“So the fuck what?”
“I’m not a footrest!”
“Jesus Christ, Evelyn. We’re cramped in a tiny space and I’m six-two. Excuse me for stretching out a little bit.”
“Well, don’t do it on me.”
I twist my neck around trying to ease my sore neck. “This sucks. My neck is killing me.”
“Mine, too. It sucks even more waking up to a bitch.” He stretches his arms out, just missing my face. “My whole body hurts.”
Niko is now also awake and looks back at us. He starts to whimper and circle on the front seat, then stops and looks at Storm expectantly.
“He has to eat and go outside. I’m going to have to take him out there. I have a shovel in the back of the truck. I’m going to clear the snow off the truck, too. We can’t sit here with a foot of snow on top of us.”
I nod at him and then realize I also have to go to the bathroom. This is not good at all. There has to be over a foot of snow on the ground by now. And I’m still wearing these awful shoes.
“Um, Storm? I have to go to the bathroom, too.” This is so incredibly awkward. I just want to disappear.
“Well, damn. That’s a problem.” He runs his hand through his hair and chews on his lip. “Okay, lemme do this. I’m gonna take Niko out and shovel the truck off. Then I’m going to shovel a path a few feet away with a little area you can stand in. I’m going to have to carry you. Again.”
“I seriously can’t believe this.”
“Well, that’s all we can do. Our options are a little limited. I have some napkins up front.”
I am sure my face is a million shades of red. “Fine... Thanks. Be careful out there, okay?” The last thing I need is for him to fall and get hurt.
He pulls on his coat in the cramped space and nods at me. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to get you.”
While Storm and Niko are outside, I try to mentally get my shit together. I’ve never even been camping. Taking a pee outside in a blizzard is not something I ever thought I’d be doing. My friend Amy is going to laugh her ass off when I tell her about this. From the shoveled-off window, I watch Storm roll up some snow and throw it for Niko, and he bounds after it, biting the snowball, and then racing back to Storm. I can’t help but smile. I can see the love between them. Storm is laughing and rubbing Niko’s head, the dog’s tail wagging excitedly, anticipating another snowball to chase.
After he shovels off the rest of the truck and makes a little path, he opens the truck door. “Okay, sweet cheeks, let’s do this.”
“Storm, this is really humiliating. I really don’t want to be carried outside to pee.”
“Okay, I get that, I really do. Let’s just get it over with. The snow is coming down pretty fast again and the path I made is gonna get covered up. I’m just gonna carry you over there, stick you on the ground, and then come back for you, okay? No big deal.”