Thomas Hewitt: End Of The Line

God's Gonna Cut You Down

Her eyes kept glancing down at the gas light, which had been on for quite some time. She didn't want to panic, but the farther she got from the man on the road she couldn't help but wonder if she had to stop again and would she be lucky enough to run into someone as kind as he'd been twice? She was tough, but she didn't want to take too many chances. She kept her eyes peeled for anywhere she could fill her tank up. It was at least another few hours till she'd reach Santa Fe and she wouldn't make even one with as little gas in the tank as there was. Much to her relief, she saw a sign coming up to her right with 'gas' written on it clear as day. The man she'd met had been so adamant there wouldn't be a station, which seemed strange to her now seeing this one wasn't too far off from where she'd been stopped. She slowed down to pull into the gravel driveway and parked at the one pump sitting out front. The place looked just about abandoned and she wondered if maybe the man had been right, that perhaps it was no longer in business. She looked through the passenger window at the run down building. For a brief moment, something within her wondered if maybe the man did know about this place, maybe he hadn't told her about it for a reason. She glanced down at the gas light again and weighed her options, which were slim. She either took her chances and filled up here or risked running out and being stuck in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't much of a choice, for all she knew this could have been the only place for the next hundred miles. She shut the engine off and climbed out of the truck. Her boots hit the gravel and she made her way up to the door. Through the window she saw an elderly woman sat at the desk inside. That relieved some of her fears, the woman looked harmless. She pushed the door open and the bell above alerted the lady to her presence. She peered over the top of her glasses at Ronnie who greeted her while the same smile she had Thomas.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked dryly.

"Just need some gas," Ronnie responded, "maybe some water too, if you've got it?"

The woman nodded in the direction of a small refrigerator in the corner. Ronnie strolled over to it and grabbed a few bottles for the road before she went to place them on the counter. She tried to ignore the woman's clearly disapproving looks at her jean shorts.

"You from around here?" She asked as she took the cash Ronnie had placed on the counter.

Ronnie shook her head, "No ma'am, I'm comin' from Houston."

"Houston," the woman repeated as she placed the bottles in a paper bag, "that's a long way for a young woman like yourself to drive alone."

The woman glanced out the window to Ronnie's truck as if to double check she was indeed alone.

"Thankfully I don't have much longer to go till Santa Fe," Ronnie said with another smile.

The woman nodded, "Family?"

"Just a fresh start," Ronnie replied.

The woman pushed the bag towards her and Ronnie picked it up before she turned towards the door to leave. She stopped just before she'd opened it and looked back to the woman.

"Oh, I forgot," she started, making the woman look up over her glasses once more, "is there any chance I could get a tire here or somewhere nearby?"

"You lost a tire?" The woman asked with a strange tone.

"A few miles back," Ronnie answered, "I've got a spare on now, but I know it won't last too long and I'd hate to get stuck."

"You know how to change a tire?" The woman asked, giving Ronnie another once over as if she didn't buy the girl had the slightest idea how.

Ronnie felt almost embarrassed to admit she didn't, but she didn't like to lie, "No, there was a man a few miles back. He gave me a hand. I'm ashamed to say I'd probably still be out there trying to figure it out if he hadn't come by," she said with a laugh to break the tension.