When the Devil Came Down to Texas

Chapter 3

*not my image in the header

Chapter 3 //

She had the cold air on blast in order to keep her eyes open behind the wheel. The air feels a lot like Tommy's breath on her neck. She could feel her body begging for sleep. Something she hadn't had it what seemed like next to forever. His truck was crawling in front of her and her foot was getting a little pedal happy. Alex wanted to get where was going instantaneously, and at this rate- she checks her speedometer, 20 miles per hour- she wouldn't get to town before the sun started to fall behind the treetops. Alex groans and refrains herself from banging her head on the steering wheel. The muscles in her neck tighten, and then soften as she releases a breath of frustration.

Infuriating man, she thinks. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She wonders why she agreed to follow him, even if they were going the same way. She thinks about how she could've just told him she was passing through.

"After punching the man in the throat," She scoffs at her thoughts. "Yeah, right, Alexandra."

A pot hole in the road causes her poor, two-door motor on wheels to protest against the mistreatment she was receiving. Alex pats the dashboard lovingly, making sweet eyes at the speedometer.

"You and me both, Agatha," Alex says to her car. She named her Agatha because the name sounded reliable and safe. And the good Lord, who seems to forget her more often than not, knows how much Alex needs a reliable and safe thing, even if it is an inanimate vehicle named Agatha which, by the looks of it, could keel over at any given time. Alex chuckles lightly. She pats the dashboard again, keeping her eyes on the bumper of Daniel's truck, which is now going even slower than it was before.

Goodness, she thinks, this man isn't in any sort of hurry, is he? She rolls her eyes, a gesture made safe by being hidden in her own confines, and keeps on behind him. Dust wraps around his truck bed like a snake. She doesn't want to think of how the road behind her must look. Dust storms made Alex think of drowning. And all she wanted to do was keep her head above the wake.

The sun above shined brighter than any other joy had when she was with Tommy. With him, the joy was always coated in a shimmering layer of deceit and glazed with fear. With Tommy joy had never lasted. Sometimes, he would come home and swing her into his arms and tell her about the promotions he had just received, or about the deal he had just secured with an investor. Tommy was in a software company. He whispered all his I love yous' between the 'why couldn't you do it right this one time?' It happened when she was less than perfect in his eyes. And it was always when she felt the most guilt. Guilt over how she couldn't get one dang thing right: not his dinners, or the height of her heels. She couldn't even make the bed the way he preferred it.

She wipes away an escapee tear from her right cheek at the thought of everything she couldn't be for him. The perfect girlfriend she couldn't be. Somewhere inside of her she knows she is lying to herself, but lies are sweeter than the truth could ever be. And Alex is just so tired.

Tired of word wars and preparing herself each morning for the assault she is sure to face. The make-up she wasted when she wasn't allowed to leave the apartment. Not even to visit her family, who called often to a phone she wasn't allowed to touch. That isn't how love should be. She shouldn't fear him. She shouldn't have to. And that's why she had to leave. With new resolve, Alex fists away the wet trails on her cheeks and forces herself to think about the future instead of dwelling on the past.

More dust kicks up behind her car as she turns into what looks to be the middle of the town. Daniel pulls up in front of a building with a wooden porch in the front of it. Steps lead up to the door way. Above the entry Alex reads Casey's Market Stop and Cafe. Potted plants line the edge of the porch, and a wooden swing hangs from the right side of the porch. Flowers hang from the top of it. They look like the ones that drew her out from her car earlier: yellow and purple and red. They're gorgeous. She gets out of car, and after softly closing the door, walks up the steps and opens the door. Bells sound above her. The handle is hot to her touch.