chapter 4

the highway and me

CHAPTER 4

            The next morning, I woke up before my alarm went off, to the sun shining through the sheer pink curtains hanging on the window. I stretched and turned over to check the time. 6:30. Well, I guess it’s time to get up and start my day. I rolled out of bed and padded downstairs and to the kitchen. No one else was up yet, so I put on a pot of coffee and ran back upstairs to take a shower.

           

            The steaming hot water felt good on my body, it heightened my senses and helped me wake up. I washed the bonfire smoke out of my hair with my beloved John Frieda Brilliant Brunette shampoo and conditioner, washed my face and washed my body with Sweat Pea shower wash from Bath & Body Works. 

            I cut off the water and wrapped a thick, course, white towel around my body, and one around my head and padded into the bedroom to find something comfortable to travel in. I decided on a plain white tank top and a pair of pink cotton gym shorts. Who was I trying to impress anyway? It was just going to be the open road and me.

            When I got downstairs, I found Joe sitting at the bar, reading the paper and drinking a cup of coffee.

            “Good morning, Joe!” I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek as I walked by him to get my own cup of coffee.

            “Good morning, Harleigh. Did you sleep well?”

            “I did once I got to sleep. Getting there was another story. So many things running through my mind,” I said, sitting across from him with my cup of steaming hot Folgers coffee.

            “You have a lot going on,” Joe said, smiling. He laid down his paper. He reached underneath the sports section and slid me a white envelope across the bar.

            “What’s this?” I asked, raising my brow.

            “Open it.”

I opened up the envelope and found two thousand dollars in cash with a post-it note that read ‘Good luck, Harleigh. Safe travels. Don’t be a stranger. Love, Hillary & Joe’. Tears filled my eyes as I read the note. I looked up at Joe and he looked as though he was fighting back tears himself.

            “I can’t take this, Joe.”

            “Yes, you can. I didn’t give you any more than I gave Hil last night. You’re like my second daughter, Harleigh, and I just want to see you well. I’m not sure how far that will get you, but, I know you, and I know you are good with your money and I’m pretty sure you have a nice little nest egg saved up already. This is just to add to it.”

            I got up from my stool and ran around the bar and gave Joe the biggest hug I had in me.

            “Thank you so much, Joe! You don’t know what this means to me. I won’t be a stranger; I’ll make sure I keep in touch. I don’t know that I will ever come back here, but you will always be my family. I love you like a father, probably more than my own.”

            “I know, sweetie, and I love you, too. Now, wipe those tears and finish up your coffee. You have a long drive ahead of you.”

            I laughed and dried my eyes with a napkin from the holder sitting in front of me. We made small talk until it was time for me to leave. Hillary and Madison still hadn’t awoken from their drunken stupors, so I kissed their foreheads and grabbed my belongings from my bedroom.

            I walked outside and saw that Joe had my hood up, checking my fluids, walked around and examined my tires, making sure the Tahoe was safe for a long haul.

            “She’s good to go. Your oil was slightly low, so I topped it off for you,” he said, slamming down the hood.

            “Thank you,” I replied, opening up the back hatch to throw the last few of my belongings in. I was taking only my clothes, some towels, sheets, and some memorabilia of my life here. To anyone else, it looked like I was just going on vacation.

            “I guess this is it. You’re spreading your wings and flying away from us,” Joe said, taking me in his arms. “I know you and your daddy aren’t on good terms, but don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything at all, or just to talk. I will always be here for you, Harleigh.”

            “I will. Thank you for everything you have done for me over the years, I won’t ever forget it,” I said, getting into the driver’s seat of the Tahoe. “I’ll call you when I get there.”

            “Goodbye Harleigh, and Godspeed,” Joe said, waving as I backed out of the driveway.

            “Bye, Joe!” I called, waving. Goodbye daddy. Goodbye Cary.

 

            I hit I-40 West for a couple miles before I got on I-85 South. Traveling early on a Saturday morning isn’t too bad, most everybody is still home in their beds or sitting in their kitchens, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.

            I popped a mixed cd that I made into the CD player and lit a cigarette. The first song that played was ‘I Hate Everything About You’ by Three Days Grace. I love this song; it’s the song I play when I’m pissed off at my dad, which is quite often. I turned the volume up, rolled the windows and down and put the pedal to the metal.

 

            Three hours later, I had made it out of North Carolina and was just outside of Spartanburg, South Carolina when I stopped for gas and something to eat. I had hit the South Carolina line an hour ago and it seemed like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders, I already felt free.

            I got out of the Tahoe and stretched my legs. I slide my debit card and turned the pump on and started filling my tank up. I walked inside the store, an Amoco and McDonalds combo, that we, in the South, and maybe other parts of the country, call McAmoco. I ordered a sausage and cheese bagel and a large sweet tea to go. When I got my food, I walked over into the gas station part and used the restroom, bought a few packs of cigarettes and some easy snacks and drinks and went back out to the Tahoe, just as the pump clicked off. I’m glad gas is cheap, because this thing is a beast. I put my gas cap back on and got in the driver’s seat and hit the highway once again, windows down, music blaring, eating a bagel.

            I finished my late breakfast and threw my trash in the McDonalds bag. I lit a cigarette, turned the music down and rolled most of the windows up so I could call Colt. I figured he’d be up by now.

            He answered the phone on the third ring, and I was afraid I woke him; even though he told me last night it didn’t matter.

            “Good morning, sunshine,” Colt said, sounding happy. “How’s the highway?”

            “Good morning yourself! It’s going pretty good so far. I just stopped for gas and a bite to eat right outside of Spartanburg.”

            “Damn, what time did you leave this morning?”

            “Around 7:30 and I’ve been hauling a*s. I’m ready to be in Mobile, and I should be by around supper time tonight.”

            “I just wish you didn’t feel like you had to rush off like this, I mean, don’t get me wrong, I understand why, I just wish you didn’t have to. I wanted to be able to spend some time with you before college. But, luckily, we are going to be close to one another and we can spend all the time we want.”

            “Why are you so sweet?” I asked, smiling into the phone.

            “My mama raised me that way,” Colt said, laughing.

            “Well, you just tell your mama I said thank you! So, what are you up to this morning?”

            “Right now, I’m walking around the field, picking up cans and cups and seeing who all passed out here.”

            “Sounds like fun,” I said sarcastically.

            “Yeah. Loads.”

 

            We talked for the next hour, until Colt said he had to go get ready for lunch with his grandparents. I was almost to Georgia by then and would need to be getting off the phone before I even tried to drive through Atlanta. I told him I’d call him when I got to Mobile in a few hours.

            Surprisingly enough, I made it through Atlanta with no real issues, and once I got outside of downtown, I got off the interstate and pulled into the American Burger Café in Eastpoint. I was famished; my bagel from McDonalds had long since worn off. I got out of the Tahoe and stretched my legs, grabbed my pocketbook and went inside the nice, cool, air-conditioned café and got a booth by the window. A waitress came up almost immediately and handed me a menu.

            “Hey there! I don’t believe I’ve seen you in here before!” the waitress said.

            “No, ma’am,” I said, smiling. “I’m on my way from North Carolina to Mobile.”

            “That’s a long haul by yourself. Where abouts in North Carolina? I have family up in Charlotte.”

            “I’m from Cary. I’m moving down to Mobile to go to school.”

            “Oh, okay, I know where Cary is. Well, anyway, I’m Sue Anne and I will be your waitress today. Can I get you something cold to drink and then give you a minute to look at the menu?”

            “Please, I’d like a sweet tea with lemon.”

            “No problem, darlin’, I’ll be back directly.”

            “Thank you,” I said, smiling up at Sue Anne. She walked away to get my drink and I looked at the menu.

            Sue Anne came back with my tea, which I gulped down as soon as she set it on the table.

            “Wow, thirsty girl! I’ll bring you some more in a minute. What can I get you to eat?” Sue Anne asked, pulling her pencil from behind her ear.

            “I’ll take a cheeseburger all the way with some fries.”

            “Is that all?” She asked, picking up my menu.

            “Yes, ma’am.”

            “Alright, I’ll have it out in a jiffy,” Sue Anne said, flitting away from the table to put my order in.

            I sat for a few minutes and watched cars going by on I-85, and thanking God that I would soon be on I-75, and that much closer to Mobile. While I was looking out the window, my cell phone rang and the caller id revealed it to be my father. I rolled my eyes and answered the phone.

            “Hello?”

            “Hey baby, it’s Daddy. I just wanted to apologize for last night. Can you come over here so we can talk and I will take you to lunch?” Charles Robinson asked.

            “I told you last night I was leaving. As of now, I am sitting in a roadside café just outside of Atlanta waiting on my lunch.”

            “So, you really did leave? I thought you were just blowing smoke and planning on spending the summer at Hillary’s.”

            “Dad, when did you ever know me to, as you say, ‘blow smoke’? I didn’t want to spend another summer in that town. Sure my friends are there, but I said goodbye to them last night at Colt’s party. I’m tired of coming home to an empty house because you are too busy in Washington to spend time with me. I’m done,” I said, lighting up a Camel.

            “You’re right, I do spend too much time in DC. I know it’s not much of an excuse, but there is just so much going on right now. We are still trying to recover from 9-11 and with this ridiculous war going on; sometimes I don’t dare to leave here in case they need me. I failed to realize that you need me, too.”

            “Well, I did need you, but I am eighteen years old now and I have to find my own way. I know you made sacrifices to take care of me after mama died, but I think somewhere along the way, you forgot about me. I feel like that damn Senate chair is more important,” I told him, fighting back the tears.

            “I’m sorry you feel that way, but in a round about way, you are right,” daddy said. I could hear him start to cry. “Where will you live? What will you do for money?”

            “I rented a furnished apartment on Mobile Bay, and as for money, I am fine. I have been saving for a long time and you probably forgot, but I got a big chunk of money on my birthday from mama’s life insurance policy that grandma and grandpa held for me when she died. If I have to, I’ll get a job. I’ve got a plan. I’m not going into this blind,” I said, putting out my cigarette. “This is just something I need right now.”

            “I’m sorry I pushed you away from home, your friends,” daddy said, through his tears. “I have been wrong for a long time.”

            “Well, maybe you can make up for it one day, but the best thing you can do for me now is to let me go.”

            “I’ll try.”

            “You don’t have a choice. I am going to get off here now, the waitress is bringing my food and then I am getting back on the road, I still have a long way to go and I would like to be there before supper time.”

            “Alright. Call me when you get there. You may not believe it right now, but I love you, Harleigh.”

            “I love you. Bye daddy,” I said, closing my phone. I wiped my eyes with a napkin and lit another cigarette. My nerves were shot.

            “Are you alright?” Sue Anne asked, setting my plate down in front of me.

            “Yeah, I’m fine. I got into it with my dad last night and he just called to apologize.”

            “Is he the reason why you are heading down to Mobile so soon? I’m sorry to intrude, but as soon as you walked in the door, you had this look like you were running from something,” Sue Anne said, sitting down in the booth across from me.

            “He is. My dad is Charles Robinson, democrat, US Senate, and his seat in the Senate has been more important than me for years. I have been saving for a long time and when I got into South Alabama, I started planning to leave the day after graduation,” I told her, taking a bite of my burger. It was delicious.

            “You’re Charles Robinson’s daughter? I wouldn’t tell too many people around here that, he’s not very popular. He’s too liberal for our tastes.”

            “Don’t worry, I’ve turned out to be conservative too, much to his chagrin,” I said, smiling. “And that burns his a*s up. Mid term elections are this year and he thought I would help him campaign.”

            “Wow. You seem like you are going to be one hell of a woman,” Sue Anne said, smiling as she stood up. “I’ll leave you to eat, I can tell you have a lot on your mind and you still have a long way to drive. Holler if you need anything.”

            “Thank you, I will.”

            I finished my meal and left Sue Anne a nice tip. I went to the restroom and then headed back outside into the midday, early summer sunshine. It felt great on my skin, I felt more alive now than I have in my life, it seemed.

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