Jinx (Kings of Carnage MC) - Chelsea Camaron Page 0,10
cargo evaluation, I make my way to the locomotive. Knowing they are stopping here just to break and then continue on, I find a boxcar with no lock and make my way up and inside. Catching out, the term people like me use for catching a new ride. Inside the car, I see pallets of what looks like huge bags of dog food or rice. As I close the doors and reset them in place, I take a minute to let my eyes adjust to the darkness of the car. Carefully, I begin to move about the space. Climbing up and over, I aim for the back corner where I see a gap I can slide down into for the ride.
I’m about to slide down the top of the final pallet when I notice a movement in the dark shadows. Right as I begin to descend down the pallet to the floor below, the shadow moves and a set of wide eyes open, locking to mine.
Shock.
Fear.
Adrenaline courses through me as the body shifts in time for me to land and pin us both in the small space between the bags and the wall of the boxcar. The eyes blink in front of me as I try to size up my opponent. I’ve had to fight in the past, and while I’m not prone to violence, I will defend myself.
The figure is my height, brown eyes, plump lips against fair skin, and feminine features let me know the person before me is a woman.
“I—I—I…” she stutters, and I shake my head.
“Shh, the conductor will walk the train once more,” I whisper. Pushing at the pallets, I get nowhere, but I find some give on the bags to our left. I push on those gaining us a few precious inches more. Somehow, we both manage to sit side-by-side and lean against the bags.
Only when the train begins to move do I speak again. “I’m Talia,” I introduce.
“Katie,” she replies softly. Her tone is laced with fatigue and desperation, both of which I recognize in myself.
“Where are you from?”
She sighs. “It doesn’t matter.”
Well, it really doesn’t, she has a point, but who knows how long our ride will be; might as well spend time getting to know one another.
“Do you live like this?” she prompts, and I nod. “Are you alone?”
Again, I nod. I don’t really know what to say. I’m not the typical traveler.
“You don’t travel with others?”
I shrug. “Sometimes yes, sometimes no.” I try not to, but there are situations where it’s unavoidable.
She leans her head against the wall looking defeated. Everything in her demeanor screams she’s a rookie at this. Closing her eyes, she mutters to herself, “There’s no place like home.”
Oh honey, we are far from being in Oz, nowhere near Wonderland, and Prince Charming doesn’t exist, so there is no one coming in on a white horse to save the day.
“Katie, how long have you been at this?”
She hesitates, then replies, “Three days.”
“Have you eaten?” I don’t know why that’s my knee-jerk reaction, but it is. The first few days I had money, so I didn’t know what the hunger pains would be like later on.
“Not since yesterday. I left with my boyfriend. He said we would be able to be together without the rules of my parents. Only, he put me in this car yesterday, said he would be back, and he didn’t come before the train took off. He has all the money I saved and stole from my mom’s purse. I only have my backpack with a change of clothes and a dead cell phone.” She begins to choke back sobs as the emotions get to her. I give her hand a squeeze.
I wish I had a protein bar, or even a pack of crackers, to give the girl. Emotions are certainly harder to tame when it’s time to face that first real hunger. “Where are you from?”
“Arizona,” she replies, “Flagstaff.”
Relaxing into the small space, I continue to learn about Katie. Idle chitchat is something I don’t do often anymore. Every question I ask, she answers, no longer hesitating but with a longing in her voice.
A familiar feeling washes over me. She wants to go home.
“It may take some time to sort out where we end up, Katie, but I’ll get you back to your parents,” I promise, fully intending to get this girl home.
“What about Caleb? That’s my boyfriend.”
Frustration fills me at her kindness for a man who left her behind. Whether he’s new