Chapter 12
“Thank
you for letting us stay here,” Jaime said, smiling warmly at Kevin.
“It’s
no problem. We loved having you,” Kevin
replied, and the others nodded.
It
was seven the next morning, and Taylor and Jaime were all packed up and ready
to leave. Now all they had to do was
say goodbye.
“We
had a great time,” Taylor said, hugging Kevin.
“Thanks.”
“You’re
welcome, cuz,” Kevin said, hugging her back.
“You
girls take care,” Howie said, smiling at each of them.
“Have
a good trip home,” AJ added.
“Bye,”
Nick finished, smiling. The girls
smiled back and climbed into Jaime’s car.
They yelled goodbye out the windows, and then Jaime backed out of the
driveway and onto the road. Taylor
waved out the window, and the four guys waved back. Finally, they disappeared from sight.
***
By
one, Taylor and Jaime had been driving for six hours. They had left Florida, with its palm trees
and mostly flat ground behind long ago, and were now in the state of
Georgia. Unfortunately, they weren’t
sure where in that state they were.
“Jaime,
do you think we took the wrong turn?” Taylor asked, looking anxiously out the
windows. Everything looked the same for
miles along the narrow, deserted road, bordered on each side by cliffs of red
sediment.
“I
don’t know,” Jaime said with a frustrated sigh.
“I think we might have.”
“Well,
where are we?” Taylor asked.
“Georgia?”
Jaime offered, shrugging.
Taylor
sighed. “Where in Georgia?” she
asked exasperatedly.
“How
should I know?!” Jaime exploded. “You’re
the one with the map!”
“Well,
sorry!” Taylor shouted, throwing down the wrinkled map in
frustration. “I didn’t think you had to
rely on me for everything!”
“Well,
I thought I could at least count on you to tell me where to turn!” Jaime
shouted back.
“Can’t
you figure it out on your own? Read the
road signs. It’s not that hard!”
“Obviously
it was too hard for you!”
“Sorry,
guess I’m just not as smart as you, huh?!”
“I
guess not!”
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
With
a loud huff, Taylor crossed her arms and turned away from Jaime, staring out
the window, while Jaime glared bitterly straight ahead.
Suddenly,
they both jumped at a loud crash of thunder.
Taylor looked up at the sky, which in just minutes, it seemed, had
darkened and turned an eerie shade of gray-green.
A
flash of lightning struck in the distance, and fat raindrops began to fall,
splattering onto the windshield.
Great, Taylor thought sarcastically. We’re
already lost and pissed off at each other.
The last thing we need is to get caught in a stupid storm.
They
drove in silence for about ten minutes, and in that short period of time, the storm had worsened. The wind blew fiercely now, making it hard
for Jaime to keep the car on the road.
The windshield wipers swished rapidly back and forth across the
windshield, but it was pouring now, and growing more and more hard to see. Squinting at a green sign on the side of the
road, Jaime said, “Hey, there’s a town ahead!” she said.
Taylor
nodded, sitting up straighter as she caught sight of the green sign on her
right. It said ‘Redridge – 10 miles’.
“Good. We can wait out the storm someplace there
and get directions,” Taylor said in relief.
Jaime
nodded, as she drove on down the road towards the town. The road they were on was not in good
condition, with potholes, bumps, and loose gravel scattered along the
edges. It would have been bad enough in
daylight, but with the adverse conditions they drove through, predicting
obstacles was nearly impossible.
They
had driven for about ten more minutes when suddenly, the car struck a deep
pothole. Both girls heard the sound of
the left front tire popping. Struggling
to keep control of her car, Jaime braked hard, sending the car skidding to a
halt. It slid on some loose gravel and
spun off the edge of the road, coming to a rest in small muddy ditch.
“Shit,”
Jaime said shrilly.
“Do
you have a spare tire?” Taylor asked anxiously.
Jaime
shook her head regretfully. “It’ll be
okay. I can just drive on the bad one
for a few minutes until we get to town.”
Taylor
nodded, and Jaime gently pushed the accelerator, trying to drive the car out of
the ditch. The tires squealed, as they
sunk into the muddy ground. Frustrated,
Jaime gunned the engine, which only sent up a wave of watery mud and dug the
tires in deeper.
“Shit.” Now it was Taylor’s turn to curse. She turned to Jaime. “What are we going to do?”
***
