You're an Angel Baby

Flash fiction, or just a small piece of a much bigger story

Ginny was sitting in front of the fan in the front room, maybe trying to dry her hair, maybe just trying to keep cool after her third shower that day. It was 102 in Biloxi. Hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk. She'd tried it. It didn't cook right away, and she'd run off to watch the cat play with ants over by the trash bins. When she checked a bit later, the clear gel egg white had turned milky, and the yellow yolk was tough and stretchy when she poked it with the stick she'd been using to push the ants around. She was singing into the fan when Anne woke from her nap and came into the room, complaining of her clothes sticking to her and the sweat in her hair.
"We needa go for a swim, Ginny," she said.
"How we gon' git there?" asked Ginny, her hair billowing out straight from the force of the electronic breeze. "Momma's gone with Milt."
"I don't know, but we gotta. I'mma find Tommy. Tommy can drive."
"We're gonna take the CAR??" Ginny was shocked and slightly scared. She knew they'd be in some real hot water if they took the car without asking, but then, it was SO hot. It just might be worth risking the wrath of Momma.
thy didn't need to look far to find Tommy. He was in his room eating cereal from a bowl filled with water. He'd told Ginny water turned to milk when you put cereal in it. She didn't believe him. No matter how many times she'd tried, the cereal always got soggy and tasteless, and the "milk" stayed clear instead of turning white. It was either that or eat the cereal dry. There was never any milk in the fridge. There wasn't any syrup either, and sometimes they ate pancakes with mustard.
The girls told Tommy their plan, and they watched his eyes light up, and his lips twisted into that sideways smile of his.
Tommy was kind of kooky. He sometimes sat in the recliner with his eyes closed, tears streaming down his face, his hand clenched in a fist on the arm of the chair.
"Jesus comes and holds my hand," he told Ginny. "If you ask him, he'll hold yours too."
Ginny thought maybe Jesus didn't like her all that much. He never came to hold HER hand.
Tommy put the bowl down and they all went outside to try to hot wire Momma's old Buick. The doors were all locked. Tommy closed his eyes, scratched his head, and stomped his foot like a bull when he's ready to charge. Then, he opened his eyes wide and Ginny knew he had an idea. He put a rag over one of the small triangular windows near the back of the car and he hit it with a rock until the pane shattered. he reached in and pulled the lock on the back door, scraping his arm and leaving frightening drops of bright red blood on the dirt.
They got the doors opened and Tommy started the car by rubbing wires together under the dash, or something. Anne and Ginny were so excited, they were chattering away, and Tommy growled at them to keep quiet, he needed to concentrate. He turned the radio up loud and put the Buick in reverse. They rolled down the driveway, underneath the arches of the persimmon trees. He backed out into the road,  put it in drive, and they were smooth sailing. Or so it seemed. 
The car started to buck and bounce a bit, and the girls thought it was fun, but Tommy started swearing.
"NO one looked at the f*****g gas gauge! No one! We're out of gas." The car had stopped. "We're out of gas on the f*****g tracks! Get out of the f*****g car and help me push it!"
"Where we gonna push it to?" piped Ginny.
"Off the tracks, Gin, off the f*****g tracks. The train will be coming soon!"
Ginny was scared, but all Anne could do was laugh, which made Tommy swear some more.
The Girls each got in position at the opened front doors, putting all their weight into pushing the front of the car while Tommy grunted and pushed at the back. He was crouched down, knees bent, back against the bumper, rocking back and forth when they finally heard the gravel crunch and the car started rolling forward. He ran around to the front, jumped in the driver's seat and slammed on the brakes seconds before the Buick's bumper had a chance to collide with the huge Maple that was waiting there. Madonna was blaring out the speakers, singing about angels.
"Ya'll remember this. Every time you hear this song, remember this," and I did, for years.
"Alright, now what'chall just standin' here fer? Go find us some gas money."
Anne and Ginny swapped glances.
"NOW!" and up and running they were, having no idea how they were going to manage to get money, or what they were going to put the gas in if they did get it.
An Asian man with his cap on backwards stepped off the curb in front of the China Wok, one of those Oriental restaurants where you could get a dripping wet chop suey sandwich for about a dollar.
"Go ask HIM!!" Anne whispered, poking Ginny in the ribs with her elbow.
"Those Chinese guys are all REAL nice! I just know he'll give it to us!"
"Why me?" asked Ginny.
Anne curled her lip, and gave her one of those burning stares. "Cause your hairs curly." she said.
And that was that. The look in those eyes told her she'd be a lot better off if she did as she was told.
She ran up to the young man and tried to explain the situation. He didn't speak much English at all, and it took a great deal of gesturing and pointing from both the girls before he understood what they needed.
"OK," he said. "One minute"
"No, wait," said Ginny.
The man put up his hand. "One minute," he said, and walked off just as Anne spotted Milt's car at the stop light, with Momma's head sticking out the passenger window. She watched Momma mouth one word, incredulously.
"Anne?"
"S**t," she said. "Run."
Anne turned around and sprinted, but Ginny's shoe stuck in the gooey black tar they used to patch the cracks in the sidewalk, and she almost fell.
"I said RUN girl! You hear??'
Ginny caught up and they both dove into some weeds off the side of the road and crawled on their bellies, hoping the foliage would conceal them in the dark. They stopped and lay still for a moment, catching their breath. The shadows from the weeds spread across the girls faces, making them look painted with camouflage.
"I see ya'll," it was Momma. "Come on up outta there. You're not hidin' very well, just lookin' like a couple of fools is all."
Anne hung her head and shook it.
"Well s**t," she said through her teeth.

Reviews

[Mel3358]

Nice story. I only got a bit lost right before the car stopped. It seemed as though the car hadn't moved at all, so I was confused when you said that they were on the tracks. Maybe clarify that a bit. Otherwise a great story! I enjoyed it. Made me chuckle.

[Anginnh]

Thank you! I appreciate you pointing that out. All fixed