The Dangers of Hitchhiking in America
Written by Christopher Michael Carter
His thumb extended along with his right arm. It’s illegal but it’s late, dark, and foggy. The odds of him getting seen, let alone arrested, were slim. But he tried, walking for miles, often backwards, with that thumb extended. The man’s tennis shoes were worn. Holes on the side showed that. His jeans unwashed with the knee on one pant leg cut out while his jacket looked to no longer give him warmth as it was damp; it was quite wet out from days of rain.
Strapped to his back, his only companion was his backpack. Derek had been walking the lonely road for a long while. He lived through that backpack and his wit to survive. His hair was shaggy and his face gruff from going without a trim or a shave for some time. Derek was a young, thin, Caucasian man with no obligations other than to the road. A red pickup truck approached and slowed. The driver, a weathered old black man in overalls, talked through the open passenger window.
“Where ya headed?”
“As far as you can take me…” Derek replied.
“Well that’s just where I’m headed. C’mon in.” The man said in his southern tone.
“Much obliged.”
So the passenger got in holding his backpack in his lap. “Well you sure travel light.”
Derek looked down at his bag, “Heh, yeah.”
“Mah name’s Buck.”
“Derek.”
“Nice to meet you, Derek. Say, what does a man like you do to find yourself out here at this hour?” An inquisitive Buck asked.
“Uh… I guess I needed a change. My wife left me for my brother-in-law.”
“Women are indeed the work of the devil. When I lost my wife to cancer I found a note she left me that said for me not to read it until she was gone. When I read it, it said every dirty thing she’d done to me including cheating on me for every year we were together.”
“Ah, that sucks, man. I’m sorry to hear it.”
“Eh, she’s gone now. No use in being angry now.”
“Yeah, well my sister and I are furious.”
“Rightfully so.”
“I had to do some deep thinking. I didn’t know what I needed in my life or what I even wanted anymore.” The truck went down the road into the misty night. “I guess I realized I needed to get out of my comfort zone. I looked at myself in the mirror and asked myself ‘What are we gonna do about this situation?’” Derek continued.
“And, boy, that’s what you gotta do. You gotta take a hard look at yourself and say ‘We gotta get through this!’”
“Absolutely right!” The two men chuckled together.
“You been walking for awhile?”
“Yeah; got a ride not too long ago. Been walking since ‘Nay Nay’s Diner’ back up Highway 24 a ways.”
“Ahhh, yes. I’ve been to Nay Nay’s. Damn good coffee there.”
“True. So what do you do, Buck?”
“Oh, I mostly farm.” Derek casually looked over his shoulder peeking in the back of Buck’s truck. He saw a cooler, a toolbox, and something that looks wrapped and rolled in black trash bags.
“So whatcha got back there anyway?”
Buck slightly peeked over his shoulder and lightly chuckled to himself before returning his eyes to the road. “Well it’s funny you should ask. You wanna hear somethin’ strange?”
Derek shrugged, “Sure.”
Buck chuckled before repositioning his hands on the wheel. “Well I was back on 24 just past Nay Nay’s when I thought I saw something on the side of the road. My old eyes ain’t what they used to be but it sure did look suspicious. I pulled over to have a look and sho’ ‘nuff it was a man’s body…headless. His head was lobbed clean off; just a bloody stump for a neck.”
Derek looked terrified hearing the driver’s tale. He continued, “I didn’t see the weapon, but it was dark; it could’ve been thrown in the woods. But you know what was even stranger?”
An uneasy looking Derek shrugged, “Uh…what?”
“There wasn’t no head. I looked all around that body and couldn’t find that man’s head anywhere. Don’t ask me why but I went ahead and picked up that body and put it in the truck. I just don’t understand what happened to the head… What do you make of that?” Buck looked over at his passenger.
“Maybe the head’s in the woods too…”
“Yeah, maybe… You didn’t happen to see anything like that while you were walkin’?”
“Well I didn’t see anybody get his head cut off or anything but uh…you wanna see somethin’?”
“Sure.” Buck shrugged.
Derek unzipped his backpack and after rustling around in there a minute pulled out a severed head, bloodied neck and all. Buck’s eyes grew but only for a second before a smirk took hold of his face.
“Boy, I knew there was somethin’ ‘bout you…”
“I didn’t do it. I just found him. Don’t ask me why but I took the head and left.”
A solid minute of silence passes as the men think to themselves.
“Well,” Buck said looking over to his passenger, “What are we gonna do about this situation?”
The men drove on through the dark, foggy night with plenty to talk about…
End
No comments:
Post a Comment