by T. S. Hill
Lori jumped out of the truck and screamed at me, “What the fuck are you doing?”
“It’s okay!”, I yelled back at her. “I studied fire! I used to do this!”, I called out to her, as I turned back to the second door and emptied the contents of the lantern. By the time I had emptied the second lantern on the second door, the first door was fully engaged in flames. By the time that I reached the truck, the second door was fully aflame.
As I jumped into the truck Lori grabbed my shirt with both hands and screamed at me, “What the fuck are you doing to us? Are you crazy?” I grabbed both of her wrists tightly and looked into her crazed eyes.
I tried to be calm, but my voice trembled, “Calm down! I used to do this!”
“Use to do what? She screamed, “Cremation?”
“We are going to drive through those doors!”, I told her firmly. Pushing her wrist away from me, I said again, “Calm down.”
Much calmer, but still with urgency, she yelled at me, “I’m as fucking calm as I’m gonna be! Drive Stan! Drive!”
“Not yet!”, I answered.
“Not yet?”, she yelled at me, “Then when?” Her eyes were wide and tears were streaming down her face. She fully understood how near death we were, and knew that we needed to be acting to avoid it. I understood that timing would be everything.
“When it’s time, Lori.”, I responded.
“It’s time now Stan!” she screamed hysterically.
“Roll your window up!” I snapped at her.
“What?”, she yelled and looked at me with an incredulous look on her face.
“Roll the fucking window up!”, I yelled back at her. She immediately complied, almost pulling the handle off.
“Can we go now Stan?”, she asked in a lower voice, with a look on her face as though she was losing all hope.
“Not yet.”, I responded, and I rolled my window up also. With the windows up, the loud roar and crackle of the surrounding inferno was dampened.
“After the doors have burned enough for the truck to bust through, but before we get too hot, or the walls give way, and the roof falls, we’ll go.”, I told her.
“Oh my God!”, she said calmly, and then put her head in her lap. Placing her hands on the back of her head, her cracking voice was muffled by the fabric of her dress, “We’re going to die, aren’t we?”
“No!”, I answered her, cranking the truck. Then surprising myself with the calmness in my voice, I continued, “We’re going to drive out of here, just like I said.” I leaned forward, peering through the windshield at the massive doors. As my face neared the windshield, I could feel the heat radiating from the glass. “Right now!”, I stated flatly, and let out the clutch as I floored the accelerator.
I closed my eyes and turned my head toward Lori as the rear tire spun and the truck lunged forward, crashing through the burning inferno. There was one loud crash followed by many small bangs and scraping noises. Then, I opened my eyes and steered the truck toward the dirt drive. Embers, coals and a burning two by four, were sliding off the hood.
“Do you see the choppers anywhere?”, I asked Lori. She sat up in the seat, looked at me, and then turned 180 degrees.
“We’re alive!”, she squealed.
“Do you see the choppers?” I repeated, rolling my window down.
“Oh! Shit!”, she said, and quickly rolled her window down, sticking her head out. She almost crawled all the way through the window turning to look. “I don’t see any Stan!”, she called out.
“Great!”, I called out, “Then get back in here before you fall out!” She slid back in the window into the seat and grinned at me.
“Wow!”, she commented. Then she let out a whoop, “Woohoo!”
“What are you celebrating, Lori?”, I asked, just to get a response from her.
“Being alive!”, she shouted happily, “Being alive, Stan! We are alive!” She looked at me grinning, with her eyes sparkling. Her tear streaked face never looked more beautiful to me.
I grinned back at her and answered, “Yes we are, Lori! We are alive!” Then I whooped, “Woohoo!”
“Whoohoo!”, she whooped back.
“You know, Stan,”, she said seriously, “Last night I cooked over a fire pit, and today, you nearly cooked us in a fire pit.
“That’s cute, but that’s not funny Lori.”, I responded.
“I didn’t say it was funny, Stan.”, she quipped back, opening up a wide grin. Then she whooped again, “Woohoo!” That was fucking awesome, Cowboy!”, she shouted gleefully and grabbed my shoulders in a hug. She gave me a loud, smacking kiss on my cheek.
“It was pretty awesome, wasn’t it?”, I responded to her.
“Fucking awesome!”, she shot back.
“Yeah!”, I laughed, “Fucking awesome!”
“You’re fucking awesome, Cowboy!”, she said with enthusiasm.
“Why thank you Mam!”, I answered playfully.
“Seriously, Cowboy, you are awesome.”, she said in a serious tone. I glanced over at her and she had a faraway look in her eyes.
“Maybe I do stand a chance then.”, I baited her.
“Yeah, Cowboy, you got a chance. You got a really good chance,”, she said, still sounding serious. I glance at her again, and she still had that faraway look in her eyes. Afterwards, we rode for a good 15 minutes in silence, she sitting next to me with her arms around my shoulders, and her head tilted over close to mine.
As we rode along, I realized that I could smell her. It was not rank body odor, nor perfume. Maybe all the adrenaline that the last thirty minutes had produced caused it. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was just her, and it was wonderful. She broke the silence first.
“You smell nice, cowboy.”, she said sweetly. I felt chill bumps on me.
“You won’t believe this,”, I began, “but I was just thinking the same thing about you.”
“Oh, you’re full of shit, cowboy.”, she cooed. “No, I’m serious. It’s true. I was riding along thinking how wonderful you smell.”
“Well,”, she said, “I wonder what was in that shower water?” “Or maybe it was your cooking.”, I offered.
“Which cooking?”, she asked, “The supper I cooked up, or what I cooked up after supper?”
“Oh, I think probably both.”, I answered smiling.
“Hmm.”, she mused, “We’ll have to do a series of experiments, and figure it out. Deal?”
“Deal!”, I confirmed.
Chapter Nine
Cammo and Ammo
The easiest way to hide in plain sight, is to stay out of plain sight.
We had been back, on highway sixty, riding for about forty-five minutes, not talking much, and when we did speak, just having light chitchat, when Lori got a serious look on her face, and her brow kind of knotted up.
“Cowboy, do you think that plane that flew over last night was looking for us, and had one of those heat seeking missile thingies on it?”, she asked.
“You mean an infrared scope? Yep, I sure do.”, I answered. “I’d say that would’ve been the only way we got pinned down. They must have done a lot of detective work, and then engaged the plane, to try to narrow the possibilities down, possibly followed up by someone scoping us out from a distance. It’s hard to disappear these days.”
“So, we’re going to camouflage now?”, she asked. Then before I could answer, she blurted out, “Oh!”, I just remembered! I meant to ask you about this last night, but then we got busy and all, and well…”
“What is it?”, I asked.
“This old farm truck we are using to camouflage us, well, don’t you think that this fancy, shiny, paint job, on an old truck like this, will attract attention?”
“Maybe a little more than we need.”, I responded, “But, have you looked at it since we drove through those burning barn doors?” She raised herself up in the seat and looked out over the dash, at the hood and fenders.
“Oh, shit cowboy! “, she spoke with her voice rising, “I
think we’ve got some stuff bent up, and scratched, and we’re covered in ashes and crap.” She paused, “Camo?”
“Camo!”, I replied, nodding my head and grinning. She leaned forward and patted the truck’s dash. “How ‘bout that Little Poss? You’ve got your own camo!”
“It’s not a piece of shit!”, I insisted, “It’s a classic.”
“Look at the front of this truck, cowboy! “, she laughed, “Those barn doors made it a piece of shit!” She patted the truck dash again and speaking to the truck said, “That’s okay, Little Poss, you’re a sweet little truck that brought us through fire. You just keep on chugging along. There!”, she said, “I’ve given her a name, Little Poss.” Lori looked at me and said, “Now, be nice to her!”
“I’m not the one giving her a demeaning name!”, I said.
“Shush!”, she said, playfully putting her finger to her lips. “You’ll hurt Little Poss’s feelings.”
“Good grief!”, I complained, “I should be glad that I got as good a name from you as Cowboy.”
“Be nice.”, she quipped back, “I call you that instead of Stan, because, well, I don’t think that Stan is your real name, and since you call me what you want to, I should be able to call you what I want to. Cowboy!”
“I’m not going to argue. “, I jovially replied, “Actually, I like it! We could start a singing group, Lori, the Cowboy and Poss!”, I teased.
“It’s not “the” cowboy, she corrected, “It’s just Cowboy. And, it’s not Poss, it’s Little Poss.”
“Okay,” I said, “Lori, Cowboy, and Little Poss! The singing firefighters!”
“Yeah!”, Lori started, then, “Hey! Just what the hell was all of that about, you trained for this, and you lighting those doors on fire? Did you go to arson school or something?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.”, I replied. Lori looked like a snake had crawled out of the dash.
Her eyes got big and she shrieked, “What?”
“I went to fire school.”, I explained, “I trained to be a fireman, and an arson investigator.”
“Oh! Whew!”, she said, looking relaxed again. I chuckled. “So, you actually did know what you were doing, when you set those doors on fire?”, she questioned.
“Yes, absolutely!.”, I lied, because I had actually guessed and hoped for the best. “I wanted those doors to burn quickly to weaken them, so that the truck could drive through them, without totally wrecking it. And, I wanted us to be able to drive through them before the walls gave way and the roof fell in, or the heat or smoke got us. So that’s why I set them on fire.”
“How did you know when to go?”, she asked.
“I guessed.”, I quipped.
“Then you didn’t know what you were doing! Cowboy, you coulda gotten us killed!”
“It was an educated estimate, based on training!”, I quickly responded.
She elbowed me in the ribs, and laughed, “I’ll always be grateful to you Cowboy. I’m sorry that I nearly got you killed.”
“You didn’t nearly get me killed.”, I began, “I started all this over two years ago. I’m sorry that I put you in harm’s way. If I had known, we would have made other arrangements for you.”
Lori’s voice sounded wistful, “Cowboy, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“So, you think that those two choppers came all the way to Texas after you?”, I asked.
“Good chance.”, she responded.
“Wow!”, I reacted, “You must be in some deep shit! But, I know that asshole. I’m afraid that he was after me. When it comes to seeing me dead, it’s pretty much my life, or a death thing for him.”
“Do you think that he thinks you’re dead now?”, she asked.
“I fucking hope so!”, I replied.
“Hey, don’t steal my adverb!”, she teased.
“Don’t steal my villain!”, I teased back at her. “So, who is it that would come all the way to Texas after you?”, I queried her.
“That’s one of those things we can’t answer for each other evidently, because it could get one or both of us killed.”, She responded, then continued, “So who is this asshole that you know that is after you?”
“Same answer.”, I replied.
Lori got a cloudy look on her face then lowered her tone, “We don’t know each other’s names, or who each other’s would be killer is, or where each of the other of us is going, but that’s okay. Because, we’re swapping body fluids, fucking each other’s brains out, and headed in the same direction! Damn! Let me fucking take you home to mama!”
Then, she burst into tears and started apologizing, “I’m sorry Cowboy, I’ve just fucked everything up, for myself and you too! You don’t owe me anything. I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me. You’re a really, really, sweet guy. You don’t deserve this shit! Just drop me off someplace where I can use a phone, and get away from me!”
I totally didn’t expect this from her, but then there hadn’t been much about her that I did expect. I pulled the truck over on the shoulder of the road and stopped, putting my arms around her, and pulled her to me, holding her close and tight.
Then I began to speak to her slowly, quietly, and from my heart, “I love swapping body fluids with you, and I love fucking your brains out, and I’m glad that we’re going in the same direction, and honestly, I hope that we keep going in the same direction. And, if my mama were alive, I’d be proud to take you home to her.”
“I don’t give a damn if I never know your real name, or that you call this classic truck Little Poss! I want you. I want you to stay with me! And whatever is wrong, I want to make it right for you, and I will, if you let me.”, I finished, but worried that I may have said too much. She looked up at me, with tears streaming down her face.
“Don’t cry.”, I told her.
“Oh Cowboy!”, she whined, and started crying all over, “You’re the most wonderful man that I’ve ever known, or met, or known about, or heard about! Please hold me!” I cut the truck off to save the gas, as I figured we might just be here a while. Holding her close, she sobbed quietly, while I rubbed her back and shushed her, trying to comfort her the best that I could.
Comforting a sorrowful woman wasn’t in my training. But, I figured that I had to get her thinking about something else, to get her calmed down, so I hatched an idea, out of what she had said.
“Listen,”, I said, “suppose that we allow each other three questions every day. You ask me three, and I ask you three. No matter the consequences, we have to answer the questions truthfully.”
“You mean that?”, she asked, “You’ll tell me the truth to any question that I ask?”
“Yes! As long as you’ll do the same for me.”, I replied.
“And we can ask each other anything?”, she asked.
“Yes.”, I answered.
“And, we have to answer truthfully?”
“Yes.”, I answered frankly. “Even if it might get us killed?”, she questioned further.
“Yes!”, I adamantly replied. “I don’t think that you plan on killing me now, do you?”, I joked at her.
“Not since you hit me on the head, caveman!”, she joked back. “I’m sorry that I hit you that hard, I thought that you were going to try to kill me.”, I apologized and explained.
“Oh, forget about it, Cowboy. Who knows what might have happened if I had wound up with that gun.”
“You know what Lori?”, I asked, and then didn’t wait for her to answer, “I’m not a fucking bit sorry that you dove into my car. I’m fucking well glad you did. Real fucking glad!”, I said, and kissed her tenderly on the lips.
“Oh, you’re going to get rewarded for that one, Cowboy!”, she said cheerily, while smiling and looking into my eyes. I think she tried to wink at me, but between batting the tears out of her eyes, I couldn’t swear on it.
“So, you ready to ride?”, I asked.
“Let’s ride!”, she replied, then she gripped my shirt with both hands. “But first,”, sh
e said, using my shirt to pull me down to her, while also using it to pull herself up to meet me. Our lips met and we shared the gentlest, and most passionate, kiss that we had shared yet.
As I pulled back out into the road, I asked, “So, how many days have we been together now?”
“One, and about a half.”, she answered quickly.
“That means we get to ask each other four and a half questions.”, I told her.
“How do you ask half a fucking question?”, she asked.
“I guess you just ask a half assed question”, I quipped.
“Oh, you’re fucking nuts Cowboy!”, she laughed. Then she sighed, and wiping her eyes with her dress hem, she said,” Aren’t we a pair Cowboy? Aren’t we a fucking pair?”
“Yeah, Lori.”, I replied, “We sure are. We’re quite a fucking pair.”
“Do I get first question?”, she asked excitedly.
“Go ahead!”, I answered. “Oh, goody!”, she popped back, and clapped her hands together.
“Think first.” I admonished her.
“Oh, I will, Cowboy!”, she giggled, “I will, think, first!” A few seconds later she asked me, “If you’re trained as a fireman, then why are you doing this? By the way, what the hell is it you do Cowboy?”
“That’s two questions.”, I informed her, “Which one do you want me to answer?”
“Pick one.”, she said.
“Well the answer to one is also the answer to the other.”, I said.
“You said you would answer the question truthfully,”, she fired back at me.
“I’m going to. I’m just explaining.”
“I’m sorry. Go ahead.”, she offered.
“I trained as a fireman and arson investigator, but I didn’t become that. I became a criminal investigator instead.
“Oh, shit!”, she exclaimed, “You’re a cop?”
“No!”, I shot back. “I wouldn’t be a cop for any amount of money, plus they wouldn’t have me.”
“But you investigate crimes?”, she asked.
“Let me finish Lori.”
“I’m sorry, Cowboy. This just sounds so weird. Go ahead, please?”