Night-Owl Trucking

Wednesday, 10:49pm

"Are you sure?" Alma glanced up at Luz, hesitation plainly written on her face.

Luz nodded, "Uh-huh, yeah, just give 'er a good yank." She pressed one elbow on the red Aerostar's front quarter panel as she leaned forward to tap the caliper with a knuckle, "Abe already pulled the bottom pin out, it'll swing up this way—" she rotated her wrist to illustrate, "—but you'll need to put some force into it."

"Si tú lo dices," the shorter girl muttered. She took a moment to find a comfortable grip, then pushed to no visible effect. She cleared her throat and planted her feet, then pushed again, leaning into the effort with shaking hands and a groan. Abe tilted his front half upward, giving her a little boost. The brake assembly squealed twice, and jerked free with a puff of crumbling rust. Alma gingerly lifted it up and let it rest against the wheel's mounting arm. "Okay, now what?"

"Best case scenario, your rotor's still good," Luz tapped at the metal disc, "Then you just swap in new pads. But..." She ran a fingertip over the pitted metal, tracing a line gouged into the surface, "This needs to go." She squatted next to where Alma sat on Abe's back, and Abe rolled a few inches to one side to let the tanned woman peer into the wheel well. "Alright, step two-point-one," Luz said as she reached out to curl a finger around the loop of metal holding the brake pads in place on either side of the rotor. "This bracket needs to come out before we can get the rotor off, lemme—" she pushed herself upright with a grunt, and patted at her pants pockets to find her keys. "Lemme go grab a few bungee cords, bee-arr-bee."

"Wait," Alma twisted around to watch the slightly taller woman walk away, "Did you just say text lingo out loud...?" When Luz waved a hand over her head to flash a peace sign, the dark-haired girl looked down at Abe and muttered, "Old people."

Luz whistled a tune as she jogged around Hooty's nose and unlocked the under-cab tool bay. She picked a few of the shorter bungee cords from the pile, then reached for Eda's little black bag o' hand tools. She bumped the panel closed with her hip and strolled back to the far side of the bench-pressed Aerostar. She nodded at Nate and Shawn as they carefully removed the wheels on the rusty minivan's passenger side. "Good job, boys!" Luz called, tossing a glance and a huh at the empty lawn chairs sitting between the two vehicles.

~

Amity slowly paced one of the aisles inside the Kwik Star Gas Station, the two-tone brown floor tiles clacking softly beneath her heel. Everything was brown, or beige, or some... just-off pastel. She couldn't help but scrunch her forehead and frown as she trailed her eyes across the store. Fluorescent bulbs cast greenish light from the neat grid in the drop ceiling, the just-audible hum of electricity overhead mixing with the tinny voices and music coming from the—Five, six, and two, eight!—televisions hung around the oddly-shaped Kwik Shop retail section. The coffee makers and Icee machines in the far corner attracted the most bleary-eyed customers; there were only a few shoppers wandering the snacks and miscellaneous aisles. She continued to turn on the toes of one foot until she was facing the glass double doors at the front of the shop. Thalia stood beside the Fresh Fruit shelf, gingerly rubbing one hand along her other slightly-red arm as she examined the bananas and oranges on display. Amity walked back toward the other girl with a question, "If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been traveling?"

Thalia hummed a thoughtful tone as she lifted an orange for a moment, setting it back down before she answered, "Just over three weeks." She chuckled before she sighed, and then she let her shoulders slump. "It was supposed to be a two week trip, but..." The sun-burned girl shrugged. "Some stuff happened, and then... like... would we ever have a trip like this again?" She crossed her arms under her chest and breathed out a huff of what might have been frustration, whispering, "Solo nosotras dos." Amity tilted her head and watched as Thalia opened her mouth to say something else, but shook her head and kept her silence instead.