Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“License please” the cop said to Kenneth

“Yeah sure” he replied, I watched him reach into his pocket and hand something to the police man.

“Get out of here before they realize that you’re the kids they’re looking for” Christy whispered to us

“Okay” I told her, I looked at Red and Katie and nodded my head for them to go. They sat crouched near the back of the truck ready to hop out, just as Katie was about to jump out, the cop came around to the back and flashed the bright light on us (more like everyone in the back).

“You know you kids could get hurt sitting in the back” he said

“Yes sir” Christy told him, Red, Katie, and I were crouched motionless inside the bed of the truck.

“By the way, if you happen to see 3 runaways looking for a r-“he stopped. I could tell he was looking at me. The beam from his flash light was so bright I had to shield my eyes to see his outline in the darkness of the night. “Phil!” he called to the other police officer in the squad car, “They got ‘em here!”

“Get the 3 kids and bring the others along, Brandagee” the man said still sitting in the police car.

“RUN!” Christy shouted at us. We jumped out and ran into a corn field almost as instantly as Christy said ‘run’.

“Stop you kids!” Brandagee called out. We heard the squealing of car tires speeding away, “Get em!” Brandagee commanded the man in the car, soon we heard another set of squealing tires and all was silent.

“You kids better come out!” Brandagee barked.

I imagined his ivory colored hair slopping over his red face as he stomped into the corn field. Katie clenched to my arm as if we were watching a horror film. The rustling of the corn branches was ear wracking as our trio walked quietly through the corn field.

“Come out I got to follow my orders!” he demanded, his voice becoming louder as he stepped towards us, the corn rustling becoming louder.

            Katie, Red, and I made a mad dash for what we thought was the end of the field, only becoming more lost and scratched from the leaves that skinned our faces. It might have been fun if we weren’t being chased by a policeman. We stopped and listened for any noise. It too had quieted down, no rustling. In my mind I kept thinking that the cop was going to jump out and scare half to death. We waited and watched.

            Then after a couple minutes we heard a car pull up from behind us.

“Brandagee!” The cop shouted out

“What?!” he hissed back

“Come back they probably ran out of the corn field and are back with those punk kids we pulled over!”

            Not believing our luck we listened to the movements and a car door open and slam. Just before they sped off I heard Brandagee ask his partner if they got the plate numbers to the truck.

“Yup” and then they sped off to find our long gone friends.

            We waited in the corn field for what must have been hours. It was cold and the smell of corn was overpowering. My legs had begun to get tired and I was exhausted. A sharp wind blew the corn and that was when I knew we were safe.

            I walked through the corn field trying to find an exit. My face was getting scratched up by the branches sprouting out of the vines of corn. Finally we made a hasty exit; we were right back where we had started. I looked both ways and stepped out onto the black tar road.

“well, let’s go” I stated and I started walking, as tired as I was I kept putting one foot in front of the other, I was going to find Scott if it killed me.

 “Brady” Katie panted, “I’m tired, Red’s tired. Let’s stop and sleep, I don’t care if it’s on the side of the road. Let’s just stop” she said trying to convince me. She was right, if I took another step my legs would probably turn to jello.

“Alright, let’s find a clump of trees or something to sleep next to. I’m not going to lay down in the middle of the road” I told her. Katie sighed in relief and we headed for the side of the road. Stepping off; we found a vast clump of pine trees far from the road and out of site from any pedestrians.

“We’ll move the branches and leaves” I told them. After we had finished the task, we laid down and used our bags as pillows.

            Despite the nose numbing cold and the fact that our trio was laying in dirt on the side of a highway, I fell asleep. 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....

                                   Sunday

            The sudden blare of a pickup truck nearly scared me half to death. I sat up and watched as a beat up blue 1954 Chevy sped by. The wail of its horn had left me stunned momentarily. After I had stopped shaking I became woozy and got a cramp in my stomach that was almost unbearable. ‘No!’ I thought to myself ‘I can’t be sick!’, but as if my mind had a brain of its own I threw up in the dirt in front of me. I had utterly disgusted myself. I placed the palms of my hands against my forehead to try to calm my nausea; I just threw up again.

            Red sat up and looked at me, “What’s wrong Brady?” I didn’t half to answer because it was pretty clear.

            We sat in silence. Our goal that were so excited about was now in shambles. We were stranded in one end of Louisiana without a ride. I was too sick to move and without a leader to guide me. I had always at least had Scott with me; but where was my knight in shining armor now?

“Did it rain last night?” Katie asked as she sat up she looked at her foot which was sprawled out in front of me…needless to say Katie had a fit about how her sneaker had been ruined.

            They sat and waited for me to at least regain any strength to walk out onto the open road. I was in bad shape for a few hours; I stayed in my sick position the entire time until the sun warmed my back. The entire time I was trying to psych myself into getting ready to run to California! It was hard, I kept saying to myself ‘I am able to overcome the challenges life had to offer me’. It was my mom’s favorite quote, every night she told it to Scott and I before she kissed us goodnight.

            It might have been around 12 o’clock by the time I started to feel a little bit better. I thanked Red and Katie for waiting so patiently. I stood up with my wobbly legs and took a step towards the road.

“Brady, are you sure you’re okay?” Red asked

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine Red I’m okay” I assured him, I wasn’t, “C’mon we’re wasting time” taking another step I closed my eyes in hopes of making my headache go away, no such luck. I persevered and kept walking, sick or not sick I was going to find Scott and whatever he was looking for.

            I walked a few yards and bent over and threw up till I was shaking and there was nothing in my stomach left to hack up. The crazy thing was, was that after that I started to feel better. I walked faster and breathed easier.

            We walked on the endless asphalt road and listened to each other’s stomachs’ grumble lowly. It would have been funny but the feeling was mutual.

“Let’s stop and eat” Red said, “I’m starved”

“How about we go a little further to see if we can find a rest stop or a gas station. I’m sure we could-“

“Brady, I’m hungry, I’m tired” he paused, “can we stop and eat?”

 Katie took Red’s side, “C’mon Brady, even if you’re too sick to eat anything you can’t stop us from sitting down to rest and eat.”

“You have to admit you probably should rest” Red told me, they went and sat down hidden from the road.

 “Fine!” I shouted, so I sat down with them.

            I watched as they snacked on their food, it disgusted me. I wanted just one- no! It would just make me sick again. As much as my stomach rumbled begging me for food, I knew I would betray me.

            I waited, laying down on the ground with my eyes closed, for Katie and Red to finish filling themselves with food. Several cars sped by in such a hurry it made me dizzy. Most of them were beat up pick-up trucks, station wagons, and sedans.

            Suddenly I felt a light weight crawl slowly brushing slightly against my arm, then slither onto it. The silent creature took a tour of me. I opened my eyes and raised my head only to find a brown snake creeping along my leg.

“Red” I said

            He looked up and saw the snake. As did Katie, who screamed only to have Red cover her mouth.

“Shut up!” he snapped, “I’m not sure if this thing is poisonous or not”

            I watched as it wiggled its way on top of my stomach. I was glad that my shirt was half tucked in. the snake curled into a small ball resting on my chest with its head on top of my neck.

“Red, get it off of me!” I silently commanded, I tried to breathe slower but that made me more nervous which made my heart pound faster. He stood up not knowing what to do with our new found ‘friend’.

“Brady, push it off” Katie told me

“And get bitten? I don’t think so!”

“You’re going to half to do somthin’” Red told me

            Katie nervously giggled, “You’re shaking so hard it might just fall off”

            The snake hissed right into my ear; its tongue brushed against it and I did everything I could to not scratch my ear or laugh.

            Finally after what seemed like an eternity after what seemed like an eternity, the snake slithered off of me wrapping around my arm three times. As soon as it was at least a foot away, I jumped and screamed as if I were being murdered (after all, who wouldn’t). I panted and heaved.

            When I was done I looked at my group who did everything in their power to not laugh at me.

“Now will we stop at rest stops from now on?!”

            We walked while the sun was up. We walked while it was covered by clouds. We walked while the moon was bright. We walked while the moon was also covered by the clouds. We walked, and walked, and walked. My legs were sore, yet they were in an unchangeable pattern. I kept putting one foot in front of the other. I am so sick of walking!

            Each time a car passed by our trio would stick our thumbs out and pray that the car wouldn’t run into us. Each time, the car would speed by without giving us a second thought or glance. Although a few could have flipped us off.

            A little after the sun had gone down we had started to worry about sleeping with the snakes. But a station wagon rushed down the road from behind us and skidded to a stop. As the window rolled down a woman came into our view. She must’ve only been nineteen. Her soft cheeks were tanned and her curly blonde hair was bleached from hours of sunlight.

“Howdy” she said, flashing us with her perfect smile.

“Hi” Red said

“Need a lift?”

“Yes, please” Red told her

            She nodded and smiled, “One of you jump up front with me and the other two of you can sit in the back” she turned back towards the road.

            Both Red and I scuffled for the front seat, to settle the matter we did a quick two out of three rock paper scissors, I was winning and about to jump quickly into the seat when Katie groaned and opened the door and sat in the front seat. Then Red and I filed into the back seat. The car sped off down the road.

“Lucky I got ya’ll before the light went out” she said

“Why?”

“Wild animals, if you weren’t planning on sleeping in a sheltered building you could have been bitten by a snake” I shuddered, “attacked by a bear, anything” she continued.

“Well it’s a good thing you came by” Red said, he leaned close to the back of her chair, looking at me for approval to sniff her hair. I franticly mouthed the word ‘no’ but of course, he didn’t listen. He closed his eyes and inhaled. I jealously watched his wide cat like smile spread across his face. The girl looked in the rearview mirror and smiled, she whipped her hair to rest on her shoulder smacking Red with its ends. He quickly leaned back and I quietly snickered at him.  

“How far can you take us?” Katie asked

“Only as far as my house, my parents might let ya’ll bunk up in the barn” she said

“Why would you do this for complete strangers?” Katie asked

“Like I said, the animals”

“That bad?” I asked

“It’s mostly snakes”

“Snakes?” Red asked.

She nodded her head, “A man went camping with a couple’a friends of his and he got bitten by a snake.” She stopped, “The man died before they could get him to the hospital”

“Oh” I said.

We sat in the car and listened to the hum of the engine. I was just thankful that the snake that had made a bed out of me, didn’t bite me. The miles of woodland soon thinned out and was replaced by rows of apple trees, sweet corn, peach trees, and watermelons. Looking at all that fruit made my mouth water and my stomach numb. I had not eaten anything in a day and a half. I was hungry, and wanted food. I was also unaware of where the food would go after I swallowed it. Into my belly or staining the back seat of the station wagon.

“Brady, maybe you should eat something” Red whispered to me

“Maybe I should. Give me somthin’ like crackers” I told him, he nodded and handed me a few. As I began to eat I felt almost instantly relived. I still ate slowly so I could keep it down and not starve to death.

            She swerved the station wagon tightly to the right and sped even faster down the bumpy dirt road. The more the car jumped up and down, the more I wished I hadn’t eaten anything.

            Soon a tall house appeared in the distance. It was white with light shined out through any window, door, or hole. Behind the house was a slightly less attractive barn that had light from the house strewn across its loose planks. As the car sped towards the massive buildings she quickly swerved into the space in between the barn and the house.

“Yall wait here while I go explain you to my mother” she told us.

            We watched her gracefully clomp up the stairs of her back porch and step into a screen door that led to the kitchen. Inside there was a woman whom was twice as old as our driver. She stood with her back facing us as she washed dishes at her sink.

            As the younger girl spoke with her mother she talked fastly, and her mother nodded to acknowledge her. After a few minutes I opened the door and rested my arms over the top and placed my head on my arms. It was starting to grow cold I didn’t mind the bone chilling numbness it brought to me, I had been sweating thinking that we might run into something, speeding on the way to the house.

            They walked out onto the porch. The older woman sat down in a rocking chair while the other girl beckoned for us to get out of the car and come towards them.

“C’mon” I Katie and Red. They got out and followed me to the porch steps.

“Hello” the older woman said to us, I nodded my head, “it’s a good thing Sesenta found you all” she said.

“Yes, she told us about the snakes” Katie said to her.

“Well if you would like to stay the night, you are going to have to earn your keep” she told us

“Earn our keep?” I asked, I had head this line many times back at the orphanage from Ms.Jones when we first moved in. she would tell us she’d throw us out on the streets if we didn’t do a chore for her. At first Scott and I obeyed, until an older guy, Chuck, clued us in, telling us she’d be arrested if she put us in the streets. Then we stopped only doing the occasional ‘dish duty’ since it was the least we could do for ruining her life.

“Yeah” The older woman told us, “Just clean out the barn and put new hay in, and you’ll be finished” She said as if there was nothing to it, ”Sesenta will watch you and tell you what to do and how to do it” she smiled.

            As weary as we were we agreed to her terms and were led to the barn by Sesenta. She opened the large doors and revealed several rows of Clydesdale horses. Sesenta walked in and we followed her. She flipped a switch and six lights turned on one at a time, lighting the once darkened barns.

“Grab a pitchfork” Sesenta told us, turning towards her I was nearly hit by a pitchfork she had tossed towards me. I clumsily caught it and pointed the head of it to the ground. Sesenta did the same to Red and Katie. We waited for her command, she too took out an extra pitchfork for herself.

“Grab that wheel barrel and bring it over here” she told Red. He nodded and did so. While Sesenta opened a stall and led a giant workhorse to an empty stall.

            Looking into the emptied stall I found to my horror that we would have to scoop the manure and dirty hay into the wheel barrel and-…The idea of it all was utterly disgusting. To think, we wouldn’t have to do it if we had just stayed put.

“Start scooping and put everything in the barrel” Sesenta ordered, while the others advanced I stayed out of the stall.

“Brady this is basic living for a lot of people” Red joked as he scooped up the hay. I stepped in the now crowed horse stall and began the outlandish task.

“Why does you mom call you Sesenta? Don’t that mean seven in Spanish?” Red asked

“Yes, she calls me that because I am the seventh child, the only girl. You’d think that they could come up with one girl name” she said.

“I Kind’a like the name” Red told her.

“Look just stick to shoveling” Sesenta retorted. Red shut his mouth while Katie and I snickered at him.

            After a few hours of cleaning the barn we finally finished. Putting the tools away and dumping the last wheel barrel was a relief to my soul.

“Yall wait here, while I go get somthin’ for yall to eat.” Sesenta told us, she looked up, “There’s a hayloft up them metal steps, go up and make yourselves at home” she walked out of the barn shutting the door behind her.

“Wow” Katie exclaimed, looking over at her I saw that she was looking up at the hayloft. I looked up too.

            The stairs that led up to the loft on the other side of the barn came to the giant loft taking up half the barn, and the stairs on the side of the door came to a bridge that came to the other side of the hayloft. The edge of the loft was bordered with redwood railing.  The hayloft was also topped off with furniture. There was a wooden table and four chairs to go along with it. Making further use of the loft, they had put two beds in the far corner. The hayloft could have been a different house if there was a bathroom and kitchen.

“C’mon” I told Katie and Red. Together we climbed up the metal stairs and walked over the small bridge.

The loft too, needed separate lights which we found quickly. Flipping on the lights displayed more of the scene. A rug sat underneath the two beds, and the table. There were shelves above the beds which held no items. The room was immaculate with no dust or dirt.

“Geeze, for a horse barn they really keep this place clean” Katie said.

            We heard feet clomping up the stairs thinking it was Sesenta we all looked over the railing.

            It was Shaw.

 

 

 

 

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[matpat]

I like snakes soooooooooo....