Chapter 2

By the time the sun was coming up, I was quite tired. I had been up since pretty early the day before finishing up with my packing, gotten a late start on leaving town, picked up a woman and her 3 kids (what was I thinking?), and drove for the rest of the night while they slept. At least they didn't snore too bad, but I had to make sure not to turn my stereo up too loud so they could get some rest (why did I care if they got rest or not?). I like to turn the stereo up when I have to do any kind of distance driving.

Soon enough, my need for sleep got the better of me and I started looking for a place to pull into for some much needed rest. I wasn't in any real hurry and being able to stay in one more casino, even for just part of a day, was a good enough reason to take the next exit. I pulled into the Red Lion hotel, got 2 adjoining rooms (both with 2 queen sized beds), grabbed my travelling companions and our "immediate-needs" luggage, and headed on inside.

When I got to the first room, I opened the door and told my new foursome that this was their room and mine would be next door. I told the mother (whose name I found out is Linda) that I had gotten us adjoining rooms, and that the door on my side would be open in case she needed me for anything. I didn't think to just say "call me if you need me". I was just too tired and wasn't thinking quite clearly. I needed sleep, but was aware enough to know that my companions probably didn't. I pulled out a few twenties and gave them to Linda (over an extremely mild protest), telling her to get everybody something to eat and I would meet them later. I went to my room, opened my adjoining door, got undressed down to my boxers, and fell asleep as soon as I got into bed.

When I gradually came back awake (I have never been someone who wakes up quickly or cheerfully), I immediately noticed Linda sitting on the other bed staring at my face. Her eyes were cold as she said, "It's about time you woke up. We need to have a little talk."

I was immediately awake. Every man knows that when a woman says "we need to have a little talk", no matter who that woman is, that it isn't going to be something he is going to like.

"First of all, why would you pick up a woman with 3 girls in the middle of nowhere, promise to drive them all crear across the country, pay for hotel rooms, and give her cash?", she asked. I replied, "You were stuck in the middle of nowhere. If I was stuck in the middle of nowhere, I would hope that someone would help me out, so I just figured it was the right thing to do. I had figured that you were close to where you needed to be when I made the offer, but it seems that you are pretty much on my way, anyway. I just got what I thought was a decent payoff for getting fucked over at work, so I have enough extra cash that getting you a room and buying you all some food isn't really much expense to me at all. You are going to need as much of what you do have once you get to your sister's, until you find a new source of income. Where in Indiana is your sister, by the way?" Linda replied, "She is still in Jeffersonville, where we grew up. It is right across the river from Louisville, Kentucky." I reminded her that I was headed to Kentucky, and added that Louisville was my hometown. I knew Jeffersonville quite well, as I had spend a lot of time there over the years. She gave me a kind of funny look at that, but I couldn't tell what she meant by it so I just let it go.