Eventually, her chest heaving with her heavy breathing, Jenny realized that any more resistance was futile, and she slowly began to settle down.
One of the thoughts going through Hugh’s mind as he leaned into her, still pinning her arms down, was that she obviously hadn’t taken the opportunity to use the shower.
Another thought that Hugh was having at the moment, however, was discomfiting to him. This was indeed a real-deal female. The proximity to all this female heavy breathing as he pressed against her threatened to distract him from the anger that he felt he should be feeling for her right now.
He slightly relaxed the pressure on her wrists, and she immediately tensed up to struggle with him again.
Applying full pressure again, he said, “OK Jenny. I can do this all day if I need to. But it would be a lot better if you would calm down. If I let go of you will you sit there quietly?”
She looked directly at him for several moments, then nodded.
Again, he slightly relaxed his grip while still keeping a tentative hold of her wrists. This time, she responded by remaining still.
Keeping a close eye on her, Hugh released her completely, and sat back down in his own seat. He could see that Jenny was exhausted and defeated from the tumble out of the sleeper bunk. The violent tirade against him, and the struggle after Hugh had pinned her down to her seat, must have also taken its toll with her as well.
She needed to answer some questions, though. Hugh was determined to ask, and he wasn’t in the mood for evasive answers.
“What are you doing here? And how did you get into my truck?” he demanded.
“Bitch!? Wicked witch!?” She threw back at him, apparently still angry. “‘I couldn’t wait to get rid of her,’” she quoted, using a deeper voice to imitate Hugh’s in his conversation with James.
Hugh could see she was getting ready to start it up all over again. “Look little lady, get over that. I want to know what you think you were doing by stowing away in my truck.”
“Well, old man, I just didn’t want to be left behind.”
“Did it ever occur to you that your ugly, nasty attitude might be the reason I wanted to leave you behind?”
“I don’t give a damn about your reasons. I just need this ride. How about if you just start this thing up and get us back onto the road?”
Hugh knew he wasn’t going to get through to her in her agitated state right now. “OK. I need to make my delivery on time. But, you are definitely getting off this truck in Burley, if not sooner. Got it?”
“Got it,” she answered, with barely controlled anger. “Now drive.”
Bitch, Hugh thought, as he started the truck, put it into gear and pulled back onto the highway, thinking this day definitely was not the good day that it had started out to be early this morning.
Chapter Four
With the miles passing behind them, Hugh occasionally checked the “temperature” in the cab by glancing over at his mercurial rider.
Seeing that she seemed to have calmed down somewhat, he chanced a question.
“OK, missy, how about telling me how you managed to get into my locked truck.”
“Did it ever occur to you that I don't like your name-calling, and it might be the reason why I have an ‘ugly, nasty attitude’ toward you? My name is Jenny, not missy, not little lady. Got it?”
Touché.
“All right, Jenny. You’ve got a point. Let’s make a deal. I’ll stop with the name calling, and you’ll improve your attitude. There’s no reason why we have to be enemies.”
Jenny thought about it, then nodded her agreement.
“Let’s start over. Jenny, I would appreciate it if you would tell me how you got into my truck. I know I locked it before we went into the truck plaza.”
“When you were using your jug I saw your spare key in the bottom of your cup-holder tray. I took it. I thought it would come in handy. And it did,” Jenny answered, with a smirk on her face..
Devious bi … Hugh thought, and then stopped himself, remembering his deal with her. Can’t say it, so don’t even think it.
“OK. That explains that. Now, why did you skip the shower and run back to the truck in the first place?”
“Well, I knew you were planning on leaving me behind. I've got to be on this truck. Is that a good enough answer for you?”
“I guess. How about handing over my key.”
She fished around in her pockets, found the key and handed it to him.
Just then, an older model Buick, blue in color, with California plates, passed them at a high speed. Hugh took notice of it, because inside were four guys. Three of the guys, the passengers, were watching his truck intently as they passed.
The Buick quickly moved on way ahead of them, and passed out of sight.
“Did you get a chance to use the bathroom, or do I need to stop somewhere?” Hugh asked.
“No. I’m fine,” Jenny answered, still miffed at Hugh.
“Are you hungry?”
“Actually, I haven’t eaten all day.”
“Here. Take these chips to tide you over until we stop for the night. Then I’ll make us some dinner,” Hugh offered, showing her where he had put the bag of chips and the soda.
Jenny’s phone rang again. She fished it out from somewhere within her layered mess of clothes and flipped it open to answer it.
“OK,” was all she said after listening for a minute. Then she hung up.
That’s something else Hugh was curious about, but he didn’t feel like getting into a battle with her about that just yet.
Continuing on the drive northward toward Burley, the miles passed under the truck’s wheels. Even though there were still a lot of unanswered questions, Hugh was comfortable with the truce that he and Jenny had agreed to. It made for a much more pleasant ride.
While Hugh was still pondering that thought he saw a vehicle up ahead pulled over onto the shoulder of the road. It looked like someone was struggling to change a tire. The trunk lid was open, and tire-changing tools were strewn around in the dirt and weeds of the shoulder.
“Hmmm” Jenny said, leaning forward and peering through the windshield at the car, “I wonder if we should stop to help them.”
Curious about Jenny’s previously undisplayed and uncharacteristic compassion for her fellow humans, Hugh nevertheless did see her point. A person could get stuck for a long time way out here in the middle of nowhere, especially someone who was struggling to change a tire by himself.
He slowed down in order to pull onto the shoulder behind the disabled vehicle.
As he got closer, however, he noticed that it was the same blue Buick that he had spotted earlier passing them at a high speed. Hugh recognized it because truckers spend countless hours in their trucks with nothing to do but observe what goes on around them. It becomes second-nature to categorize and recognize cars and other trucks that they see.
And this was definitely the same one. The only difference is that there was only one guy, and not the four that he had seen earlier.
Red flags shot up alerting his brain, and he immediately pulled back onto the road, shifting and accelerating as fast as the Cummins diesel and heavy load would let him.
“No, no, you’ve got to stop!” Jenny yelled when she saw that Hugh was not going to stop. “Pull over. Help him!”
Hugh glanced over at his rider. The girl was definitely agitated—panicked, even. Where is that coming from? Hugh wondered.
Jenny leaned forward in her seat, placing her face as close to the passenger window as she could. She craned her neck to look back at the marooned vehicle. Resigned to the fact that Hugh was not going to stop, she sat back down in her seat.
“What was that all about?” Hugh asked.
“Nothing. Don’t you ever feel like you should stop to help someone?”
“Actually, yes. And that’s how I got stuck with you. I just didn’t like the looks of that situation. Suspicious,” he said.
Unknown to Hugh, at that
very moment as their truck passed out of sight down the highway, three men came out from their hiding places among the rocks and trees next to the shoulder where the Buick was stopped. It didn't take long for them to mount the tire, which wasn't flat, back onto the car.
Hugh’s mind turned toward calculating the timing of the rest of his trip. They were still several hours from Burley, and he knew that he wouldn’t make it there tonight on his available hours of service.
His delivery was at 11 am the next morning. So, if he stopped at Wells for the night, and left by 7 the next morning that should give him plenty of time to finish the route to Burley, and to get to his destination comfortably early.
Wells was another crossroads town in eastern Nevada, like Ely. There were a couple of chain travel centers to choose from because the highway they were on crossed one of the country’s major east-west arterials, Interstate 80.
He hadn’t considered the practical implications of putting up Jenny for the night because he hadn’t thought it was going to happen that way. But, now that he was stuck with her for at least tonight and part of tomorrow, he had to think about it.
Fact is, he’d like to leave her at Wells. There should be plenty of traffic through there, and she could easily get a ride. But, he knew that he couldn’t just toss her out of the truck while he remained parked there for the night. His conscience just wouldn’t let him get away with that.
He’d have to put up with her at least for the night, and then leave her there when he left in the morning.
Maybe he could get a reading from Jenny. It’s going to be delicate, because he sure didn’t want to get into another fight with her over it.
“Jenny, I need to drop you off somewhere. Would you prefer it be at Wells, just coming up now, or at Burley in Idaho?” Hugh asked her, hoping she would choose the former.
Jenny didn’t hesitate. “Burley.”
“Why Burley in particular? Do you have somebody to meet you there?”
“Yeah, something like that,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
“OK, then Burley it is.”
Then, double-checking, Hugh asked, “You’re sure you’re OK with that? You aren’t going to put up a fight, or try to sneak back into my truck?”
She shook her head, then said, “It’s OK. I’m fine.”
Hugh made the remaining distance to Wells in good time—no major incidences happening on the way there, a relief after the strange day that this had been so far.
He chose the chain travel plaza where he knew he had shower points on his reward card. If Jenny was going to spend the night in his truck with him she was definitely going to take a shower.
As he pulled into the truck stop he remembered the clothes and other items that he had bought for her in Ely, and asked her if she still had them.
“Yeah. They are in the top bunk where I was hiding … or, at least they were. I’m not sure where they are now after you nearly killed me.”
Hugh let that pass. “Good. I’ll take you into the travel center, and get you set up with a shower.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Look, Jenny, I won’t leave you this time. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t because I am almost out of drive time. I’m definitely here for the night. I promise you’ll be with me tonight and part of tomorrow. OK?”
She nodded.
Hugh found a spot in the back row, easily backed in, and then shut down for the night.
As Jenny rummaged around the recently fallen debris on the floor of the cab looking for her things, Hugh entered his post-trip inspection information into the Qualcomm unit, and then punched in “off-duty.”
He saw Jenny looking at him with a curious expression.
“This is how I communicate with the ‘mother ship,’” he explained, holding up the Qualcomm, which looked somewhat like a laptop computer. “It’s a computer terminal that’s always connected by satellite with the company I drive for. It keeps track of my hours. But it also reports the condition of my truck, and anything unusual that happens while I am driving. Here, let me show you.”
Jenny leaned in closer to look over his shoulder as he tapped on the terminal’s touch-sensitive screen.
He was aware of her closeness. Can’t wait for her to take that shower.
“You remember when I 'nearly killed’ you?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Shortly after that happened, I got a message from dispatch.” He pointed to a reading on the screen.
He read the message, “Hard brake reported. Please acknowledge OK at your earliest.”
“You mean your boss knows you slammed on your brakes?” she asked.
“The dispatcher is not my boss. But, yep, they knew about it almost instantly when it happened. Not only that, but they know exactly where my truck is at all times, when I stop, where I stop, how long I’ve stopped, and when I start driving again.”
“I had no idea,” she remarked.
“It’s really like living and driving in a fishbowl. But, you get used to it.”
By now, she had her things bundled into a roll tucked under her arm, and was ready to go. Hugh locked up the truck, and they walked together into the truck plaza.
This particular chain had an electronic kiosk where Hugh swiped his card, and then used the touch screen to order up a shower. It ejected the shower ticket.
Hugh looked at it, and handed it to her. “Here you go. Door 7. Punch star-one-zero-one-three into the keypad, and the door will unlock for you. Everything is in there that you’ll need—towels, soap, hair drier and stuff.”
She reached to take the ticket, but held onto it without pulling it from his fingers. They stood there, the ticket like the conduit for an electric current zapping back and forth between them. She looked up at him, holding his gaze with an expression that could only be described as inscrutable.
“Uh … I’ll … I’ll be in the truck,” Hugh managed to say, surprised by this new kind of strange exchange between them. He released the ticket into her hand.
“Thank you,” she murmured. Then she turned and began walking toward her shower room door.
“Don’t forget to wash your hair,” Hugh reminded, not so unkindly as he had last time, and not so loud that everyone in the travel plaza could hear him.
“Yes, Hugh,” she whispered quietly to herself as she disappeared inside.
Chapter Five
Hugh busied himself picking up and replacing the things that had tumbled during his hard brake.
He thought about Jenny. There were still way too many unanswered questions for Hugh to believe that he could trust her. Who was she talking to on her cell phone? What about her interest in the Susanville attempted hijacking? What about her sudden interest in helping a stranded motorist on the highway? That was certainly out of character from what he’d seen of her since first picking her up today.
Was it just today—a few hours ago? It seemed like a lot longer.
And, most of all, what about her sudden softened attitude and expression in her interaction with him just now before her shower? There hadn’t been one ugly word from her since they had arrived at this truck plaza. That, alone, sent danger signals to Hugh. He knew how devious and conniving girls can be, especially pretty ones. He decided that he’d have to do more thinking about that.
As he was finishing picking up things, he came across her coat, which she had apparently taken off earlier, and had stashed in a corner of the sleeper. He didn’t want to touch the filthy thing, but he nevertheless was curious what he might find in her pockets that might give him some clues about who she was, and what she was doing way out in the desert by herself.
Glancing outside the window to make sure she was not on her way back, he explored her various pockets. He was hoping he might find her cell phone so he could see who had been calling her. But it wasn’t there.
But what he did find in one of the pockets was almost as good—her driver’s license. Pleased with himself at his decision to search her c
oat, he reached into the dirty, dark recess of the pocket and pulled out the card.
It didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know … except for one very important detail—her last name. She was a McDonald. Jennifer McDonald, the ID card said.
Filing that information away in his brain, he placed the license back in the pocket, wadded the coat up to look like how he had found it, and shoved it back where it had come from.
The next big decision he had to make was what to feed them for dinner. He kept a fridge freezer stocked with frozen meals. Plus, he had “fixables” like hot dogs, and canned soup and such that he could heat up.
Hot dogs, he decided. It’s a hot dog kind of day.
He took several hot dogs from the package, placed them on a paper plate in the microwave oven, and waited for Jenny to come back from her shower.
He set out condiments like relish, ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise, along with hot dog buns, on his little pull-out tray that doubled as dining table and office desk. His sleeper “dining area” was set up for a single occupant, so it was going to be close, but they would have to manage.
He also dug out a can of pork and beans, opened it, and divided the contents into two paper bowls, ready for microwaving when the hot dogs were done.
Then he went up front and sat in his driver’s seat to wait for Jenny to return – hopefully cleaned up and homeless-person odor free.
Hugh, like most other truck drivers, was a people watcher. Of an evening at a truck stop, it was not at all uncommon to see drivers sitting in their drivers’ seats watching everything going on around them.
The evening was pleasant, and many drivers were enjoying being outside, standing together in small groups talking trucker talk. It always amazed Hugh how often one would run across a friend or acquaintance, even in a remote location like Wells, Nevada.
The days of the truck driver’s “brotherhood,” as it was called, were basically over. Drivers did still watch out for each other, and extended courtesies to each other that they did not give to “four-wheelers”—to a point. However, the recent influx of new drivers who came to truck driving from across the spectrum of age, education and cultural status because of the declining economy, meant that there were the same issues among them as among the culture as a whole.
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