I want to make it perfectly clear right now, in the beginning, that I am not a "lucky" guy. Neither am I good looking or "well hung". I’m just an ordinary guy who’s made more wrong choices in my life than right ones; and I’ve spent most of my life bailing my butt out of bad situations that my wrong choices have gotten me in. However, every once in a great while, things do go my way…
      I buried my mother last week; had a fist fight with my son whom I hadn’t seen in over 30 years at the funeral; had my daughter curse my name and vow I would never again see my grandchild and, found out that the old bitch didn’t leave me much, less than 50K and an apartment full of furniture that I didn’t need and wanted even less. Lucky me, right? I ended up giving it all away to mom’s friends and the kids…told them all to fight amongst themselves for the shit. I had the title to the car changed to my name and took half the cash from mom’s bank in traveler’s checks and wired the rest to my bank account at home and hit the road. I decided to make a last trip west before I was beyond the age where I could enjoy it.
      It was late afternoon and I was over 700 miles from my starting point. I was ready to find a room and call it a day. I took the next exit and pulled into a truckstop and headed around the building to the gas pumps to fill up. Shutting off the engine, I sat flexing the muscles of my neck and shoulders as I listened to the metallic ticking of the cooling engine. When I finally got out, I stiffly walked inside and prepaid for gas and bought a soda while looking the place over. Typical truckstop; restaurant, gameroom, trucker’s area with showers, phones, data ports, and a lounge with a piano bar and a small store with over priced road supplies for people who had no choice but to buy them. There were a few people in the restaurant, a couple of truckers at the phones, and a tired looking prostitute in the gameroom.
      I went back out and started the pump going and attacked the insect buildup on the windows with a squeegee. As I finished to windows and returned the nozzle to the pump, I noticed a young girl hanging back in the shadow of the building trying to look inconspicuous. She appeared to be in her teens and looked like she had been on the road a while; her clothes were a bit dirty and her hair was hanging in tangles and even at a distance I could see sweat streaks running through the dust on her face. There was something about the girl and the way she was watching me while continually scanning the frontage road and entrance as if she were expecting someone to appear at any moment. I decided not to leave just yet and fiddled around checking the oil and stuff while I watched the girl building up the nerve to approach me. After a couple minutes I could stall no longer and started to get into the car. As I settled into the seat, the girl appeared at my window. "Mister, could I possibly catch a ride out of here with you?" she asked. I looked closer at her and dropped my estimate of her age to no more than 14. It was obvious now that the girl was a runaway and from the way her eyes were darting around scanning everything that moved, she was local and expecting to be picked up at any moment and returned to where ever.  The longer I thought about it the more nervous the girl became.  The girl’s eyes grew wide as sirens could be heard howling like banshees in the distance.  “Please mister, I need to get out of here fast.  I...I’ll do anything you ask just get me out of here.”   I looked at her another 10 seconds or so then said, “Get in kid.”  The girl ran around the car, yanked open the door and pitched in a metal briefcase and a stuffed back pack then hopped into the seat and scrunched down with a whispered “let’s go.”  I put the car into gear and headed to the exit.
      I turned onto the on ramp for the interstate as a State Trooper and 2 County Sheriff Patrol cars screamed by.   I merged into the light traffic and set the cruise control to 73 and turned my attention to the girl.  “You can sit up now, we’re on the road and headed west.”   She looked at me, sat up, buckled her seatbelt and wrapped her arms around herself and began to shake like a dry leaf in a gusty wind. She stared straight ahead through the windshield with unseeing eyes as tears silently began to track their way down her cheeks through the fine layer of dust.  I divided my gaze between her and the traffic, remaining silent as I watched her fight with her internal demons.  Finally, she let out a shuddering sob; her hands fell limply into her lap and her head dropped down as if staring at her hands. Nearly silent gasping sobs wracked her body as tears began to splatter on her hands and legs.  “You want to talk about it?” I softly asked.  She shook her head so I turned my attention back to the road and let her deal with her demons.  We rode in silence for about an hour and a half.
      The caffeine fix from the soft drink was wearing off quickly and I felt myself on the downward spiral of exhaustion.  I had slept less than 6 hours in the past four days and was at the end of my energy reserves.  I had to get off the road and sleep soon or risk becoming a mortality statistic from falling asleep at the wheel.  I glanced over at the girl and saw that she had stopped crying.  “My name’s Paul.”  I said.  “Kid, I’ve been awake for almost 30 hours and I’ve been driving for 14 of them. I’ve got to stop and get some sleep.”  There was no response. I shrugged and started to watch the roadside signs and spotted one for a Motel 5 miles ahead.  I smiled at the thought of a hot shower and sleep.  I hit the exit ramp and turned toward the giant garish neon sign that advertised the motel and the flashing red vacancy sign below it.  The girl sat unmoving as I pulled up to the office and stopped. I looked at her again before getting out and heading inside.  I registered the room and made sure it had double beds, asked if the attached restaurant had carryout, got the key and got back in the car and pulled to the backside of the motel and parked in front of the room.  “Let’s go.” I said as I opened my door and got out.  As I popped the trunk to retrieve my suitcase and shaving kit, the passenger door opened and the girl got out.  She reached back in and grabbed the backpack with one hand and the metal briefcase with the other and shut the door and stood by the car and waited.  I shut the trunk, hit the electronic door lock then walked to the room door opening it with the key.  I walked into the room and flipped on the light and looked around at the small room furnished with utilitarian furnishings. I pitched my things on the bed, turned the AC on and sighed.  “You can use the bathroom first.  I’m going to the restaurant to get us something to eat.”  The girl just nodded so I turned and went out the door, closing it behind me.