Un-Connected (3 page)

“Are you OK? You look as if you lost your
best friend in the whole world,” she asked in a low kind voice.

She had no idea. My eyes teared up, and I was
really struggling to keep some kind of composure. She had nailed me
immediately. I held up one finger to say I was going to answer.

Once I got a little control, I said, “Things
are a bit tough right now. I just needed to get away from the Northeast and get
some breathing room.”

“And you want to ride with me.” I know I must
have looked surprised since she simply stared at me while my jaw dropped. “You
are good. I have been hit on by the best, but a man who cries? Impressive.”

I still couldn’t answer.

She took a couple of bites, chewing them
slowly, not really looking at me. Then she turned. “Well, isn’t that what
you’re working on?”

“I’m not acting,” I said, almost whispering.
“I have had a really rough time the last few days, and I didn’t know it was all
showing on my face.”

I couldn’t say anything further right away.
She had nailed me on several accounts.

“What are you running from? Are you in
trouble with the law? Did you rip off a drug dealer or kill somebody?”

I couldn’t breathe. Was she reading something
off my forehead? How did she suspect I was running? Where was she getting those
questions?

She was moving way faster than I could.

I paused for a long time.

 “I’m in trouble with the law, but I’m not
guilty and just want a chance to clear myself. I’m a CPA, an accountant, a
bookkeeper. I’m not a dangerous person. Look, if you know of anyone who can
help me… I am in a real tough spot right now. I wouldn’t wish this mess on my
worst enemy.”

“Do you have a lot of enemies?”

I surprised myself by how quickly I answered
the question. “I don’t have any enemies that I know of…or didn’t before a few
days ago.”

She looked me over from my eyes to the soles
of my feet and then back to my eyes. “Nice shoes.”

After a long pause, she raised her eyebrows
and looked me right in the eye. “You need help with your wardrobe.”

“I need help with a lot of things.”

She took a deep breath and let out a long
sigh. “OK, I will help you, but the first time you try to put a finger on me or
lie to me, I am done helping you, and I might break that finger. And I will
either kill you myself or call the cops on your sorry self.  Or I might find
out who is looking for you and get paid to make their day. Are we really clear
on that?”

I quickly answered in the affirmative. And
told her I would be forever grateful. The thought of her turning me over to
anyone—cops or killers—made me nearly freak out right there. And why did she
suspect there was someone besides the police looking for me?

“Yeah, I know you’ll make it up to me.” She
said.

We sat silently while she was eating.

 “You’re an accountant? Huh!” She said under
her breath. “And another thing, sooner or later you’re going to have to tell me
the whole truth. If you lie to me then, your future is in my hands. We clear on
that, too?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Follow me!” She said and paid for her meal
and my coffee.

Once we were by ourselves, she began to ask
more questions. “How much money do you have? How did you get here? Where do you
want to go?”

She was trying to figure out if she could get
any money out of helping me and how long it would be until she could dump me.
She was probably trying to figure if she would be in trouble for helping me.

“I have a couple of thousand I would guess,
but I don’t know for sure.”

“I’m Deborah, and my friends call me Deb, so
please call me Deb. What’s your name?”

I swallowed hard. “Sam.”

Deb paused. “It wasn’t very convincing, Sam.”

”I am very upset and almost could not
remember my own name,” I stammered. It was true. She let it go but didn’t seem
convinced.

“What are they looking for? A guy in a suit
and tie, for example? Are they looking for a particular car?”

“I usually wear a suit and tie but was
wearing a white shirt and slacks when I left, and I’ve changed since then. I
have a car out back.”

“What kind?”

“A Porsche.”

“A Porsche?” She asked in a loud surprised
whisper. “You did fall down a long hill didn’t you?”

“You have no idea.”

“Oh, I do. I have fallen pretty far myself a
few times. They will be looking for that car for sure. If they spot it, they
will probably hang back and watch for you to get in it. You better not get
close to it again. I’ll go look at it.”

We walked toward the car. A couple of guys
stood looking at it from a distance but they did not look as if they were really
concerned with the car or would be a problem to me. They seemed to be vaguely
looking at it while talking about something else.

“Looks like you are okay for now. Think about
what you have in the car—anything you need to keep? I am sure you don’t have
clothes in there.”

After a few seconds I told her I couldn’t
think of anything in there I wanted. “I guess nothing.” Then I remembered.  “I
have some hair color, a hat, a tee shirt and my cell phone charger.  I can’t
think of anything else.  If there is something just get whatever you find.”

 “Are you okay with me getting rid of the
car?”

I was amazed at how thoughtful she was and
how perceptive. She could have said she was going to get rid of the car without
asking, and there would have been nothing I could or would do.

“Yes, I’d be relieved to not see it again.”

“Ok, give me your keys and go back to the TV
room and wait for me. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Where is the TV room?”

Then she shook her head slightly as if she
was saying to herself, “What am I getting myself into?”

“Go back in the door we came out of. Go clear
to the other side where the sign says Showers and head that way. Soon you’ll
see the TV room.”

It seemed an eternity as I waited and my
fears multiplied. Was Deb calling the police? Was she driving off and leaving
me there? What could take so long? Was she talking to the killers and dickering
for how much she could get for turning me over to them?

I was afraid to stay there, and I was afraid
to move. It was half dark in the TV room, and it was a good place to wait
unless someone was coming into the room to get you. There was only one way in
or out. But no one was paying any attention to me, and the chairs were comfortable.
Very few people would be able to tell it was me with the way I looked.

After I nearly died of fright at least three
times, Deb came in and sat down beside me. “Are you ready? Do you need anything
before we get started?”

“No,” I stammered.

“Come on.”

I followed her out. We went to a clean truck,
and under her breath she said go to the other side and get in. Deb hit a
remote, which unlocked the doors. It seemed few truckers had that.

Once inside she showed me where she had a gun
under the steering wheel. “This is just one of them, and so help me if you make
me regret this I will leave you on the side of the road with holes in you
leaking badly.”

“You will have no trouble out of me,” I
assured her.

About thirty minutes down the road, I
couldn’t stand it any longer and said, “I’m sorry but I need to go to the
bathroom.”

“Can you do it on the side of the road?”

“Yes.”

I nearly died while she took a terribly long
time to slow down and pull off on the shoulder, but I got out and with great
relief got back in.

“Why didn’t you go back at the truck stop?”

“I guess I was too scared. I didn’t know I
needed to go.”

“Lay your seat back all the
way down when we go through a weigh station, pull your hat down over your eyes,
look as if you are sleeping, and do not move a muscle until we got back up to
speed.”

I did exactly as she said.
We were back up to speed quickly. She told me she didn’t believe everything I’d
told her, but she was sure I was in some kind of trouble. She said she wanted
to help me, but warned that it better not cost her too much or she would kill
me herself.

“I understand. You won’t
have any trouble out of me.”

“Can I sit up now?”

“Yes.”

We rode for a good while in silence. She
glanced at me. “Here is the next problem. I don’t know you and don’t really
trust you. I’m not going to let you get into the sleeper behind me where you
can whack me in the head. It will be hard to sleep in the seat so I don’t know
what to do with you tonight.”

We were silent for a long time. After about
an hour she turned on the radio and found some music. We continued in silence.

It got dark and she kept driving.

“Look you have gotten me a long way away from
my car. I really appreciate your help. You may have saved my life. If you want
to put me out somewhere around here so you can sleep, I will understand and
still be grateful.”

Deb didn’t answer but nodded she heard me.

About nine o’clock she said, “We are far
enough south that it should be nice outside tonight. There’s a catwalk just
behind the cab. If you can make a bed and sleep there, I will take you farther
tomorrow. You aren’t sleeping in the cab.”

“I can’t ask for anything better.”

We passed a rest area, and she drove on.

“Why didn’t we stop there?” I asked.

“It appeared to be a quiet place. But you
would more likely be seen among cars. You will be safer at a truck stop
surrounded by trucks.”

I thanked her again, and we drove on in
silence.

Later she pulled into a truck stop and up to
a pump.

“Can I help?” I asked.

“Sure. Get out and come around here.” She swiped
a card in the pump and answered a lot of questions by poking on the pump
screen.

Finally, it told her we could pump the fuel.

“Put this nozzle in this tank and turn it
on.”

She pointed to the largest fuel hose I had
seen outside of a commercial airplane.

“Then go around to the other side. There is
another hose and tank over there. Fill that one up too. Just stay with that
hose, because it will shut off first. When it does, put the hose back on the
pump, put the cap back on the tank, come back around here, and finish this
side. That’s all you do. Stay right here with the truck until I come back.
Don’t talk to anyone any more than you have to, but be polite. Don’t get in the
truck. …I’m locking the truck.  Don’t mess with anything else.” With that she locked
the doors with the remote, turned on her heels and walked away.

I felt a big sigh of relief coming over me.
While she might be turning me in right now, I somehow didn’t think so. I felt
somewhat safe for the first time...since…that night.

Not long after I put up the hose on the
driver’s side, she came out carrying a sleeping bag. She showed me how to check
the oil. Then we drove to the back of one of the largest parking lots I had
ever seen. She found an empty parking space in a rather dark place and pulled
in forward with the trucks on either side facing out. This way her cab was
toward the back of their trailers.

She asked if I had a toothbrush or a change
of clothes. When I shook my head “no”, she told me to get out and go with her.
She was carrying a duffle bag.  She handed me a plastic bag and told me it
would be for my dirty clothes.  I wasn’t sure what that meant but I kept my
mouth shut.  We went into the main building where she’d gone when I was pumping
the fuel. She asked if I was hungry and I said yes.

We went to the restaurant and sat away from
others. We ate quietly and talked a little. It was shallow conversation about
the weather, unusual people we saw, things people said. She was nice but
guarded. I thought she was probably trying to figure out where and how to get
rid of me. It was so easy for her to do it at any time. I was a fish out of water.

She paid for our meal, and we walked to the
back of the large building. We came to a hallway, where there were frequent
doors with numbers on them. She found the one she was looking for and punched
in a code. The door made a sound, and she opened it. She told me to go in and
take a shower. She’d be back with clothes in a few minutes. She asked me what
size I wore. There were two towels, a washcloth, shampoo, and soap. I would be
clean in a few minutes and was getting happier. The water was hot and steamy,
and it felt so good. I was taking a long shower, enjoying myself, when I heard
a knock on the door. It scared me to death.

“It’s me. I have your clothes,” Deb shouted.

I pulled a towel around me and went to the
door. I opened it a crack to see what was going on. She had a roll of clothing,
which I took and closed the door. I opened it again to see her about to walk
off, and I asked how much time I had. She replied she was about to take a
shower. She would not be in any hurry, and I should wait on her in the TV room
when I was done. Was I thankful!