Chapter 17 ~~
Jr was awakened by the sound of an engine shutting off. He inhaled deeply and started to stretch carefully in his seat. His eyes blinked rapidly to adjust them to the light only to have them land on Ron.
He groaned at the sight and shut his eyes tightly. He had forgotten for just a minute where he was and what was going on.
He was still in hell.
“We are getting a room.” Ron spat as he went to open the driver door.
“Why?”
“Cause I need sleep to Earnhardt. You dumb ass!” He slammed the door shut behind him and headed over to the passenger side.
“Asshole.” Jr muttered before his door swung open and he was pulled out.
“And don’t even think of trying to escape. I sleep very lightly.” Ron warned as he pushed Jr along to the motel check in desk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Over here!”
Teresa ran from her car over to one of the cops on the scene.
“We found this in the bathroom.”
The cop held up a t-shirt complete with bloodstains.
“Oh crap…” She whispered at the sight of it.
“Umm… We believe he changed cloths and left this here.”
Teresa looked up at the cop and fused her eyebrows together.
“No really? He didn’t walk outta this gas station half clothed?” The sarcasm in her tone was pretty thick.
She took the shirt from the armed man and held it up for a better look.
“ He must have ripped out stitches.”
“That’s what we were thinking.”
“Oh? You were thinking?” Teresa didn’t mean to be so cruel. It wasn’t in her nature but she was still miffed at all law enforcement for even letting this event happen. When it was all over she’d send a donation or something to make up for it.
“The girl that talked to him is over there. She’s pretty upset.”
Teresa looked up to a girl sitting on top of one of the squad cars. Here eyes were stained with tears. Teresa handed back the t-shirt and made her way over to the girl.
As she approached the girl looked up. A flash of recognition entered her face and she started wiping away her eyes.
“Hey there.” Teresa’s whole mood changed within seconds.
“Hi…”
“Mine name’s Teresa.”
“ I know who you are ma’am.”
“I see… and what’s your name?”
“Karla?”
“Hi Karla. I was wondering if I could ask you a couple things ok?”
“They asked me a lot but I’ll try to help.”
“Did Dale look like he was in pain?”
“Umm… A little. He looked really tired.”
“Ok… and did he appear to be in any danger?”
“Not in the store. He seemed fine till I saw him outside. That guy pushed him around like a rag doll!” Her voice started to quiver.
“Well Jr has been through a lot. And I’m sure he is VERY tired! He would have to be if he let someone push him around?! Tough to push around those Earnhardts! Am I right?’ Teresa smiled a little to get Karla to stop herself from crying.
“Yeah I guess.” She sniffed.
“You did good. I’m sure Jr is very grateful… Now we have something to go on.”
“Glad I could help. Wish I could do more.”
Teresa looked at her for a few minutes and then got an idea.
“Why don’t’ you come with me?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours passed and Jr was still awake. He had gotten enough sleep in the truck to last a little while and now with the sudden change in environment he was wide awake and alert.
Ron had been asleep 2 minutes after he hit the pillow in the other bed. He also started to snore right away and even if Jr WAS tired he wouldn’t be able to stand the fowl noise.
The gun was in Ron’s hands and the truck keys were hung securely around his neck from a rope.
Jr surveyed the scene in deep thought. He didn’t feel too trapped. He just wished he could get up the guts to attempt what he had planned.
His mind wandered to his friends. If Karla came through then everyone must be worried sick right now. He had to contact them some how.
An other 10 minutes… That was enough time.
Then… he’d make his move.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kevin tossed and turned all night. This was chewing at him and he couldn’t take it anymore. He threw his legs over the bed as quiet as possible and made his way out of the motor coach.
He decided to do something he had never done before. He walked right into the campsite area alone.
His eyes scanned the RV’s and campers. Their passion and pride for driver and country littered the windows and antennas.
He noticed a great deal of Jr flags. A good amount of them had some sort of Get Well message on them.
Kevin snickered out loud.
“If only they actually knew all the shit he went through” Kevin whispered while passing an other fully decorated Camper. The occupants inside were most definitely sleeping soundly.
“Luck ass’s” he grunted while continuing his walk. Too many thoughts racked his brain and he hoped a walk would help. So far it was the farthest it could be from help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was time. He couldn’t stand listening to the snoring and just laying there doing nothing. He quietly lifted himself off his bed and inched off of it as best as he could. He was afraid that the old piece of crap would squeak and then that would be it for his escape. But it didn’t and he mentally thanked god.
Once he was stood up he looked over to Ron who was still in the same position. Not disturbed.
‘Dumb ass… like I wasn’t gonna try something’ he thought to himself as she made his way to the door. He grabbed the knob and twisted it slowly; again hoping no sound came out of it. But this time he wouldn’t be so lucky.
As he yanked on the door to open it a loud eerie squeak came from the old hinges and Jr froze as he shut his eyes… waiting for the shit to hit the fan.
But it didn’t.
Ron shifted on top of the bedspread and curled deeper into the pillow. The gun still held firmly in his hand.
Jr let out an exasperated sigh and decided that the door was open enough. He held his breath as much as he could and squeezed through the gap in the door.
His stomach far from liked that and he winced as he swiftly walked away to his big red truck.
He decided to leave the door open. One more scare like that and he would give himself a heart attack.
He had left his door unlocked earlier so he quietly opened up the cab door and lifted himself up into the truck.
“Well here goes’ He muttered as he pulled away the panel under the steering wheel to reveal a mess of wires.
With expert hands, he pulled out two specific sets of wires. He ripped away the covering and before he went to work on striking them he put the truck into neutral. It started to slide back away from the motel as Jr started striking the wires.
The massive Chevy engine jumped and sputtered as the charge went through. It didn’t take long for it to come alive.
He wrapped the wires together and put the car into drive. Hitting the gas hard and sending pebbles and rocks flying out from underneath the back wheels.
“WOOOO” He yelped as he let himself breath again and pushed the pedal harder to the floor. The truck responded faithfully.
“Who needs keys when one of the first things I learned when I was 12 was to hot wire a damn car!” He announced to no one.
He had to get to a phone and fast. But he didn’t know here the hell he was.
A sign answered his question not 2 miles down the road.
“Pennsyl - Frickin – vania??? Jesus!”
The sign also clued him in to a rest stop not to far ahead with a phone sign staring at him.
“Finally!” He shouted out loud.
But he wouldn’t make it to the rest stop.
Two headlights caught his attention in the rear view mirror. They were coming up on him fast and that fact sent a chill through him. He was already doing 95.
And without warning something bumped the back of the red Chevy. The force sent Jr into a frenzy trying to straighten out the big vehicle.
“Bastard!” he yelled as the two headlights inched into the other lane, moving up along side of him.
The headlights wasted no time and with a twist of the wheel the car smashed into the side of the truck sending it sideways. Jr couldn’t do anything but watch as he went up on two wheels.
The last thing he remembered was the ground as the truck tipped onto its side and skidded across the highway sending red and orange sparks in all directions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If your tired I don’t’ mind if you rest a little bit. I wont fall asleep. I’m to pissed and worried to sleep.” Teresa said to Karla who looked like she was about to zonk out.
“No Teresa its ok. I don’t’ wanna fall asleep on you.”
“I’ll understand if you do. Its ok. Although I have to say I’m really glad I have some company. Talking to your self is not a good thing!”
The two women giggled until something caught their eye just ahead of them.
“What the…” Teresa hit the brakes and skidded to a stop in front of a line of flares and policemen.
“What’s going on?” Karla asked while trying to get a good look at what everyone was swarming over.
Teresa didn’t answer her as she opened the door and lifted her self half out of the car. Red metal caused her stomach to go up in her throat.
“Teresa?”
“Stay here!” She screamed while pointing at Karla. The girl sat back in her seat as she watched Teresa sprint across the asphalt.
She cut her way through the crowd and whimpered loudly when she realized her suspicions were correct.
She put her hands to her mouth and slowly walked around the front of it, scared of what she might find. The sight in front of her made tears come to her eyes as police officers grabbed her and pulled her away.
