Chapter 3

I had been out of prison for two and a half years. I still lived in my little trailer. When the weather was nice I rode my Harley; if it was crappy I had a well-used, but trustworthy Toyota 4Runner to get me where I needed to go. Al gave me more leeway, I only had to call in once a month, and I had to see him in person once every ninety days. I still had to get his clearance to leave Elko, but I never went anywhere, so that wasn’t an issue.

Sarah had met a doctor named Mark from San Francisco, I had yet to meet him but she seemed to absolutely adore him. She managed to make it to Elko at least twice a month so we could hang out and chat.

Jimmy and Daisey had gotten married and were dedicating a bunch of time to each other, so Jimmy let Mrs. Rosales handle the day-to-day operation of the diner so that he could have more family time. I often wondered when they would have kids.

I ran the kitchen from the time we opened until noon, and then Charlie, Jimmy’s kid brother, took over as manager. Mrs. Rosales ran the kitchen and Jimmy only came in whenever he felt like he needed to.

I still worked at the ore mill. They moved me to an actual production job and I worked from three until one o’clock in the morning. My work days were long, but I really didn’t have much else to do.

I had dated a couple of women. One ran the other way when I told her why I had been incarcerated. I guessed, maybe, she didn’t feel she could be a one man woman. I heard later from friends that she had badmouthed me and said she could never be with a con. Funny thing is; she knew that I had done time before she even met me.

The second woman had been one of Daisey’s bridesmaids. With her, I just never felt a spark. Jimmy and Daisey both kept telling me that I needed to get back on the horse, so to speak. I knew they were right, but until the right woman came along, my right hand would have to do.

In the Nevada desert, you could go months on end without a drop of rain. Then a thunderstorm would come along and drop four inches in the space of a couple of hours. The sky would be blotted out, and you wouldn’t call anyone a dumbass for making like Noah and building an ark.

On one of those days, my intuition had kicked in and I had driven the 4Runner to the mill. We were a few hours into the shift when the storms boiled up. The mill lost power and we were all sent home.

Despite the fact that it was only seven in the evening, it was as dark as if it was midnight. Most of the guys were hoping the bars would have power and headed down the back road that led to their favorite roadhouse. I was far enough along with my parole that I might have been able to get away with stopping for a beer, but I hadn’t missed the alcohol at all, so I decided I’d go home and lift weights before bed.

Everyone has had a moment in their life in which one small difference would have meant disaster. We’ve all heard of people over sleeping and missing a flight that ended up crashing, or leaving a store two minutes before it is robbed, or hearing the rattlesnake an instant before placing themselves in position to be bitten.

That night, if I had been messing with my radio, or messing with my cell phone, or just plain driving with my head up my ass, I would have killed her. One second, my headlights showed darkness and rain in front of me, the next second, someone was walking in the middle of the lane. I only registered that it was a person, as I took evasive action.

I slammed my brakes and jerked the wheel to the left. I heard a scream as I shot by him, and if I had been forced at gunpoint to swear on a stack of bibles, I would have said that the sliding rear end of my 4Runner smashed into them. One moment, he was by the passenger door, the next, I didn’t see him.

“OH MY FUCKING GOD I JUST KILLED SOMEONE!”

As my mind grasped that thought, I realized I could still hear the scream. The scream was coming from me. Before the reality that I had taken a life could set in, the 4Runner slid off the other side of the road. I overcorrected and only the wet ground kept me from flipping the car over.

An icy fear gripped me as I began to contemplate my situation. I was sure that I was headed back to prison. Nobody would ever believe that someone would be walking down the middle of the road in a storm like this.

I debated running. I could be into California by midnight, then on to Mexico. It was true that I had flunked Spanish in high school, but sooner or later, I’d have to learn it or survive on cerveza and tacos the rest of my days.

Everyone I worked with would know that I came this way. As soon as the body was discovered, they’d be looking for me. The US-Mexico border would be the first place they’d look. I was screwed.

Just as I had resigned myself to my fate, there was a ‘BANG! BANG! BANG!’ from the passenger side of the 4Runner. I was sure that I was being shot at, either by the half-dead corpse I had just splattered, or some ethereal bounty hunter was coming to take me across the River Styx. Okay, so I was in panic mode.

The banging came again and I put my foot to the floor, hoping to get away from the macabre scene that was unfolding. Nothing happened. The motor had stalled. I was trying to pry my hand from the steering wheel to restart it, when the passenger door flew open.

Death, himself, had pried open my door and was reaching for me. Funny thing was ... I always figured ‘The Horseman’ could probably reach further that the ‘Oh Jesus’ handle on my passenger dashboard. At that moment, a bolt of lightning backlit the scene, obscuring the face from my fear-addled brain.

As the hooded figure emerged from the darkness outside the car I suddenly thought of the slasher movies I had seen in my younger days. I recalled that in one of them some kids had run over a guy and killed him. They elected to ignore the felony and go about their merry way.

Ignoring that felony had pissed the dead guy off enough that he went and killed them all. Except for the dumb bitch with huge tits that did everything she could to get killed ... going to the bathroom alone, running up the stairs, you know, all the stupid shit the heroine does in slasher films. I hadn’t even chosen to ignore the crime and the dead motherfucker was crawling into my car ... apologizing?

“Are you OK? I’m so sorry I wasn’t watching where I was walking...”

Why was the corpse asking if I was OK? Why was the corpse apologizing? Suddenly, the corpse made sense when she said that I might want to start the vehicle and get it out of the road before someone came along and creamed us.

My brain was still puzzling over a speaking, apologetic murder victim; but my instinct listened and I somehow managed to start the 4Runner, shift it into 4-Low and got out of the ditch.

I had heard of people having panic attacks, but I never knew what they entailed. As we started down the road again, I felt like I was driving in a tunnel; more accurately, I felt like I couldn’t see anything but dead ahead, and my breathing was suddenly labored.

I managed to get the 4Runner to a pull-off spot and out of gear before the debilitating effects struck me. I was struggling to draw breath, and when I did it came in great painful gulps, like I was sobbing uncontrollably. I could hear my passenger counseling me to be calm and breath.

“We’re okay, Jeff. Everything is fine. Just breathe.”

She knew my name. She was speaking in a calming, soothing voice, but she knew my name. Just as I thought I was going to pass out, I managed to look over and recognized the dead woman. It was my old cellmate’s daughter, Brandi.

After several minutes or so, I finally got myself back under control. Or I thought I had. I turned to Brandi. “My God, I thought I killed you.”

As I fought to get control over myself, she kept soothing me. “It wasn’t your fault, Jeff. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was and I was in your way. You did a wonderful job missing me. You have nothing at all to feel bad about.”

I finally settled down and started driving through the deluge toward town. We hadn’t gotten too far before I realized she was softly crying. Then it dawned on me to wonder why she was way out here all alone walking.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She sniffled, and said, “I’m uninjured, so I suppose that qualifies as okay.”

I drove on for a few more miles, and then I had to address the elephant in the room, so to speak. “So what were you doing walking out here in this weather? Did you have car trouble?”

“You could say I did.”

“Where is it? Maybe it’s something I can fix with no trouble.”

“Oh there’s nothing to fix, Jeff.” She paused for a moment, as if she was debating telling me more. “Luke and I went into Lovelock today. I had something I had to do and he wanted to go see a guy about some rare comic book.

“On our way home, he stopped to see Lance, his best friend from college. He lives out past the mines. When he told his friend what he paid for the comic book, I got angry. After we left, I asked him where he got the money for it. He told me that he’d raided our wedding fund to buy it. Well, I reminded his lazy ass that I had put most of the money away for the wedding and he had no right to do that without talking to me first.

“He then informed me that he was going to pull more money out, so he and Lance could fly to a comic book convention. ‘Don’t worry about the wedding, babe. We can have a smaller one or you can work overtime.’ He told me. I then told him that that was not happening and he kicked me out of the car. I’ve been walking in the rain for at least an hour. I’m so glad you came along.”

“Even if I almost killed you?” I asked, hoping to lighten the moment.

“That was my fault, Jeff. I should have stayed on the shoulder.”

“But then I might not have seen you.”

“Either way, I’m glad you came along. I’m not ruining your plans or anything, am I?”

“Well I had intended to dominate the world, but now I have to wait until the planets re-align. Thanks for that,” I said, trying to sound evil.

She chuckled half-heartedly. “You know what I mean. I hope you’re not missing important time with your lady because you’re aiding me.”

“First off, there is no lady, so all you’re keeping me from is figuring out what to do with myself until bedtime.”

“Come on Jeff. You don’t have a girl?”

“Well, there is someone I am interested in, but I’m sure it’ll never happen. So I am free to aid you as long as you need. Most women aren’t into ex-cons with long hair and beards.”

In the days and weeks following my hospital stay, I had realized that the only way to hide the remaining scars and hairless patches on the back of my head was to grow my hair out and keep it in a ponytail, I grew the beard after buying the Harley to complete the look.

“I’m grateful for your help, Jeff. I’m sure your girl will come around. And besides, your hair and beard don’t make you less attractive.” I wasn’t sure, but she did seem to be appraising me as she spoke.

We made it into town with no more trouble. I pulled up in front of her house and stopped. “I can’t thank you enough, Jeff. I hope things work out for you,” she said, as she kissed my cheek.

Before I could reply, she was out of the car and headed for her door. I waited to make sure she made it in OK, and it was a good thing that I did. She pounded on the door for a few minutes and then went to the car in the driveway. I couldn’t tell what she was doing in the car, but soon she was headed back to the door.

She pounded for a moment, and then I saw the curtains move. I could tell she was yelling at him, but I couldn’t tell what was being said. A moment later, the porch light shut off and she came stalking back to my car. She got in and started crying.

“He has my keys. He’s locked me out of my house and he has my fucking keys.”

“Fucker. Want me to go talk to him?”

“No. He’ll just call the police and make problems for you. Can you just please take me to a hotel?”

Normally, I would have loved to hear this woman utter those words to me, but not then. “I have a better idea,” I told her. “I have room at my place. You can bed down for the night and see what tomorrow brings.”

“I can’t put you out like that. Jeff, just take me to...”

“It’s no imposition, and besides, he’s wasted enough of your money today without him causing you to spend more.”

I thought she was just too exhausted to argue her point, so she finally agreed. I drove to my house. I should have been ecstatic to be near her, but it was tearing me up inside, knowing she’d probably fix things with Luke in the morning, and they’d be back in love and I’d still be alone. I had promised a photograph of her that I’d rescue her, and I meant to keep that promise. Besides, she had no idea of how she was hurting me.

We got to my place and I made us some soup. While the soup was heating, I introduced her to Scooby. Scooby was my Great Dane, who just happened to be colored like the famous cartoon dog.

After we ate, I told her of the bed assignments. “Brandi, you can sleep in my room. I’ll take the sofa.”

“No way, buster. I have no intention of kicking you out of your own bed. I am fine with the sofa.”

“You might be fine with it, but Scooby will be all over you. I’m used to him so I’ll take the sofa. You just sleep well.”

We said our goodnights and she retired to my bedroom. I picked up my dumbbells and did some curls. I wanted to do a full routine, but didn’t want to make too much noise. I did ten sets of curls, then a few sets of butterflies, then I decided to go to sleep.

Sometime around four, I woke up on the floor. I vaguely remembered being pushed from the sofa by a 160-pound dog. In the dim light from the streetlights outside, I could make out his sleeping form occupying the entire sofa.

Since it was my day off from the diner I contemplated going back to sleep, but realized that wouldn’t happen on the floor. I also knew moving Scooby would be a fruitless venture as well. So I turned on the TV and watched an old movie.

I must have drifted off to sleep again because one moment I was into the movie, the next moment I heard from beside me, “Oh I love this movie.”

I must have startled a bit because she laughed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to spook you, Jeff.”

“You’re fine. I guess I was just in that weird world between sleep and being awake. That’s not even the same movie I was watching. Are you hungry?”

She said she was, so I got up and made us some French toast for breakfast, and scooped food into Scooby’s bowl. As we ate, she didn’t say much. I hoped she didn’t notice how much I was looking at her, but I couldn’t help it. She was wearing one of my shirts and looked fantastic. I know I didn’t look as good in it as she did.