Prodigal Blues

"You owe me six bucks," said Christopher.

"Sue me."  I doubted he'd hit me since I was the one driving.

He gave a short, sharp whistle.  "My, my, my—everyone's growing a set of brass ones around here all of a sudden.  Fine, Pretty Boy—take the on-ramp coming up on the right.  After that, we're going in a straight line for a while."

"How long?" I asked.

"Why do you need to know that?"

"If you're going nap-out, then I need to know how long I'll be driving before I have to take an exit, and if you don't tell me how long then I'm either go

"Listen to my man go!" said Arnold, laughing.  "I didn't know anyone could talk that fast."

"You yammer on like this every time you're scared or nervous?" asked Christopher.

"Not since the last time I was kidnapped and held at gunpoint."  For some reason, this struck me as fu

"Pizza's getting cold," I said.

"Let 'er rip," Arnold said, and the boxes were opened, the Pepsi passed around, and everybody got a couple of the ci

"Ninety minutes," said Christopher, stretching back in the seat, propping his knees up against the dashboard, and covering his face with a captain's cap he pulled from his shoulder bag.  "If I'm not awake in ninety minutes, give me a jostle."

"One question."

"Make it fast."

"How do you know that once you're good and asleep I'm not going to just get off at the next exit I see and find the nearest police cruiser?"

He tilted back his head, peeking out from under the cap.  "I can give you four good reasons why you won't do that:  One, you know that the last guy we grabbed who tried to pull something is dead—and by the way, the only reason you're not keeping him company right now is because I missed back in the room; two, I know where you live, so even if you did manage to get away, we'd be seeing each other again real soon and I don't think Tanya would appreciate the surprise visit; three, whether you've admitted it to yourself or not, you want to help us; and, four, you want to know what we've got back in the trailer, and the only person who's going to let you see it is me.  So be a good Pretty Boy and drive for a while and let me catch forty winks.  I might even be more pleasant once I've gotten some rest."

"How long's it been since you guys slept?"

"Three days, at least.  Are we done now?"

"Yes."  I checked my watch; 9:15 p.m.  "I'll wake you up at a quarter till eleven."

He was asleep in five minutes.  After that, it took less than fifteen minutes more before I could hear the soft, warm sounds of sleep from behind me.  I chanced turning around in the seat once and saw that all of them were down for the count, then turned my attention back to the road.

Christopher nailed it on all counts, including my curiosity about whatever was in the trailer; but mostly he was right about my wanting to help them now.  Jesus—even a complete stranger could read me.  Had I become that tiredly predictable over the last ten years?

My dad would have called it "being dependable."  And he would've known; the man worked the factory line for over thirty years, never called in sick even when he was undergoing radiation treatments, almost never complained, paid his bills faithfully, squirreled some away for a rainy day, always checked to make sure Gayle and I were doing fine (even after we both married and moved out), did the dishes every night so Mom could rest, and retired just in time to discover the prostate cancer we'd all thought had been taken care of years ago had returned, only this time it brought along family who took up residence in his liver, right lung, stomach, and brain.  He died in hospice sixteen months after he clocked out at the plant for the last time; he never got to go fishing near Buckeye Lake (he'd splurged and bought himself a new rod and reel), never got to see an OSU football game in person, never got to take my mom out for a "night on the town" like they used to have when they'd first been married and didn't have any kids to drain their energy and bank accounts.  He went from the factory floor to the chemo ward and then into the ground.  I don't think he experienced a truly happy day in all the years I knew him.  Mom died in her sleep ten months to the day after we buried Dad.  Every time I thought about it, I still cried.  They'd both been gone for a little over two years, and I still missed them so much it hurt like hell.

I have no idea how long I'd been driving or how long I'd been crying when Christopher said, "What's wrong?"

I looked at him for a moment, waiting for either the smartass remark or the threat; when he said nothing more, I turned my attention back to the road.  "Go back to sleep.  I'm doing what you told me to."

He pushed back his cap and sat up.  "What time is it?"

I checked my watch.  "Five after eleven."

"Damn.  I feel like I've been asleep for hours."

"I'm surprised you don't feel hung-over."

He shook his head.  "No.  I feel pretty good, in fact."  He turned down the volume on the CD player; I'd already had it pretty low.  Now I couldn't hear it at all.  And "Can't You See" was just about to start, too.

"So what's wrong?"

"What the hell does it matter to you?"

"I like to keep my hostages happy.  Which is more than can be said for our former keeper."

I wiped my eyes.  "Not that it's going to mean shit—since my sympathy's a little late, as you pointed out—but I'm really sorry for what happened to all of you."

"Thanks.  Seriously."

"Did you really kill the last guy?"

"Yeah, I did.  We didn't exactly grab him like we did you.  He hired himself out to us."

"Who was he?"

A shrug.  "Some drifter we met at a rest stop.  He was trying to bum a ride from anyone who'd take him, but he wasn't exactly the cleanest or most cordial of people.  He needed a ride, we needed a normal face.  He said he'd help us for five hundred dollars.  I gave him half up front.  We stopped at a gas station outside Topeka so he could wash up and I followed him in.  As soon as we were through the door he jumped me and tried to get the gun.  I shot him and he stumbled outside and fell right in front of Denise—Rebecca was taking her to use the ladies' room.  I was madder than hell and just kept shooting until Denise shrieked and tried to run away.  Pissed away a good silencer for nothing.  Lucky that Grendel kept two spares of everything.  Did you know most silencers are only good for about six to eight shots if you're lucky?"