pulled the showerhead off as I tried to angle it for my height.)
I sat in the parking lot of the seedy hotel, staring at Josephine’s address. I had no clue how much longer I had to go before I reached Josephine’s hometown, but I wanted to get on the road as soon as possible. I plugged in her address and put the car in reverse.
It said I had nearly three and a half hours to drive.
I slipped on my Ray Bans, hit play on a Willie Nelson playlist, and set out for greener pastures. And greener pastures. And greener pastures. The one thing that continued to shock me about Texas was how fucking big it was. If I set out in a car in New York, I’d end up in another state in no time. Hell, I could go through three or four states in one morning. In Texas? I could drive for a full day and still not make it to the other side.
By the time my playlist looped back for a third time, I was ready to call it a day. I’d already stopped for gas, and somewhere in the middle of my drive I’d missed a turnoff from the highway and had driven over an hour in the wrong direction. I’d cursed the high heavens, u-turned off the side of the road in a ditch, nearly gotten my rental car stuck, and then finally got headed back in the right direction.
By the time I pulled into the outskirts of Josephine’s town, I’d managed to turn a three and a half hour drive into a six hour drive. My stomach was shouting at me for food and my bones ached from sitting for so long. I ignored the fact that I was about to piss my pants and continued on the highway past the “Welcome” sign, which, by the way, noted that the population of the town floated somewhere around 300. Yup. As in less people than the graduating class of my high school.
I kept driving until the highway gave way to a two-lane street that looped around a town square. A limestone courthouse sat in the center of town with businesses surrounding it on all sides. Most of them had their lights off and shades drawn, so I assumed they were already closed for the day. I pulled off to the side of the street in front of a dark butcher shop and checked the navigation to Josephine’s house. She couldn’t be far from Main Street. Right?
I refreshed the map and a screen popped up that read, “No network connection, try again.”
I did. I tried it three more times with the same result, and then threw my phone onto the passenger seat.
Well, awesome. I had no clue where to find Josephine’s house, I had to piss, and I was hungry as fuck.
The things people do for love…
After I gave my phone another ten minutes to prove to me that it was definitely not going to pick up a cellular signal, I pulled back out onto the road and looked for the first open gas station.
I passed a dozen churches—at least—before I found a gas station a few miles down the road, heading out of town. The parking lot was deserted except for a black Bronco parked to the side on the grass. All but one of the pumps was covered with an “out of order” sign. I pulled up to the one working pump, cut the engine, and ran inside like my life depended on it.
A kid that looked to be between 13 or 14 at most sat behind the counter eating a hotdog. I ran past him toward the restroom and then he shouted with his mouth full.
“You need the key!”
I looped back around and held my hand out, but the kid shook his head.
“Payin’ customers only.”
He stuffed another bite of hotdog in his mouth and chewed slowly, watching me with beady little eyes.
I rammed my hand into the candy bin in front of me and then dropped three Snickers and a Butterfinger onto the counter.
“There,” I said, pulling out my wallet and handing over my card. “Can I have the bathroom key now?”
He shook his head. “There’s a five dollar min’mum on cards.”
I resisted the urge to strangle him and instead shoved my hand back into the candy bin. After he rang up my order with excruciating laziness, I held my hand out for the key.
“Are you gonna get gas too?” he asked, pointing to