When Two Worlds Collide

by Jerome Sitko

  S

  Lance did not see Emma open the door after he left to let Bear out. Emma knows that Bear will be needed for the journey. She’s sad. It’s only a feeling but her feelings are usually right.

  S

  Joey is standing next to the fort in the darkness, just outside of the glow of the neighbor’s yellow hue porch light, his Walkman clipped to his belt and the headphones around his neck. Joey won’t go into the cabana alone; he’s still convinced people were murdered there.

  “Wuz up, little douche?” Joey asks with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth.

  “Fuck you, Jo-Jo. Did you see Bear?” Lance asks as he reaches for Joey’s cigarette. Joey tilts his head just out of reach and Lance whiffs the steal.

  “No, why? Are you bringing the little monster?” Joey asks.

  Joey and Bear don’t get along. Joey is pretty rough with Bear when he tries to play with him, and Lance thinks Bear doesn’t realize it’s play. It usually ends with Bear growling or biting Joey.

  “Yes…” Before he can finish, a dark figure emerges behind Joey from behind the cabana, and for a split-second Lance’s heart skips a beat and fear engulfs him. His wide eyes must have startled Joey. Joey spins around with his hand already in his front pocket digging his knife out.

  “You fucking dick!” Joey yells louder than he wanted. It’s Jeremy holding Bear.

  Lance is confused and happy that Jeremy is here, but still a little angry.

  “What are you doing here? I thought you didn’t have the stomach for it,” Lance chides.

  “After you and Joey both called, I knew I had to come. We have to save Ryan,” he says as he sets Bear on the ground.

  “I’m not going to lie. I was pretty pissed at you. In fact, I wasn’t going to ever call you again. Well, if I survived that is. But, let bygones be bygones, I’m happy you’re here, we need you,” Lance says.

  “Fucking kiss and get on with it already, fags. We got to go, yo,” Leave it to Joey to break up an awkward moment with an awkward comment.

  All three boys let out nervous laughs and start walking with Bear leading point. They walk shrouded by darkness toward the address Reno gave them, talking, and smoothing everything out between them. By the time they arrive, all three are back to normal, friends forever.

  S

  The house is pitch black. Reno’s sister does not use nightlights. Even so, Reno can move freely about in the labyrinth. Her sister has more furniture and knick-knacks than anyone Reno knows. Reno has spent so much time here that she can navigate without sight.

  A burglar would be tripping and falling as soon as he entered the house and the sound of dozens of porcelain and glass figurines smashing as they departed their dust-free shelves to the floor would surely wake everyone.

  She’s in the mint green guest bedroom and needs to make it to her sister’s room down the hall to secure the car keys.

  She silently slips down the hall, passing the all-pink bathroom.

  Her sister loves pink and this bathroom is her shrine. The walls are pink, the bathtub, toilet, and sink are pink, the Formica countertop is pink with speckles, and even the carpet is pink. It’s so pink that it almost glows.

  She makes it to the bedroom and luck is on her side; the door is ajar. Reno drops onto all fours on the carpet and enters like a cat. Unfortunately, the keys are in a red carnival-glass bowl on the nightstand, right next to her sister’s head. She takes a breath and holds it in as she reaches for the keys. The slight sound of metal against glass makes her cringe. Under normal circumstances, someone would really have to be focused to hear the clink, but tonight is not normal. Reno’s sister doesn’t stir, probably the Valium. With the keys secured tightly in her hand, she backtracks and goes to the kitchen.

  Damn it, I forgot the note, she thinks.

  She looks around the cluttered but clean kitchen for a notebook and pen. She has to leave a note, if not, her sister will think she was kidnapped and whoever abducted her also stole her car.

  She finds a scrap piece of paper and a pen and scribbles a note that she is safe, but needs to borrow her car, and don’t tell Mom or call the police.

  She signs it with her signature autograph—a capital ‘D’ with a small ‘r’ nesting inside. Her signature reminds her of a cartoon ear, somehow, and she thinks it’s cute.

  The boys arrive just as Reno is attempting to slowly and quietly close the front door. She has not turned around so she doesn’t see them and the porch light is off.

  Her sister believes in conserving energy and water but is no longer an activist like she used to be. She attended a climate protest in San Francisco a few years ago and was almost arrested. She loves the Earth but not enough to go to jail.

  Joey sees Reno’s back is turned and can’t help himself. He creeps up the driveway using the bushes as cover, ignoring Lance and Jeremy pulling on his arm. He grabs her around her waist and she lets out a blood-curdling scream as she simultaneously spins around and launches a fist full of keys into Joey’s temple. All four of them instinctively crouch, wild-eyed, and spooked. Once Reno realizes it’s Joey, she gestures a sigh of relief and then, “You’re dead,” she whispers as her hand rakes across her throat to give Joey a visual in case he didn’t hear her.

  They all regroup on the side of the house where it’s dark and they can talk.

  Over mild objections, Reno explains to the boys that she will be the only one driving. The car is her sister’s baby and if it gets so much as a scratch, her sister will kill her. She also makes it clear that no eating or drinking will be allowed.

  She picks up Bear and asks him, “Are you potty-trained, big guy?”

  Bear licks her face in acknowledgment.

  During all of this Lance is wondering, What kind of car does her sister own? Must be a Lambo. It better be a Lambo the way she’s acting and not some piece of crap. Lance would not know a piece of crap from a muscle car.

  They finalize their plan and set it in motion. Reno will get in the car and put it in neutral. The boys will push it out of the driveway and down the street far enough that her sister won’t hear it start. Simple.

  The night is warm and the air fresh. The mountains to the north are voluminous and dark. The stars in the sky shimmer dim and distant, clouds obstructing much of the view. The street has no street lights and only a couple of random houses have their porch lights on. It’s a perfect night to steal a car and attempt to break into Sheol.

  Lance looks skyward and can’t believe they are actually stealing a car. He’s torn. He knows that this is wrong, but he knows that they must do it if they are going to save Ryan. He wonders about his partners in crime and what they must be thinking. He knows Joey doesn’t care; he’s more of a daredevil and fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants type of person. This whole situation has to be weighing heavily on Jeremy. Under no other circumstances would he attempt something like this, and he doesn’t want to be here to begin with. Reno is hard to figure out and Lance is wondering why she is going along with any of it. She has no skin in the game. Maybe she’s bored or going to her dad’s house is so bad she would rather end up in juvenile detention or worse. Or, maybe Reno doesn’t really understand what she’s getting herself into. That must be it, Lance thinks.

  Reno slides behind the steering wheel of her sister’s car—a blue and white, 1976 Ford Mustang Cobra II—and puts the transmission in neutral. The boys creep to the front of the vehicle and begin pushing. All three of them are excited because the car looks cool and fast and their adrenaline is pumping. They push the car a full block before stopping, all of them now sweating from their pit crew work. Reno should have steered the car to the left, downhill, not right. The boys calmly climb into the two-door and sit quietly in suspense waiting for Reno to start the car.

  “You know how to drive?” Jeremy asks, holding Bear in his lap.

  “Of course, don’t be stupi
d,” Reno fires back. “I just have to remember which key is the car key. There’re so damn many.”

  After fiddling with the keys, she finally hits the jackpot and the car roars to life. Now it’s real. They are actually going to do this. All of them are in it together.

  Lance says a little prayer in his head asking God to guide and protect them. He knows he has Emma on his side, and he really thinks that she is an angel of God, but speaking directly to the Big Man can’t hurt and they will need all of the help they can get.

  It takes Reno a couple of blocks to figure out how to turn the headlights on and Jeremy notices that she hasn’t used her blinkers once. He hopes that she starts or they run the risk of getting pulled over. He was about to mention that to her, but Joey beat him to the punch.

  “Yo, Reno, you might want to try the little handle by the steering wheel, it turns on the blinkers. Down for left, and up for right. I thought you said you know how to drive.”

  “Joey, shut up, which way? You’re supposed to be the navigator. You do your job and let me do mine,” Reno says, obviously somewhat annoyed. She’s the one risking everything—running away, stealing her sister’s car, and driving without a license. When she told the boys that she knows how to drive she failed to mention that all of her driving time was out in the country with her mom in the passenger seat. At this point she doesn’t care. There’s no way she is going to risk damage to her sister’s car by letting one of these buffoons behind the wheel. Her sister loves Charlie’s Angels and bought the car because of the show. The car is her pride and joy and Reno feels bad about “borrowing” it without her consent.

  “Damn, I don’t know. It’s too dark and I can’t see the map.” In truth, even if Joey could see the map he wouldn’t know. He’s never read a map. Plus, he never volunteered to be the navigator so in his mind, they shouldn’t expect much. He’s already irritated that Reno won’t let him drive and now she expects him to be Johnny-on-the-spot.

  “Take a right and follow Eagle road up to I-84. We need to be going west on the freeway to get to Oregon,” Jeremy explains to Reno. He’s been to Ontario, Oregon quite a few times. His brother, Brian, had a girlfriend in Ontario and Jeremy would go with him until they broke up. He misses his brother already and hopes that he survives and gets to see him.

  Twenty minutes later, they are on I-84 heading westbound. Spirits in the car are high and they all believe it should be easy sailing from here. They did not realize that a quarter of a tank of gas does not get you very far.

  CHAPTER 4

  Ass, Gas, or Grass, Nobody Rides for Free

  Clack, clack, clack. The dreaded sound of running out of gas. It rings from the engine bay into the cabin. At first, all four of the occupants freeze in place and then start looking at each other as if one of them will know what the sound means, which of course, none of them do. Then the car starts stuttering and jerking.

  “What’s happening?” Reno asks no one in particular, just hoping for an answer. She gets no help from the boys, not because they don’t want to help, but because they don’t know what’s happening.

  Reno glides the car to the skinny shoulder of the freeway and they come to a complete stop. As soon as she puts the car in park, Joey jumps out and heads to the front moving with confidence. Sometimes Joey’s ego gets the better of him.

  “Pop the top,” he says as he gives the hood two firm smacks.

  “How? Is there a button or something?” Reno yells out the window expecting Joey to know.

  He doesn’t, so he can’t answer. He pretends that he didn’t hear her.

  Luck is on their side because the freeway is deserted. If someone sees them parked on the shoulder, they may stop to offer help and once they realize it’s a bunch of kids, they could call the police.

  “Reno, look down by your left leg. There should be something to pull to pop the hood,” Jeremy offers.

  “Maybe it’s just out of gas,” Lance says. He has no basis for his explanation but for some reason it just sounded right in his head. “Where’s the needle on the gas gauge?”

  Reno looks around the cluster of gauges just above the steering wheel and finally figures out which one is the gas. “The needle is on ‘E.’ What does that mean?”

  “It means we’re screwed, that’s what that means,” Jeremy says in a deflated tone.

  Every minute they sit on the side of the road they risk getting caught.

  “What do we do? Joey, get back in here we’re out of gas!” Reno yells out the window again.

  It’s well past 1:00 a.m.; it’s dark, and they are basically out in the middle of nowhere. They need to decide what to do and they need to do it fast. They all start to throw out ideas, but every time there’s an idea, someone in the group shoots it down. They are getting nowhere in their circular conversation and tempers are starting to rise. All of them feel helpless and agitated.

  Lance knows that if they don’t figure something out soon, Jeremy and Reno will probably vote to go back home and forget the mission. He needs to take charge and steer the conversation to a suitable resolution and he knows he’s running out of time. Operation Rescue Ry-Ry might be over before it really starts. He runs a couple of different scenarios through his head before settling on one he rejected earlier. He doesn’t see any other option.

  “Let’s hitchhike to Baker,” he blurts out, not really expecting any of them to agree but knowing that he has to come up with anything other than going back home.

  “I’m down,” Joey says as he fishes out a cigarette from the crumpled pack in the zippered pocket of his black parachute pants.

  Lance knew Joey would agree. It sounds dangerous and exciting. Heck, they might get picked up by a van full of hippies with weed, or on the flip side, a serial killer. Lance wasn’t worried about Joey; it’s the other two he knows he has to convince.

  “Think about it. We can lock the car so no one breaks into it. It’ll be safe right here until we get back.”

  Lance didn’t know that the car would get marked with a big orange checkmark and twenty-four hours later it would be towed. Reno’s sister will have to pay for the tow and storage once notified.

  “And, we will only get into a car that feels safe. Maybe a family on vacation will come by and pick us up.” He’s looking around at them in the dark. “Come on guys. We need to make a decision. I think we’re close to Baker City. I know we’re too close to turn back.”

  He is pleading because he knows that Jeremy wants nothing more than to turn around and go back to his boring life fighting with his brother.

  None of this feels right or good to Jeremy and he is again second guessing his decision to let his emotions and loyalty to his friends override his common sense. Jeremy also knows that being so close to Lance is dangerous. Charlie needs both of their blood to merge Adamah and Sheol. Charlie can’t do it with just one, it won’t work. If he stays in Adamah and Lance goes to Sheol they will be separated and that makes Charlie’s job much harder. But Jeremy reluctantly agrees instead of breaking Lance’s heart.

  Reno is the last one and Lance knows she’s still not sold. “Reno, I promise your sister’s car will be fine right here. I see cars on the side of the freeway all the time.”

  Lance is lying. The few times he’s been on the freeway he has yet to see an abandoned car. He tries his best to flash Reno a confident, and maybe even a sexy, grin.

  Reno doesn’t believe Lance, and she’s not sure what he’s trying to do with that awkward smile, but she knows how much finding Ryan means. She knows Lance doesn’t know it, but she really likes him. He’s cute, quirky, honest, and genuinely a good person.

  “Okay, but only if you’re sure it will be safe. You know that this car is my sister’s everything. It will kill her if anything happens to it. You promise?”

  Lance knows that if he says ‘yes’ he will be lying to her, and he likes her too much to lie, so he re
luctantly says, “I can’t promise, but I think it will be okay and what other option do we have? Please Reno.”

  She agrees and they immediately start preparing.

  As Lance grabs his backpack, he can’t ignore the nagging feeling in his head that this really isn’t a good idea.

  Emma, you here? Are we doing the right thing?

  Radio silence. Lance is confused. He thought she was always with him especially now when he really needs her. Did something happen that he doesn’t know? Is there some reason why she’s not with him right now?

  Emma is still with Lance, but Lance needs to be able to make decisions on his own and not always rely on her. When he really needs her, when the time comes, she will be there.

  They’ve been walking in the dark for about thirty minutes and all of them are starting to get tired. It didn’t dawn on any of them to take a nap before their big night. No one is talking, not even Joey. They just keep walking and walking. Not one car has gone by.

  Lance wonders if he made the right decision for his group and the whole situation is beginning to feel dismal. He scoops Bear up into his arms to give the little guy a break. He knows if he is tired then Bear has to be tired especially because it takes Bear a lot more effort with his short legs to keep up. Bear locks eyes with Lance and Lance wishes he could communicate so they could understand each other like how he communicates with Emma. He looks at Jeremy and notices Jeremy’s posture is the same as it was before he left the cabana: shoulders slumped and head down. He hopes Jeremy will be able to make this journey. He needs him. If for nothing else, he needs him for support.

  S

  Amy is slowly walking down a dark street about five blocks from their hunting ground—the overpass. She’s already been there and had to leave. She’s tired of the homeless. They stink and repulse her. She wants someone higher on the societal ladder tonight, maybe a person that showered in the last twenty-four hours and whose breath doesn’t smell like booze or rot. She left Ryan and didn’t bother telling him, not like he cares either way. The further she gets from the overpass, the better her mood. The evening is early so she has all night to hunt and seduce her prey. She’s going to take her time and pick a good one.