Before You

Chapter 10

          I walk through the parking lot trying to get to my car as quickly as I can. Jett is trailing a few feet behind me. I don't know why I'm walking so fast. I feel as though I'm almost trying to get away from him. I remind myself to slow down as Jett catches up to me.

          "Okay, this is it" I say as I point to the black Toyota Corolla in front of me. I unlock the doors and we both enter my car.

          "Nice. I wouldn't think you would have a Corolla. I picture you in something more like a blacked out Hummer. That would definitely compliment your personality" Jett says with a laugh.

          "Ha Ha. I love my Corolla and the best part is it's mine. I bought it myself and it gets me from point A to point B so that's all that matters. Besides, it is black. So it matches the color of my soul," I say while arching my left eyebrow.

          I'm almost surprised when Jett starts laughing, loud. I don't think I've ever heard him laugh this loud before. He puts his right hand on his stomach as if he's trying to control himself from the laughter.

          "That was good! I knew you would lighten up eventually" Jett smiles as he looks straight ahead.

          I decide to not respond to him. If I do, I may say something harsh. Jett guides me through a series of highways until we're about thirty miles away from Atlanta. I've been checking my GPS as we drove. We're actually northeast of Atlanta. We didn't say much on the drive. There was just a series of directions and Jett checking his cell phone a lot. I haven't seen a building in awhile. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen anything in awhile.

          "Here! Take a right onto that dirt road," Jett points to the road in front of us.

          I do as he says and make a right on the road. Almost instantly I become a little anxious. This is not a main highway. Where could he be taking us? This is in the middle of nowhere. I stop the car and look straight at Jett.

          "What is this? Are you trying to trick me? We're in the middle of nowhere," I say harshly.

          "It may be nothing to you, but it's something to me. Look" Jett points in the direction over my shoulder.

          I look over my shoulder and see that the dirt road has turned into an open field. It's huge. I slowly drive up to a big oak tree that's about 200 feet in front of us. As soon as I park my car, I open the car door and take in my surroundings.

          I see acres and acres of green open space. There's a small lake on the left off in the distance. Large oak trees outline the lake making it appear secluded. I slowly turn my head to the right taking in each part of the area. I see a small building off in the distance. It looks like a small cabin, but I can't be sure. My eyes light up and I feel the excitement and need to photograph it.

          "Wow, you almost seem excited" Jett says.

          Realizing that he's been staring at me, I try to lower my excitement and seem unfazed. It's too late. I look at Jett whose still staring at me while holding a huge smile on his face. He caught me. Why do I even care that he saw me excited?

          "Okay, my focus is over there" he says as he points to the lake.

          We both grab our camera bags out of my car and start hiking to the lake. It's about 500 feet from where I parked my car. Most of the grass is fairly tall, coming up to my knees. It appears that it hasn't been mowed in a few months.

          "Where are we? How did you find this place?" I ask.

          "I like to take a lot of drives. I actually like being away from the city as much as I can. I came across the dirt road one day and just decided to check it out and see where it led. I stood at the oak tree where we parked and got just as excited as you did. I've been out here numerous times just walking and taking photographs. One Saturday while I was here, a man showed up. He introduced himself as Hank and wanted to know why I was here. We talked for a while. I found out that he's the owner of the property. Years ago he used the land for farming, but after his wife died he moved in with his daughter about an hour away. He loved the land so much that he couldn't get rid of it. So, he still comes here to walk around and make sure the grounds are kept up. He's an older man, probably in his seventies. He said I could visit whenever I wanted" Jett says.