I’m Fixin’ To Play Dead (Part 39)
I’m Fixin’ To Play Dead (Part 39):
After spending the last nine or so harrowing hours and and traveling so many dangerous miles with Louise, I knew to take it seriously when about 10 miles east of Montgomery, she informed me that she could feel a state trooper bearing down on the stolen vehicle we were roaring through the night in and that she intended to get off the road immediately.
So I grabbed the strap over the door and held on real tight as she slammed on the brakes and slid sideways into the parking lot of a dark and abandoned service station. I could hear the gravel flying as the tires of the car ground into it. When we stopped sliding Louise maneuvered the Town Car around to the rear of the darkened building, out of site of any passing vehicle on Highway 80. She cut the lights and the engine off and things got real quiet.
After a few moments I asked, “What now?”
“Just wait,” she whispered out loud.
About 45 seconds later I heard a roaring sound getting louder and louder, and a few moments later, from our spot of seclusion we witnessed the realization of Louise’s premonition when that state trooper’s vehicle, blue lights flashing and blurred, zoomed by us like a night rocket.
We sat there until all sight and sound of our pursuer had dissipated. It was so quiet that I could hear Louise breathing. Then with a tone of I-told-you-so in her voice she said, “You gonna start trusting me now?”
“Anything you say is fine with me, Louise!” I blurted out. “I’m sorry I ever doubted anything you ever said, or any of you intentions. Starting right now, I’m ready to follow your advice without any questions.”
“All right,” she said, “what I want you to do is get out of the car, take your bags out of the trunk and hide over yonder in those tall weeds for awhile.”
“What!” I exclaimed. “You want to leave me out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“Thought there wouldn’t be no questions,” she quipped. But without waiting for any response from me she continued, “It won’t be for too long. It’s for your own good. You’ll be the best for it in case I do get caught. But I don’t intend to get caught and me and Sissy will come back and get you after I dump this car.”
I thought about what she had said and figured she was right, but then I wondered out loud, “But what if something happens and you don’t come back, what then?”
“Then you just wait until morning and walk down the road to wherever,” she said as she pushed the button to pop open the trunk. “Now come on and I’ll help you get your stuff out of the trunk.”
We met at the rear of the car where we tossed my duffle and suitcase full of money into a ditch full of tall weeds and in parting said, “Me and Sissy will see you later tonight.”
I just stood there while she got into the car and sped away, my confidence fading with the gleam of the car’s tail lights.
It was dark, cold and spooky standing there, so I waded through the weeds to where the bags were, settled down on the ground, and took what comfort I could from being near them. Once again I was alone and in a ditch. My only consolation was that this time I was awake.
It was cold. I wrapped my leather jacket tighter around myself, zipped it up to my neck and pulled the bags closer to me.
The night grew darker and the temperature grew colder. After two hours of shivering and waiting, I knew something was wrong, but I was too weary to do anything except fall into a troubled, dream-filled sleep. My dreams were filled with warm fires, fluffy quilts and soft pillows. But those comforts evaporated when I woke up in the middle of the night, shaking like a leaf.
Looking skyward I saw a waxing full moon overhead and knew it was after midnight. I had to get up to shake off the cold. After stomping about in the weeds for awhile, I knew I had to have some warmth. I opened my duffle bag and took out every item of fabric, formed a bed, a pillow, some cover and sank back down onto the cold ground.
Just before drifting off again I thought about ending my mad quest of playing dead, taking the late Leon’s advice and returning to my comfortable home and job. But then I unzipped a corner of the old suitcase, slid my hand inside and caressed the stacks of cash, and knew there was no going back. The only question was how was I fixing to go on without Louise?