Chapter 2. Joy Ride
BOBBY'S P.O.V.
It was a little past midnight when I finally met Mary by Grand Avenue near the University of Wyoming. Her car was parked under a dimly lit street. It was never really hot in Laramie to be honest summers were rare the hottest it ever got was probably 96 degrees.
Once I got to her car it was already filled with the tough scent of cigarettes and oranges, she loved oranges. "Hey Robert." She'd say once I slipped into the passenger's seat. During meetings like this it was always just the two of us, dead of night, quiet, no one else. We never got high, we weren't like that, well at least I wasn't. There were things about Mary that I knew a lot about like how she loved oranges, cigarettes, fires, leather jackets, and the color cherry-red. She also loved to read and she spent a lot of time writing in her diary that I'd catch a glimpse of once in a while.
"Where are we going tonight?" I asked.
"No idea." She said. "I just sort of felt like driving until dawn, here."
"Here?" I asked confused, during these 'hang-outs' Mary usually took me somewhere I'd never been and I'd be home by or before dawn. Like I said Mary was older, back than I thought it was only by a few years but now I know otherwise. However, I've always had this feeling deep inside me that Mary was older than she really was, I always thought it was because she was just more mature and experienced in the way of the world, back in the 70s if you worked at a record store, owned a car and could quote some poetry you were considered mature how wrong we were.
"I'm leaving tomorrow." She said bluntly without a hint of emotion, her face stayed stoic as her lips piereced down onto the cigarette taking it in and then breathing it out slowly it was only when she shuddered for a split second that I knew she had no choice.
"Why? I asked stupidly and after so felt childish.
"Because I love you." At those sudden words I felt the wind get knocked out of me. "I'm serious Bobby."
"I ..." She cut me off before I could say it back, she flicked her cigarette out the window and pulled me into a deep kiss, her lips tasted like what I'd always imagined, oranges and cigarettes. Once she moved back to her seat breathing normally I composed myself the best I could by facing forward and wiping the little stains of red-lipstick off my mouth.
"Come on." She said pulling out a brand new cancer-stick. She placed it into her mouth, took out her lighter and lit it. She was nervous, she wasn't her usual sarcastic and smart-ass retorting self that made everything feel and seem so much better than it was.
"Where are you moving to?" I asked after three minutes in silence.
"Somewhere East." She said. "One of the states with New in it's name."
It never crossed my mind that she was being completely honest with me back then. I mean if you love someone why would you leave them? You're supposed to do whatever it took to try your best to stay with them or at least that's what I used to think. If I had understood what I understand now maybe it would have been different or at least better than it turned out or maybe I'm completely wrong maybe you wouldn't even be reading this right now.
As Bobby walked into the crowded bar (and grill as it turned out) the strong smell of cigarettes danced its way into his nose. His eyes strayed from the arches in the interior of the new Roadhouse to it's cleanly polished tables and shiny bar and stools. People sat, danced, and shouted merrily as they ate and drank. Up above the stage a plain white banner with red and black letters read: Fight Club performance tonight!
Bobby assumed whoever these Fight Club folks were they were a band a reasonably popular band.
He walked over to the bar and sat himself down once he found a place to sit. "What can I get you?" A woman asked, she had blonde hair, hazel eyes, freckles and a Southern accent.
"Just a beer." Bobby said still keeping his focus on the place. There were three new pool tables where the original bar was set up, there were barely any people playing and the ones who were playing were younger than Sam and Dean.
"Here you go." The woman said. "First time here?" She asked.
"No." Bobby replied. "I used to go here back in it's glory day."
The woman gave a chuckle. "I had no idea this place had a glory day up until it reopened."
"It did, for people like me." Bobby said bitterly and took his beer, he was about to move away from the woman when suddenly people began to applaud and an announcer came up on the stage.
"Hello!" A guy said. "I'm Craig," Craig was lean but had a chubby face and black curly hair. He wore a Rancid t-shirt and in an odd way he looked like a gay Johnny Depp. "And tonight you are going to see our bar-band - for now - Fight Club!" People whistled and yelled out cheering.
A girl, slightly shorter than Craig walked up by the microphone and the rest of the band as Bobby assumed followed suit. The young girl had short brown hair and cherry-red lipstick. She wore a leather jacket that Bobby had seen so many times before. Her face was facing down as she fixed the micstand and as she lifted it slowly the spotlight illuminating her pretty little face as the lights dimmed around the bar Bobby's heart skipped a beat - or ten.
"Balls..." He said under his breath.
"Hey," She said. "I'm Marla Singer." People cheered. "Shut up, don't interrupt me." She told them jokingly and the audience laughed. "And we're going to open by doing a song request from tonight's lucky hat draw winner..." Craig brought her a top hat. Marla reached into the hat and pulled out a piece of paper some other strips had fallen out as she picked one out. "Shit." She said. "Okay... a request from Claudia Donnavan." The Claudia girl waved her hand from her seat in the left center of the room. "Celebrity Skin by Hole..." Marla trailed off and turned to cue her band. "You should be glad I know this song by heart."
The music began to play and Bobby was left in a trance. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, of course he only thought what seemed logical this must have been Mary's daughter or Mary's niece because she was a spitting image apart from the hair and the name.
The guitar began and the the drums kicked in after the first words. "Oh make me over," she sang. "I'm all I want to be; a walking study in demonology, heeeey, so glad you could make it, yeaaaah, now you really made it, heeey, so glad you could make it nooow."
Bobby's ears burnt as she glanced at him the smile on her face fading and quickly returning there was this look in her eye that he knew, this couldn't be anyone else but her. I know you won't believe me or think that I'm just pulling your chain because these things only happen in movies, those little glances, but it happened, it happened to Robert Steven Singer. Either she had a really good plastic surgeon or there was something more going on because she wasn't just the spitting image she was the same age she was when Bobby first met her and when she left.
Marla almost choked on her words but no one noticed; "Oh look at my face..."
Bobby quickly drank the beer in his hand, left a tip, and almost at a run left the Roadhouse. This was too much and it hadn't even been an hour. First the Roadhouse, then those odd murders and now this.
He stood out in the middle of the dirt ground as rain poured down on him soaking his clothes. He took his phone and called the brothers. Dean answered. "Bobby?" Dean said.
"Where are you boys?" He asked.
"Two more hours from there, there's a flood warning." Dean said. "We might have to stay at a rest-stop or something, but we'll be there soon."
"Well when you get here I might not be here." Bobby hissed.
"What, why?" Dean asked alarmed.
"Nothing too serious, it's just something... I'll still be in town, just not at the Roadhouse, meet me at uh... Sparrow Inn," Bobby said remembering the only Inn he stayed at there.
"Alright, see you soon." Dean said and hung up.
There seemed to be some kind of uproar going on because people were loudly complaining. Bobby had an idea what was happening, he quickly got into his Chevelle, locked the doors and as violently as he got there he drove off dirt marking several other cars and people coming and going, the cursed at him but he could care less.
"Dude," Dean said. "Let's just stop here."
"The last time we stopped somewhere in the middle of a storm we got kidnapped by -"
"I know, I know, but it isn't like it's a four star hotel or something, it's a motel." Dean pointed out. "And plus, they have a comic book store across the street."
"That's your reason?" Sam asked.
"It's 24 hours man." Dean replied as he got out of the car. "Now if you want me you can find me there."
"Whatever." Sam said and went to check into the motel as Dean strayed off across the lot after locking the Impala.
As Dean entered the brightly lit Comic King as the store was called his eyes were immediately drawn to the classic collection of Batman and Ghost Rider, now Dean wasn't a big fan of comic books but he was a big fan of Batman and Ghost Rider. "Son of a bitch." Dean said. "Johnny Blaze as the Ghost Rider."
"Can I help you?" A woman's voice came, she had curly blonde hair, blue eyes and pink bubble-gum lips.
"Nobody pinch me but I've gone to heaven." He whispered to himself and then turned to face her again. "Yes," Dean said as he checked her out. "Yes you can." He smirked.
"I see you've found our Ghost Rider and Batman collection, they were just recently donated here." She told him. "Would you like to purchase one."
"Yeah sure." Dean said now not really caring about which comic he took, he pulled out the Batman Adventures #12 1993, Ghost Rider Vol. 1 from 1967 and Ghost Rider: Heaven's on Fire No. 6. then followed the blonde to the counter to pay.
"So, uh... my name's Dean, what's yours?" Dean asked as she checked out his comics.
"forty-six dollars and two cents." She said.
"That's a nice ... wait what?" Dean asked.
"Yep, and my name's Leah." She replied. "And that guy over there," She pointed to the tall and built ape looking man. "Is my husband." She smiled.
"Cool, what's his name." Dean said trying to be nonchalant.
"Alberto." She replied as he handed her the cash.
"Nice name, what is that, Spanish?" However before Dean or Leah could say anything else Sam walked in.
"Dean, here's the spare room key." Sam said and walked over to give it to Dean.
"Oh, I thought you were hitting on me." Leah laughed. "I should have guessed that you were ... you know."
"What?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, you should have Leah, not all men are going to be attracted to you." Dean said leaving Sam confused as Dean took the paper bag out of leah's hand and walked out back into the pouring with Sam.
"What was that all about?" Sam asked.
"Nothing, let's go." Dean said letting Sam lead the way to the motel room.
BOBBY'S P.O.V.
I remember the first time that I met Mary, she was very quiet and kept to herself in the record store that she worked at. She never really talked to anyone except those she worked with. It took me about a week to nut up and talk to her and as it turned out she was worse than I imagined, that was at first of course, I got used to her being herself and she got used to me popping into the store and bothering her.
"Robert Singer." I said. "But everyone calls me Bobby."
"Cute." She replied with a cigarette in her mouth. "I'm Mary, but people calle me Mary."
I laughed nervously and she smiled. "It's nice to meet you." She said making me feel less tense and stupid.
"Yeah." I replied.
From that point on my life would be so much stranger, so much darker and so much better.