JOHNNY HEADED EAST ON HIGHWAY 30 toward Canton, Ohio. When he got to Canton he turned north toward Akron, caught Interstate 70, and followed it until it intersected with Interstate 80. They had been driving for a couple of hours when he began to have some misgivings. What was he doing? The guys who were following him knew he was from Long Island. His roommates in San Francisco must have ratted him out. The gang had almost caught him once before. They would no doubt be on the Interstate somewhere looking for him.
He glanced over at Jenny. She was looking at him, and when their eyes met, she blushed and looked down. He knew he was putting her in danger, but he didn’t know what else to do. The situation was crazy. Here he was with an Amish girl he had only known for a few days, headed for New York to find her mother, who was probably dead. What could they possibly do in New York? It was such a big town. How had all this happened? He broke the silence.
“Jenny?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you sure you’re okay with all of this? I mean, it’s kind of a strange situation we’re in. We’ve known each other for only a few days, and in that time you’ve been disciplined by your church, you’ve split with your parents, and you’re heading to New York with a guy you barely know to find your mother, who you haven’t seen for fifteen years. How are we going to do this?”
Jenny looked at Jonathan again. The muscle in his jaw was working, and his teeth were grinding on each other.
“Why are you doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“Grinding your teeth.”
Johnny realized his jaw was clenched, his shoulders were tight, and his hands were gripped on the wheel. He tried to relax. “I’m just a little uptight about all this.”
“Why should you be…uptight?”
Johnny stared out the window. Outside a light mist of rain sifted down onto the glass from a dull, gray sky. Johnny fumbled with the knob that turned on the wipers. It stuck as usual, and he had to twist it hard until the wipers went on. The slow swish, swish of the blades locked into the rhythm of his breathing. The weight of his secret suddenly became more than he could deal with. He looked back at her.
“Jenny, there’s more to my story than you know. I probably should have told you, but I had no idea we would be running away together. I didn’t know I would fall in love with you.”
Jenny turned on the seat to face him. “What didn’t you tell me?”
Johnny took a deep breath. He looked out at the countryside that was sliding away behind them and then he spoke. “I’m in trouble, Jenny.”
“Trouble?”
“Yes. I…I got involved in some things back in San Francisco. I mean I didn’t really do anything. I just drove a guy I know over to a place where he was going to do some business.”
A hot flush crept up Johnny’s neck. It puzzled him. He had been so free back in San Francisco. “Whatever turns you on” had been his mantra. But now, with this girl who had lived all her life in the simplicity of a world without drugs or rock music or pop philosophy, he felt laughable and foolish.
“I…well…”
“What kind of business, Jonathan?”
“Okay. Give me a chance here, because I feel really stupid telling you this. I was with a guy who was going to sell some acid to some other guys.”
“Acid?”
“LSD. It’s a drug that makes you have hallucinations.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Sell acid or have hallucinations?”
“Have hallucinations…well, both.”
“Well, back there, taking an acid trip seemed very hip and romantic and adventuresome. Now I think it was just a big waste of time. But let me finish. I drove this guy out to a town south of San Francisco to meet some guys who were going to buy the drugs. It was a way for me to make a couple hundred dollars. I didn’t know there were guns involved.”
“Guns?”
“Yeah, guns. It turned out that the guys he was dealing with were big-time crooks. I think they were from the East Coast and were trying to move in on the scene out in San Francisco. They were real gangster types with suits and guns. And I also didn’t know that Shub—that’s the guy I was with—was going to try to rip them off.”
“Rip them off of what?”
Johnny had to smile. She was so innocent.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s just that…well, it’s like we live on the same planet, but we operate in two different universes. I guess I need a translator. ‘Rip them off’ means that he was going to steal their money. He didn’t really have any acid. It was just sugar.”
“But that’s dishonest. How could you be part of that?”
“That’s a good question, Jenny. I didn’t know he was going to do what he did. I was just along for the ride.”
“Well then, why are you in trouble?”
He took another deep breath. “When he was in the motel doing the deal, they must have found out he was trying to rip them…trying to cheat them. I guess Shub pulled his gun and took their money. He tried to run back to the car so I could help him get away, but they shot him.”
“You mean, with their guns?”
“Yes, with their guns.”
“Did he get badly hurt?”
“Jenny, they killed him. He died right there where you’re sitting.”
Jenny groaned. She looked down at the seat where Shub had fallen in those last moments.
“They…they killed him?”
“Yes. But that’s not the end of the story. When Shub ran out to the car, he threw a bag into the van. The drug dealers were shooting at Shub and the van. They shot out your side mirror. They thought I was in on the rip-off, so they tried to kill me too. I managed to get away, but they chased me almost back to the place where I lived. I knew they would find me eventually, so I packed my bags and left town that night.
“I was headed back to Long Island to my mom’s house, and after a few days on the road I stopped at a motel west of Cleveland. They showed up at the motel. They must have found out where I was going from my roommates because they had followed me all the way.”
“Why were they following you if you left town?”
“I have their money.” There, he said it.
“Their money?”
“Yeah. Before Shub died, he tossed a bag into the van. It had fifty thousand dollars in it.”
“Fifty thousand dollars!”
“Yes.”
The look in Jenny’s eyes made Johnny feel sick. She looked away. After a few minutes she looked back at him.
“Can’t you give it back and just be free of them?”
“Jenny, you don’t understand. I saw them kill a man. I took their money, although I didn’t know I did until later. They don’t want to leave any witnesses to their crime. If they find me, they will kill me. I was going to the sheriff’s office in Wooster when I almost ran over you. And then everything changed and I thought I’d go to jail if I told your uncle and I wanted to find out more about you and then everything happened with your dad and here we are.”
Jenny sat silent for a few moments looking out the window. When she finally spoke there was sadness in her voice. “If these men find you and kill you and I’m with you, won’t they kill me too?”
Johnny stared straight ahead. Outside it had really clouded up and a few larger drops of rain began to slap down on the windshield. The worn-out wipers did their best to push them away. Jenny asked the question again. His spine felt like ice, and the muscles in his jaw started moving again.
“Probably.”
“Probably? You mean my chances of living are not very good, don’t you? What were you going to do if they found us? How could you put me in danger? You’re grinding your teeth again.”
“I’m sorry, Jenny. I didn’t mean to put you in danger. All this happened so fast.”
“All this?”
“Yes, meeting you and falling in love with you and leaving Apple Creek.”
Jenny stared straight ahead and then spoke with measured words. “If you really loved me, you would never have put me in danger. I don’t think you know what love is, Jonathan.”
Her words cut him like someone had laid a bullwhip on his back. He stared straight ahead as they drove on in silence. After a long time she spoke again.
“Jonathan, I think I’ve made a mistake. Not about loving you, because I know I can’t change what I feel for you. My mother once told me that one day I would find a man who I would surrender my heart to. I didn’t believe that could happen, but when I met you, it did. I can’t do anything about that. But I made a mistake in not listening to my papa. This desire to know my birth mother has blinded me to everything I already have. I thought I could go with you and find the answer to my questions and everything would be all right.
“I was so angry with Papa, but now I know that I’ve hurt him terribly. He warned me that my quest would lead me into trouble, and he was right. Now I’m scared—scared because I love you so much, and scared because I don’t know you and don’t know if I can trust you. I want to be with you forever, but how can I? Can you tell me Jonathan? Can you tell me what I should do?”
With that Jenny put her face in her hands and burst into sobs.
Just outside of DuBois, Pennsylvania, a young man sat in an old Chevy truck in a gas station parking lot. He was facing the interstate and watching the cars. Suddenly he perked up. A garishly painted blue Volkswagen bus had just passed, headed east. The man climbed out of his truck and walked over to the bank of phone booths next to the station. He picked up the receiver and dialed the operator. When she came on, he asked to make a collect call and then waited. In a moment someone came on the phone at the other end.
“Mr. Moretti?” the young man asked. “Yeah, this is Frank Williams, over in DuBois. Yeah, that’s me. Say, I saw that blue Volkswagen you asked me to look out for. Yeah, going east on 80. Where are you now? Stroudsburg? Well if you head west you should pick him up in less than an hour. He’s just putting along, so he should be easy to spot. An extra fifty? Thanks, Mr. Moretti. Say, what do you want this guy for? Okay, okay, keep your shirt on, I was just asking. Yeah, I’ll be at Johnson’s gas station working tomorrow. You can drop it by anytime. If I’m not here just give it to Pete, he’s the owner. Yeah, you’re welcome, Mr. Moretti. Anytime.”
The young man hung up the phone and headed for the restaurant next to the station, where he decided he would have the T-bone steak tonight.
Johnny drove on down the interstate. He looked over at Jenny as she continued to sob, and he felt completely helpless.
After a while, Jenny composed herself and lifted her face. They drove on without speaking for a long time. Finally Johnny broke the silence.
“What do you want me to do, Jenny? I’m so sorry I got you into this. Maybe I should just take you home.”
“Right now, home sounds very good to me,” Jenny said with a small smile. She wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve and then pulled herself together and looked at Johnny. “But I made a decision back in Apple Creek when I told you I loved you. I’m going to stand by that.” Jenny paused and then went on. “We’re on our way, so let’s keep going and see what…”
At that moment she was interrupted by the sound of a car horn honking. Johnny looked to his left. A brown sedan had pulled even with the van. The window on the passenger side was rolled down, and a man holding a gun was signaling for Johnny to pull over.
An electric shock went down Johnny’s back. He knew he couldn’t outrun their car, so he looked ahead for a place to get off, pulled over, and came to a stop. The car pulled into a spot in front of them, and two men leaped out and ran back to the van. A tall man with a dark face came to Johnny’s side and motioned for him to roll down the window.
“Hi ya, Candyman. Isn’t that what they called you back in Frisco?” the man said with a grim smile as he held the gun tightly. The other man was standing by Jenny’s door with his gun just below the window.
“Now, I want you to keep quiet and do exactly what I say,” the man continued. “Luis is going to join you, and we’ll just follow along. There’s a rest area just up the road that’s a perfect place to have a little talk. Now move.”
Johnny looked at Jenny. Her face was as white as a sheet. The man called Luis opened the slider door and climbed in the back. Johnny pulled out on the freeway, and they drove to the rest area with the brown sedan following. It was raining when they pulled in, and the parking lot was empty. The tall man got out of the sedan and walked up to the van. He opened Johnny’s door and motioned him out of the car. His gun was pointed right at Johnny’s stomach.
“Where’s our money, Johnny?” The man’s voice was sibilant, like a snake.
“I don’t have it.”
“Sure you don’t. Shub tossed it in the van. Where is it?”
Johnny glanced over at Jenny. She sat looking at him, her eyes begging him to do something.
“I was afraid, and I stashed it back in Wooster, at an abandoned farm. If you don’t believe me, search our stuff. It’s not here.”
There was a rustling sound from the backseat as Luis quickly went through their bags.
“It ain’t here,” he said.
“Well, we’ll just have to take a little ride back to Wooster then.”
Suddenly Jenny blurted out. “My uncle is the sheriff of Wayne County! He will catch you. You have to let us go.”
“The girl’s got a point, Sal,” Luis said. “We can’t take her back there if her uncle’s the sheriff. It’s a small town, and someone might recognize her.”
“She’s not going back,” Sal replied. “She’s going to stay with you while Maxie and I take the Candyman back to get the money. She’ll be our guarantee that Johnny boy won’t try anything stupid. He was a stranger in town, right? We’ll just look like tourists. Get her out of here and take her up to Moe’s. We’ll join you there when we have the money.”
“Leave her out of this,” Johnny said. “She knows nothing about all this.”
Sal laughed. “You’re a bit late on that score, Candyman. She’s in it now.” He jammed his gun into Johnny’s midsection and then nodded to Luis. Luis got out, opened the passenger door, and pulled Jenny out.
She looked over at Jonathan. “Just get the money, Jonathan. I’ll be all right. Just get it and come back for me.”
Luis led Jenny away.
“Jenny! I’ll come back,” Johnny called after her. “Don’t fight them.”
Sal smiled and waved the gun toward the van. A short, dangerous-looking man joined them and climbed in the back.
“Let’s go, Johnny boy. You got some drivin’ to do.”