tank. She looked around to see a young guy walking over to her,
' You lost?' he said rubbing some grease off his hand with a rag
' No just looking around the area thought I'd get some gas and some food'
' Well nice to meet you I'm Jeep my dad Bob owns this place'
' Nice to meet you Jeep I'm Ava' she smiled at him
' You staying round here?'
' Yeah at the Moon Motel, few miles away'
' Yeah I know the place' she replaced the gas pump and paid Jeep
' Thanks, well I'd show you in but I gotta fix my dads car'
' No problem thanks Jeep nice to meet you'
' You too' he said smiling and walking away.
She walked inside, the place was pretty much deserted except for a young couple who were planning their next trip location on a map and a couple of members of staff who were hanging around. She sat down at a booth and a young woman walked over, she smiled and her curly hair bounced as she walked,
' Hi I'm Charlie' she handed her a menu
' Hi, Ava' she said smiling back
' Nice to meet you, what can I get you?'
' Hamburger, fries and a coke please' Charlie scribbled her order down and smiled again as she walked away, Ava pushed her hair off her face and stretched her legs under the table. A middle aged black man walked past her to take an order to the young couple as he came back he smiled and stopped,
' Just passing through?'
' Actually I'm staying at a place a few hours away from here and I heard this place was good'
' Nice to know some people will drive to see us' she smiled
' I'm Percy and I'll be your cook today' he held out his hand and she shook it
' I'm Ava I'll be your satisfied customer' he smiled
' Well let me go cook your order, it wont be long'
' Thanks Percy' she noticed that one of his hands had been amputated and replaced with a hook and he wore army dog tags.
Another man came out with a beer in his hand, he stopped and chatted to the cook Percy before looking at her and nodding, she smiled back. Charlie brought her order over as the young coupe were leaving,
' Oh thank fuck they're gone, bloody new Yorkers all they've done is bitch about the food, the drinks, the scenery blah blah blah, sorry didn't mean to vent on you'
' No problem, take a break?' she said indicating the seat opposite
' Ah thanks' she said sitting down
' How long you been working here?' Ava said taking a bite out of her burger and giving Percy thumbs up, he smiled back,
' About a month Bob was nice enough to take me in, give a job and a place to stay'
' Sounds like a nice guy'
' Well thank you I don't get rave reviews very often' Bob said walking over and leaning on the booth,
' Well I figured if I talked you up a bit she might come back and give us all something to do' Charlie said smiling
' Well thanks Charlie' he crossed the room and started banging on the television set trying to make the picture a bit clearer.
She stayed for a couple of hours and learnt that Charlie was the only woman there; Charlie must be the mother of the child Raphael had spoken about. For the next three months she went to the diner every week, she chatted with everyone and stood outside gossiping with Charlie when they both fancied a cigarette. It was mid march when she went back, Charlie grabbed her in the parking lot before anyone else could talk to her and dragged her into her trailer,
' Charlie what the fuck?' she said in shock
' Oh fuck Ava I'm totally fucked'
' What's wrong?'
' I think I'm… I'm pregnant'
' Oh my god Charlie…who's the father?'
' Some asshole I hooked up with'
' Have you done a test?'
' I did two this morning, both positive'
' What are you gonna do?'
' What do you think I'm gonna do, I cant have it Ava'
' Why not?'
' Oh come on I'd be a fucking terrible mother I can barely keep my own shit together' they stayed in the trailer and talked for a while, Charlie had made up her mind though, Ava would have given anything for Raphael to show up and advise her.
She drove back to the motel and laid down on the bed, she rubbed her eyes with exhaustion and yawned. Her eyelids felt heavy and she was ready to sleep when she felt someone squeeze her foot, she jolted up and saw Raphael,
' Oh now you show up, after three months?'
' Sorry it's been difficult to get away, have you found her?'
' Found her months ago and she's pregnant, she found out today'
' Wonderful Ava how is she?'
' Planning to abort her baby tomorrow morning actually'
' Did you talk to her?' his voice hinted at panic
' Of course I did, she's adamant she's not keeping it'
' Oh no, I have to tell Michael'
' What else can I do?'
' Nothing Ava, I'm not even sure if we can do anything but we'll try' he smiled sombrely,
' Has he changed his mind yet?'
' No, with every day that passes he grows more and more vexed'.
Ava lay back in her bed, it was 6am and it was still fairly dark outside, she got up showered, dressed quickly and got in her car. She arrived at Charlie's trailer just before 9am and knocked on the door, Charlie was dressed and looked at her in surprised,
' Ava what are you doing here?'
' Thought you might want some moral support or just some company, plus a ride' she said giving Charlie a small smile,
' Thanks Ava, you're a good friend'.
She drove into town and parked outside the clinic, Charlie wanted to be alone so she agreed to wait for her outside in the car. The minutes ticked by, and Ava waited patiently for Charlie, she couldn't help being jealous and angry and sorry for Charlie, Charlie could have a baby, she couldn't do that and at the same time Charlie was throwing away a life. But she did feel sorry for Charlie, what if she knew she was carrying humankind's salvation inside of her, it would be so much pressure for her. She jumped in surprise as Charlie climbed back into the car an slammed the door,
' That was pretty quick' Ava said in surprise
' I couldn't do it'.
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