Page 71 of Beg Me Angel

Chapter Twenty

Vera

Forgotten Memories

––––––––

“Whoo!” Sara leaned her head towards the window, screaming at the top of her lungs. “Here, take a hit.” Holding her hand out to me, a thin trail of sweet smoke floated across my face.

Shaking my head no, I waved off her joint. “I'm all set, thanks.”

“Alrighty, more for me.” Placing the tightly rolled paper to her lips, she inhaled a thick breath. Blowing out a heavy plume of white smoke, she turned up the volume on the radio.

“Oh my God! You remember this one?” Her voice rose higher as she sang along with the music. “That thong, thong, thong, thong, thong. Cause she had dumps in the truck, truck, truck—C'mon, Vera, you know the words, sing it!”

Giggling, I bounced my shoulders as I smirked. The music grew louder as Sara put Sisqo on full blast, the bass vibrating her entire rust-covered, piece of shit Festiva. “Thighs like what, what, what. Baby move your butt, butt, butt!” My voice echoed through the car as we both started laughing uncontrollably.

“I knew it, I knew you remembered that shit.” Sara pointed at me with a huge grin on her face, our laughs slowly dying as the song came to an end.

“Where are we going?” I asked, watching the highway lines blur together in one giant strip.

Shrugging her shoulder, she took another drag off her funny cigarette. “I don't know, nowhere really. I guess you could call it a high ride,well—I can call it a high ride, you're just here for the ride part.”

“Doesn't matter to me, as long as I'm out of the house, I don't care where we go.”

“Good, because we ain't going home any time soon.” Pulling off Route Thirty-Seven, Sara popped on her high-beams and took a right.

We followed the road for what seemed like hours, the smooth pavement changed to rugged, pothole-riddled dirt, the houses thinned as more and more trees crawled in between them.

The two of us sang and danced, enjoying the night. It felt great, it felt like a weight off my shoulders to be out of the house and not have my face plastered inside textbooks.

“What was that?” Sara asked, turning down the radio and pushing her face towards the dashboard. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Leaning forward, I tried to listen closely for whatever sound she was picking up, but nothing was standing out to me. “I'm not hearing anything.”

A loud clunk rang out, the front of the car jerked hard, jumping and bouncing as the engine made a noise that sounded like it was choking to death.

“There! That!” Turning to look at me, her eyes were huge as her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. “I don't know—”

Cutting herself off short, Sara sat up straight as the engine gave one last spurt and a final clunk, before going quiet and coasting on momentum alone.

“Fuck, no, no, no.” Whispering, she yanked on the wheel, using all her strength to get us onto the side of the road. “This is not happening, not here. I do not need this shit right now.”

The tires kicked up pebbles, the small debris clanged around inside the wheel-well, popping off the metal like rock candy on your tongue. Rolling to a stop, we both sat quietly, staring off into the vast space of complete solitude.

Flickering briefly, the lights stayed on for another few seconds, only to snap off in one finalizing blink. The world outside the car dimmed with the lights, turning black, the only glow coming down from the faint light of the moon.

The trees sparkled in moon dust, the tiny grains of sand on the road glittered from the dull bulb in the sky. And we were stranded, stuck on a dirt road with no one around for miles.

Turning the key, she made a quiet whisper to herself as she tried to start the car again. But it didn't make a sound; no turnover, no searing twinge of metal, nothing.

Sara slammed the top of the dashboard, then threw her hands into her hair. “Fuck! What the hell! Stupid piece of shit car.” Kicking her foot, she laid into the plastic under the dash.

“What are we going to do now?” Setting my elbow on the edge of the door, I rested my head in my hand.

“Call for a tow truck, what else can we do?” Digging into her purse, she pulled out her phone. “Shit, no service.” Slamming it against her palm, she asked, “Does your phone have service?”

Holding it up, I pressed the button. “Nope, nothing.”

---