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Pitt
I was singing, well, I guess some may call it howling, as I sped along the freeway to destinations unknown. ACDC played loudly. The window was down, whipping the breeze through my long hair. I felt a sense of freedom. It had taken me a couple of hours before I finally started to ease into what I was planning on doing. I’d turned off the Western Freeway and decided to head towards the coast and follow it. My stomach started to growl, and when I glanced at the time, I realized that it was after lunch, and I hadn’t eaten anything since leaving early that morning.
Glancing up, I noticed an offramp and a sign to a town called Lalbert. I slowed for the exit and pulled off, following the signs to Lalbert. I had never been really outside of Melbourne. Dad and Papa used to take us down to Port Phillip Bay in the summer to swim in the ocean occasionally. Still, we swam in the Yarra River most of the time and didn’t travel. We didn’t need to. We had everything we needed at home.
The open plains of farms changed to the forest until I was driving along tree-covered roads, with woods on either side of me. The scenery changed the more I went towards where the signs for Lalbert sent me. The sign told me I had about five kilometers before I got to Lalbert. There was a little knife and fork picture on the town sign, so I knew I could expect to find something to eat there.
Suddenly Valerie started to sputter. I looked down at the fuel gauge, but it was still reading that I had plenty of fuel. A loud bang sounded, and steam started pouring out of the bonnet. I edged Valerie to the side of the road and popped the hood.
“Shit,” I groaned. I had hoped we would make it a lot further into the journey before I had to ring Dad. Sighing, I climbed out of the car. Steam spluttered, and I sighed again. It wouldn’t matter how long I stood there looking at it; I wasn’t going to know what was wrong with it.
I plucked my phone out of my pocket; maybe if I could find a mechanic in the area, I might be able to get it fixed. I winced as I thought about how much it would cost me. Maybe I could work off the cost. I chewed on my bottom lip as I looked down at my phone and realized I didn’t have phone coverage.
“Shit,” I swore again. How fucking typical of my life. I glanced up the road; the sign had said five kilometers, which had to be about a kilometer ago. I could walk and hope that I found someone. But then, my luck, it would be a one-horse town, and the only thing in the whole place would be a pub or a general store.
I bit further into my lip, scraping at the skin anxiously. My heart started to pound in my chest and sweat began to bead along my brow. I knew my anxiety would kick off if I didn’t find a solution soon. I couldn’t even ring Dad. Not without phone coverage. I walked back to the car’s driver’s seat and popped open the glove box. I pulled my bottle of pills out and popped one out before swallowing it down. That would hopefully take the edge off my panic attack before it became uncontrollable.
Suddenly I heard the roar of an engine, and when I looked up the road, I noticed a motorbike heading towards me. I didn’t know what to do. Should I flag them down? Maybe they could give me a lift into the nearest town. They were heading towards Lalbert; perhaps they would know I could get help somewhere. The closer the motorbike got to me, the more I panicked. I hadn’t decided if I should flag them down or not. However, the decision was quickly taken out of my hands as the motorbike pulled up behind my car.
A tall guy with dark hair and an MC cut climbed from the bike. My whole body was trembling with fear as thoughts of what might happen to me went through my head. What if he wasn’t there to help? What if he wanted to kill me? He was part of an MC, which could mean I was in danger.
My vision started to blur, and panic began to take over. Tears started filling my eyes, and my breath became choppy. I knew that if I didn’t calm down, I would faint, which would be bad; it would mean that I would become utterly vulnerable to the stranger.
“Hey, it’s alright; I’m not here to hurt you,” the man said quietly. He didn’t come close to me but stood at my car's boot.
“I... I... I. bbbbroke down,” I stuttered.
“Okay, I’m a mechanic. But I can see you are struggling with panic right now,” he said. I nodded my head as tears trekked down my cheeks. What a way to meet a local. “I’m going to come and look at the engine; I’ll go around the other side of the car, okay?”
I nodded my head again as I tried to slow my breathing down and allow the valium I’d just taken to start to work. Slowly I blew out a breath and began tapping on my leg as I tried to work through the relaxation techniques Naomi had shown me.
My heart rate started to decrease, and I could get a hold of the tears and calm them down. I breathed in and out, concentrating on each breath. Finally, once the anxiety eased, I could turn and face the man looking under my bonnet.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
The man looked up at me and smiled. “Not a problem. I think you have done a head gasket and a water valve. I work in Lalbert at a mechanic called Obsidian Mechanics; I can organize a tow truck. I can’t ring from here though cause I’ve not got coverage, but about five hundred meters up the road, I get coverage back.”
I nodded my head. “That would be good. How much will it cost?” I asked quietly.
The man shook his head. “Don’t worry about that now. We can do payment plans and stuff, so you will be alright. Do you want to ride with me or wait for me to return? I’ll go up there and call Obsidian and then come back.”
“I... I... I’ll wait here,” I stuttered, still feeling the residual of my anxiety.
“No worries. I will be right back,” the man said.
“Wait. What is your name?” I asked.
The man grinned. “Donte. How about you?”
“Pitt,” I replied.
“It’s great to meet you, Pitt. Sit down and relax; I won’t be a minute.”