Now Wouldn't You Like to Know

by Curtis Bennett

  “That’s just fine, Sheldon.”

  “I usually keep it cool inside when I drive long distance so that I can stay awoke as well as alert.”

  “I understand,” she added plainly.

  There was a pause.

  “Is everything all right?” I asked, noticing that she had become quiet and thoughtful.

  “Look, I don’t want you to think that I make this a habit.”

  “What’s that?” I asked, glancing over at her.

  “I usually don’t get into cars with strangers, even the cute ones who drive Lincolns,” she said.

  “And I don’t usually pick up strangers, even the pretty ones walking down the street,” I replied with a wide grin.

  She chuckled then said, “Okay, you got me on that one.”

  I shook my head after we paused for a red light.

  “So, what’s on your mind?’ she asked.

  “I just don’t understand how any man could treat an apparently nice woman as yourself so badly,” I answered. “I just don’t get it.”

  “Some men feel threaten by a woman’s beauty, and her friends and associates, especially any male associates,” she said.

  “You think so?”

  “I know so,” she insisted. “Some men are so jealous they cannot stand for their woman to be out of their sight for more than a few minutes.”

  “It’s that bad, huh?”

  “Worse than that, at times.”

  “Surely this Jack guy has some redeeming values,” I added just to see what she’d say.

  “He’s good looking and good at making up with me, but let me tell you, he can go straight to hell with that ‘Honey, I really didn’t mean what I did last night but I still love you’ act,” she said in a dismissive tone.

  “Well, I am glad that you finally got around to seeing the light.”

  “That’s two of us,” she tossed in. “I just hope that he doesn’t figure out where I’ve gone to.”

  “Just where are you going, if I may ask?”

  “To Brooklyn, New York,” she answered gazing out of the window momentarily. “I have a cousin who lives there. Jack doesn’t know about her, though. At least, I hope he doesn’t.”

  “Are you originally from Brooklyn?” I asked.

  “No, I was born in Maine,” she answered. “But I have plenty of family members in the Brooklyn area.”

  “That’s a good thing,” I said as I turned my Navigator into the Greyhound Bus terminal parking lot.

  “Yeah, it is,” she replied solemnly as she surveyed the area.

  I saw a vacant parking space and headed towards it.

  “Oh, my God!” she blurted out loudly, startling me.

  “What?” I asked, in response to her alarming outburst.

  “See that guy over there by the entrance meandering about?” she asked nervously. “That’s Jack. He’s obviously looking for me.”

  “So that’s Jack,” I uttered as I guided my SUV away from the area. He was a young man in his late twenties who stood about five feet nine inches and weighed about 180 pounds. He was a dark complexioned Caucasian man who wore a crude cut. He looked more a Marine than a civilian. He was wearing black shoes, black slacks and a black top and a stylish looking brown leather jacket. He was stocky in built. He probably played football in high school or even in college. “He obviously woke up and discovered that you were gone,” I reasoned.

  “I’m not sure how he found out that I had left. I mean, he was pretty ripped from a night of heavy drinking,” she began. “I actually thought that he would sleep way into the late morning hours. It would have been even better if I was at least a hundred miles down the road before he noticed that I was gone. Apparently something woke him up.”

  “Probably a cellphone call.”

  “You’re probably right, Sheldon.”

  “So, what do you want to do?” I asked.

  Diana’s eyes narrowed. She looked lost, just plain terrified.

  “Look, if you want me to, I’ll escort you to the ticket counter.”

  “No, I don’t want there to be a scene, and believe me there will be if he finds out that I am inside of this vehicle with you.”

  “Look, I can handle myself. But I need to know what you want to do,” I said.

  “I don’t know, Sheldon,” she murmured softly. “I really don’t know. If he sees me, he’ll force me to go back with him.”

  After a moment I said, “Look, I have an idea if you care to hear it.”

  “Sure, I’m opened for suggestions,” she said stooping low in her seat and looking about the area nervously.

  “I have to make a stop in Jacksonville on the way up north,” I began. “Matter of fact, it’s one of two stops I have to make before I continue on up to Philadelphia. What I can do is drop you off at the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Jacksonville. You can purchase your ticket there and leave from there. Sounds like a plan?”

  “Anything sounds like a plan to me right now,” she replied rubbing her eyes, eyes probably irritated from the rain she was drenched in before I picked her up. “But I’ll have to call the Jacksonville terminal on the way up to see what time the bus is scheduled to leave for New York.”

  “Okay, let’s get this show on the road,” I sighed aloud. We then took off.

  Diana seemed surprised, yet appreciative, that I had gotten her out of that situation without Jack seeing her. Once we took the ramp onto I-4 she seemed to relax.

  “Thanks Sheldon,” she said with a disarming smile.

  I nodded in return, saying, “You’re welcomed.”

  Leaning back into the car seat for the first time since she entered my SUV, she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. It was as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. I drove on and after a while she fell asleep. I could not believe that the attractive looking woman I saw for the first time the day before was actually sitting here right beside me, her lovely face looking so serene and so beautiful. I never have this kind of luck.

  Reaching over I tuned in a piano jazz station on my satellite radio and headed east until I-4 intercepted I-95 near Daytona Beach some sixty five miles later. Taking the north ramp I merged with the I-95 northbound traffic and after a while set my cruise control speed at 74 mph. Jacksonville was just two hours away. It would not be long before I offloaded my lovely cargo in Jacksonville, Florida.

  Chapter 2

  Diana stirred as we neared the Palm Coast area. I asked her if she wanted to make a comfort stop, especially since we were coming up on a rest stop. Still in a sleep-like state, she opened her eyes briefly and nodded yes, then closed them again. As soon as the exit ramp to the rest station appeared on my right I pulled off of the busy interstate. She awoke when I stopped, though she was still somewhat groggy. I told her to go on ahead, that I would be right behind her, but first I wanted to spread the damp towel she had used across the rear seat so that it would dry off faster.

  Securing the SUV I followed in her wake, watching her as she disappeared from view in the complex area where the ladies room was located. Bearing left, I headed towards the men’s room.

  Afterwards, I dropped a few quarters and grabbed a bag of chocolate-chip cookies from the snack machine while I waited for Diana. She appeared a minute later, this time with her dark hair pulled back, though a few loose curls framed her face. Spotting me, she sashayed over to where I stood in the concessions area. I asked her if she wanted anything but she said that she’d preferred to wait until we stopped to get something to eat. I told her that we were not too far from Palm Coast and that we could grab some breakfast there, although I had already eaten. We began to walk.

  “I see you changed your hairstyle,” I said surveying her hairdo.

  “I just decided that for traveling purposes, it would be easier for me this way,” she answered as she kept pace with me.

  “I get that a lot from women when I ask about their hair,” I said.

  Returning to the Navigator, we took off. Several minutes later we
entered the Palm Coast area which was located on the east coast of Florida, just below St Augustine and a few miles west of Flagler Beach. Both Flagler Beach and Palm Coast were part of the fastest growing county in Florida, Flagler County, during the late nineties and throughout the earlier years of the new millennium. It was a rural county named after railroad mogul Henry Flagler, a friend of, and former partner in the oil business with the world’s first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil. Few knew it but Rockefeller spent his last few years in Ormond Beach, Florida, just south of Flagler County, I told her.

  A minute later, we pulled off an exit ramp and followed my GPS system faithfully as it guided us to a Steak ‘N Egg restaurant just off of Palm Coast Parkway where we would dine for breakfast. Before we entered the restaurant we looked up the phone number to the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Jacksonville on my GPS system and Diana gave them a call. After a few minutes the call ended.

  “They have a bus scheduled to leave at 4:30PM this afternoon.”

  “Good,” I said just before we entered the restaurant.

  Since I had already eaten breakfast, I simply ordered a cinnamon flavored pastry and a cup of coffee. Diana ordered an omelet, hash browns, and a slice of toast. She had a small glass of orange juice to chase it all down.

  “Are you married?” she asked, finally popping the question most women ask in the first two minutes of meeting a guy.

  “No, divorced,” I answered, raising my cup of coffee to my mouth.

  “What happened, if I may ask?” she continued her inquiry as she chewed on a piece of toast.

  “I worked long hours, and she worked long hours, that’s the way it started,” I began. “She was a dentist. And a good one at that, I might add. She was so good that I wouldn’t let anyone else touch my ivory grill but her. But over time we grew apart and eventually fell out of love.

  “Oh, we still maintained the appearance of a happily married couple but you can only fool other people, including yourself, for so long. Eventually, she found comfort and happiness and sexual bliss in the crushing arms of one of her regular patients.

  “Then, one day she came home from work and told me straight up that it was over between us. End of story.”

  “Any children?” Diana asked.

  “No, Tiffany had a miscarriage,” I answered, mentioning my former wife’s name for the first time. Before continuing, I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “Hell, she didn’t seem interested in having children after that.”

  “My, that’s sort of sad,” Diana murmured after several seconds. “Most couples usually try again after some point.”

  “Well, I was willing but she wasn’t,” I explained lowering my head momentarily to stir my coffee. “What about you? Do you have any children?”

  “Naah, never even came close,” was her short reply.

  “Had you ever considered having children?”

  “Jack wanted children, lots of them,” she replied. “But me, I did not see myself going through all of that pain and suffering and agony more than once or twice.”

  “You mean, going through pregnancy.”

  “That’s exactly what I meant,” she said with a pointed look. “Anyway, I told Jack that I wasn’t having jack until the two of us got married.” She found herself chuckling after that pronouncement and pun. I joined in.

  “Well, I guess having children is out of the picture now.”

  “That’s right it’s out of the picture,” she quipped. “God, I’m never falling in love again.”

  “It’s that bad, huh?” I said lifting the cup of coffee to my mouth a third time.

  “I imagine it is,” she said softly, almost thoughtfully, as she sipped at her drink then set it down on the table with a thump.

  “Now me, I’m never going to marry again,” I conveyed as that statement landed with a thud.

  “Come on, your marriage couldn’t have been all bad, now,” she said looking at me with a doubtful but bemused expression.

  “Yes, it certainly was.”

  “Damnnn,” she murmured, drawing the word out.

  “Well, if you’re finished, we better get back on the road.”

  “Yeah, I guess we should get going.”

  I paid the bill while Diana insisted on leaving a tip. Almost immediately, she politely excused herself and made a beeline to the ladies room. With nothing better to do, I headed out to the Navigator to warm it up for her. By noon I expected the weather to warm up as well. She joined me inside minutes later and we pulled off.

  “What time is it?” she asked me.

  Pointing to my dazzling dashboard I showed Diana the time display, but just the same, I told her anyway, “10:10.”

  “What time do you have to be in Jacksonville?” she asked.

  “No set time,” I replied, as I passed an eighteen wheeler with ease. “Most of my folks are at work right now.”

  “Then why did you get such an early start?”

  “Well, I had originally planned on stopping in St Augustine to have lunch and look around some. It’s been a while since I last visited the area.”

  “So, you’re saying that because of me you’re going to cross that stop off of your itinerary. No, I can’t let you do that.”

  “Well, I have to get you to Jacksonville so you don’t miss your bus.”

  “But remember, my bus isn’t scheduled to leave until 4:30PM,” she emphasized. “No, I can’t let you ruin your plans on account of me.”

  “So, what are you saying?” I asked, glancing at her side profile momentarily.

  “What I am saying Sheldon is that we have plenty of time to stop there along the way. Four and a half hours to be exact. And that’s not even including travel time.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, turning to face her again.

  “Listen, I don’t want my schedule to come into conflict with your schedule or any other plans of yours. I just can’t do that.”

  “Okay, it’s settled. There’s a St Augustine exit coming up a mile ahead,” I told her. “We’ll take that exit.”

  “Good,” she said, “Besides, I have never been to St Augustine.”

  “Well, hang onto your seat,” I said, steering the Navigator onto the exit ramp.

  Turning right on County Road 207, we headed east in the direction of the nation’s oldest city. Traffic was light, thankfully.

  “How long before we get there?” she said, her eyes darting between the passing scenery and my own eyes.

  “We’re about fifteen miles out so I’d say another eighteen to twenty minutes, depending on the traffic.”

  “Good,” she said sporting a smile. “Where are we stopping at first?”

  “I don’t know, what do you have in mind?” I asked.

  “Like I’ve said, I’ve never been there before so I don’t know.”

  “Well, is there any particular anchor store or shop you might want to stop at?” I pressed her.

  “I’ll know once we get into the area and I can see what’s there. Perhaps there’s a Goodwill Store somewhere nearby.”

  “Okay, we’ll decide then.”

  As we drove on Diana pulled out her cellphone to check her incoming calls. Since she had turned the volume all of the way down, we didn’t hear any calls come through during our drive but checking now she noticed seven of the nine incoming calls were from Jack. Against my advice she listened to his voice mails and grew apprehensive.

  “So, what has he to say?” I asked as I stopped for a red light at the corner of CR 207 and US1.

  “He sounded pretty upset with me,” she answered, her right hand squeezing her left arm nervously. “He said that if I didn’t return right away he’d come and find me.”

  “Oh, that’s just a scare tactic he’s using to keep you unsettled,” I said reassuring her.

  “You think so, huh?”

  “Of course,” I replied. “Guys like that are bonafide assholes and enjoy the control they have over women. Scare tactics are a tool they resort to at ti
mes to keep their women in check.”

  “No disrespect but does this sound like a scare tactic,” she said as she put the speaker on to let me hear Jack’s voice ranting and raving and cussing at her.

  “I still believe it’s just all talk,” I insisted, although I was initially taken aback by his tone and profanity.

  “Sheldon, you don’t know Jack,” she stressed, her voice rising.

  “I don’t, do I?”

  “No, I didn’t quite mean it that way,” she said forming a smile.

  I chuckled too at her unintentional play on words.

  “Look, don’t you worry your sweet head off,” I came back. “By this evening you’ll be on a bus and on your way up to New York. I doubt if he’ll track you up there.”

  “I hope you are right,” she said, inhaling.

  By now we were in the historic area of St Augustine. It took a few minutes but we eventually found a parking space near the harbor and the famous Bridge of Lions. A marina with a full complement of moored sailboats and yachts was situated just south of the historic and revamped bridge. A restaurant named OC White sat across the street and to the right of the marina.

  Walking north we came upon a historic fort named Castillo de San Marcos and decided to take a tour of it. Afterwards we walked further north until we came upon Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum. We decided we didn’t have time for that tour.

  Around 1:45PM we came upon Harry’s restaurant where we ate lunch. It was one of those upscale restaurants that sat just across the street from the Bridge of Lions and the picturesque harbor. Several sailboats sat anchored just off of the shoreline.

  Afterwards, we decided to resume our trek north in the Navigator, this time on a more scenic route known as A1A. Along the way we passed by numerous vacation homes, many of them in the multi-million dollar bracket. Every few minutes there would come a clearing where we would catch a glimpse of the sandy beach and the expansive Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful sight. Once we passed through the affluent community known as Ponte Vedra, I turned left on J Turner Butler Blvd and headed west until we intercepted I-95. Once we returned to our northeast heading, I drove on until we closed in on downtown Jacksonville.