Chasing The Sun [ON HOLD]

7:15 pm

It's never felt so good to breathe fresh air. My cough stops almost immediately, and by the time I get to the passenger side door I can barely remember the smell. But before I can open the door, Kenneth grabs my hand.

"I'm going to have to sit there."

"Why?"

"Because I can't drive."

"YOU CAN'T-"

"No. Can you?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then yell at me later, because we have to go."

I groan. "Fine."

I climb into the driver seat and step on the gas. I drive straight out of the compound and into the hills around us.

"So," he says, "where do you want to go?"

"I honestly haven't thought that far ahead. Have you?"

"No. But I am thirsty. Do you have any money?"

"Yeah."

"How much?"

I pull over to the side of the road. "Why'd you do that?" he asks.

"Because I'm going to get my money out."

"You can't do that while driving?"

"No. And look away." I can feel myself blush again.

"Why?"

"Just look away!"

He throws his hands up and looks out the window, and I reach into my bra and pull out the folded bills. We weren't supposed to have money on the trip, so I had to get creative.

"Okay I'm good."

He looks back at me. "So how much?"

"Fifty."

"That's great! That means we can go to 7-Eleven."

"What's there?"

"Slurpees. Have you ever tried one?"

"No."

"Then we have to go! There's one pretty close to here."

"How do we get there?"

"You drive and I'll walk you through it."

"Alright," I say, and I pull back on to the main road.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time we pull up to the 7-Eleven I'm completely soaked with sweat. Pastor Jack's truck doesn't have air conditioning, and the Arkansas summer is hot and wet. The 7-Eleven itself is tiny, barely half the size of a normal gas station, and completely deserted.

"Are you ready?" he asks.

"For what?"

"To have your mind and your mouth completely blown by the supernatural power of slurpees."

"I don't think I have a choice."

"No you don't."

I follow Kenneth to the back wall and he hands me a cup and a lid.

"Fill this up with all the flavors you want. I recommend orange-cherry-Coke."

"What if I just want one flavor?"

"Then you lack imagination."

I shake my head. "I'm just starting off slow."

I walk over to the cherry spigot and turn the knob, but the slurpee comes out faster than I thought it would and it spills out of the cup and all over my hand. I reach for a napkin to wipe it off but Kenneth stops me.

"Don't. You're getting extra slurpee for free- just lick it off."

I laugh. "Really?"

"Really."

"Okay." I lick some off the back of my hand. Oh my.

"That's fantastic! How did I not know about this?"

"At least you do now. You have the cash?"

"Yes. And Kenneth?"

"Yeah?"

"I know what I want to do next."