Fly Me to the Moon

Chapter 4

After a few hours of packing and locking up the house, Joey began his way to Florida. He had a six hour drive awaiting him and started down the road at 9 am that morning. He was expected to arrive by 4:30 pm. He drove for 3 hours before he got hungry at noon. As he searched for a rest stop or restaurant to stop at, his car started making an awful racket. Before he had a chance to stop his hot rod red 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, it battered and sputtered as it came to the stop on the side of the road.

Joey got out of the car quickly and checked the hood. Because of his lack of knowledge about cars or the area he was in, he couldn't tell what was wrong. So he started waving on for help from a passing driver. But no one stopped to help and instead honked their horns in a taunting manner. Joey got back into his car and laid his head on the steering wheel in defeat.

"How am I going to get to Merritt Island now?" he asked himself.

"You're having car trouble?"

Joey looked to where the voice came from and came eye to eye with a crouching Antonio Lorenzo Reeves, aka Tony.

"Y-yeah, I don't know what's going on with it," Joey said sheepishly, "My name's Joey Platters. What's your name?"

"The name's Tony," he said, "nice to meet you. I will give the engine a good look."
Joey stepped out and watched as Tony checked out his car and fixed it as easily as it stopped working moments before. Suddenly Tony busted out laughing and looked at Joey.

"It's as clear as day," Tony said, "your engine is overheated from excessive driving. Have you given it a break in a while? How can you not know what's wrong when it's so clear? Are you that dunce?"

"Well, I may not be knowledgeable in automobiles, but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot," Joey snapped, "instead of being a judgmental jerk after fixing my car, maybe you should give me advice on how to fix it in the future!"

Joey stormed into his now fixed car and sped off once the hood was closed. Joey was enraged, his face flushed red in embarrassment and annoyance from this fateful encounter.

"Idiot!" The two said in unison from two points apart.

Tony got back into his rusted and brown 1944 Ford Pickup truck and drove down the road towards the same destination as Joey. As he was driving, he noticed that Joey and him were heading in the same direction.

'Why is he following me?' Joey thought nervously, 'god...I hope he doesn't expect a payment from me...'

Joey sped up a bit which made Tony chuckle.

'The dunce thinks I'm following him,' Tony smirked as he had an evil idea, 'let's have some fun.'

Tony sped up keeping up with Joey.

'Let's see if I take an alternate route coming up,' Joey thought, 'maybe I can shake him that way. One can hope...'

Joey merged onto the road going down a different intersection. Tony followed and laughed. Joey sped up again, with Tony on his tail. After a while of playing cat and mouse on the highway, Joey stopped abruptly on the side of the road. Tony stopped right in front of him and parked. He was the first to exit his car. He walked to Joey's car and noticed that he had his head on the steering wheel top and had passed out.

"Oh shit!" Tony said as he started checking Joey's pulse and suddenly heard his stomach growl followed by a groan from Joey.

"You forgot to eat, ya dunce," Tony said, "no wonder you peeled over."
Joey grumbled tiredly.

"Stay right there," Tony said as he went back to his truck.

He took out a pack of saltine crackers and hand fed Joey and gave him some of his canteen full of water. After he ate five characters and drank some water, he fell asleep.
'Should I leave him like this or...' Tony asked himself and then he shrugged as he walked back to his truck, 'he should be fine...maybe.'

He got into his truck and went to crank it but it wouldn't start up. He kept trying and the more it failed, the more he would cuss. Tony hit the steering wheel in a fit of anger and screamed. He got out of the broken down truck and checked it all around ending with a loud sigh.

"My luck and trucks, I swear," Tony mumbled, "all vehicles for that matter, lately..."
He then looked at Joey's car and walked to it.

"Hey, buddy, where ya headed? I noticed we are going in the same direction," Tony nudged Joey a tad.

"Mermaid Ilan," Joey muttered in his sleep.

"Mermaid Ilan? Who's Ilan?" Tony asked.

He put two and two together.

"Merritt Island, I'm going there too," Tony said, "If you scoot over, I will drive us there. You owe me for not leaving your sorry dunce ass here to starve after how you treated me after I fixed your truck."

"Mmm kay," Joey snored as he flopped into the passenger seat ever so slowly.

Tony got in and buckled them both up. Then he drove down the road entering Florida. An hour passed and Joey woke up and the first thing he saw was the pack of crackers and Tony driving. He reached over ever so slowly and grabbed a cracker. When he thought he was in the clear, the silence broke.

"You can have as much as you'd like, bud," Tony said, "you were too weak to drive and I am going to the same place."

"Thanks, Tony," Joey was puzzled, "um sorry for snapping at you before. It's just it gets to me when another man insults my intellect on things that most men are knowledgeable about."

"Don't sweat it, buddy," Tony said, "I'm sorry for calling you a dunce. It was uncalled for and I will remember next time. I can show you a thing or two about car care. I notice you are good about oil changes. But other than that, I can teach you about. I am a mechanic, so you were in luck. Unlike me and my truck."

"What happened," Joey asked.

Tony told him what happened and the two talked for hours on end about relatable experiences in life. Joey gave him directions and that's when they realized that they were going to the same location. Finally at 6:30 pm, they arrived at the NASA building where they were greeted by Sam Harris with a smile.

"Welcome, to your recruitment."