The Desired Effect ~ Cameron Liddell

Chapter 7. "Louisville KY"

It was dark and cold when I opened my eyes. I looked around and saw nothing but the moon through a small window across the room. I looked around for my phone to use as a flashlight, but found a real flashlight instead. I had woken up on a thin blue yoga matt. The only other thing in the room was a bottle of water and cigarettes. No sweater or blanket to keep the cool breeze off my body. I stood and walked to the only window in the entire room. The moon was just rising over the desert scape. I was in the middle of nowhere. When I opened the door and walked around the one room cabin I was completely alone. No animals, or people, or plants. No life. Just me, and the cabin.

When I woke up I was warm. A nice changed to the cold desert terrain of my dream. I wrapped the thin blanket I was cuddling around my shoulders and walked out front. The rough floor of the bus was cold on my bare feet. I need slippers for this place. It's gonna get so dirty soon. Cameron had fallen asleep in the booth, his face in his laptop next to a bottle of Jack Daniels. The only light was from the headlights on the road in front of us, in the middle of nowhere. I grabbed the cool glass of the bottle and tipped it to my lips, taking a few sips before putting it back down gently. I touched Cam's arm lightly and he woke with a jump.

"Oh." He nodded. "Hey baby." He put his head back down in his arms and closed his eyes again. I closed the computer and moved the bottle away before he could knock it over.

"Come to bed." I tugged his arm a little. He must have just fallen asleep when I woke him. "Come on, Cam." I pulled him again. He finally got up and stretched, his arms reaching well above the height of the bus, so he tilted to either side. He kissed the top of my head before going and climbing into the bunk. I was about to turn and follow when I saw Danny looking at me in the rear view mirror. You absolutely needed a license to be driving a bus that big and unless Danny was taking night courses to get one that no one knew about, I knew we weren't in great hands. He never minded driving because it was the only time no one was bothering him, he said. I sat on the step by the door, leaning against the wall in the opposite direction of where we going. I put my legs on the half wall in front of me so there were bent almost to my chest, one above the other.

"What's up, legs?" He asked softly, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I had a weird dream. Why are you driving?"

"Because we don't have a driver until we get to Louisville, and I want to. Ben and Sam both drive too slow. And if I put Cameron behind the wheel we're all gonna die. And James is fucking stupid. So lay it on me, Nomes."

"What?"

"Your dream." I sighed.

"Oh. I woke up in this shack in the middle of the desert. Like, American desert. When I walked outside there was nothing around me as far as I could see in any direction.."

"And?"

"That's it. Then I woke up. It was just creepy."

"I had a dream like that once." He nodded. "But I wasn't in the desert. And there was lots of money and strippers. And I was in a hotel room, not a shack."

"So, nothing like that at all." I forced a laugh. We were both quiet for a while. "Do you want me to drive?"

"God no." He said quickly. "I've seen your driving. I've heard about your driving. I'm too sexy to die. And it won't be in a bus accident because I let a child drive." More silence. I heard a loud crash and we both looked to see Sam had fallen out of his bunk. I was beginning to think it had become so much of a habit for him in the RV that he didn't care anymore. He just got back into bed and went back to sleep. I didn't even have to laugh about it anymore, it was so common, but it was still funny enough to make me smile.. "He's completely unfazed. He doesn't even care that he just fell three feet out of his bed."