Page 15 of Final Ride

When he opened the creaky cabin door, the dogs bolted outside on the run and Willy saw Tammy sitting behind the wheel of his truck with the motor running.

Willy ran down the porch steps and jerked open the passenger door. “No, Tammy. Please don’t leave me behind. I’m begging you not to.”

“I wrote you a note, Willy. I don’t want to leave you, and I don’t want to steal your truck, but I have to keep you safe. Believe me, I’m doing you a favor. I’m trying to protect you.”

“Come back inside and help me pack, Tammy. I want to bring my medical supplies and things for the dogs. Please, I’m not ready to go yet.”

“Willy, I’m trying to save you from me and from all the harm I will bring you. You don’t deserve to have your life ruined by a terrible person like me. You don’t know me or what I’m capable of.”

“Wait for me inside, Tammy. I’m afraid you’ll leave me if you don’t get out of the truck and come inside.”

“Oh, Willy. I wish I didn’t love you so much. You’re making me do the wrong thing. It’s wrong for us to run away together thinking things will work out. So wrong.”

Tammy followed Willy and the dogs inside and they spent a half hour packing and loading the truck with everything they might need for their new life on the road.

Willy made coffee in traveler mugs, and he drove with Tammy sitting in the passenger seat sipping her caffeine.

Big smile on his face, Willy asked, “Which way are we going, Tammy? Do you have a destination in mind?”

“Go north, Willy. We’ll be safe in Canada.”

“I’ve never been to Canada. I’ve heard it’s beautiful up there.”

“It is. We’ll go way up north, and nobody will ever find us. You, me, George and Gracie.”

“I can picture it,” said Willy. “We’ll be like pioneers in our little cabin in the middle of nowhere.”

Tammy smiled.

Chapter Four

Wednesday, July 24th.

East of Knoxville. Tennessee.

“Junction of route 40 and I-81.” Willy turned to look at Tammy for direction.

“This is where we take the interstate all the way to the Canadian border. All we have to do is follow eighty-one all the way to the bridge. We cross over and we’re there. A lot safer than we are here.”

“Wonderful,” said Willy. “Nice and simple for an inexperienced driver like me. I haven’t roamed far out of North Carolina and I’m anxious to see the rest of the continent.”

“You can see the scenery a lot better sitting up high in a big rig,” said Tammy. “If we had enough money, we could buy us a cab—Freightliner—and be long haul truckers for a living. It’s a fantastic life and I miss it so much.”

Willy laughed. “I’ll have to think about that, Tammy. I guess I wasted a lot of my time going to med school when I could have been driving a truck and living the fantastic life.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, Willy. You’re a doctor and that’s a fantastic job too. Everybody looks up to a doctor and you had to go to school for so fucking long. Brutal. Only guessing it was brutal. I only went to school until I was ten.”

Willy shook his head at that revelation and pointed off to the right. “There’s a rest area coming up, Tammy. Let’s stop and take the dogs for a walk.”

“Sure. We’re in no hurry. Doesn’t matter when we get to Canada, or even if we don’t.”

“That’s part of being free, isn’t it? I love the way you think.”

After they covered the dog trail through the woods and tired themselves out, Tammy sized up the trucks parked in the second area dedicated to the larger vehicles.

“How do you like that red one, Willy?”

“Big and shiny red. I like it. Why?”

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