The Light [ON HOLD]

1.2

T W O

"Fuck you anyway, Rene!" creeched an old man, waving his hand at some equally old woman inside of a rusted, aged gas station just on the outskirts of the town. David, having half-opened the door to his pickup truck, immediately closed it, staring through the open window with some fascination at the near-violent argument between the apparent couple.

"So that's your solution, Harry!" the old woman, Rene, shot back, storming out after him. "Just walk out, walk away, like you always do! Like you've been doing for forty years!"

David started to wonder if he should forget his desperate shortage of gas and just drive back home. He didn't want to get involved in this. He still had an pounding headache from getting drunk all alone the night before, but somehow, looking back on it, was he alone...? He could almost remember bright blue eyes, brushing a tear off someone's freezing cold cheek, a soft, gentle voice that seemed to be screaming at the same time--

He shook his head at the thought. No, he was mistaken, surely. He would never openly admit it, but David was a sucker for romantic movies, and, being a sappy drunk, he had no doubt popped The Notebook in his DVD player and passed out watching that...

Before he could think on it too much, though, his window to leave had apparently passed, as Rene finally, in the middle of her tirade, had taken notice of him.

"There's a new face!" she said merrily, her voice sweet as candy, smiling a crooked smile and making her way to his pickup. "What brings you to our little truck stop?"

This was such a stark contrast to her previous demeanor, David felt a bit dizzy. "I, uh..." He swallowed and nodded to the gas pump he was parked next to. "Need gas."

"Well, why didn't you just come on up and say so? Harry's lazy arse can fill your tank for you in no time." She turned and suddenly boomed--"HARRY, YOU LAZY FUCKER, YOU GET BACK HERE, NOW!"

Harry was already halfway to what David presumed was his truck. It was much, much older than his. A Ford, probably from the 60's. As old and rusted as the station itself. "No dice this time, woman!" he yelled back. "You can fill up that fella's tank your own damn self! It's only fair and equal!"

"I can come back later," David said quickly, reaching toward the ignition, but Rene held up her hand. "No need, no need. I'll go get him. That truck of his hasn't gone for years..." She started off, with surprising speed for her age, towards Harry, who, as she'd predicted, couldn't get his truck to start, and was cursing her name, swearing that she'd done some sort of witchcraft on it, set some evil spirits on it, and that's what all that black smoke was...

David finally got out of his pickup and, stuffing his hands in his pockets, started towards the couple, who were so caught up in their bickering they'd forgotten him again. "E-Excuse me," he interjected, and, a little louder when they ignored him, "Excuse me!"

They both turned to him and snapped, "what?"

David cleared his throat and gestured to the truck. "I think I can help with that."

"What, you an exorcist?" Harry asked dubiously.

"What?" David retorted, and then cleared his throat again. "N-no, I mean, I can repair it. The engine. I've worked on this sort of thing before." He singlehandedly had fixed his mother's old car a few years back.

"That'll take some witchcraft," Harry snorted. "I've been working this girl over for five years, an' not once has she started. 'Cause this woman here," he jabbed a finger at Rene, "done cursed her!"

"You keep that finger away from me," Rene snapped. "You know good and well I don't do that sort of thing!"

"I can take a go at it," David continued, "if you'd fill my gas. And give me a job, maybe, if you've got one open." The words flew out of his mouth as he thought them. Suddenly he felt sheepish and looked down at his shoes. Some nerve he has, offering himself a job! Especially at this place, in the middle of these peoples' tumultuous marriage!

But to his surprise, Harry thought about it. "Yeah," the old man replied, giving a nod and scratching his beard. "Yeah, we could use some extra help. Only if you pull a miracle and fix this damned thing, though. Only if."

"And we'll only consider it," Rene added, looking David up and down. "Depending on how good a job you do. I'll inspect it myself, too." She squinted a little, staring him down some more, and then finally nodded, resolute. "I'll bring you out some water. You'll be here a while."