Thomas Hewitt: End Of The Line

Devil Always Made Me Think Twice

He had seen her car coming up the road long before she'd seen him. No matter what side she had been on, her tire would most definitely hit the strategically placed spikes Hoyt had laid out. Thomas let out a sigh as he stood up from the tree stump he'd been resting on to trudge his way over to where she'd be stopped. Hoyt enjoyed this game far more than he ever did, but he had no choice but to participate. However, he had neglected to grab his chainsaw before he'd left the house, so hopefully she didn't put up too much of a fight. He didn't much care to use his hands against a woman especially, the saw usually did most of that dirty work for him. He took his time walking over, he knew she was stuck no matter what she did. If he didn't get to her first, Hoyt would. Though there was a sympathetic part of him that did like to spare them from his antics as long as he was able to. Hoyt had a tendency to take things a little too far, he liked to play with his food.

The heat made the truck she drove look as though it was melting in the distance. She was in the bed bent over to retrieve something. From what he could see so far, she'd be an easy catch. Then again, most were for Thomas. Not many people compared to him in size and stature. She stood back up with a tire in hand and he watched as she tossed it to the ground. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and caught sight of him as she hopped out of the bed. He saw her wave a hand in his direction. He hated when they were so naive, it made him feel guilt he didn't need. Surely once she saw him up close she'd get that same old look in her eyes everyone did when they looked at Thomas. Looking at him tended to make people uncomfortable and it didn't go unnoticed by him. Their eyes always had a nasty ability to speak without words what they thought of him. That usually got him going enough to play along with Hoyt's games.

As he drew closer he could make out some of her features. From what he could see she had a mop of messy dark blonde hair that hung down far past her shoulder blades. It just barely grazed her waist and it curled the same way his did only she had more of it. Must have been a pain to deal with in summer. She wore a pair of shorts that hugged her hips just a little too tight, a green tank top to cover her top half and a pair of boots that looked a little too clean to be from these parts. He could tell she was Texan, but she was a little more than out of her element. She was a city girl. The distance between them was closing now and he waited for her to back away in fear. Instead, her feet stayed planted where they were. Her lips curled up into a smile as her eyes strained through the bright sunlight to look up at him. It was more than confusing for him to say the least and definitely took him aback. It was a pretty smile too, she had some of those bright white teeth people around here just didn't have. Though her eyes were struggling to stay fully open in the light he could see she had some of the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. They made the sky behind her pale in comparison. He didn't usually hesitate going in for the catch, but he felt immobilized under her gaze.

"Hi," she said in a strangely sweet tone, "mind helping me change a tire?"

And she was talking to him? Not screaming, not begging him to leave her alone, just talking. As if he was just as normal as she. He couldn't remember the last time someone besides Mama or Hoyt, occasionally Monty, had spoken to him. In fact, he didn't have any idea how to respond, though that didn't seem to phase her. She kept on speaking, filling the gaps he'd left in the conversation.

"Oh I'm sorry, I should probably introduce myself," she said as she held out a hand, "I'm Ronnie."

He glanced down at her hand and back up to her. She patiently waited for him to take it and the amount of time it took for him to decide whether he wanted to didn't seem to bother her. That friendly face she wore never faltered. He slowly reached up and accepted. She gave his hand a firm shake, more impressive than he'd expected.

"It's short for a name I don't care too much for, so I just go by that, anyway," she said as she walked back over to the tire that sure enough had fallen prey to Hoyt's trap, "I could use some help lifting this damn thing up and getting this tire off. Think you're up for it? I'll be outta your hair after that, I promise."

Thomas watched her pick up the spare on the ground, she did her best to hide how heavy it was in her arms. He glanced behind her to see the road was still empty and checked the area he had just come from. Hoyt was nowhere in sight and he knew Mama would still be at the gas station for at least the next hour. He let out a drawn out sigh when he looked back down at her. If anyone saw him he'd never hear the end of it, but he wanted to help her. That lack of judgement in her eye's wasn't something he was used to, it softened him enough to want her as far away from his family's grasp as possible. He brushed past her and knelt down to see how much damage the spikes had inflicted. Thankfully, the rim wasn't touched. She'd be able to make it to the border and safely on the spare. She set the tire back down and hopped back up into the bed to retrieve the jack.

"Uh," she mumbled to herself as she sifted through the various tools lying in front of her.

He waited for a few moments until she hopped back down next to him, "Figured you'd need one of these too, I think right?" She said as she handed him the jack and socket wrench.

He let out what she assumed was a laugh in response as he grabbed the tools.

"I know," she said as she brushed some of her curls behind her ear, "I'll get around to learning how one day."

He allowed himself another glance up at her to see there was blush on her cheeks. He couldn't tell if it was cause of him or maybe the sun had been kissing her just a little too long. He decided that had to have been the case. She had been kind to him, but he wasn't dense enough to think it was anything more than common curtesy. Still, something about that rosy face was hard to look away from. He tried to focus his attention on the lug nuts, he only had a couple more to go. He knew it wouldn't be long until Hoyt came round to check the area. If that happened, helping her would be almost impossible. Even Thomas was wary of facing Hoyt's wrath when defied. He moved as quickly as he could and thankfully he managed to get the spare on without any interruptions.

"Thank you," she said as she watched him stand up and wipe his hands on his apron, "you're a real life saver."

She had no idea. He could tell she was waiting for him to speak so he gave her one nod and that seemed to satisfy her. She walked around to the driver's side and started to climb in. Before she sat down she turned back to him.

"Oh, I forgot, do you know if I might be able to find a gas station around here?"

He firmly shook his head no, but in reality he had no idea how to warn her. He he used his hand to motion for her to just keep driving, but he could only hope she understood.

"Guess I'll figure it out," she said before she waved him goodbye, "thanks again."

The engine roared to life and he watched her drive off down the road. As much as he would have liked to, for her sake he hoped to god he'd never see that pretty face again.