In Search of Lucy (12 page)

Two energy bars, a notebook, two pairs each of underwear and socks, a T-shirt, a few pages of sheet music, a bottle of water, a wallet that contained forty-eight dollars, and a license that confirmed Chad William Gordon was indeed two months away from turning eighteen. That was the contents of the frayed black backpack that he’d been carrying around for four days since he left his home in Oro Valley, a suburb six miles north of Tucson.

Staring out the window from the backseat, Chad tried to think of the good things he had going for him. At least he was able to stick it out until he graduated. And after four nights of uncertainty, of going from a friend’s couch to a park bench, he now had some allies. Three strangers who took a chance to help him make a fresh start in life. He thought about his mother and hoped she would leave his stepdad now that Chad was finally gone. He felt guilty. But not enough to go back.

He looked around the car at his three new travelling companions. They’d told him a little about themselves, filling him in on the purpose of the trip. It sounded like an unbelievable story to him, but they had no reason to lie. Chad appreciated that they didn’t pressure him to do the same, but he actually wanted to talk about it. He needed to talk about it. And he was happy they listened.

It was a pretty typical story that most had heard before. Chad’s mother had been raising him alone. When Ed came along, she thought he would finally make their family whole and take care of the two of them. At first he treated Chad with kindness and respect, but as soon as he married Chad’s mother, everything changed. Chad looked away when he talked about how Ed belittled him in front of the other employees at the garage where Ed worked and got Chad a part-time job. His mother justified it by saying, “That’s just his way.” That justification probably helped her make it through as well, since he treated her even worse. He was constantly putting her down and making her think she would be nothing without him.

Before leaving, Chad snuck a letter into his mother’s purse, begging her to leave and go live with her sister. It was risky, knowing she might show Ed the letter, but he had to try. Watching the endless strip of white flowing down the highway, he wondered if his mother would someday forgive him. Then with the hum of the car mesmerizing him, the white strip began to blur and suddenly he fell asleep.

That’s it,
Lucy thought to herself. She’d finally figured out what was causing her to sneak endless peeks at their new guest. There was something familiar about him that she couldn’t quite place until that moment, when they were talking about Katie and Rick. Chad looked a lot like Rick did back when he and Katie were dating. A tall, lanky kid with a laid-back disposition—cute too.

She stared at him as he slept, and suddenly she was smiling. Not because of something familiar in his face though, but because of a familiar feeling. It was something she hadn’t felt in a very long time. The feeling you get when you do something nice for someone. Lucy had gotten used to being needed, and she realized how much she missed it. She wondered why she felt it now, with this strange boy. And why she hadn’t felt it when she found out what she would be doing for her sister. Maybe because it didn’t seem real, and Katie wasn’t there. But Chad was; he was right there needing someone to take care of him. She was relaxed in her thoughts, and before she knew it, she was asleep too.

The problem with diabetes is you can’t have an off day without worrying about what else could be wrong. Katie knew the warning signs. She was always on top of things, in terms of checking her blood sugar levels. But she also knew she had to be vigilant in keeping herself healthy on a daily basis, and getting enough fluids, even with just a cold. The consequences could be minor, or they could be life-threatening. Lying on the couch with a lightweight blanket over her, she sped through the channels not really paying attention to what each show was.

“Mommy, you’re going too fast,” Carly announced, resting on her knees in a pale blue princess dress. The outfit was a security blanket of sorts, which she would put on when she was worried about her mother. It had started a couple of years back when she was first read the story of Cinderella. What she got out of it was that nothing bad happens when you’re dressed like a princess. Ever since then, Carly would don the dress when things seemed uncertain with her mother. Strangely, there were times when Katie was in the hospital, but she didn’t feel the need to put it on. It was like she had a sixth sense, knowing when things were just routine and when they were really serious.

“Sorry, sweetie,” Katie replied, handing her the remote. “Why don’t you do it? Find something good for us to watch.”

Katie took the remote and went straight to the three hundreds, where she knew there would be several good choices. “How ’bout
Max and Ruby
?” The show about a girl rabbit and her younger brother was one of Carly’s favorites, because that was what she one day hoped for—a little brother she could take care of. She looked over at her mom for confirmation.

“Sounds great to me.” Katie smiled and took a deep breath. “You know, I’m feeling much better!” Her voice sounded perky. She knew that with the combination of Rick being gone for the day and her not feeling well, Carly would need the reassurance.

Carly got up and sat at Katie’s feet at the end of the couch. She watched her show with one arm resting across her mother’s legs. Katie watched her daughter, trying to permanently implant the image in her brain, drifting in and out of sleep.

It was the grinding sound of metal that jolted both backseat passengers awake, first Lucy and then Chad. Lucy quickly sat upright and tried to survey the situation. Looking to the front, she noticed Benny with both hands on the wheel, leaning forward and looking from side to side. She felt the car begin to slow. Anne’s right hand gripped the handle above the window.

“What’s wrong?” Lucy spoke in a calm voice not wanting to make the situation worse.

Benny scanned over his right shoulder and passed into the next lane. “Not sure, but I’m pulling over.”

“All of a sudden the car started…like stuttering or something,” Anne added. “Then this awful grinding noise started.”

Chad didn’t say a word. He looked around through the back window to make sure there were no cars coming up too fast.

“Great!” Lucy instinctively looked back with Chad. “That’s all we need.”

Once they reached the shoulder of the road and Benny turned the car off, they all looked at each other questioningly. Then all eyes turned to Benny.

“Uh…I’m guessing none of us have triple A?” Benny shrugged and looked to see if it was clear on his side. “I’ll get out and take a look.” Unfortunately for Benny, that was one male stereotype that didn’t apply to him. He knew nothing about cars. As he got out, a look of uneasiness spread across his face. Then he seemed to remember something—something Chad had said in the car. “Chad!” he yelled to the closed back window. “Didn’t you say you worked in a garage?”

“Yeah.” Chad gave a self-assured nod to the girls and got out, flicking his hair back.

Anne shot a flirty smile back to Chad, and then sensing Lucy’s stare she turned to her. “What?”

Lucy just shook her head and sat back in the seat.

Anne’s gaze was like a dart aimed right at the bull’s-eye on the back of Chad’s jeans as he walked to the front of the car.

“Don’t forget, he’s not even eighteen yet,” Lucy said.

“I was just looking. C’mon, don’t you think he’s cute?”

“I guess…in sort of a little brother way.”

“No way, he’s totally hot…and sweet too.” Anne could see Lucy getting that serious look on her face, and she did not want to hear a lecture. “Don’t worry. I know he’ll be gone soon. I’m just having some fun. So do you think they’ll be able to fix the car?”

“I hope so.”

“Should we get out and help them?” Anne tried to hide her smirk.

“I’m sure you’d like to have Chad look under your hood, but he’s a little busy right now. He needs to stay focused, ’cause you know Benny doesn’t know jack about cars. Did you see his face?”

“Yeah, it’s like fate or something that we picked Chad up. Maybe he’ll save us. I mean, who knows what could happen to us stranded out here.”

“He hasn’t done anything yet.”

“He will,” Anne said with a confident smile.

The girls continued to talk but made sure they watched out the back window for approaching cars. They realized it would probably happen too fast for them to do anything, but they wanted to make themselves feel useful. Thankfully the road was not too crowded, and if their estimations were correct, then they weren’t too far from the next town if they ended up having to walk for help. With the engine off, the sun was starting to penetrate the windows, sucking up the last of the cool air the AC had been providing. It was close to four thirty, so the hottest part of the day was behind them, but it still had to be mid-eighties outside.

Just when they were about to get out for some air, they noticed Benny and Chad walking back to get in.

“It’s already like an oven in here,” Benny commented as he slammed the door. “Why didn’t you roll down the windows?”

“Well why didn’t we think of that?” Lucy replied sarcastically.

“We didn’t want to turn the key while you were under there,” Anne explained. “So what’s the deal?”

The girls both looked at Benny expecting an explanation.

“Here’s the deal with the car…” Benny looked confused, like he suddenly couldn’t remember what the heck Chad had just said about the car. “Tell ’em what the deal is, Chad.”

“The thing is,” Chad explained, “we could actually keep driving, but it would most likely cause serious damage to Benny’s ride. Could be five hours…or five minutes.”

Both girls sighed and waited for more, while Benny nodded in agreement.

“I don’t think we should chance starting it up again. I’m pretty sure I can fix it, but I need some parts and a few tools.”

Benny cringed and fidgeted like his manhood was being threatened. He pulled out the map and unfolded it about halfway. “Looks like we are about seven or eight miles from Las Cruces.”

With all four windows down, a slight breeze wafted in and out of the car. Lucy and Anne rested with their backs against a door, facing each other with feet stretched out in front of them, Anne in the front and Lucy in the back.

“I didn’t realize it was that bad for you, Lucy,” Anne said after Lucy gave her some insight into her family history. “I wish you would have shared this with us sooner…or does Benny already know?”

“No…I mean not really. I just don’t like to talk about it. There’s no point, anyway—it’s all in the past.” Lucy surprised herself that she let the conversation get to that point. But after an hour and a half of meaningless chitchat, her defenses were somewhat weakened. And she had to admit to herself that she was feeling closer to Anne and Benny because of the trip. “It’s just…well, you were talking about your mom and how great she is and—”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Lucy. I wouldn’t have brought it up if I knew.”

“It’s okay, you couldn’t have known.”

“I have an idea! Let’s talk about something more exciting.” Anne’s phone rang, and she grabbed it from the dashboard. “Just a sec.” She looked at the phone. “It’s them.” She nodded at Lucy and added an eye roll. “Hey,” she said into the phone. “Yeah, we’re still alive…uh-huh…How are you guys doing?…Okay, talk to you in ten minutes.” Anne set her phone back down on the dash, and Lucy pictured Benny and Chad walking down a deserted highway that stretched into eternity. She was starting to rethink their agreement to check in every ten minutes. It was the only thing they could think of to ensure everyone’s safety. Benny didn’t want to send one of the girls on the eight-mile hike it would be to the next town. And he wasn’t going to leave one of them alone in the car with Chad either. He seemed like an innocent enough kid, but these days you couldn’t be too careful. Both girls knew what Benny had been thinking and agreed with their silence. Besides, it did seem as though Chad was the only one who knew what to buy to fix the car.

“Okay, so we’ve got ten more minutes until they call again. I was going to check in with my aunt, and I was thinking you should call Kyle.” Anne’s expression gleamed with pride at her brilliant idea.

“You go ahead, I’m good.”

“C’mon, Lucy. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t like to talk to Kyle.”

“We’ve been exchanging e-mails…and texts since before we even left.”

“I said
talk
.” Anne waved a fly away from her face, then tried to retighten the tired bun on her head. “Don’t you want to hear his voice?”

Lucy knew Anne was right. With all that time on her hands, her thoughts did seem to keep drifting to Kyle. “Maybe you’re right, but it’s not really the right time.”

“Well, you can make excuses all you want, but I say you better keep in touch if you want him to keep you on his mind.” Anne gave a look like she was asking Lucy a question.

A big rig truck whooshed by the car so fast it sent a shock of wind and motion through the car and made Lucy jump.

“Call your aunt,” Lucy said firmly.

Anne shrugged and pressed the speed dial on her phone. As it was ringing, she watched as Lucy picked up her own phone off the seat and stared at it. Anne smiled and gave Lucy a thumbs-up with her free hand. Lucy made a face and turned her body to the side as if to shield Anne from her conversation.

“Auntie, it’s me,” was the last thing Lucy heard when Kyle’s line started ringing.

“Lucy, how are you?” came Kyle’s voice into Lucy’s cell.

“I’m good. How ’bout you?”

“Great! I’m so glad you called. Where are you?”

“Well, that’s kind of a long story.” Lucy didn’t want Kyle to worry, but she didn’t want to lie either. She told him that they’d had a setback and needed to get a part for the car, but the problem came when she made the mistake of saying, “They should be back soon.”

“Benny and Anne left you in the car by yourself?” Kyle sounded concerned and angered.

“No,” Lucy hesitated. She had no choice then. She had to explain about Chad and how they’d picked him up. She tried to sound reassuring and let him know they had taken every precaution and that he was just a kid really.

“Well, I’m sure everything will work out fine…just…be careful.” Only Kyle wasn’t sure things would work out. Lucy could hear it in his voice. But she appreciated that he didn’t want to upset her.

“Can you do me a favor though? Call me when you get to the hotel. Not a text or e-mail. I want to hear your voice.”

“Sure, I’ll call you as soon as we get there.”

“Great, but don’t forget. As if I’m not already thinking about you all the time, now I’ll be wondering and waiting until I hear from you.”

There was silence as Lucy tried to figure out what to say. She was stumped. She didn’t know exactly what she was feeling, and she didn’t know quite what to say to make him feel better. On top of all that, her ten minutes would be up soon. The one thing she was sure of was that she did find herself thinking of him more and more, and not knowing when she’d see him again was frustrating.

“I won’t.”

“Just…please be careful, Lucy,” Kyle said.

“Don’t worry, I will…and I’ll talk to you soon.”

Just as Lucy hung up the phone, she started to hear a faint sound of pebbles grinding into pavement. Steadily the sound got louder, and closer. She wondered if that could be the boys back already, but as the sound clearly became footsteps, she was sure there was only one set. Lucy and Anne’s eyes met as Anne said her own good-byes to her aunt. They both sat up straight and looked through the back window. About ten yards back, a man walked toward them from a car that was about twenty yards back. All they could make out was that the car was a light tan color and some sort of older looking model. The man was medium height, but thick. It was his heavy footsteps and not his oversized clothes that gave it away.

“Why’d he park so far back there?” Anne wondered aloud.

“Hurry up,” Lucy whispered urgently. “Roll up your window.” Lucy hopped to the front seat, turned the key, and they each rolled up their side windows.

“What’s wrong, Lucy?”

Lucy felt around under the seat for the flashlight Benny kept there. It was one of those long, heavy black ones that could come in handy, but not just for lighting.

“He probably just wants to offer us help.” Anne tried to sound convincing to Lucy, but also to herself.

“Put your phone up to your ear and pretend to be talking.” Lucy looked back once again to find the man just rounding the back end of the car and about to reach her window. “Now!” she said in a strained whisper. Anne complied and faced forward, unsure of what to say.

Lucy could see the man’s overly tan chest through his barely buttoned shirt as he bent down to knock on the window. His hair was very straight and looked like one of those bowl cuts a young kid would get, but this guy looked to be mid-forties. “You girls need some help?” the man yelled through the window.

“We’re fine, thanks,” Lucy said. She only looked at him for a second and then turned forward again.

“Want me to take a look? I’m pretty good with engines. This isn’t too good a spot to be stranded.” The man took a look up and down the highway. “Specially for two young ladies such as yourselves.” He bent down again and put a hand on the door, smiling into the window. “My name’s Mike.”

“Well, Mike, like I said, we’re fine. See, my friend here has already been talking with the tow service.” Lucy gestured to Anne on the phone while Anne nodded and gave a couple of “uh-huhs” into the phone. “So thanks anyway.”

“Oh…great. But I still wouldn’t feel right leaving you all alone out here, with this heat and all.” Mike ruffled his shirt casually to fan himself, then gently pulled on the door handle. “Got some cold drinks in my car you can have while you wait.”

Anne’s eyes widened as she realized what he was doing, and then she dropped her phone in her lap. “Lucy!”

Lucy’s heart began to beat faster, but she didn’t show it. She looked calm and put a hand on Anne’s lap. Her eyes alone seemed to tell Anne to stay cool. Working against both of them was the instant temperature change that began the second the windows were closed. As Anne reached for her phone, Lucy picked up the flashlight.

“Look, Mike!” Lucy said sternly. “My friend is about to dial 911 if you’re not gone in five seconds. And if you try to get into this car, I’ll beat your fucking head in with this flashlight. Then
you’ll
need 911!” This time Lucy stared right at him holding up the flashlight.

Mike’s expression was surprised, but his hand was still on the car handle. He froze for a couple of seconds, then jerked his head to the side. They all heard it now—the sound of another car, a truck, pulling up. This time it pulled up right behind the Durango. It looked like there were three people in the front, and the driver started beeping the horn.

“Oh God! What now?” Anne said as she turned to look through the back window. Anne’s phone still in her lap began to ring, and she answered it before it even completed the first tone. “Benny! Thank God, I think we’re in some trouble here,” she started to rattle off hysterically. “There’s this guy here, then this other truck came. They’re beeping now and—”

“What? You’re in the truck?” Anne looked at Lucy with confusion as Lucy began to smile because she could see exactly what was going on.

“Look, Anne,” Lucy said. She pointed to Benny, who was exiting the passenger side of the truck, holding a cell phone to his ear. He was followed by Chad, and then the driver exited as well. He was a gray-haired little man wearing blue work pants and a striped button-down shirt with the name Leroy stitched across the pocket.

“Great, help has arrived,” Mike said to no one in particular. He quickly walked past the three, then took to a jog back to his car. The three men exiting the truck all stared as Mike ran past them to his car.