The next morning, the truck was moving again. I leaned over the top bunk and looked at the clock that was on top of the fridge. It was almost seven. I reached into our bag for a mirror so I could fix my skin tone and such. Then I woke Glenne and she did the same.

"Did you sleep okay?" I asked quietly.

She nodded. "You?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah. You hungry? We have leftovers from last night," I said.

She smiled. "Sounds great."

I dropped down from the top bunk and proceeded to help Glenne down.

"I thought I heard rustling up there," Rod said. "Morning, y'all."

"Good morning, Rod," I greeted. "Where are we?"

"We just passed into Alabama," he told us. "We'll be at our last destination in a couple hours, so long as traffic is clear. Then it's home to the Carolinas."

"Oh, okay. That's great," I said, smiling at Glenne. "We're that much closer."

"Yup," Rod said. "Y'all will be there before you know it."

"Thank you so much, Rod," Glenne said, trying to keep her balance on the bouncing truck.

"No problem, little darlin'," Rod replied.

"Have you eaten?" I asked, reaching for the fridge to get our leftovers.

"Oh, yeah," Rod said. "I picked something up last night and ate it a few hours ago. Thanks for askin'."

Glenne and I sat on the bottom bunk and started eating. A few seconds later, Rod glanced back at us.

"Um, you know it's not really good to eat cold fish, right?" he asked hesitantly. "There's a microwave on top of the fridge."

Glenne and I exchanged a glance.

"Why?" Glenne asked.

"Um, you know, bacteria?" Rod said. "You could get sick."

Glenne and I exchanged another glance and shrugged.

"We do it all the time and have never gotten sick," I said.

"Hm," Rod mused. "You two must have a killer immune system then."

"Uh, yeah, you could say that," I replied, not having a clue what an immune system was. Thankfully, Rod dropped the subject and turned on the radio, leaving Glenne and me to finish our leftovers in peace.

A few hours later, Rod's phone started playing a tune and he perched it on a stand poking out of the dashboard before tapping the screen, where a woman appeared.

"Hey, darlin'," Rod said with a smile. "What's goin' on?"

"Hey, Roddy," the woman replied, "the kids and I were wondering when you were going to be home."

"I just got one more load, honey, and then I'll be headin' home. Should be there around supper time today so long as traffic is good," Rod answered. "Are the kids with you?"

"Hi, dad!" screamed two small voices as two girls jumped into view.

"Hey!" Rod said, laughing. "Why aren't you two in school?"

"Teacher work day, daddy!" the youngest exclaimed happily.

"Well, hey!" Rod said, an unbreakable smile on his face. I couldn't help but notice the way he lit up while talking to them. "What y'all gonna do with yourselves?"

"We're gonna have a bake sale for our school!" the oldest said.

"Yeah!" the youngest agreed. "Mommy's making cupcakes! Chocolate ones —"

"Red velvet ones —" the oldest chimed in.

"And lemon meringue!"

"And coffee!"

"My, my!" Rod said with a laugh. "Y'all gon' have to save some for me."

The oldest held up a container with four cupcakes in it. "Way ahead of you, dad," she replied, smiling.

"Ah," Rod mused. "Thank you, honey bun. Well, I gotta lay somethin' on y'all. I picked up two hitchhikers back in New Mexico that are trying to get back to New York. I was wonderin' if y'all wouldn't mind 'em staying with us until I go back on the road. They'll be riding with me if I'm heading north, and if I'm not, I'll find 'em a buddy that is. That okay with y'all?"

"Of course, dear," his wife replied. "I'll prepare the guest room. Can we meet them?"

"Sure," Rod said, turning the phone so it faced us. There was a tiny box in the corner that showed what we looked like to them. "Lyric, this is Octavius and his sister, Melissa. Guys, this is my wife, Lyric."

"Oh, what a beautiful name," Glenne said.

"Oh, well, thank you," Lyric replied. "These are our daughters, Symphony and Harmony."

"Aw!" Glenne exclaimed. "Such pretty names."

"Thank you!" Lyric said. "What kind of music do you listen to? I like RB and soul."

"Oh," Glenne replied, slightly unsure. I could tell she didn't know there were names for different types of music. "Yes, I like that too."

She was getting better at lying.

"Do you have a favorite artist? I absolutely adore Adele."

"Oh, uh, I like her too," Glenne said, obviously just playing along.

"Wonderful," Lyric said. "We have something to discuss when you get here! Well, we'd love to chat some more, but we have a long day of sales ahead. You drive careful, Roddy."

"I will, baby. Good luck with the bake sale," Rod replied.

"Thanks, dad!" the girls replied.

Rod chuckled. "Bye, honey buns," he said.

"Bye," Lyric said. "I look forward to meeting your friends."

"All right," Rod said, tapping the red button on his phone, ending the call.

"Your family seems very sweet, Rod," Glenne said.

"Oh," Rod laughed, "yes, they are. They're everything to me."

I smiled and looked at Glenne, who was watching Rod with an indecipherable expression. Then she studied the floor, looking a bit sad and insecure. I wanted to ask her what was the matter but figured I should wait until the next moment we had alone.

I didn't get that moment until a couple hours later when we arrived in a town Rod called Montgomery. He hopped out of the truck and shut the door behind him. I took a deep breath and turned to Glenne.

"Is everything okay?" I asked her.

Glenne seemed caught off guard. "Oh, yes, I'm fine," she said awkwardly. "Why?"

I watched her carefully. "You just seem . . . a little distant from time to time. Like right after we got off the phone with Rod's family."

Glenne all of the sudden looked defensive. "I'm fine, Dave," she snapped.

I folded my arms over my chest. "Glenne, I was just asking. You don't have to get that way. And I can tell something's wrong. Otherwise, you wouldn't get so touchy. Why won't you talk to me?"

Glenne sighed heavily and looked away, shaking her head. Then she turned back. "I'm sorry. I just . . ." She stared out of the front of the truck. "When I . . ." She looked at me and I could see the hesitation in her eyes. She looked back down and closed them. "Um . . . When I see people as happy as Rod is with his family, I just can't help but think about when I was alone for all those years in my tank. I just never thought I would meet someone I could consider a friend. Someone that could make me happy," she said, her speech rushed.

I cocked an eyebrow and studied her as she refused eye contact. "That's really what this is about?" I asked.

There was a moment of silence before she finally said, "Yeah," and then turned to look at me.

I wasn't so sure of that, but I heard Rod's voice outside the door so I decided to drop it. It was a discussion we could have at a later time. I sighed and wrapped an arm around her.

"Well, I'm glad I could have such a positive impact on your life," I said, playing along to calm her down.

She seemed to relax. Then she smiled at me. "You have no idea," she said softly, maintaining eye contact.

We broke away when the door opened and Rod got in the driver's seat, starting the engine. "All right y'all. We're heading to the Carolinas!" he said happily. "Y'all ever had country cookin'?"

"No, sir," I answered.

Rod laughed. "Well, y'all are in for a treat. My wife's the best cook this side of the nation. We'll be home around supper time too. I can't wait."

Glenne and I smiled at each other.

"Neither can we," I replied.

— § —

Some time later as the sun was setting, we pulled up into a trucking lot and Rod turned back to us. "All right, I just gotta go in and file some paperwork. Then we'll head on to my home."

"Take your time," I said. He nodded and climbed out, shutting the door behind him.

After he'd left, Glenne turned to me. "I'm a little nervous, Dave."

"About what?" I asked, leaning toward her.

"About meeting his family. I mean, they seem like wonderful people, but I feel like we could be exposed so quickly if we go there. What even is country cooking? What if we don't like it?" she said, wringing her faux hands.

"Well, maybe it won't be so bad. And if it is, we'll just eat what we can and claim to be full," I assured her.

She sighed and closed her eyes. "Dave, I trust you, you know I do. But you're taking an awful lot of risks. It's one thing trying to act human around the humans, but to live among them, eat like them, that's just so much pressure, Dave," she said, finally looking over at me.

I sighed and looked down in thought. Then I met her eyes again. "We'll figure something out," I assured her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

She exhaled and furrowed her brow as it appeared a thought came to her mind. "Are you sure we have enough money to make it?" she asked.

I pulled out our money baggy and counted what was in there. "We still have around three hundred dollars. I think we'll be fine for a good while."

Glenne nodded. "That's good. I don't know if we'll find anyone that would be as nice as Sarina to pay us under the table."

"I know," I concurred. "All these years, I thought all humans were bitter, selfish people. If none of this had ever happened, I never would've known."

Glenne took my hand in hers. "I know exactly how you feel," she said, maintaining eye contact with me.

I furrowed my brow. "What if I'm making a mistake?" I asked abruptly.

Glenne frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It's just . . ." I exhaled. "Going back — to the penguins. How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be."

Glenne shook her head. "I don't understand. What does that have to do with anything?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I've just been through a lot these past several months and well . . . what if they don't love me anymore?"

Glenne was silent for a moment before smiling. "I wouldn't worry about that, Dave. In fact, I think they'll love you more. Just look at how much work you've put into getting back to them. I mean . . . if anyone ever put in that much effort for me . . ." She looked at me. I hated that look she'd been giving me a lot recently. It gave me chills every time and I didn't understand why.

The driver door opened and Rod poked his head in. "Hey, can y'all come out here for a minute?" he asked.

I exchanged a look with Glenne. "Sure."

We got up and climbed out of the truck, where Rod was standing with an older white woman wearing blue pants rolled halfway up her calves, beat up sneakers, a faded white tank top with a red checkered, unbuttoned, collared shirt over top that with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her ball cap cast shadows over her face. She puffed on a cigarette.

"Guys, this is my pal, Harriette Lawrence," Rod introduced. "Harri, this is Octavius and his sister, Melissa." He turned back to us. "Turns out she's gettin' a load headed up to Virginia. The next load I get will be heading back west, so being a guest in my home won't help you much. However, if you'd like a few days without traveling, you're more than welcome to stay anyway and I can find you someone else heading north, but if you'd rather get going now, Harri says she's willing to give you a ride."

I exchanged a glance with Glenne. She laughed a little as we realized how convenient this was.

"If it's all the same to you, Rod, we'd like to accept the ride with your friend," I told him.

Rod smiled and shook his head. "Perfectly all right. Next time y'all are in Orangeburg, though, be sure to look us up. You still gotta try my wife's cookin'."

I smiled. "Absolutely. Thank you for all your help, Rod, and we wish you the best."

"Yes," Glenne added, "thank you." She turned to me. "I'll go get our things," she said before going back into the truck.

"No problem," Rod said. He exchanged a few words with Harri while I helped Glenne out of the truck with our bag. "Well, I'll leave y'all to it," Rod said. "Y'all be safe, now."

"You too, Rod-man," Harri said, a rasp to her voice. She turned to us as he left. "Well, like Rod-man said, I'm Harriette, but y'all can call me Harri." She started walking and we trailed behind. "Rod tells me about your predicament, uh, you're trying to get back to your parents and your kids or something?"

"Yes," I answered, "our parents and my kids, specifically."

"Mm," Harri mused. "He said you travel the world too."

I let out a short, airy laugh. "Yeah, a while ago, before I took leave to help my sister overcome an illness."

"I see," Harri said, throwing her cigarette on the ground in front of her and stomping it out.

I was taken aback by her nonchalant, dismissive attitude. It was a complete one eighty from my experience with Rod or even Lorrie and Georgie. They were so talkative and interested while Harri just . . . wasn't.

We reached a large deep green truck and she opened the door for us.

"After you," she said, staring at us as if we'd wasted enough of her time.

I helped Glenne up into the truck and handed her our things. I climbed in after her and we settled back in the bed. Harri climbed in and got us out onto the road.

"First trip's about five and a half hours," she said as the truck bumped along. "I have snacks in the cooler over there to your right. Better look through there now and tell me if there's nothin' you like because once I get on the interstate, I ain't stoppin' nowhere."

In compliance with her very forward request, we opened the cooler and rummaged through the snacks. We found a couple bags of Cheezy Dibbles and I looked at Glenne.

"You think this will keep you until we get there?" I asked her.

"Yeah," Glenne replied, "I have a small appetite. Breakfast will probably stick with me for at least another hour or two."

"Agreed," I replied. "Yes, Harri, we should be fine until our next destination."

"Good," Harri said sharply, cracking the window and lighting up another cigarette. Glenne and I had to try to ignore the smoke curling around our faces and refrain from coughing. We exchanged a glance and I debated whether it would've been a better idea to stay with Rod for a few days than to deal with this.

A couple of hours went by in silence. Thankfully, Harri had stopped her nasty habit for the time being. She wasn't even a quarter as talkative as Lorrie, Georgie, and Rod combined. She hadn't even asked us one question since we'd been on the road, but I know I share Glenne's sentiment when I say I was glad for it, honestly. I didn't realize until then how exhausting it was to keep up such a big lie. It was nice to finally just sit back and enjoy the ride, thinking about how much closer we were to getting to New York.

Sitting there, I noticed a folded up map laying in the passenger seat. I looked from it to Harri.

"Um, Harri, would you mind if I looked at your map?" I asked.

"Sure," Harri said without hesitation, grabbing it and handing it back to me.

I opened it up. "So where did you say we're headed?"

"Petersburg, Virginia," Harri replied.

Glenne leaned in close to me while we looked closely at the map, trying to find that location. "Where exactly?" I asked.

"East coast," Harri said, "above South Carolina."

I finally found Virginia where she said it was located, with Petersburg pretty close to the coast. Then I looked at New York. Glenne and I exchanged a glance, smiles forming on our faces. We only had to get through two more states to get to the city that never sleeps — Maryland and Pennsylvania. I hadn't realized how close we'd gotten. We hadn't been in America for two weeks yet and we were so close.

"Do you know where you're going after Virginia?" I asked.

"Canton, Ohio," Harri said with a cough. She pulled out another cigarette.

I frowned and looked at the map again. Ohio was a little off course, but still getting closer to New York. I decided I'd take the opportunity. I looked at Glenne, who didn't seem as disappointed as I thought she would about the slight detour.

"Looks like we're detouring slightly," I whispered, trying to be casual about it.

Glenne made eye contact with me for a few seconds. Then she smiled and shrugged. "It's okay," she replied. "At this point, I know we'll make it, no matter how long it takes."

I smiled back. I truly appreciated her support. She had really gotten me through this entire trip. If I had met her way before I did, I think I would've been stronger. She'd shown me the strength that I never knew I had, something I could've really used before now. But I got it when I did and I was grateful for that.

At almost midnight, after another few hours of silence, light snacking, and our impending drowsiness, we arrived in Petersburg. We decided to climb up to the top bunk while Harri took care of business.

"Dave?" Glenne called softly as we settled down on the bed.

"Yeah?" I replied.

I noticed that she wasn't making eye contact. "I'm starting to get a little nervous. What if your boys don't like me?"

I lay on my side so I could face her and smiled. "Of course they will. Why wouldn't they?"

"I don't know," Glenne shrugged, looking down. "I don't know them well enough to know why they wouldn't. That's what worries me."

I shook my head. "You have nothing to worry about. I promise."

Glenne propped herself up by one of her arms. "But how can you be sure, Dave?"

I propped myself up to meet her. "Glenne, why wouldn't they love you?"

Glenne didn't answer. She just lay back down on her back. "I don't know, Dave," she said finally. "I'm just worried, I guess."

I smiled and took her arm in mine. "You have nothing to be worried about," I said as I started to yawn. I lay back down. "The penguins will adore you" — I closed my eyes and turned over — "almost as much as I do."

Glenne didn't respond after that. We finally drifted off to sleep as the truck started bumping forward.

I didn't realize until morning that that night, unlike all the others, Glenne kept to her side of the bed rather than snuggling up next to me.

— § —

Note: The quotes used in this chapter were: "How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be," spoken by Simba (portrayed by Matthew Broderick) in The Lion King (1994).

Next chapter will be posted on September 10, 2023.