Truth and Light

Chapter 2

I drove for two days straight. I didn't have a plan or even a map since I had trashed my cell phone and I didn't want to waste money on a paper map, especially since I didn't even know where I was going. I figured if I didn't have a plan, Duncan couldn't track me. I drove all the way west until I couldn't drive anymore.

I made it to the coast of southern California at dawn. I marveled at the ocean's beauty from my Volkswagen Bug's window, almost getting out of my car to dig my toes into the sand and search for seashells. I had never been to the ocean before and it was everything I had imagined it would be.

I didn't get out of my car even though I wanted to. If Duncan was coming for me, I needed to put more distance between us. There was no way I could play when I had barely any money, no food, no place to live, and if I was caught, Duncan would kill me.

Since I very much liked having the ocean so near me, I decided to stay as close to it as possible, something about it calmed me. I didn't know if it was the sounds or the smells, but I knew I wanted to stay near it. When I stopped for gas, I did the coin flip again heads for north, and tails for south. Again, the coin said heads, and I continued to drive north.

The second night outside of Vegas, I slept under a streetlamp in my 'bug, the waves crashing against the shore lulled me to sleep. Although the waves were comforting, I still slept fitfully cramped in the front of my small car. My ribs ached from the bruises Duncan had left on me. It was almost too painful to breathe.

My body always hurt more the second day than the first. The bruises looked darker and splotchy, and my eye was even more swollen than right after he hit me. Fluid leaked from my eye like tears, but it didn't stop even when I wasn't crying. I continued to wipe at it with a tissue.

When I woke up, the eye had crusted over from the fluid. I cleaned it carefully in the bathroom of a gas station, careful not to touch anything. The place was filthy and there was graffiti all over the walls. Parts of the floor were wet, and crumpled up tissue made the place a slushy mess.

The next night I came down with a fever. I was terrified, not knowing what to do or where to go. I knew I should use some of my cash on Tylenol to bring the fever down, but I didn't know when I would be able to earn more. Without using my ID I wouldn't be able to find work. When I started to shiver so badly that I could hear my teeth chatter, I was pretty sure I was going to get into an accident.

There was nowhere on the freeway for me to pull over though. The last place I had stopped had been a rest stop in California that had been lined with semi-trucks. I stopped to use the restroom there. Although it had been cleaner than the gas station, I had an uneasy feeling, like I was being watched. I quickly washed up in the bathroom. I practically ran back to my car and drove away.

I drove through the night, listening to the radio, singing along to keep myself awake, but the lack of food, the injuries I had from Duncan, and the fever made my eyes feel like lead weights. Finally, when I didn't think I could take it anymore, I saw a gas station off the freeway. It was sitting by itself on the side of the road and was lit up like the star on top of a Christmas tree. Something felt like it was guiding me, pushing me towards the gas station. I didn't need gas yet, and it was overpriced here anyways, so I parked in the small lot off to the side and walked up to the 24-hour convenient store.

Keeping my hoodie pulled up and my faced tucked in to my chest, I found a small Styrofoam cup and poured hot chocolate into it, warming my hands with the hot drink. Holding the steaming cup helped keep my hands from shaking as long as I used both hands, I didn't dump the hot drink all over myself. I snagged a small packet of Tylenol that was marked for a dollar and brought my purchases up to the attendant.