Transcontinental (27 page)

“Just for future reference, when somebody says ‘calling in,’ they are looking for permission to safely enter the jungle,” Ant informed Chad. “It is one of many unspoken guidelines of the jungle. Perhaps you should look into them.”

Oblivious, Chad said “Okay, brother, I hear ya. Sounds interesting. Jungle guidelines!” He struck the pose of a hunter holding a spear. “Thanks for the
tip
,” he said, and launched the fake spear, then looked them in the eyes, waiting for a response. “Like the tip of a spear?”

Ant looked away. He opened his bag and found bread and peanut butter, put one inside the other, then put both in his mouth.

“So you guys just passing through, or… ?” Chad trailed off.

“Y-yeah,” Leroy stammered and shot Ant an awkward glance.

“That’s cool, that’s cool,” he said, as if it was decidedly uncool.

“Yep. As soon as my ankle feels better we’re gonna head out.”

“I could drive you somewhere if you guys need a ride.”

Ant shot upright and said “You have a car?” through peanut butter.

“Yeah, about a mile from here in a parking lot. Got no gas, though. If you’ve got the money, I’ve got the time!” he grinned.

Leroy said “We gotta talk about it.”

“You got it. Hey, wanna hear something funny?”

“Sure,” Leroy said to humor him. The guy seemed harmless enough. Ant nodded facetiously, chewing the mush with his mouth open.

“Okay so couple weeks ago this guy ended up here, real dumb, like something was probably wrong with him. He was talking to himself, didn’t really know where he was, oh man it was great. Anyway, somehow I convinced him to piss on the electric fence around the corner,” he pointed with glee in his eyes, “and, like, his wang totally got zapped!” He waited for them to laugh, and did it himself when they didn’t. “He was rolling all over the place, it was a riot.”

“Wow,” Ant started, cleaning his teeth with his tongue. “That
is
funny.”

Leroy had to close his dropped jaw not once, but twice. He expected Ant to be the first person to protest a story in which there was human suffering, but he might as well have laughed at it.
 

Before he could say anything, Ant popped a question: “If we provide the money for gas, you are willing to give us a lift?”

“Hold on,” Leroy said. “I gotta talk to you in private.”

Ant widened his eyes and sighed in frustration as he stood. He helped Leroy hobble out of the ditch and behind the robust trunk of an old Oak tree, its leaves yellow-tipped in anticipation of summer’s passing.

“I told you I’m not riding with anyone I don’t know,” Leroy whispered.

“We know him,” Ant said. “He is Chad! And he has a vehicle.”

“He just laughed at a man getting shocked. You wanna
ride
with him?”

“Chad is kind of a dunce, but he is not dangerous.”

“And what was that all about? ‘That
is
funny,’” he mocked. “No it wasn’t!”

“Of course it wasn’t. But do you think he would drive us anywhere if I sat there and told him how much of a dunce he is?”

“Keep it down,” Leroy whispered. “I
wish
you told him. I don’t care about the ride. I’d rather take my chances hopping the fence.”

“That is not very smart. Now listen, you need to make a choice—are you the captain, or are you not?” Ant paused, but not long enough for a response. “Because you keep wavering back and forth. Somebody needs to make decisions that allow us to move forward, and you seem disinclined to do so.”

“You think it’s smart to waste the money we have on this?”

“That is what the money is for, is it not? To help you reach Tampa? I find it hard to justify calling progress a waste.”

“Do we even have enough to make it to Florida?”

“Eighty dollars will buy about four tanks of gas, so probably not. But we should go as far as he is willing. We could be in the South by tomorrow!”

Leroy shook his head. Something deep inside him was telling him not to do it. This was
his
journey.
He
needed to be making the decisions. He’d let Ant take control for a while and look what it’d gotten him—two terrified shoppers and a night-time police escape.

“Whether or not I’m a leader, I
am
the captain. He can drive us to the next station, but after that, no more sketchy rides with strangers.”

“Are you kidding me? As much as I love it, freight hopping is about as sketchy as it gets. A car ride is a hundred times safer.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ma go with my gut on this one. That’s what the police on TV always say to do, and that’s what I’ma do.”

“What of your ankle? I cannot carry you the whole way.”

“You don’t have to. He’ll drive us. I can make it to the train on my own. Besides, my ankle’s feeling better already,” he said, putting weight on it and bouncing a bit, which he regretted instantly.

“I think you are making a huge mistake, I really do. You could turn a dozen smaller trips into a single big one and save time and effort.”

It sounded rational, efficient even, to Leroy, but he knew it was time to start making decisions for himself, and this was the first decision he’d made in which he felt truly certain. It wasn’t going to be the easy way, or the smartest way, but it was the way that felt
right
.

“I made my choice,” Leroy stated with confidence that surprised him.

Ant tisked, and shook his head. “It is a good thing you have no crew. Intentionally sailing uncharted waters is grounds for a mutiny.”

“Instead of telling me how
bad
I am at it, how about helping me?” He nearly shouted it. When he realized, he peeked around the trunk of the Oak tree and saw Chad look away quickly.
 

“What further help can I give than to streamline your progress?”

There was a sincerity in Ant’s gaze that shook Leroy, wavering his confidence. But he couldn’t let doubt take hold now. He was taking charge. With that in mind, he walked on his own, purposefully but painfully, back to Chad at the jungle. Ant snorted and followed at a distance.

“Can you drive us to a train station if we give you money?”

“For sure, brother, for sure. When?”

“Right now?”

“That works.” Chad sprang up from his seat, pointing. “Onward!”

Leroy met Ant’s gaze, and they stared into each other for a moment, then Ant faltered, and took a knee. Without saying a word, Leroy climbed up onto Ant’s back, and they trailed behind Chad.

“Do not get used to this,” Ant said.

“Too late.”

* * *

Ten minutes later, they emerged from the tree cover behind a laundromat. Decor from the hair salon that’d apparently occupied the building previously stuck out over the top of a dumpster. Leroy remained upon Ant’s back, though neither of them had spoken a word to each other since they’d left. Chad had spoken plenty for both of them, prying into their personal lives while imparting expansive chunks his own.

After rounding the front of the building, they set out along a country road surrounded by sweeping hills, blanketed by forests, and sparsely dotted with the occasional place of business.

“At that point my dad kicked me out,” Chad lamented. “My girl let me go, I had no home, no direction. I stayed with my sister for a while. It was the longest week of my life, brother. Then he asked me to move back in and we both cried and it was a whole thing, you know how it goes.”

“Uh-huh,” Ant said, as he’d done a hundred times on the short walk.

Chad’s stories only reinforced Leroy’s decision to part with him.

They reached the far end of the parking lot and Chad said, “Well, here she is.” Ant set Leroy down next to a beat up, squat little car with a fender-sized dent in the passenger door and a shattered window. Leroy peered in and noticed the radio had been ripped out.

“Uh, someone stole your radio.”

“Oh, yeah that happened a while ago.”

“Why did you not move the car?” Ant inquired, pulling tiny chips of glass from the empty window frame. “Anyone could have hot-wired it.”

“Can’t steal a car with no gas,” he responded with a grin, then pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, despite the passenger window being gone, and grabbed the steering wheel as he sat.

“Actually, it would be exceedingly simple,” Ant said, as he tossed both his and Leroy’s bag into the back seat. “The car could be lifted onto a flatbed, towed, or hell, simply rolled right out of the parking lot.”

“Speaking of rolling: I’ll steer, you guys push?”

“Wait, what?” Leroy said.

“You cannot make it to a gas station?” Ant asked.

“Brother, it’s so dry it won’t even start,” Chad laughed. “There’s a gas station less than a mile up the road, though. We can totally make it!”

“I can’t really push a car with a hurt ankle.”

“That is true. If anything, Leroy should steer the vehicle,” Ant said.

“That’s cool with me. Whatever you guys wanna do.” He hopped out.

“Hold up,” Leroy appealed. “I don’t know how to steer a car. I’ve never even sat in a driver’s seat! Maybe I should just try to push.”

“I will walk you through the process. It is not difficult,” Ant asserted.

“No really, I think—”

“The captain always steers the ship, Leroy,” Ant noted. “Get in.”

“Ooh, can I be first mate?” Chad asked.

Leroy stared at Ant until he understood there was no point in arguing, then plopped down onto the seat. “What do I do first?”

“First we need to make sure that the car will not start.” Ant looked at Chad, who was oblivious as usual, until he noticed the keys in his hand, then smiled and passed them to Leroy.

The dashboard lights flicked on when he turned the keys in the ignition, and the engine churned but it wouldn’t turn over. The noise it was making worried him, but he kept the key turned until Ant yelled at him to cut it out.

“Now what?” Leroy jeered.

Ant walked around to the front of the car and motioned for Chad to follow. “Leave the door open so you can hear me,” Ant said. “The first thing you need to learn is the brake and gas pedal configuration.”

“I’m confused already,” Leroy lied.

“The brake is on the left, and the gas is on the right. Use your right foot to control both of them, although since we are specifically lacking in gas, you will only need the brake. Try it before we start,” he urged.

Leroy lazily dropped his foot onto the pedal and pushed it down, surprised by how much resistance he felt pushing back. He pumped it a few times to get a feel for it, and found it was a satisfying action.

“Depress the brake and hold it down as far as you can.”

“Now what?” he sneered, though he was genuinely interested.

“Squeeze the button on the gear selector, keeping the brake depressed, and then pull it back to align with the ’N.’” Ant looked to Chad and asked “Are you ready?” and got a vigorous nod in response. They each positioned their hands on a front quarter panel. “In three seconds, Leroy, slowly release the brake pedal.”

“This takes me back to Driver’s Ed.,” Chad announced.

Leroy waited, then did as he was told, and felt the car begin to roll backward. His hands shot up to grab the steering wheel instinctively.

“Turn the wheel all the way to the left,” Ant said with a strain.

Leroy obliged, surprised again at the effort it took to turn the wheel, then felt the car swing to the side. After a few seconds, it stopped.

“Now turn the wheel back to the right two times,” Ant said, and he and Chad moved to the back of the car and pushed some more.

The car rolled forward, and shortly they were traveling at a decent pace. Leroy looked down at the gap where the radio had been. Between that and the scuffling of Ant and Chad’s shoes, he wasn’t paying much attention.

A cursory glance out the window to his left showed an SUV streaking toward them on the main road. Leroy felt a primal shudder of panic quake through him, then slammed his foot on the brake. The car screeched to a halt, followed by a
thud
and a grunt.

“Sorry!” Leroy said, and hopped out to see what’d happened.

“Brother, you got him good!” Chad chortled.

Ant was holding his forehead and grimacing when he noticed Leroy walking toward him, and the car rolling in the opposite direction, right down the decline toward the main road and oncoming traffic. He shoved Leroy out of the way and jumped into the front seat, then stomped the brakes, stopping the car less than a foot away from the main road as the SUV breezed by, horn blaring.

“Dude!” laughed Chad.

“Sorry, Ant,” mumbled Leroy, picking himself off the ground. He was sorry, alright—sorry he had ever agreed to ride with Chad.

“It is fine,” he said, put the car in park, then searched for the emergency lights and turned them on, before exiting the car. “Just, please, do not hit the brakes unless I instruct you to do so.”

Leroy nodded even though he didn’t want to, then climbed back into the driver’s seat, grasped the wheel, and looked both ways. Ant and Chad took up their places at the back of the car, ready to push.