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“A back door? Preferably something on the wooded side of camp?”
Her eyes lit up. “Yeah. There’s a door off the living room. It opens out back.”
Jack stood. “Great. Go check the halls real quick.”
The girl looked at the door nervously. “Most of them are at movie night by the campfire. I’ll check… but what’s your plan?”
“My plan is to figure out my plan while you’re checking.”
Although she tried her best to hide it, the girl looked worried. “Nice plan. I’m so glad you’ve thought this through.”
Jack handed the roommate Amelie’s belongings and then picked Amelie up and carried her just beyond the edge of where the woods began. He gagged the whole way there. She reeked of a mixture of alcohol and vomit. He placed her on the ground and instructed the girl to wait with her while he pulled the car out of the lot. Once outside the gate, he pulled off near the pines, killed his headlights, and waited for few minutes just to be sure that no one had followed. It was a dumb move, he later told himself. A chicken-shit sort of thing to do, he thought. It was almost as though he wanted to be caught. His father would’ve laughed and said people who hesitate never win. Jack would’ve countered saying he was cautious, just going the extra mile. But his would have disagreed. His old man would’ve said he was a pussy.
Finally, Jack started out along the main road, doing his best to gauge where he might find a path that would get him back or at least close to where Amelie and the girl were waiting. Jack’s only saving grace that night was that he’d run the trails in these woods for years and knew them like the back of his hand. Once he found a spot he was comfortable enough to park, he pulled over and made his way through the woods on foot using a flashlight that was almost burned out. He cursed Amelie the entire way. He cursed her stupidity and the trouble she’d landed him in. He cursed himself for even giving a shit. Maybe his father had been right all along. Maybe he was a pussy.
Once Jack made it back to where the roommate (he never did ask her name) and Amelie were waiting, he crouched down and sat for a few minutes trying to collect both his thoughts and his breath. He was pleased to see that while she was still passed out, thankfully she hadn’t thrown up again. He picked her up and then placed her back down, wiping the drool from his shoulder. No way was he going to make it all the way back to the car, carrying her and her belongings.
The roommate seemed to have read his mind. You can take her stuff and come back. “I’ll wait. But I’m not walking through the woods with you. It’s too dark. Sorry.”
“I’ll manage,” Jack said, with more annoyance in his voice than he intended to convey. He slung her duffle bag over his shoulder.
“Where are you taking her?” the girl asked nervously.
“Home,” Jack replied, matter of factly. “Listen, not a word of this to anyone, do you hear? I’ll have her mother call tomorrow and explain that she decided to leave early. But whatever you do in the meantime… do not tell anybody that you saw her like this, ok? Can you strip her bed and put it in the laundry? If anyone asks, just tell them that she got sick and called her mom. Say that’s all you know.” He reached for his wallet and pulled out a hundred dollar bill. “Here. For your trouble.”
The girl searched his face, nodded, and took the money. Jack watched as she retreated back to camp not once looking back. He learned another life lesson that night: for the right price, people could always be bought.
Jack placed Amelie in the car, reclined the seat and pulled off her tank top. He dug through her bag, found another, and slipped it over her head. His eyes lingered longer than he intended. He couldn’t help himself. He buckled her in, threw her soiled top in the trunk, and pulled out onto the road. He drove on for an hour or so before pulling off into a twenty-four hour gas station to fill up. He still had half a tank, but he couldn’t keep driving unless he had something to perk him up. He didn’t bother trying to wake Amelie. She was out cold. Better to let her sleep it off he told himself. Inside, he picked up water, Gatorade, crackers, a map, a Dr. Pepper and a Snickers Bar for himself. As he headed to the counter to pay, he noticed the sheriff car pull-up outside, and two uniforms step out. Please, please, please don’t let them notice the girl passed out in my front seat he pleaded to no one in particular. Jack quickly made his way to the counter and set his stuff down.
“These and twenty dollars on pump two, please.”
The clerk nodded toward the parking lot. “Nice car. Where you headed?”
Jack gave the guy a look that conveyed he wasn’t in the mood for small talk. “Austin.” He motioned toward the car. “My sister and I are going to visit our dad. You know how it is… since the divorce, we hardly see him anymore. Of course, being the pain in the ass that she is, she had to go and get carsick on me. All over my mom’s car, too. Who, by the way, is going to be so pissed.”
The man flicked a dread lock over his shoulder and glanced briefly at the uniforms that were filling up at the coffee machine. He handed Jack a roll of paper towels and slid his change across the counter. He lowered his voice and quickly shoved the map into a paper bag. “Dude, I gotcha.” He grinned slightly before straitening his face. “No one’s mother lets them take a car like that out on the road at this tim
e of night,” he said, nodding in the direction of the uniforms in the back. Jack briefly glanced in the anti-theft mirror overhead. Thankfully, the officers appeared to be focused on something on the television at the rear of the store. The clerk continued speaking, quietly, under his breath. “Anyhow, let’s just pretend that pump two is broken. There’s another station about thirty miles south of here. Can you make it?”
Jack grabbed the bag from the guy and took the paper towels. Clearly, the clerk was a little more experienced in matters such as these. “Um… Yeah. Thanks, man.”
The clerk motioned slightly toward the door. “Safe travels, my friend.”
Jack only nodded. However, for some reason, he desperately longed to tell the tattooed, pierced man standing opposite him that he was right. His mother would never have let him take a car like that out on the road, at this hour or any other. But it didn’t matter because his mother was dead. He wanted to say the words, if for no other reason than the fact that the guy seemed like the sort of person who would understand such a thing.
Amelie stretched her legs, yawned, and suddenly sprang to life just after dawn. “I feel like ass,” she said.
“You smell like it, too,” Jack said, handing her the Gatorade and a bottle of Tylenol. “Drink that. And take two of those.”
Amelie gripped her head. “I don’t take pills.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Why’s that? You don’t seem to have a problem taking anything else.”
“Well, smart ass… for starters, because the guy who killed my dad was high on prescription drugs.” She shook the bottle and tossed it in the back seat as though it burned her hand just to hold it. “But also because these drug companies are just trying to get you hooked on their stuff, that’s why. Hey! Where are we, anyway?”
“A few hours outside of Austin.”
She gasped. “Austin! Why are we going to Austin? Jack! I don’t want to go home. Why are you taking me home?”
