Page 20 of Goodbye Paradise
He shook his dark head. “Don’t you worry. I get to watch some TV and take a long shower. Can’t do that at a truck stop. But listen, I have some rules. I gotta take the keys with me, which means you two are going to visit the men’s room now and take care of business while I fuel up. Then I lock you in.”
“Okay,” Caleb agreed.
“You have an emergency, you can leave the truck one at a time. Always stay in well-lit areas, okay? Truck stops are not all so great. This one is decent, but you never know. Andnobodygets in this truck except for you.”
“Sure,” I said. “But who would want to?”
He chuckled. “Nobody you need to talk to. Lot lizards, for one. Those are prostitutes, and don’t be tempted. Druggies, most of them, with angry pimps. Not safe. If anybody knocks who ain’t me, that’s bad news. They want to sell you drugs or pussy.”
“That is not our way,” Caleb promised.
“I’m sure that’s true, but I gotta say it anyway. You two’ve never seen the good things in this country, but I’ll bet you haven’t seen the bad ones, neither. Trustnobody.”
“Except for you. And us,” Caleb joked.
Washington smiled. “My truck better be here when I get back. Don’t steal from me. I like you guys.”
“Never,” Caleb said. “You’re the first person who’s been nice to us, pretty much ever.”
“That’s not true,” I said as a reflex. “Your mother loves you. And Miriam.”
“My mother never protected me from the men who used me like a cart horse. And Miriam can’t help herself, because I’m awesome.”
“Poor kid got no self-esteem,” Washington joked. Then we all got out of the truck.
* * *
In the truckstop men’s room, I used Caleb’s toothbrush and refilled his water bottle.
Washington was waiting for us beside the cab. “Sleep tight, and be safe,” he said as we climbed in. “There’s a blanket above the bunk. If you put that on the floor, one of you could stretch out there.”
“You don’t have to worry about us,” I told him. “And we won’t even touch the doors.”
“I know. I’ll come back around seven so we can get some breakfast. Can’t drive until eight, because there’s a mandated ten hours off.”
“See you at seven.”
He slammed the door, and I watched him walk toward the hotel. When he disappeared, I turned to Caleb. “He’s an angel in disguise.”
“Something like that. You take the bed.”
“No can do. I already slept there, some. You stretch out.”
“You’ve been ill.”
“I’mnotan invalid, okay? Lie down.”
Grumbling a little, he did. I sat in the roomy passenger seat, my stocking feet on the dash. A peaceful silence descended on us. Caleb was probably tired, but my nap had perked me up, and now my mind was busy just trying to process everything that had happened since yesterday morning.
Could things get any weirder?
For the first time in my life, I was a long way away from the compound. But it was weird to picture our room in the bunkhouse right now. Ezekiel and David would still be there, lying in their bunks like any other night. Were our two bunks empty? Or had they wasted no time moving two teenage boys into our spots?
That’s probably what they’d done.Cover up the violence. Nothing to see here.
I wondered if my mother had been told. And I wondered if she cared. Caleb’s mother would. And Miriam. “Poor Miriam,” I said aloud. “I wonder when Asher will marry her.”
From the bunk, Caleb groaned. “You’re killing me, you know that?”
