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.::.

Refugee

Chapter Five

"Let me run with you tonight
and i'll take you on a moonlight ride."

-"Roll Another Joint" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

The next two days had flown by, and before I knew it I was heading home on a Thursday afternoon from a particularly easy day at work. It had been the first day all week that we ended up bullshittin' around the shop more than we did anything else. Merle's girl stopped by for about an hour and they disappeared off into the bathroom the entire time, leavin' Jimmy and I to shoot the shit about the upcoming weekend.

I pulled into my driveway and was surprised to find Molly sitting on my steps with her head in her hands. She stood to her feet and the first thing I noticed were her tight, black, high-waisted shorts and her short, toned legs. She had a white, vintage White Zombie tee-shirt on that exposed just a sliver of her belly-button, but I was still focusing on those legs. The snake tattoo she had showed me the other night was peeking out underneath the shorts, and I lost myself in a vivid memory for a split second until she brought me back to reality by surprising me with a hug.

I'm not a very touchy-feely kinda guy, but I could feel her large breasts pressed tenderly against my chest and decided to roll with it. I caught a small whiff of her perfume as she pulled away, and I immediately realized that I, myself, didn't smell so good.

I noticed that her eyes were watery and her mascara was running lightly at the tops of her cheeks. She's crying. Fuck. I'm no good with comforting women.

"You alright?" I asked as I put my hands on my hips and tilted my head slightly. Clearly not, dumbass.

She nodded her head, faking a small smile, and wiped her tears with her fingertips. She ended up doing more damage than good, and now she looked like a raccoon.

"Here." I held up my hand and used the sleeve of my shirt to wipe underneath her eyes until it was clean again.

"Thanks." She sniffled and rubbed the end of her nose. "It's been a bad day. Take me for a ride?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Let's go." Beats sittin' at home watchin'

.::.

Ten minutes later, I found myself back on the highway with Molly's arms wrapped tightly around me and the wind blowin' through my short, messy locks. I let her borrow my helmet for the short drive to the park and in the meantime I was hopin' and prayin' that there weren't any cops on the road. You can ride without a helmet as long as you have insurance, which I did not. I had only been pulled over for it once before and had to pay a steep fine of $200. I had the money back then. Nowadays, not so much.

Thankfully, we made it there without running into a single problem. I parked Cleo in the gravel near the river and let Molly get off first before I followed suit. She stood in place and took off the helmet, sending her long, crimson locks bouncing down past her shoulders.

"That was 'fuckin awesome!" She exclaimed, handing me the helmet.

I smiled timidly and tamed my hair with my fingertips. "That's why I ride 'er."

"How long have you been riding it?" She asked, chewing her bottom lip as we began to walk along the park trail.

"Took me 'bout five years to build 'er, and I been ridin' 'er just as long."

She stopped and turned around. "You built that thing?"

"Mhm." I scratched the back of my neck as we resumed walking past a large garden of flowers and shrubs with dark mulch scattered around the bottom.

"How the hell did you do that?"

"Long, borin' story. But I been workin' on cars and bikes since I was little."

"Your dad teach you?"

"Nah. Ain't seen him since I was a kid. My big brother taught me what I know now."

She half-frowned for a split second before she glanced over at me and smiled. "Well, your mama must be proud. Seems like she did just fine without him."

"She left shortly after he did. She blamed us for tearin' 'em apart." Where the hell did that come from? I didn't make a habit of getting personal with strangers.

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's cool. Don't much matter to me these days."

"My dad died a couple years ago. Cancer." She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Wanna sit here?" She pointed at a nearby bench a couple feet from the river.

We took a seat and sat in comfortable silence for a few seconds before I asked her where her mama was.

"She's back home in North Carolina. Got remarried last year to my dad's best friend."

My eyes widened. Not something you hear every day but I wasn't going to poke in her business. I quickly found that I wouldn't have to.

"The last thing my dad ever said to him was to look after mama. He's a good guy. I like him."

"What brought you here?" I asked, folding my arms across my belly.

She hesitated and swallowed hard. "My husband."

Ah shit. This is fuckin' great. "You're married?" I looked over and narrowed my eyes as my stomach tensed up. Woulda been nice to know a couple a fuckin' days ago.

"Was. He died in Afghanistan last August on our three year anniversary."

Holy shit. Almost a year ago. That must've been him in the picture next to the flag. "Damn." I swallowed. "I'm real sorry to hear that." Wonder how.

She nodded her head and rubbed her upper lip with her knuckle. I sat still and thought about putting my arm around her for comfort but I was too unsure about how she'd react and decided not to take the chance.

"Why'd you stay around here?"

She shrugged and chewed on her bottom lip. "Haven't been ready to leave. Been here for the last four years and I figured I'd stay put until it was time to move on."

"Well," I cleared my throat, "I'm glad you're here."

She looked over at me and smiled, but I was too nervous to make eye contact. I really am a fuckin' pussy when it comes to pretty girls.

"What about you, Daryl? I'm assuming you're single?"

I nodded my head and shifted slightly to the right and rested my elbow on the arm of the bench. "Yeah. For a while."

"How long is a while?" She leaned forward and straightened her hands next to her knees.

"Um…" I couldn't help but laugh. "Five years." Great, now she's gonna think I got commitment issues.

"How come? Don't you get lonely?"

I half shrugged and answered honestly. "I get lonely sometimes but I guess I just ain't found one I think would stick around."

"I get that."

Suddenly, a thousand memories of my childhood dashed through my brain as the old, familiar sound of an ice cream truck chimed in behind us. She whipped her head back and smiled like a kid on Christmas mornin'.

"Come on." She slapped my knee. "Let's go get ice cream!"