"?And then I told the guy that if he wanted my balls that badly he could just reach into my wife's purse and take them!"
Enrique's eyes were watering with laughter as the trucker finished another loud story with a dramatic fashion. They'd been driving together for the last few days. Most of Enrique's cross-state travel was done this way and honestly, he loved it. There was usually a trucker like the one now, which wanted some company on a long drive and was willing to go a little out of their way for it.
He wiped the tears from his eyes, "I tell you, I didn't expect to hear a trucker backtalking commercial cops like that, how'd you get away without a ticket?"
"Oh those guys are pussies, they just wanted to up their search numbers but didn't have shit to do for it. That's probably why they wanted my balls, so that at least one of them would have a set," and it was the Trucker's turn to burst out laughing, "Hey do you mind grabbing a couple from the back, I think we've gone a couple hours without a beverage."
Enrique nodded and pulled a couple beers out of the bedding area of the truck cab and passed one to the Trucker and opened one himself. It was cheap stuff, but he liked the cheap stuff, handy for a budding alcoholic on the street, "I gotta thank you again for going out of your way to drop me off here by the way, wasn't sure if you'd be willing to deviate from the route."
"Nah it's all good, I'm ahead of schedule anyways and I've always believed in Karma. But why the hell are you headed to that old school anyways? I've heard they're all shutdown and it looks like it's been a long time since you've been in school."
Enrique waved his hand theatrically, "Nah, Nah I didn't go to school there or anything, it just seemed like somewhere where I could hide out for a while. No heat or anything, but it just feels like I need a reset you know? Get out of the city for a while."
The Trucker nodded lit a cigarette, rolling down the window with the other hand. Enrique wondered, for a brief moment, what would happen if a deer had jumped in front of them in that moment, but no such thing happened and soon one of the Trucker's hands was back on the wheel. The Trucker passed him a cigarette as well. Enrique thanked him and lit it, breathing in the cheap tobacco and feeling the cool wind from the open window hit his face. The mood that had been cheerful the whole drive suddenly turned solemn. Enrique thought he saw the Trucker's hands shake once on the wheel.
"Let me tell you one more story since we're getting so close to the school. You know I had a kid once. Beautiful kid, he had a lot going for him. He was a heartbreaker from an early age. Had all the girls around him in his kindergarten class."
Another drag of the cigarette, "And he had talent too you know, he studied in school, got good grades I bet he could have been a real winner you know? Better than a trucker drinking beer and smoking with a stranger for sure."
The Past Tense. Enrique could see this story would not have a happy ending. He wanted out of the truck that very moment. The air was getting heavy. The Trucker locked the doors, "No, I've taken you all this way and this is a story I need to tell someone ok?"
Enrique slumped into his seat and took another long drag of the cigarette. The Trucker took a long pull from his can of beer and threw it out the window, "You know these schools that you're visiting? They fucked up the kids real good and then they just let them out, apologized and closed their doors. Let them all fall through the cracks. What did they think would happen?"
The Trucker's voice had cracked for the last bit and he reached for another drink behind him, deftly opening it and drinking it quickly. One large pull and that one was gone too, "Well and see the worst part is they stuck some of these kids with the normal ones. Back into school just to show that they hadn't fucking damaged them. The liars, those goddamned fucking liars."
Enrique spoke for the first time since the story started, "We can pull over, you're not looking good man."
"They picked a fight with my boy, because apparently one of them said he looked like the kid who had stolen one of his meals once. They showed me the comparison shots, that kid looked completely different. But this kid was determined they were the same kid and he wanted to fight. 30 years ago I would have said let them have it out, he could have stood his own against a punk in school."
Enrique knew it was the wrong thing to say but he had to know, "What was the kid's power?"
"Atmospheric pressure in an isolated ward, is what they called it. My wife called it hell and I called it a mess that destroyed my son's life. They put down the other kid, rifles out, no mercy. They didn't have mercy then, not for the kid whose life they fucked up, not for my son's life that ended that day, or for me and my wife who had to look at the twisted mess and discern that it was once our child."
Enrique pushed the cigarette into his hand feeling the heat draw into his body. He didn't want to be caught off guard. The Trucker scoffed, "Don't worry I know you're Awakened, only the Awakened ever visit places like this. And I don't blame all Awakened for what happened to my son. They're victims too, you're a victim too. Fuck I don't know why I wanted to tell you this story. Maybe I'm drunk, maybe I wanted you to feel guilty, who the fuck knows?"
The school finally pulled into view and despite the tears and the alcohol, the Trucker maneuvered the turns and stopped in an area he was sure he could turn around in. Enrique and the Trucker looked at each other, "So where to from here old man?" Enrique asked.
"I'm gonna drop this load off and go home. Gonna leave a lot of baggage right here too if you don't mind."
Enrique opened the door and turned to look at the Trucker again just in time to see the rest of the cigarette pack thrown at him, "You're broke right? Take those for now then, I can grab another pack later."
"Alright. Thanks."
Enrique started to shut the door, "Thanks again for the lift here."
The Trucker smiled in a way that made the goodbye feel even more final than it already was, "Try to remember, when the dust settles, what kind of consequences your actions have for the rest of us."
Enrique lit another cigarette, using the heat leftover from the last one to ignite the dry paper, "Consequences of my actions eh? Nothing I do will ever make the news pal so you don't have to worry about that."
He began walking, hiking up the ragged jacket he had stolen from another homeless man not too long ago. It didn't keep all the wind out, but it helped. As he hiked he saw that he wasn't alone at this so-called abandoned school. There was a ragtag group of people who almost looked as poor as him, a bike, a car. It looked a little crowded.
He raised his hand a little as he approached the group. He saw one person had not quite yet entered the mixed and mingled group, but chose to ignore them. Better to join with a group in situations like this, it kept you alive longer, "Hey, any of you guys know who called us out here? I want to get out of this wind."