Chapter 2

An hour and a half later and we were out of the worst of the traffic and I had the cruise control locked in at seventy, letting that diesel engine do what it did best, eat up miles. I'd noted that, despite a cup of coffee and a coke, Miss Tina'd seen fit to doze off for an hour or so. She woke up to the rhythm of the interstate under our wheels.

"Are we gonna get there this evening?" she asked.

"Nope. If I drove straight through, maybe we'd get there sometime after midnight. I'm not up to that kind of driving if I don't have to," I said.

"I've got my license. I could drive," she said.

That was an interesting thought that I hadn't entertained. But, "No, you're not on my insurance, Tina. But I appreciate the offer. Really."

"So what are we going to do? For the night, I mean?"

"Let's see," I said. "Open this map." I still had some paper maps. She complied. "In two more hours we'll be here," I pointed to a town in Mississippi. "If you check my cellphone under "Holiday Inn" you'll see a number for them. Tell 'em we need a room with two beds, non-smoking. Uh ... you don't smoke, do you?"

"Yecchhhhh!" she spat. "Uh ... I have a problem," she said. "Actually, a couple of 'em."

"What sort of problem?"

"One, I'm ... Uh ... let me put it delicately ... I'm on my period, and I have two tampons left. And two, all the clothes that I own are in that Wal-mart bag behind the seat."

"Oh," I said. "I thought you said "problem". Make the hotel reservation. That town's big enough to have a mall and we'll hit town at six or so. We go to the mall, you get what you need. No problem as far as I can see."

"Nuh-uh. Problem. I almost got the crap slapped out of me for forty bucks. That's all the money I have."

"You keep arguing," I smiled. "I got a gold card in my pocket and it needs exercise."

"But I can't pay you back, Mister Alan. At least not right now."

"Look, Miss Tina, first thing is, we get rid of this "Mister – Miss" stuff. I'll be Alan and you'll be Tina, okay?"

"Uh, okay..."

"And second, buying you a few things you need is NOT going to inconvenience me in the least. You need stuff. I'm getting you stuff. Pretty simple. And I didn't say anything about paying back. So stop worrying."

"Okay ... Alan." And she smiled. Just a little bit. And it was wonderful.

I listened to her reserve us a room, reading numbers off my Visa card as I drove. An hour later we were at the mall, and I followed her part time, led her the other part, forcing her to get a few changes of clothes, bought both of us pajamas, extra bath towels, an inordinate amount of strange substances apparently needed by young ladies in the bath, a hair dryer, and as we were heading out, me carrying six huge bags, her carrying one, we happened past one of those accursed perfume counters and she got whiffed by a charming, perfectly coiffed lady wielding a sample spritzer like an artillery piece.

"Mmmmmm," Tina said. "I love that stuff. Always have."

I dropped my load of bags and reached for my wallet. She put her hand on my arm. Electricity coursed through me at this, the first touch. "No, Alan. I understand all this other stuff. I need things. But I don't NEED perfume."

"Hush!" I told her, slapping the gold card on the counter. To the lady with the spritzer I said, "Which do you recommend? The cologne or the perfume?"

And Tina added another bag. We guarded our treasures as each of us made a run at the food court for dinner.

We got back in the truck and drove up the highway away from the mall to the hotel on the side of the interstate. I checked us in and we started unloading bags into the room. I had my one overnight bag, the remainder of my stuff being stored in the trailer. Tina had two loads.

And now I began to see how sticky things might be. At this point, I was being completely non-lecherous. I was truthful when I told both Tina and Deputy Hurley that I had no intention of Tina being my sex toy. I was as serious to myself. In my own mind, she was as untouchable as a vestal virgin. And here we were in the same hotel room.

First line of business was for us to rifle through the bags for pajamas. She continued past that point to locate panties (hip-hugger, in pastel colors. I bit the inside of my mouth) and a new bra, 34-B. She also chose the next day's ensemble, jeans and of all things, a rugby shirt. Those were all carefully laid out, along with my shirt for the next day. My pants had yet to suffer to the point that I determine a fresh pair is needed.

Next, it's shower time for Tina. I plopped my ass down in a comfy chair and found TV channels to surf while she hauled her bag of goodies into the bathroom and shut the door. I heard shower for a while, then various noises including gargling sounds and then ten minutes of hair dryer. And the door opened, and out of the darkness came a vision. Clean, sweet-smelling, hair washed, dried, and brushed to a shine, her bangs glistening like jewels above those blue eyes, the slightest curl where her hair stopped just short of her shoulders. And she was smiling.

"Gah, Alan, I feel so much better."

"You look much happier," I said. "Lemme go see if the works for me."

Half an hour later I was shaved, showered, deodorized, and after-shaved. I told myself that the aftershave was because it made my face feel good. For me. I slid into a new set of pajamas, a big change since my usual bed-time garb was a t-shirt and drawers. But there I was, in PJ's, walking out of the bathroom.

To a smiling Tina. "Wow! You smell better."

"Uh ... I'm sorry. I didn't know I smelt BAD..."

She smirked. "Maybe it was the adrenaline."

"Yeah ... probably so." I turned down my bed and stretched out in it.

"Are we gonna fight over the remote control?" she laughed.

"Nope. Tonight I relinquish the control to you. Whatever you want to watch."

She flipped channels. Paused on "Cops". "Hmph!" she snorted. "That's where Mom's guys get their career tips." Kept flipping. "Oooooooh! Do you mind? Animal Planet. "The Blue Seas"? I LOVE this!"

I was pleasantly surprised. I figured, oh, I don't know what I figured. This was good. No, great. "You like this stuff?"

"Oh, gosh, yes! My favorites. Learn stuff."

"Well, then be my guest, little princess. We're not going to argue about TV."

"Really?"

"Really," I said.

She turned her own bed down. We watched and talked. And what I didn't hear was as important as what I did hear. I didn't hear "like" and "ya know" and "He's like" and other contemporary argot. That left me to parse the "high-school dropout" angle.

Ten o'clock came around and I noted that we needed to get rolling by 0700.

"Okay," she said. "Can I set the sleep timer on the TV?"

"Sure," I said.

She set the timer and I reached to turn out the lights, and I heard in the room, dimly lit by the flicker of the TV screen, "Alan, thank you."

"No, thank you, Tina. You've added a new adventure to my life." And that is the note I went to sleep on. And strange dreams.

The alarm woke me up from a sound sleep. I looked over at the next bed and saw the lump that was Tina. She stirred.

I turned on the light. "Owwwwww," she complained. Then, "oh, yeah..." And she sat up, rubbed her eyes, looked at me, and smiled. "Hi, Alan."

"Hi, Tina. I hate to be a party pooper, but we have to get in gear, dear."

"Yes, dear," she teased.

"You want the bathroom to get dressed, or here? I'll take the other one."

"Bathroom," she said.

"Wait," I said. "Before you take over."

I went and relieved my bladder. When I got out, there was Tina, eyebrow raised, baby-talking, "Did my widdle boy have to go potty?"

"Like a racehorse," I countered.

She took over the bathroom. I heard face being washed, teeth being brushed, and in ten minutes a Tina showed up, ready for the day. I did the teeth thing and I was ready to go, that is as soon as we packed up. Two trips to the truck. I stopped by the front desk and paid the tab, and we made a short run across the interstate to a diner for breakfast.

Pancakes and coffee, and conversation. "Maybe we won't have to shoot our way out of this one, babe," she smirked.

I noted with interest the term "babe" used in reference to me. "Gosh," I said, "At least not until next week."

Walking back across the parking lot to the truck and trailer, I noticed that there was less distance between us than before.

In the truck, in five minutes we were back on the open road, locked in at seventy. She loosened her seatbelt and turned sideways.

"So if we're gonna be living together, don't you think we should know something about each other?"

"That might be good. I figured you'd tell me what you wanted, whenever you felt up to it."

"I'm talkin' about you, Alan," she said.

"Okay. What do you want to know? If I don't want to answer, I'll tell you. Between us, that's gonna be the rule. If you don't want to tell, just say no. No lies, okay?"

"Okay. Wife?"

"Nope," I said. "Divorced four years ago. She left with a high school sweetheart. Living in California with new husband and our daughter."

"Daughter?"

"Yeah. Terri will be seven this year. Have her a month in the summer. Might fly her in for Christmas or Thanksgiving, IF the ex will submit to such horrors. You want to know what's sad?"

"What's sadder than that?" Tina asked.

"She had complications during the pregnancy and delivery and her doctor said another baby might be very bad for her or the baby, so she talked ME into getting a ... uh ... fixed. Of course, now that I'm forty, that's not as big a deal, but to some women..."

"Yeah, I guess some women would see that as a minus. Girlfriends?"

"Nope. Not in the last two years. Gave up on the dating scene. Don't do one-night stands. Morals, and all that."

"Really? It's been a long time since I heard that," she said.

"Besides, I'm weird. Just ask the ex. I listen to the wrong kind of music. Watch the wrong kind of TV. Laugh at the wrong kind of jokes.

"I thought you liked the right kind of TV last night." She paused. "Okay. Let's move on to the music thing. Let me guess. Hip-hop." She smirked again.

"You need a magic marker to help you make a cardboard sign for the side of the road?"

Laughing. "Okay, so what..."

"Look in the console."

She opened the console and pulled out two CD's. "Uh ... if this is the wrong kind ... Alan, I miss this music."

"Are you looking at..."

"Bach. Brandenburg Concertos. Beethoven. Symphonies. Oh, god! Pastorale!"

"W-w-wait! You're a teenaged girl. It's supposed to be boy bands and hip-hop."

"Not when you're looking for a little bit of theology and geometry in your universe."

"Theology and geometry? Like in "Confederacy of Dunces"?"

Squeal. "You know the book?"

"Not the kind of book I expect to be known by a high school dropout, Tina."

"About that," she sighed. "I wanted to explain. This is as good a time as any. When my Grandma was alive and I lived with her, I had a 3.8 average. When she died, and I had to live with Mom, like I said, school after school, never enough days, I gave up." She looked at me with serious eyes. "I'm not stupid. And I'm not lazy. I'm not my mother's daughter, I'm HER mother's grand-daughter, and I want to go back to school."

"That answers that question, then," I said.

"You had a question? Really? About me?"

"Yes, Tina, I did. I was quite happy to help you out, but honestly, I didn't know how much I could do if you were a dropout and done with school. Now I have some hope. 3.8? Really? Wow! I didn't do THAT good."

"So you're thinking about my school now?"

"Yeah. We'll have to figure some stuff out. Get you graduated from high school. College?"

"Was a dream. I was hoping for scholarships. Grandma was going to help, but she was on fixed income. And when she died..." she sighed. "Hope of college died too."

"Don't give up hope, Tina. Let's see where this leads, okay?"

"Okay. Now, back to Alan. You went to college, obviously. Engineering. Isn't that tough?"

"Not if you get your head into the game. And I was Army ROTC, so I spent five years as an engineer lieutenant."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"And now..." She was paying close attention now.

"And now I'm pretty well known in a small field of people who take care of industrial power systems, and that's what I'm, we're going to go do in Tennessee. It pays good if I'm willing to travel, and with no wife and kids to take care of, I AM willing to travel."

She was smiling. "And rescue young damsels in distress."