Was there ever a more beautiful color in the whole wide world? AnnieLee could write a damn ode to the dazzling red of those brake lights.
As she ran toward the truck, the cab’s passenger door swung open. She wiped the rain from her eyes and looked at her rescuer. He was a gray-haired, soft-bellied man in his fifties, smiling down at her from six feet up. He tipped his baseball cap at her like a country gentleman.
“Come on in before you drown,” he called.
A gust of wind blew the rain sideways, and without another second’s hesitation, AnnieLee grabbed onto the door handle and hauled herself into the passenger seat, flinging water everywhere.
“Thank you,” she said breathlessly. “I thought I was going to have to spend the night out there.”
“That would’ve been rough,” the man said. “It’s a good thing I came along. Lot of people don’t like to stop. Where you headed?”
“East,” she said as she pulled off her streaming poncho and then shrugged out of her heavy backpack. Her shoulders were killing her. Come to think of it, so were her feet.
“My name’s Eddie,” the man said. He thrust out a hand for her to shake.
“I’m…Ann,” she said, taking it.
He held her fingers for a moment before releasing them. “It’s real nice to meet you, Ann.” Then he put the truck into gear, looked over his shoulder, and pulled onto the highway.
He was quiet for a while, which was more than fine with AnnieLee, but then over the road noise she heard Eddie clear his throat. “You’re dripping all over my seat,” he said.
“Sorry.”
“Here, you can at least dry your face,” he said, tossing a red bandanna onto her lap. “Don’t worry, it’s clean,” he said when she hesitated. “My wife irons two dozen for me every time I head out on a run.”
Reassured by news of this wife, AnnieLee pressed the soft bandanna to her cheeks. It smelled like Downy. Once she’d wiped her face and neck, she wasn’t sure if she should give it back to him, so she just wadded it up in her hand.
“You hitchhike a lot?” Eddie asked.
AnnieLee shrugged because she didn’t see how it was any of his business.
“Look, I been driving longer than you been alive, I bet, and I’ve seen some things. Bad things. You don’t know who you can trust.”
Then she saw his big hand coming toward her, and she flinched.
Eddie laughed. “Relax. I’m just turning up the heat.” He twisted a knob, and hot air blasted in her face. “I’m one of the good guys,” he said. “Husband, dad, all that white-picket-fence business. Shoot, I even got a dang poodle. That was my wife’s idea, though. I wanted a blue heeler.”
“How old are your kids?” AnnieLee asked.
“Fourteen and twelve,” he said. “Boys. One plays football, the other plays chess. Go figure.” He held out a battered thermos. “Got coffee if you want it. Just be careful, because it’s probably still hot as hellfire.”
AnnieLee thanked him, but she was too tired for coffee. Too tired to talk. She hadn’t even asked Eddie where he was going, but she hardly cared. She was in a warm, dry cab, putting her past behind her at seventy miles per hour. She wadded her poncho into a pillow and leaned her head against the window. Maybe everything was going to be okay.
She must have fallen asleep then, because when she opened her eyes she saw a sign for Lafayette, Louisiana. The truck’s headlights shone through slashing rain. A Kenny Chesney song was on the radio. And Eddie’s hand was on her thigh.
She stared down at his big knuckles as her mind came out of its dream fog. Then she looked over at him. “I think you better take your hand off me,” she said.
“I was wondering how long you were going to sleep,” Eddie said. “I was getting lonely.”
She tried to push his hand away, but he squeezed tighter.
“Relax,” he said. His fingers dug into her thigh. “Why don’t you move closer, Ann? We can have a little fun.”
AnnieLee gritted her teeth. “If you don’t take your hand off me, you’re going to be sorry.”
“Oh, girl, you are just precious,” he said. “You just relax and let me do what I like.” His hand slid farther up her thigh. “We’re all alone in here.”
AnnieLee’s heart pounded in her chest, but she kept her voice low. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Sure I do.”
“I’m warning you,” she said.
Eddie practically giggled at her. “What are you going to do, girl, scream?”
“No,” she said. She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out the gun. Then she pointed it at his chest. “I’m going to do this.”
Eddie’s hand shot off her leg so fast she would’ve laughed if she weren’t so outraged.
But he got over his surprise quickly, and his eyes grew narrow and mean. “Hundred bucks says you can’t even fire that thing,” he said. “You better put that big gun away before you get hurt.”
“Me get hurt?” AnnieLee said. “The barrel’s not pointing at me, jackass. Now you apologize for touching me.”
But Eddie was angry now. “You skinny little tramp, I wouldn’t touch you with a tent pole! You’re probably just another truck stop hoo—”
She pulled the trigger, and sound exploded in the cabin—first the shot, and then the scream of that dumb trucker.
The truck swerved, and somewhere behind them a horn blared. “What the hell’re you doing, you crazy hobo bitch?”
“Pull over,” she said.
“I’m not pull—”
She lifted the pistol again. “Pull over. I’m not kidding,” she said.
Cursing, Eddie braked and pulled over onto the shoulder. When the truck came to a stop, AnnieLee said, “Now get out. Leave the keys in and the engine running.”
He was sputtering and pleading, trying to reason with her now, but she couldn’t be bothered to listen to a word he said.
“Get out,” she said. “Now.”
She shook the gun at him and he opened the door. The way the rain was coming down, he was soaked before he hit the ground.
“You crazy, stupid, trashy—”
AnnieLee lifted the gun so it was pointing right at his mouth, so he shut it. “Looks like there’s a rest stop a couple miles ahead,” she said. “You can have yourself a nice walk and a cold shower at the same time. Pervert.”
She slammed the door, but she could feel him beating on the side of the cab as she tried to figure out how to put the truck into gear. She fired another shot, out the window, and that made him quit until she found the clutch and the gas.
Then AnnieLee grabbed hold of the gearshift. Her stepdad might’ve been the world’s biggest asshole, but he’d taught her to drive stick. She knew how to double-clutch and how to listen to the revs. And maybe songs weren’t the only thing she had a natural talent for, because it didn’t take her long at all to lurch that giant rig off the shoulder and pull out onto the highway, leaving Eddie screaming behind her.
I’m driving, she thought giddily. I’m driving!
She yanked on the horn and shot deeper into the darkness. And then she started singing.
Driven to insanity, driven to the edge
Driven to the point of almost no return
She beat out a rhythm on the steering wheel.
Driven, driven to be smarter
Driven to work harder
Driven to be better every day
That last line made her laugh out loud. Sure, she’d be better tomorrow—because tomorrow the sun would come out again, and tomorrow she had absolutely no plans to carjack an eighteen-wheeler.