Chapter 14: First Impressions

Kenton was ecstatic when he saw the two of them approaching. After being forced to wait in the truck, just seeing Daniel sent waves of energy down the length of him. But to see this new person coming forth gave him more excitement than he could possibly control.

“Hey! Stop.” Daniel pointed at him with authority. “Sit.”

The dog did as he wished, but with great effort.

Katrina marched right past the spectacle, apparently determined to ignore the animal. Daniel put the beer in the bed of the truck and waited for her. Hastily, she grabbed her backpack out of her car and left only the ignition key in the cup-holder. At relatively the same time, the two of them pulled open the doors to the rusty 1989 Dodge Ram single cab. For a split-second he saw her grimace as she got a whiff of hot, cracked vinyl and chewing tobacco. And maybe, he realized, that half-eaten bag of moldy pecan rolls on the passenger’s side floor. Daniel snickered as he hopped into the driver’s seat. Larry was a bit shorter, and pretty oblivious to such things; it didn’t surprise him that he hadn’t noticed it or gotten rid of it yet. He made a mental note to joke about that when he returned the truck.

With as much poise as she could muster, Katrina pushed over miscellaneous truck contents toward the middle of the bench seat. Then, she swiped her hand briskly over the surface of the seat, so hopefully she wouldn’t leave with dirt clinging to her new white shirt. As she settled in, her majesty kept her bag and purse resting on her lap so they didn’t get soiled, either.

That perceptive grin stayed glued to his face as Daniel finally started the truck and began to maneuver. Apparently she’d forgotten to give him any kind of thanks-for-helping-me-out recognition. He’d given her enough time, he thought, and was now beginning to solidify his feelings about her. Katrina hardly waited for them to leave the parking lot before she whipped out her phone again.

“Hey —ina!” Mel answered, excitedly. “Are you — yet?”

“Mel?” she said loudly. “Can you hear me?”

“Yeah I — fine. Where are —? — yet?”

“No, I’m not there,” she yelled into the phone. “I’m still in Ohio… My car broke down south of Lancaster.”

“What? — car?”

“Umm, I don’t know,” Katrina wasn’t sure what was wrong with the car, nor was she entirely sure what Melissa was trying to say. “We thought it was the battery, but I guess… not.”

“Who’s we?”

“Um, nobody. Listen, would you be able to come and get me tomorrow?”

“— tonight?”

As the truck rumbled up the first hill Daniel stole a glance, knowing he didn’t need to be so stealthy about it. The woman pressed the phone into one ear and stuck her finger in the other, clamping her eyes shut and concentrating with all her might.

“Uhh, I’m going to stay at a campground here, locally… Yes, really.”

Suddenly, a rabbit ran out into the road before them and Daniel slowed to give it plenty of time to do those jerky, indecisive moves before it committed to a direction. Just as alert as his owner, Kenton barked a few times from the bed of the truck.

Annoyed, Katrina forced both the phone and her finger further toward the center of her head, intent on keeping the rest of the world out of her brain. The crease across the bridge of her nose deepened as she scowled through closed eyes.

As the old chip-and-tarred road meandered through the foothills, Daniel’s eyes were open and aware. They passed by the homes of his neighbors, who were outside getting ready for the evening’s festivities. All of the houses were small, cozy, and quite a distance from the road.

At the Usher’s property, cars were lined up along their driveway. Running and laughing grandchildren filled the front yard.

“Well, I called him first, but he’s not able to come and get me. Remember, he has that business meeting,” Katrina continued.

“What? — Labor — today?”

“Uh, I don’t know, I can barely hear you…” Although Katrina was telling the truth, her eyes fluttered open in recognition. She understood enough to realize that she was right. Since when does Trent have a big, important business meeting on Labor Day weekend?

“So anyhow,” she pushed ahead, “I figured since you probably won’t have anything to do tomorrow either, you could just…”

“Actually, my — and they offered — up. So I’m going — but I can — want.”

“Oh…” Katrina hesitated as she tried to piece that together and translate. “Um… well, maybe I’ll just tell Trent what I decided, and ask him to…”

“Actually,” Daniel interrupted, quietly. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re probably going to lose your reception over this next hill,” he pointed out.

Exasperated, Katrina frowned at him. “This phone gets excellent reception. I’ll be able to call once we stop moving. How much further is it?”

Shaking his head tolerantly, he said, “About a half—”

“Hello?” Suddenly she pulled the phone away from her face and stared at the huge screen. From that distance, Daniel could even see that the call had been dropped.

“Oh,” she shrugged, trying to salvage her dignity. “I guess… you were right. So how much longer?”

“Another half-mile,” he repeated.

Beyond that hill, the McCarthy family was just beginning to grill burgers. Daniel waved, and the man of the house raised his spatula in reply. He was already driving courteously, mostly because his dog was standing in the bed of the truck, unable to control his wagging tail. Just as they were cresting the hill, though, the road turned sharply to the left, and they met another driver coming the opposite way.

All the muscles in Katrina’s body went rigid and she instantly grabbed the handle above the door.

Daniel passed the car at a moderate speed and the two drivers waved at each other, customarily. When he looked over, her sinewy bicep was still flexed as she gripped the handle for dear life. Her neck looked stringy, braced in an endless gasp.

Finally, she relaxed enough to speak, albeit viciously. “You know, I’ve kind of had a rough day, could you <i>please</i> try not to wreck this truck?”

Daniel took a deep breath of resolve before he spoke. “Yes, ma’am,” was all he could think to say. “I’ll do my best.”

The woman shook her head, apparently trying to calm herself down, too. He certainly hoped she would be successful in her attempt. She was wound tighter than an eight-day clock.

Even as Daniel was trying to ignore her, he soon became aware of her growing discontent. First she began fanning herself with her hand. Then she began breathing loudly, theatrically, as if trying to make a hint that he should pick up on.

Finally, her hand flopped lifeless on the seat next to her and she pouted, “Why isn’t the AC on? Aren’t you hot?”

“That AC is on,” he gestured to the dashboard. “I guess it doesn’t work.”

She snorted. “Maybe he should take it to… what is it… Jake’s?”

“Zack’s.”

“Yeah. So why don’t we have the windows down?” she grunted as she began manually rolling down her window.

“You were on the phone,” he grumbled, too low for her to hear. Then he twisted to open the sliding back window to equalize the pressure in the cab. Due to damage he sustained years ago in the Army, his right ear couldn’t handle the strain of having just one window open. Still, he saw no need to complain about it. He simply kept that complacent look about him, and drove on.

Mr. and Mrs. Pearson were out in their wooden rocking chairs, on the dock of their small pond. As always, the neighbors acknowledged at each other as they passed. As the truck began its ascent up the next lazy incline, Daniel was excited to see an indigo bunting emerge from the tree line and head straight for their small patch of meadow grass. Again, he made a mental note to inform old man Pearson, as he was somewhat of a birdwatcher, too.

Unfortunately, even as Daniel was still elated about this discovery, Katrina was focused on a different kind of fauna. This time it was nature’s perils that suddenly brought her closer to her imminent meltdown.

“Oh my God,” she recoiled.

This brought Daniel back from his thoughts of mild jealousy, and wondering why he never saw an indigo bunting on his own property.

“What?”

“A bee!”

Daniel looked to where she was pointing, and he saw a dark waspy creature. It was clinging to the upper corner of the windshield on her side, trying to create a low profile in the high wind environment.

“I think it’s a mud dauber,” he shrugged.

“Well, can you get rid of it?” She was pressing herself against the seatbelt as far as it would allow, in order to get a few inches away from it.

“They don’t sting.”

To anyone else, he thought that would have been enough of an explanation. But not for her, apparently.

“Well I don’t want it in here.”

<i>Is she serious?</i> Daniel scoffed. “Are you allergic?”

“No, I just—” Frantically, she grabbed an empty snuff box off of the seat next to her and tentatively held it out, like a ridiculous weapon.

“What are you doing?” he had to know. “You’re going to kill a stingless wasp that’s just minding its own business?”

“I’m not trying to… kill it…”

Evidently she was trying to whisk it out the window, which seemed to only provoke it, as far as Daniel could tell.

“For God’s sake, we’re almost—”

Abruptly, the wasp let go of the windshield and darted out the window. Katrina shrieked and flicked the snuff box out the window after it.

“… there,” he exhaled, shaking his head incredulously.

Katrina also paused, and Daniel wondered if she felt regret for littering, or if she was just relieved the poor insect was gone. Truth be told, Daniel was beginning to think he’d prefer the company of the wasp.

That pretty much marked the end of conversation between them. Fortunately, though, they had reached their destination. Daniel slowed the truck as they crested the tiny hillock that afforded them the greatest view of his property. Where the public road veered to the left, there was an old cracked-pavement driveway that continued straight ahead.