“Have you decided?” he asked her the next morning as they prepared to leave. They had avoided the topic for as long as they could.
“Jack… I can’t. I can’t go back to ABQ. Please, don’t do this.”
“Tina, it’s our only way out. Unless you have a better idea, I have to do this.”
“Jack! It’s crazy! You can’t steal the cars from the police! You can’t!”
“It’ll work, Tina. If you think it’s crazy, the police will think it doubly so.”
She could feel her eyes begin to tear. “I can’t.”
He looked at her kindly. “I understand. Here, take this,” he said as he handed her the phone. “I will call you.”
She whimpered, but she took the phone. It would be her lifeline to him.
He pulled out his wallet and counted out a thousand dollars before holding it out to her. “You will need this.”
“Jack… no,” she whispered as she backed away.
“Take it,” he said firmly. “You will need it for gas money.”
“Jack… I can’t take your bike!”
“You either ride it or it sits here. I can’t ride both.”
She began to break, her breath coming in gulps as she fought to hold herself together. “I will send you word where I am. So you can come get your hog,” she said tearfully.
“You better,” he said with a sad smile.
“Jack! Please don’t go. Please!”
“Tina… I have to. It’s the only way.”
“No! You’ll figure something else out! I know you will! You always have a plan!”
“And this is it,” he said softly.
“We’ll take the money you have left and get new identities! You said we could do that!”
“It’s not enough, Tina. We have to disappear. Two grand isn’t enough to start over.”
“Jack… please!”
He pulled her to him and held her as she sniffled and wept. “It will be okay. Shhh… it will be okay. I’ll come for you. I promise.”
“You can’t promise that, Jack.”
“You have my word, Tina. If there is any way possible, I will come for you.”
She pulled out of his embrace and wiped her eyes. “I’ll never see you again. You know that?”
“Where’s that Tina Harris optimism and ‘can do’ attitude?”
“You can only do so much. There are too many things out of your control. You have no way of knowing how this will go down, do you? Tell me the truth, Jack… this is a desperate gamble, a last ditch effort, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” he finally admitted. “It is. But a lot of games have been won on the last ditch effort, Hail Mary pass.”
“A lot of games have been lost on them too,” she pointed out as she dried her eyes one last time.
“Yes. But the game is usually lost anyway so you have nothing to lose.”
She stepped in close and kissed him long and hard, then held him tight for probably the last time.
“Goodbye, Jack, and thank you. Thank you for all that you have done for me and allowing me believe in myself again. I won’t forget you.”
“I certainly hope not. You will still have my hog,” Jack said, but his attempt at humor fell flat. “I won’t forget you either, Tina. Take care of yourself, okay?”
She gritted her teeth, determined not to start crying again as she picked up her torn sack of clothing, helmet, and key.
Jack watched her thumb the Harley to life and kick it out of the parking space it shared with his bike. He gave her a small wave before she pulled away as he struggled to control his emotions. He has had more women walk out on him than he can count… but none of them hurt like this one did. He took a deep, calming breath, then returned to the room and gathered his things.
***
Tina rolled to a stop as the light turned red. She is headed is to Las Cruces and to… not home, she realized, but to where her mom lived. Home was behind her, where Jack was. The light turned green and she sat, torn on what to do until the car behind her gave a short blast on the horn. She pulled away, but turned into the first parking lot she passed. She arced the bike around in a tight U-turn and pulled back onto the road before she gave the hog the beans. She had to hurry... but she was smiling as she banged the bike up through the gears.
She was waiting on traffic to make a left when she saw Jack step out of the manager’s office. Come on! she willed the line of cars before she skirted across between two cars.
Jack looked up at the roar of a Harley as his bike made a daring lunge across traffic and into the parking lot. Tina circled the bike around and pulled up beside his.
“I’m going to need gas before we get to Albuquerque,” she said over the rumble of the bike.
He stood in stunned disbelief for a moment before he broke into a broad smile. He wanted to go to her, but she sat on the bike with the clutch held in, obviously ready to ride. Without saying a word he put on his helmet and returned the sunglasses to his face… but not before he discretely wiped the single tear from his eye.
***
“I’ve got it,” Tina said as they dismounted. Her Softail was running on fumes so they had stopped in the sleepy little town of Vaughn to fill her bike and top off Jack’s.
She stepped into the convenience store and waited behind a couple of punks hassling the pretty clerk.
“May I help you ma’am?” the clerk asked, clearly relieved to have some excuse to brush off the greaseballs.
“Start pump number 6?”
“You have to prepay.”
“How about I just wait here?”
The girl, who couldn’t be much more than eighteen or nineteen, hesitated but then started the pump.
Tina stepped to the drink case and browsed the selection before she reached in and plucked a Squirt from within with a smile. She returned to the end of the row and waited for Jack to finish pumping the gas.
“No!” the clerk hissed quietly as her eyes met Tina’s.
“Come on, you know you want it,” one of the thugs said as he grabbed his crotch.
Tina rolled her eyes and looked away. These guys needed to learn some manners and how to treat a lady.
“There’s a customer here! Stop it!”
One of the punks looked her over with a leer. “How ya doin’?”
“Fine,” Tina said coolly.
“That you’re hog?” the second troublemaker asked with a jerk of his head toward the bikes.
“Yeah.”
“I love a woman that knows how to ride,” he said, and the both of the hoods guffawed. “You like to ride, don’t you, Consuelo?” He looked to the cashier with a sleazy wink.
Consuelo looked into Tina’s eyes with a mixture of pleading and embarrassment. I’m going to send Jack back in here to explain a few things to these guys, she decided as she waited. She saw Jack hang the nozzle up just as the first thug reached across the counter and took Consuelo by the arm.
“I asked if you liked to ride. Because I have something here for you to ride on,” he sneered.
“What do I owe you?” Tina asked as she stepped forward and placed her bottle on the counter. Her action broke up the mounting confrontation between the punk and the poor cashier.
“Uh… eighteen forty-six,” she said as she rang her up.
Tina pulled a twenty from her pocket and handed it across.
“What else you got tucked into those pants?” the second hood asked as he looked her over again.
“Keep the change,” Tina said, just wanting to get out of there.
“Hey, I’m talking to you!” the goon said as he took her by the arm.
Tina didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the pen lying on the counter, whirled, and drove it deep into the bully’s arm. He released her and fell back with a roar of pain. She turned to face the second thug. He had a look of surprise, but his face was already hardening as he reached for her.
She lashed out with her right foot as she aimed for his crotch. He saw it coming and twisted to block most of it. But the kick was only the distraction and she grabbed him behind his head and drove his face hard down into her rapidly rising knee. He folded like a limp rag.
She whirled back to the second punk. He had pulled the pen from his arm and was standing with his mouth agape. She wasted no time putting him down with a swift kick to the nuts, a blow he never saw coming. It was all over in less than five seconds.
Jack heard a man’s scream from inside the store and he bolted across the lot. He had left his weapon on the bike but he charged through the door ready to fight. He nearly fell over some guy rolling on the floor with his hands on his crotch and blood running down his arm. Another was lying face down in a spreading pool of blood, and in the middle of it all was a panting Tina.
“What the fuck happened?” he yelled as he took in the scene. Then he noticed the wide-eyed Consuelo behind the counter.
“You fuck!” Tina yelled as she kicked the hood on the floor holding himself.
Jack grabbed Tina by the shoulder and gave her a gentle shake. “Tina! What happened?” he shouted, trying to get her attention.
Her eyes focused on his a moment and then she wilted. She looked around her, then stepped into his chest and held him tight.
Jack looked to Consuelo for answers as he held Tina in his arms.
“She… she… she kicked their ass. One of them grabbed her and… holy shit! I never saw anything like that!” Consuelo stammered.
Jack looked at the carnage around him. The thug with the bloody face was stirring, trying to get to his feet as the other goon rolled over and vomited on the floor.
“Call the police,” he said as he released Tina. “Go see if you can find some rope or something to tie them up with,” he said as he gave Tina a gentle push.
As Tina moved off he hauled the bloody one to his feet. The punk had obviously had enough and held up his hands to ward off further blows. Jack shoved him back to the floor. “If you move, I’ll kill you,” he warned.
He then turned his attention to the other thug who was just staggering to his feet. “I’m going to kill that bitch,” he hissed as he bent over in pain.
Jack shut him up with a hard right hook to the face that drove him to the floor again. He then reached down and hauled him back up. “Anything else you want to say?” he snarled into the troublemaker’s face.
The goon shook his head.
“That’s what I thought,” Jack said as he shoved him down next to his friend.
“Here,” Tina said as she handed him a long length of rope.
“The police will be here in about ten minutes,” Consuelo said.
Jack bound the two men’s feet and hands as he cut the rope to length with his knife. He made sure the bonds were good and tight. He didn’t care if it hurt and ignored their complaints and apologies.
“You paid for the gas?” he asked Tina.
“Yeah.”
Jack looked at the bag the rope had been in then tossed the bag and a twenty onto the counter. “Let’s go.”
“Wait! Shouldn’t you wait for the police?” Consuelo asked.
“We need to go,” he said as he looked around. He nodded at the camera behind Consuelo’s head. “That will tell the cops everything they need to know.”
“But… but…” Consuelo stammered.
“Come on,” he said, taking Tina by the hand and leading her out.
“Wait!” Consuelo cried as she burst through the door behind them. She ran to Tina and gave her a hug. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“It’s okay. If they move, just kick them in the nuts again.”
“Tina! Come on!” Jack called from his bike.
She hurried to her ride, put on her helmet and sunglasses, and thumbed the bike to life before she followed Jack out of gas station. She could stop and strap down her helmet later down the road.
***
They had met a county Sheriff's car, blue lights flashing, as it hauled ass in the direction they came. Jack had tensed up until it became clear the car wasn’t going to turn around. After a quick stop to get themselves set for the remainder of the ride into Albuquerque, he had been unable to wipe the smile off his face as they thundered across the New Mexico desert. While Tina reminded him of Colette in so many ways, there was one clear difference between them. Colette had tried to pretend she was a badass chick, but Tina… she was a badass chick, able to take care of herself in almost any situation.
As they approached the outskirts of Albuquerque he realized that what had been bothering him, what was holding him back with Tina, was the fear that she would end up like Colette. But after her performance in Vaughn he finally realized that Tina wasn’t Colette, and she shouldn’t be forced to live in the shadow of a ghost from his past.
He twisted the throttle open on his hog and pulled up beside her, then slowed until she looked in his direction. He smiled, blew her a kiss, then opened the taps again as he pulled in front to lead her to Marshall’s house. Colette would always be special to him… but he was finally ready to leave his past behind him and embrace the future.