Page 3 of Heat Haze
Nadine scoffs. “Mm… Well, if that’s true, he must’ve thought we were a nice old married couple. All wrinkly and gross together.”
Grant just rolls his eyes, smiling widely as he kisses her head. Levi shifts in the front seat, and it’s like he’s about to say something when there’s a loudpopsound followed by low, strained, sputtering. The vehicle goes quiet as we all sitthere, and I immediately pick up on the fact that the car is rolling to a slow stop.
“What’s going on?” Levi’s voice cuts through the silence, although Frank doesn’t seem to have an answer for him. We come to a stop, and my stomach feels hollow. “Frank, what’s going on?”
“Hell if I know...” Frank mutters while undoing his seatbelt. He steps out, and we all watch as he goes to the front and pops it open. A cloud of dark gray smoke rushes out, dissipating into little wisps. He looks at us through the windshield, and his face makes one thing clear: this is not good at all.
Grant pulls away from Nadine, joining Frank near the hood. They both just stare at it, and after a good few minutes of them just pacing and probably arguing, all five of us are standing on the road.
“Can’t you just call someone!?” Grant asks with crossed arms, staring at Frank with a bewildered expression. “Can’t you fucking do something? I mean come on! You didn’t get this piece of shit checked out before deciding to drag it across the damn country!?”
Something on Frank’s face shifts, and the way his fists are clenched to his side tells me I can’t talk us out of this one. “You think I didn’t fucking do that!? Huh!?” He shoves Grant back, rage lighting up his face. “It’s not my fucking fault, dude! I just—fuck! Come on!”
“Frank…” Levi tugs on his arm, causing him to just chill for a minute. He takes in a heavy breath of air, stepping away from everyone as Levi seemingly consoles him. It’s hot, it’s tense, and now we really are trapped in the middle of nowhere.
A literal nightmare.
“There’s no signal…” Nadine holds up her phone, waving it around to try and find a bar. I pull out my own phone to be greeted by my lockscreen: a cute drawing of a tabby cat. Like she said, there isn’t any signal, and I don’t think we’re going to find any.
Grant sighs in defeat, kneeling down to lean against the front of the car. “This is so fucked,” he mutters just loud enough for me to hear. “So, so, fucked. We’re gonna have to walk, aren’t we? The gas station was like… an hour back. I mean, how long is that even gonna take?”
“Babe, calm down…” Nadine kneels down next to him, hand on his shoulder. “Maybe it won’t be that bad. It… shouldn’t it get dark soon? I mean… at least it’ll cool down a little, right?”
That doesn’t seem to help at all, since Grant opts to just lean in and rest his head against her chest wordlessly. Nothing I can say will help, so I just turn back to the car. Before I climb inside, I see it: an old black van complete with a spare wheel on the front.
Part of me wants to wave my hands up and see if they can help, but I just stand there with the grace of a deer caught in headlights instead. Still, they slow to a stop, and when the tinted window rolls down I’m face to face with a grinning man.
“Car troubles?” His voice is deep, but he speaks loudly—with confidence. I don’t have to turn to tell everyone is looking at him. “That ain’t no good. Y’all need some help?”
His accent is strong. Even stronger than the gas station guy’s. His smile doesn’t fade, and he runs a hand through his slick-backed hair. It’s jet black, and it probablywould be a little wavy if it weren’t for the copious amounts of product in it.
I’m not the best judge of character but he doesn’t come off all that bad to me. Maybe a little overcompensating, but that’s all. The grin he wears seems superficial, as if he’s mimicking the cover of a magazine. It’s not like we have any other choice right now, anyway.
“Something’s wrong, uh, with our car.” Frank says, pointing at the open hood. “You know anything to help? We’d… really appreciate it.”
“Ah… y’all are city folk, huh?” He pushes the van door open, stepping out to come take a closer look. The first thing I note is that he’s taller than the rest of us. His baggy blue overalls are dirty at the bottom, covering what I presume are black boots. “I can prolly help y’all. But… I don’t think I can get to it tonight.”
Frank purses his lips, exhaling through his nose. “So you want us to just stay here all night? It’s scorching hot, and—”
“Relax,” the stranger shakes his head. “Y’all can come back to the farm. Have something to eat, rest for a bit, and we’ll come back tomorrow.”
Levi’s brow furrows. “Won’t somebody just steal the car? Then we’ll be even more stuck…”
The stranger smirks, eyeing Levi up and down. “Now who’s gonna want to take some busted ol’ thing? I promise y’all it’s gonna be fine for one night.”
“Sorry, what’s your name?” My words leave my lips before I can process them. The stranger’s attention turns to me, the wolfish grin he has only growing wider.
“Damien.” He steps closer, and I feel a sense of unease. “You?” A large hand shoots out, hanging in the airHis brows are slightly arched, jawline strong. Can’t say he isn’t handsome, even if he’s not my type.
I blink, clearing my throat. “Nico! I’m Nico. It’s… nice to meet you.” I offer up my friendliest smile, taking the hand and giving it a shake. His skin is rough, calloused—the hands of someone who must do a lot of physical work.
“Nico,” he repeats, “nice to meet you.” There’s a beat of silence before he turns to the rest of the group expectantly, chuckling a little. “And y’all?”
CHAPTER THREE
Nothing about this is a good idea. Every single safety ad can usually be reduced to ‘don’t talk to strangers’ or ‘don’t go places with strangers.’ Yet here we are, piled into the back of a stranger’s van that smells like a farm and a butcher shop at the same time.
“I cannotbelieve y’all are from Los Angeles. Ain’t that where they shoot all the movies and whatnot?” Damien asks, one hand on the wheel while the other taps at the dashboard.
