Hell Bent for Leather

(STEEL)

I don’t know what the fuck the person on the phone just said to her, but Emily’s face is paler than a kid who’s just gone through the Haunted House.

“Thanks a bunch, Courtney. I’ll call you later,” Emily says and turns off her phone. She looks at me and says, “We need to get out of here, now.”

“Huh?”

“My dad and his buddies are out looking for us.”

“For real?”

“My parents have gone insane. Why don’t they think I can make my own decisions? Good decisions. Ones that make me happy.”

“I don’t get it,” I say, shaking my head.

“We have to go to the carnival now,” she says, her voice forceful.

“I don’t even know where they’re at.”

“Can’t you phone from the car? My parents are freaking, I’m not having them hold me prisoner again. They’ll know we’re not in Colmar, and Woburn is the first place they’ll start looking.”

Maybe she’s right. The carnival is the perfect place for her to grow up and get away from their hold on her life.

I grab her chin and force her eyes into mine. As much as I want to go back to being what I am, I’m not taking her to that life unless she’s certain it’s what she wants.

“Are you sure the carnival’s the place you want to go?” I ask, my voice gruff.

“Yes.”

“Really sure?”

“Yes.”

“That doesn’t sound like a carny talking to me.”

Emily giggles and says, “Fuck yeah, I’m sure.”

“We’re in for some fun,” I say and kiss her cheek.

Going around the room, I start gathering my stuff and cram it in my backpack.

“What about all your stuff?” I ask.

“It’s gone.”

“Huh?”

“There’s no way I’m going home to get a damn thing. I’ll buy whatever I need.” Her words are strong, but her voice trembles. I drop the backpack and hold her tight against me.

“Don’t be scared, Goldie, I’ll take good care of you.”

“I know,” she says, sinking her body into mine.

I kiss the top of her head and stroke her back. We stay still for a minute, while she controls her nerves.

“We should go,” I say, my voice soothing, “before they find us. A cheap motel is the first place they’ll look. It’s only eight. We can drive for an hour and find another place to stay.”

Emily nods her head, and I release her from my arms. We move around the room, gathering the rest of my stuff and cramming it in my backpack. I bought some more clothes while I was here, and it’s a struggle to fit them all in.

“I’ll check out, you wait in the car.”

I lock up the room and go to the office to check out. When I leave the office again, the Corolla is smack in front of the office door. Emily’s sitting in the driver’s seat, her fingers gripping the wheel so tight, her knuckles are white.

Opening the driver door, I say, “Why don’t you let me drive?”

“You don’t know where we’re going,” she says, looking up at me, her jaw tight.

“Neither do you.”

I take her hand and lead her out of the car and around to the passenger side. She opens the door and gets in, and I close it again.

In the driver’s seat, I pull out of the motel parking lot and turn right.

“If you go straight, you’ll eventually get to the freeway,” she says.

That was luck. We keep hitting reds, and I put my foot down each time the light goes green to get us out of here as fast as possible. Emily keeps looking all around, as if she’s being hunted. I put my hand on her thigh, trying to relax her.

Once we’ve reached the freeway, we drive for an hour to Raleigh. There’s a sign for a gas station, so I pull into it and put the car in park.

“I’m going to phone Papa Smurf,” I say taking out my phone.

“Okay,” Emily says, and turns to stare out the back window.

“Papa,” I say when he answers the phone.

“Steel. You had enough of chasing that tail and coming back?”

“Oh, I’m coming back all right, but I’m bringing my woman with me.”

“Fuck, man, for real? You always had the magic.”

“As real as day. You going to put her to work?”

“For you, anything.”

“Thanks, Papa. Now, where you at?”

“Near Gulfport.”

“Where the fuck’s that?”

“Mississippi, right on the Gulf.”

“Okay, what’s that? A day’s drive. I’ll be there tomorrow or the day after.” Depending on if I want to stop and show Emily something along the way.

“Buses here ain’t that fast.”

“We got our own car.”

“No shit. In that case, I have your own trailer for the two of yous, if you can tow it. We’re leaving in the morning, you get here first thing, and it’ll be here for you.”

“Fuck yeah, how you swinging that? Screw it, I’m not asking questions, I want the trailer.”

My own trailer, there’s no way I’m missing out on that.

“Then you better get driving, it’ll take you about twelve hours and we’re leaving in ten.”

“We’re on our way. Text me directions to Gulfport.”

I hang up the phone and turn to Emily, my face beaming.

“We got ourselves our very own trailer.” I can’t hide the excitement in my voice.

“That sounds good,” she says, unsure of her words.

“Can this little car tow a trailer? Google it.”

Emily taps into her phone and says, “Up to fifteen-hundred pounds, apparently.”

“And this thing has a trailer-hitch?”

“My father made sure this car had everything there was to have. One of the perks of being the dealership boss’ daughter.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yeah.”

“We need to get ourselves to Gulfport, Mississippi by morning.”

“How far is that?”

“Maybe a twelve-hour drive and we have ten hours to do it in. Do you know how to get to Mississippi? Look it up on your phone.”

Without waiting for her, I put it in gear and pull back onto the highway.

“I can’t believe I’m really doing this,” Emily says, turning her phone on.

The phone starts beeping and chiming.

“Ignore the texts.”

“I’m looking at Google Maps. It’s easy, follow I-85 past Atlanta, change to I-65 at Montgomery, Alabama.”

“Easy. Now turn off your phone.”

“I can’t not look at the texts.”

“Yes, you can,” I say, reaching over to grab her phone.

Emily moves it against her window, out of my reach, her eyes fixed to the screen. My eyes flick between her and the road. Her breathing’s getting fast and I grab her nearest arm to try to get her to stop looking at the phone.

“My mother is throwing all kinds of mud at you. There’s no word from my father. I guess he’s too busy looking for me. Should I tell her we’ve gone?”

“No way, then he’ll follow us. Better to let him drive in circles around town.”

“Your carnival isn’t on the internet. I know, I looked hard for it.”

“That’s because we’re small. Papa Smurf don’t care about that shit. We go different places every year, what’s the point?”

“So they’ll never find us.”

“Not likely.”

“So who cares if I tell them?”

“Why don’t you say we’re going to Georgia?”

“Same highway,” she says, sighing.

“So don’t tell them nothing.”

She starts tapping away at her phone.

“What are you typing?”

“A text to my mom,” she says and sets the phone on her lap. I assume she’s hit send. “I said they’ve given us no choice but to leave the area because they were so rude to us. And also that I quit my job.”

Her words surge through me and make my dick twitch. She’s all mine now.