Last Ride

I

“Peter, say ‘excuse me,’” the young mom said to her five year old son. The boy, wearing overalls, looked up with his big blue eyes at Ruth, and said “excuse me.” Peter then ran over to look at the snickers bars at the gas station checkout counter.

It was a run down place, right on the old highway, where people filled up with gas and got going. The clerk was an old white lady, still working because she had to, mostly watching an old tv behind her, despite the infrequent interruptions by customers.

“That’s quite all right,” Ruth said to the mom, “I can see that you have your hands full.” The mom did, since she was holding her two year old daughter, blonde with a pink ribbon in her hair. “Sorry,” said the mom, poking through her purse for her credit card to pay for the bbq chips and Mountain Dew soda.

The horn in Ruth’s car honked three times, each time more insistently, and from the car Tyler waved for her to get in and get going. Ruth motioned with her hands to calm down and wait. Those two were really getting irritating, she thought. Ruth had first seen them slumped together outside a 7-11 at her last stop for gas. Remembering her values, she had asked them if they needed something. The boy, Tyler, had just looked down. The girl, Angel, asked if Ruth was headed west. Ruth nodded yes, and Angel asked if they could hitch a ride. They were both in their mid twenties, Tyler was short and slight, while Angel was bigger, with broad shoulders, wearing a sweatshirt on a hot summer day. They looked so bedraggled, like they hadn’t slept in a couple of days, Ruth made an exception and gave them a ride.

During the ride they said that they wanted to sleep, and Ruth had agreed to turn the radio off. They must like being miserable, Ruth thought, since at this gas station they refused to get out of the hot car and come into the cool.

“Take that back, Peter,” the mom said, “you have had enough sugar.” Peter loafed back to the ice cream counter, but seemed to have put a Klondike ice cream bar behind his shirt. His mom didn’t notice, because his sister started fussing. The clerk grew tired of waiting for them, and turned to the tv. Ruth watched, too, since the tv was blaring so loud it could be heard in every corner of the gas station.

“Breaking news,” the tv announced, “the prison escapees have struck again. Lois Herdon, the owner of Roadside Liquor, was found dead, killed by seven knife wounds. Her store camera confirmed that her killers were the escapees, and they are considered armed and highly dangerous.” The tv showed the fugitives, with different names, but obviously the couple now waiting in Ruth’s car. According to the tv announcer, ‘Angel’ had been in prison for murder, but lured her jailer into a back room, promising sex, strangled him, and escaped with the help of her boyfriend ‘Tyler,’ Lois was killed in the last town where Ruth had stopped for gas.

They blasted her car horn again, in one long, insistent note. This time Tyler and Angel both motioned her to get back in the car.

Ruth looked around for help. The clerk listlessly stared at the tv. The mom had put her daughter down to search her purse for her credit card, and the daughter was crawling toward the candy. Peter was finishing his ice cream bar just out of sight of mom. Ruth looked out on the barren flat land. There was nowhere to run.

Tyler got out of the car and started toward the gas station. He was carrying something that she couldn’t see. Ruth looked at Peter and his sister on the floor. Tyler was now halfway to the gas station.

Ruth knew that she couldn’t endanger these kids. She walked out, got in the car, and she drove off with her two companions.

II

“Why took you so damn long,” asked Angel from the front seat. “And you didn’t even bring us the cold drinks,” added Tyler from the back.

“Sorry, um, there was a line at the cash register,” said Ruth.

“A line at the cash register? Way out here?” Tyler said.

“Yes, there was a mom and her kids,” Ruth said. “They were taking forever because she couldn’t find her credit card.”

“When that happens to me, I just push ‘em out of the way,” Tyler said.

“Why did you say that, Tyler?” Angel said quietly.

“Um, well, I pay for it alright, but I just can’t stand waiting,” Tyler said.

There was a silence, which was not comfortable. Tyler was stewing in the back seat, while Angel was staring impassively at Ruth.

“Anything else happen in there?” Angel asked softly.

“Nothing, it was a dumpy little gas station.”

“I saw that,” Angel said, and kept staring at Ruth.

Ruth’s right hand began to shake, making the car swerve. “It’s no fun being old,” she said.

“Don’t look like it,” Angel said, “but your hand wasn’t shaking before.”

“Maybe I don’t like people beeping at me from my own car and telling me to get going.”

“I bet you don’t,” Angel said.

“Hey, old lady, let’s stop at the next exit and finally get some cold drinks,” Tyler said.

“Shut up Tyler, I am talking to Ruth here,” Angel said.

“There’s an exit in five miles,” Ruth said. “Should I stop there?”

“No, you are going to keep driving,” Angel said. She glared back at Tyler, who yelped and lay down in the back seat. “You’re going to keep driving until we need gas again.”

“What if I get tired,” Ruth asked.

“You won’t,” Angel said.

Ruth kept driving. At first she concentrated on keeping her hand steady. She didn’t want to tip them off. Tyler started snoring in the back. Ángel looked dead tired but kept looking at Ruth, her hand resting on something under her old sweatshirt. Ruth kept trying to think of a way out. She didn’t think she could get away in the open country. Ángel looked mighty strong, and they were both faster than her. Maybe they would fall asleep so she could get help. Or perhaps she could bump into a police car. An officer couldn’t ignore that.

“Don’t you want to sleep?” Ruth asked Angel.

Ángel grinned and said, “nah, I’m good. I can stay up for days when I have to.” Angel gave a deep chuckle. “No, don’t count on that.”

“Where did you say that you are heading?” Ruth asked.

“Out west.”

“That’s a big place.”

“That’s what I’m counting on,” Angel said.

After an hour more of driving, Angel couldn’t stop herself yawning. She looked back, and yelled, “wake up, I need some rest.” Tyler shuffled up.

“I just need you to watch her while she drives,” Angel said. “If anything happens, wake me up immediately. Can you handle that, Tyler?”

“You don’t need to be such a bitch about it,” Tyler groused.

Ángel cuffed him in the ear. Tyler yelped and moved back. “”Don’t fuck up again, Tyler. Not like at that liquor store.”

They pulled over to the side of the desolate highway. Tyler moved to the front seat, and Angel lay down in the back. “Remember, Tyler, you’re on the clock,” she said.

They drove for 45 minutes. Tyler kept looking out the window, but there was nothing to see. Just acre after acre of cornfields.

Tyler yawned, and looked back to check on Angel. “This is so damned boring.”

“We can talk, if you like,” Ruth said. “It makes the driving go faster.”

“No, I don’t have to talk to you. Just shut up and keep driving.”

Tyler glanced back at Angel. He leaned over and turned on the radio real low. He found a rock station playing Van Halen’s Jump. He looked back at Ángel and turned it up a bit. “Nothing wrong with a few tunes,” he said.

After the song was the weather report (hot with clear blue skies) and the news. “Police have expanded their search for the prison escapees, who have not been seen since the murder at the liquor store.” Tyler tried to turn the radio off, but turned it up instead. The newscaster described the man and woman on the run, warned that they were armed and dangerous, and asked for people to contact the police.

Ángel rose up and cuffed Tyler on the head, hard. He jerked away and hit his head on the window. “You can’t do anything right, you dumb ass.”

“I just wanted to hear some music,” Tyler said, “why did they have news?”

“Because we are the most exciting thing to happen around here for years. We’re famous, you idiot, and now I have to figure how to get out of it.” She cuffed Tyler again for good measure. Ángel then moved to the backseat behind Tyler to get a good look at Ruth, who was still driving.

“Hmm, you look scared but not too surprised,” Angel said to Ruth.

Ruth said nothing.

“You knew about us since we stopped for gas, didn’t you?”

Ruth nodded.

“And she still got back in the car with us,” Tyler said. “What a stupid old lady.”

“She’s not stupid, Tyler,” Angel said. “She is smart. Now, Ruth, we need you to keep being smart. We need you. Everyone is looking for two runaways, not a nice old lady driving her car. You can still get out of this alive.”

Ruth gulped yes.

“I am going to take your phone,” and Angel reached into the front seat to grab it. “Don’t try anything stupid, and be a hero. If you do, believe me, I will kill you, if it’s the last thing I do.”

Ruth believed her.

III

After a few more hours it was getting dark. Ruth was so tired that she kept swerving and almost hit a truck. Tyler offered to drive, but Angel thought that it was safer for Ruth to drive. They went up an old driveway to a long abandoned farmhouse to rest for the night. Ángel watched Ruth as she went to the bathroom outside behind a wall. The weathered farmhouse was as forlorn as Ruth felt. Ángel took the car keys, locked Ruth in the car, and told her to sleep. They were going to stay outside.

The car felt so familiar without them. She had paid extra for the red leather interior, but the comfort was worth it on long rides. The coffee stain on the mat. Even the skylight she never used. Ruth reclined her front seat, and tried to plan an escape. She didn’t see a way out. She began crying from fear and exhaustion. She fought to stay awake, but it was a losing battle.

Much later, Ruth woke to a muffled cry outside. She didn’t move, but saw it was morning, with pink streaks of light illuminating puffy clouds. Ruth was about to look out when she heard something being dragged. She scrunched down.

After a few minutes Angel appeared, unlocked the car, got in the passenger seat, and handed the keys to Ruth.

“Let’s go,” Angel said brightly.

“What about Tyler?”

“Oh, he is going to stay in the farmhouse.” Angel laughed. “Besides, it’s much better now that it’s just us. Who would suspect a sweet grandmother and granddaughter out for a drive?”

Ruth froze.

“Now, Ruth, snap out of it and get going,” Angel said. “Unless you would rather wait in the farmhouse with Tyler?”

Ruth pressed the button, started the car, and drove back to the highway.

IV

As they drove, Angel was talkative and giddy. They drove through the backcountry. They passed a one stoplight town, and Angel scrunched down.

“I grew up there,” Angel said, “”but I couldn’t wait to get out.”

“Do you want to see it now?” Ruth asked.

“No, they never liked me much. I bet that they are jealous now that I’m famous. None of them had the guts to do the stuff I’ve done.”

Ángel looked Ruth over. “You ever done anything wild? Like when you were young?”

“I moved to a commune in Mexico, grew lots of weed. I still do stuff like that, grow food in a community garden, volunteer at a food bank,” Ruth said.

“Really. Peace and love. I should have guessed,” Angel said.

“What about you and Tyler?”

“Ah, Tyler,” Angel said. “Just a kid. I brought him to heaven before I sent him to hell.”

“What?”

“He knew I was mad at him. We didn’t get much sleep. We were watching each other all night like wary possums. Finally, in the morning I figured out what to do.”

Ruth kept driving.

“I pretended that I forgave him. Then I gave him what he wanted. After that he was lying down, all blissful and happy, totally off his guard. I hit his head with a smooth rock, near cracked it open. After that, my trusty knife did the rest.”

With any other person, getting more familiar would have made Ruth feel safer. With Angel, the more Ruth knew, the more dangerous she was to Angel. These confidences did not bode well for Ruth’s longevity.

Angel looked thoughtful. “Ruth, now that we are talking, why did you get back in the car, when you knew who we were?”

“There were two little kids in the gas station, and their young mom. If I ran for it, something might have happened to them,” Ruth said.

“Probably would have,” Angel said, “we don’t like witnesses. Still, in the confusion, you might have gotten out.”

“I might have.”

“I don’t get people like you. Hell, if you weren’t so damn nice, you would never have picked us up as hitchhikers in the first place. I bet that you regret that now.”

“I do regret picking you guys up,” Ruth said, “but I don’t regret getting back in the car with you at the gas station.”

Angel laughed. “You are too damned smart for your own good.”

V

After a few more hours of driving, they were both too tired, so they stopped in a podunk town. They bought some sandwiches, used the bathroom together, and Angel bought a few beers to go. Angel had Ruth drive to a dark side street off Main Street. Ángel got in the back seat, took the car keys, and pushed the button to lock the car doors. Angel offered Ruth a beer, but Ruth said no, since her stomach wasn’t feeling too good. Angel laughed, and said “fair enough,” and had them both.

“Now, Ruth, we need to get some good rest. We are going to turn south tomorrow. That should surprise ‘em, even if they find Tyler. So, stay smart and don’t try anything. You know what will happen if you do.”

“Yes, I do,” Ruth said in a resigned voice.

Ange settled down, burped, and fell asleep pretty fast. Ruth waited the longest 30 minutes of her life. Angel had the car keys securely in her pocket, but she had forgotten about the driver’s side button to unlock the doors. Ruth pushed the button, and the locks clicked open, which sounded like church bells in the still night. Angel still slept. Ruth slowly opened the car door and got out. Still no movement from Angel. Ruth closed the door. Nothing.

Ruth wanted to run as far away from her car as she could. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t let Angel go free, in her car, to the this town.

Ruth saw a 7-11 about a hundred feet away on the Main Road. She ran to it, and saw a guy coming out of the store, in a torn white t shirt and shorts, munching on some Cheetos.

She went up to him. “Sir, can I borrow your phone. It’s an emergency.”

“What kind of an emergency?”

“There is a prison escapee sleeping in a car over there. I need to call the police.”

“The escapees? They are really dangerous,” he said. “Shit, I am getting out of here.”

He got into his car and drove off.

Ruth composed herself, and went into the store to talk to the clerk.

“Hi, can I borrow your phone? My phone’s dead, and I have a flat tire.”

He gave her his phone. She walked further inside, near the humming of the refrigerators, and called 911. She reported that one of the prison escapes was sleeping in a car, right off from the 7-11 on Main Street. Ruth warned that she was very dangerous, and police should not use sirens when they approached. The 911 dispatcher said that they would need back up from neighboring towns, so Ruth needed to wait 30 minutes. Ruth assured the dispatcher that she would be at this number, across the street from the 7-11, watching the car. Meanwhile, the clerk had heard enough, ran out to his car and fled without his phone.

Ruth checked her watch, and walked across the street into the darkness to watch and wait. She had driven Angel to this town, and she had to make sure that the trail of death ended here.