Chapter Two: Normal Life

The beginning of What is going to be the hardest few years of anyones life.

It all started out in a little place called Salt Lake City, Utah. I was just a pup. Just a few years out of high school. At 21 years of age i had no place to judge, no place to speak my mind, especially when i had no idea what i was doing with my life, or where i wanted it to go. It got me in a heap of trouble, but i'll get into that later.

I had gotten a job a year ago driving truck. I was delivering lumber in an old Peterbilt semi truck. 80,000 pounds and 13 gears was a lot for a 21 year old to handle. But somehow i managed to do it and i loved my job. I was good at but some others were on the other side of the playing field when it came to my beliefs and personality. I really struggled with that.

One year ago i bought a small 3 bedroom house outside of the city on an old abandoned dirt road. The house was falling apart to say the least. Had all sorts of leaks and holes. Two bedrooms, the kitchen and family room lay on the bottom floor, and a bedroom with a bathroom lay on the second story. It was a cozy old house. I lived there with my daughter and my current girlfriend at the time. With some hard work and elbow grease, the house came together. It actually turned into a home. With that i had found a job and things were going pretty good.

It was March 2nd i believe. The snow had melted and it was getting hot during the day. You still had to wear a jacket in the mornings. My alarm clock woke me up at 4:30am. I started work at 6. I made sure i had plenty of time to wake up, eat, and drive into town. Wiping the sleep from my eyes i lay up on my bed and goosebumps filled my body. There was an open window and the cold air was seeping into my bedroom. I make my way into the bathroom to brush my teeth and well, everything else you do in the morning. 

The light in the bathroom wasn't very good making it very dark. Every time i walked in front of the mirror i startled a little bit. I did take a few minutes to look at myself. I saw a tall 6'4 kid, 145 pounds. Dark brown hair reaching to the bottom of my chin, bangs curled to the left. Hairless body and studded belt followed, holding up a pair of low rise boot cut jeans. I wasn't that bad looking.

Eventually i made my way into the kitchen, light up a cigarette and drank a cup of coffee filling up my thurmas. Coffee always keeps a truck driver going if you drink it in moderation. I sat at the table spacing out into my own thoughts. On this particular day, my anxiety was horrible all day. There was something in the back of my head that didn't sit right. I kept thinking, Am i happy? What do i want in life? 

First thing in the morning after 4 hours of sleep its not the only thing you want going through your mind. It usually leads to a pretty long a*s day. But i kept feeling a sudden urge to go back to bed. Call in sick and have some personal time. I walked out to my truck, and stuttered unlocking the door. Climbing in was a challenge. I turned the key waiting for the glow plugs warm up. The lights from the gages were almost blinding. With the roar of the starting motor, i jumped in my seat. 

Back inside, i wait for my truck to warm up. I tie on my steel toes and take a few deep breaths as i close my eyes. That feeling i had that morning will never go away. I was surely worried. It was almost a tingling feeling throughout my body. Just like the way you feel when the doc gives you drugs after a sugery. I made my way upstairs and kissed my little 12 year old girl on the head. Then walked out.

The drive to work was rather difficult. I kept missing gears and could not keep my speed up. Somehow i still was able to pull into the gate 15 minutes till six and hook up a trailer. I was lowering the landing gear of my trailer and i get a hand to the back of the head. "B***h" 

I ignored it and finnished lowing the trailer. I walk into the office to pick up my paper work and stand next to this employee named mike. Nicked named the Duche Bag. He really was. I seemed to be the only one who thought so. Dispatch handed me paper work. " Mike is going to ride with you nick. He needs to make sure the trailer gets where it's going."

"I'v been here one year", i said. "why do i need a f*****g baby sitter? Iv never missed a load and it's just lumber."

"Get over it", he replied as he handed mike some coffee. 

"finish your coffee duche bag. F*****g unbelieveable," i yell as i walk outside.

I decided to do a rather thorough pre-trip inspection on my truck and trailer. Just to make sure everything was good. I look under the hood make sure nothing is leaking, Brakes are good, everything is tight. Trailer is hooked up right, everything is okay with it. I check the tire pressure in my tires and the first thing that comes out of his mouth "lets get on the f*****g road. Pull up your panties and stop being a pus about your damn truck".

I close the hood and hop in the drivers seat. I'm filling out my log book when i notice a familiar name but i couldn't put a finger on who it was. Mike pats my back "relax". We pull out of the yard. The first four hours of the drive were quiet. I had some heavy music on so i could relax. But it was very low. We stopped at a truck stop for fuel and something to drink. I do a walk around on my truck, and look at my paperwork again.

Kyle Johnson. Who the hell is that. I know him from somewhere. I look at the contense of my load 150 doors, 600 2x4s, and 3 sheets of 1" plywood. Instantly i had a flash back. 

3 years prior i was delivering the same stuff in high school only in a lot smaller quantities. Three sheets of plywood were made into a box. A very large box. It was leakproof, smell proof. and about 10,000 pounds. It's contence: 134 grams of heroine. My buddy Kyle, would ship his drugs that way through normal trucking companies. And it all came to a central delivery point. It was a local lumber store in bum f**k Wyoming. I close my book and walk to the trailer and open it. there in the middle of the trailer was a box. It had a hasardous placard on it that said corrosive. 

I hear a gun c**k behind me. "Really slowly nick, you will gt out of this trailer and lock it up tight." 

I backed up got out of the trailer and locked it. We were on our way. I sipped on my coffee for the next half hour of the drive and chainsmoked. "How do you know kyle?" i asked. 

"Why don't you tell me. You stared at his name long enough when you were looking at the paperwork. Whatever is in that box, you know about and have a history with. Don't think i dont know that. The best thing you can do is not mention it again."

I light up anther cigarette and kept driving. 10 miles outside of our delivery point, mike has me pull onto a dirt road and we stop into a clearing. A black Monte Carlo was focused in the center. "Hop out" mike demanded. 

"Unload it, i dont want anything to do with it."

He came to my side of the truck, opened he door. He had a gun pointed at my face. "Get Out." I crawl out of the truck and did what he said. I opened the back door and unloaded the box next to the car. A man stepped out of the black car and smiled at me. 

"your still alive nick? I thought those drugs would have killed you by now."

"i cleaned up but its nothing you need to worry about."

"Haha. Well thanks gentleman." He gave mike some cash. "And Nick. I'll be seeing you."

Back in the truck we got back on the road. and headed the rest of the way into town. By this time i had finished my coffee. I had the shakes. I dont know if it was nerves or caffeine. We said nothing while they unloaded my truck. I just held the stering wheel and the shifter. Just tense. 

"You planning on shifting soon? I dont think were going much past zero miles per hour at 0 Rpm.I punched him in the nose and hit his head against the half open windown of my truck smearing blood down it. He looked at me in disbelief. "ok" he said.

Back on the road, we headed to the yard. I started to notice a black car in the distance maybe 4 miles ahead. Now 2. now hes right in front of us. My trailer was loaded at the maximum weight making this an 80,000 pound bullet traveling at 70 miles per hour. It does not stop like a car. 

The Monte Carlo stood on his brake pedal. I somehow avoided hitting him. Mike started laughing. "you better pull over nick." He will kill you. 

I pulled my seatbelt to me and buckled it. A gun came out of the drivers side window. and the 4 sets of tires of the drivers side trailer were demolished. The trailer having full weight and nothing to suport it started to go over. Flipping the the truck violently on it's side. It slid down the highway 1 mile before it finally stopped. 

I grab my leg, it had a rock in it. I look over at mike who was thrown into the sleeper. His head half way out of the window with a street post through his chest. There was nothing but blood. It was every where pouring out of every orifice of Mike. I look down and my leg is pinned against the dash of the truck but a heavy rock. I try everything i can to free my leg. I kept screaming and punching the steering wheel, trying to do anything to make some of the pain go away. 

Foot steps fill the up side of truck and i can only hear guns clicking. Sweat starts dripping off my face. I'm so scared i feel dizzy, dislodged in Life. Almost like my body was accepting the fact it was about ready to die. It had just given up. My vision was starting to get blurry, I would black out for little moments at a time. 

"Nick?"

"What?" I reply silent and shaky.

I hear laughter, and fain mumbling but I couldn't Make out the words. "That was one hell of a fall man. How are you? Ha ha, I didn't realize who you were until Kyle told me. I wasn't trying to kill you if that makes you feel better. But, working with this Duche Bag, that was a mistake on your part."

"I didn't have a choice. My company made me go on this run with him. I had no idea what was going on until we hit the truck stop." I replied. "Oh and I'm just peachy by the way."

I was looking up trying to see who was peering down at us from the passenger side window. The sun was blinding and there was such a glare. The voice was familiar though. My head keeps spinning wondering why my past has come to haunt me. Feelign like i'm in a dream, a flash back; but no, this is real. 

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud thump and my seat jerking. I look up and see a woman. 5'10 Beautiful, girl. 135 pounds give or take, Long Black hair. He noise was buttoned and her lips, o god her lips. They were the best lips I have ever kissed. Ashley was her name. 

"I'm still here nick. Alive, fed, mostly satisfied". 

"Good for you. As much as i love the small talk, What now." I ask.

She smirks as she puts a pistol to my head. 

"Here we go again. A normal day at work with my life turned around, and here i am. Facing the Barrel of a 45. Elvis Costello from Shinedown was very detailed with those lyrics. Nobody actually understands what the feeling is until It's actually happening".

"You still play"? 

"Every day". 

Sirines are faint in the distance. "You swerved to hit a deer. I will be in touch". 

How did i get myself into this. It' seems like the past never left me. I try to clean up from drugs as a kid, Try to actually do something with my life. Living the american Dream as they say. I'm still fucked in the end.

I hear a loud explosion and see nothing but red.