A Road Trips and Fifty Cents

A road trip and fifty cents
By Anders Braüner Nielsen
All rights reserved

1

I pick her up on an indifferent monday morning. She moves slowly to the car, still swaying a little, gets in and throws her backpack to the back seat. I start driving.
We have been driving for about fifty minutes without having even a simple conversation when she turns to me. 'We haven't really thought this through have we?'. I keep staring blankly through the windshield and after a few seconds decide to say: 'Should we have?'.
'Ya brought any smokes?' I ask her. She passes me one and we both roll down our windows. 'These were my last two you know' she tells me. 'Then we better stop for more' I respond and smile at her. After a few more miles we stop at a gas station. We stop by the restrooms, about fifty feet from the shop. She quickly runs into the ladies' and I start walking toward the shop. My steps are so loud. Even the sound of my feet makes my head throb. What a hangover. After entering the shop I automatically start looking for the cooler. Beer, I need a beer, that's gotta clear my head. When I open the cooler I feel my head throbbing a lot harder and I feel like lying down and try to die, then I realize it's the shop clerk yelling at me. 'The cooler's been out since early this morning!'. I feel like taking a beer, running to the desk, smash the bottle and cut his throat with be broken bottle. I think better of it and take a sixpack from the cooler, cans are easier to carry anyway. On my way from the back of the shop I see it wasn't a man yelling at me, just a very macho female. She is around five feet high and it looks like she's twice as wide as a regular refrigerator. 'That'll be seven aytyfaaw with tha camels'. I feel like shoving the seven eightyfive up her ass, but realise I'd probably never get my arm out of there. I smile for the first time that morning and leave the shop. The first thing I see outside is Christine stading on a single leg, scraping gum of her shoe with a lingerie brochure. I look toward the sky and get blinded by the sun. 'What's gotten into you?' she asks when she sees me blinking rapidly, blinking tears and making strange faces at her. 'Just the sun. Ready to go?'. 'Just a sec' just let me get this... off!' she says almost losing her balance. A red truck has just moved up to the station. A tall and scrawny guy gets out. He looks like he's about nineteen or so. I see him putting on a black motorcyclehelmet just outside the truck on the side facing away from the shop. He straightens his jacket, then takes a kitchen knife from the door pocket through the window. He's still got the engine running. 'He doesn't even know we're here' I conclude marvelling at the idea. 'Are you gonna let him get away with that?' she asks me a bit shyly. 'And miss out on all the fun??'. Setting off, my face is one big smile. I run towards the red truck and look through the shop windows just before I get behind the truck. The robber's way too busy screaming at the fat lady inside. I reach through the window, turn off the truck and grab the keys. I walk back to Christine shaking the keys lightly. 'Now what???' she says sounding a tiny bit worried. 'Wait and see doll, wait and see'.
I grab a smoke from the pack and offer Christine. She almost slaps the pack out of my hand when taking the pack. 'Easy now girl' I say giving her a smile. Just a moment after having lit the cigarette the robber comes running out of the shop with a brown paper bag in his hand. He almost jumps into the truck. I walk up there. I can hear him looking savagely for the keys. I stand right outside the car and yell 'Car troubble mate?'. He jumps, he looks at me startled and doesn't realize a thing before my right fist hits him high on his left cheek. The single blow took him out like a candle. The car honks as his head hits the steering wheel.
I give Christine a wave to make her come closer. She looks through the window and sees the passed out guy and utters a loud, long, and clear laugh. 'I don't think he'll be up for a while!' she says finishing her laugh. We both walk into the store laughing a little. 'He... He. He..' is all we hear from the woman behind the counter. 'I think you ought to call an ambulance or something. The dude in the car outside seems to have fainted' I say ignoring her stuttering and leave the mans car keys and the paper bag on the desk. We start moving towards the exit when the woman yells. 'HEY! You can't just leave... Uhm... What if he... Can't I do anything for you?'. 'Well first you can throw me another pack of Camels' I say and she shakily grabs a whole box and throws it at me, 'And then you can do the world a favor and lose a few pounds'. We leave the shop and get in my car. We drive away still laughing once in a while.
We hear the sirens behind us. We look at eachother, smile, and then burst out laughing again.

2
We keep on driving. The sky is blue and it's around ninety degrees outside.
'Do you have any idea where we're going' Christine asks me looking out the passenger side window. We've been driving for two hours since our stop at the gas station. Christines lower right arm is starting to get a very reddish tan compared to her light brown tanned face. Gas 10 miles a sign in the side of the road says. 'Well, first we're gonna get some gas and something to eat. Then we'll be going further out into the Big Fresh' I tell Christine. 'That sounds good to me, let's just get the heck out of New Mexico'.
About two hundred yards from the rest stop I can read the sign at the right side of the highway.
Gas
Restrooms
Blue Bell Cafeteria
It looks like it's been almost completely deserted, but as we get closer I see three trucks and a rusty car by the cafeteria. We stop in the parking lot beside the other cars and Christine sets of for the restroom beside the gas station. The big neon sign over the Blue Bell looks like it hasn't been on for years. I decide to turn around and have a look at the mountains. A moment later I hear the cafeteria door slam with a crash loud enough to make me think of the whole place falling apart. After the door bell has stopped tingling I see a redheaded girl run by me, her face covered with both her hands. She's crying. A second later I hear Christine in the background. 'So how about that food!'. Christines casual and rapid type of careless speach strikes me as rather amusing. As we enter the cafeteria the girl is still running for the highway.
A greyhaired woman is standing behind the counter pouring steaming coffee into a cup in front of a man in his mid forties. 'Well I told that darn gal it was the last time she was gonna be late four times ago for crying out loud! So don't blame me ya haven't got any young legs to look at anymore!' the woman almost shouts at the man in an accent so southern it could only be spoken by a true local.
Christine and I walk to the eastern corner of the cafeteria and sit down in a booth. I see the frown she has put on to keep a straight face and I start laughing. She's able to keep frowning for another two seconds and then starts laughing with me. 'So what can I get you joyful young people today?'. The old waitress has crept up on us so quickly that she almost startled both of us. ''You got any breakfast specials today?' I ask the waitress. She suddenly seems to have spent her quota of good mood for the day. 'We did three hours ago! But we've still got some french toast left and I guess I can scramble some eggs for ya.' she says with a face completely without emotion. 'That'll do us fine. And two mugs of coffee and some mixed orange and grapefruit juice' I tell her giving away a smile, hoping for just a little one in return. I have no such luck. 'Aint had no grapefruits out here for faave yeers so orange juice'll have to do ya'' she says just as emotionless as before. 'It'll do us just fine thanks' I say giving away my last smile to the waitress. She walks away wiggling her fat ass slowly from side to side and her skirt is revealing way too much of her chubby legs. 'I guess someone just lost her tip for today' Christine says smiling. 'We ought to figure out where we're going hon', Highway 40 doesn't go on forever you know' she continues hoping for some acknowledgement. 'Yeah, you're right... But it sure will go on for the rest of the day. I've thought a bit about it and I bet there's a cheap hotel in Flagstaff.' I tell her. Mostly to give her what I hoped she was looking for. 'Yeah! There is a cheap hotel in Flagstaff. AND there's the Santa Fe train blowin it's horn all night long, no way I'm sleeping there!' she objects. 'Fine, we'll find some place a bit away from the highway and the train!' I say smiling.
We sit there for another ten minutes before our breakfast is slammed on the table. 'I sure do see why that girl came in late. I would do anything to miss five minutes of her as my boss' I tell Christine. She looks up from her eggs with wonder. 'What girl?'. 'Christine.. Sometimes I do believe you live in a world of your own. See...' I say pointing out the window discretely. 'That girl out there just got fired for coming in late... In a place like THIS, only a single customer and hospitality like hell. Can you believe it?'. She doesn't respond for a moment. Then: 'I've had enough of this place, you wanna get the check?'. 'Didn't you just pay a moment ago?' I say giving her a discrete wink. 'You bet boy!'. The waitress has just gone out back. We leave the cafeteria as quickly as the wink I just gave Christine. The man at the counter is reading yesterdays paper so intensely he doesn't realize a thing until my car starts moving out of the parking lot.
When we get about half a mile down the highway we see the redheaded girl kicking rocks at the side out the road looking at the ground. 'Hey stop!' Christine shouts at me. We roll up on the side of the girl. 'Hiyah! Need a ride gal?' Christine says giving the girl the world's widest smile. 'Thanks' the girl says getting in the back of the car. 'So, where' ya headed girl?' I ask her looking in the mirror. Her cheeks are completely red. She looks like she's been crying for hours.
'Just get the me the hell out of New Mexico!'.

3
The hot july weather is getting to my head. I never got that beer did I? I really need that beer... We have to stop for a beer. It feels like we've been on the old Route 66 forever. The girl we picked up fell asleep fifteen minutes after we picked her up just outside Bluewater. We'll be passing through Gonzales within the next fifteen minutes.
Suddenly I change my mind and drive make a right up the 371 state road headed for Crown Point. Its late in the afternoon and my head has finally stopped throbbing. Great! Even thinking about a beer makes me feel better. We drive for another ten miles up route 371. I stop the car by the Smith Lake. I get out with the sixpack in my left hand, the car keys in my right. I never leave my keys in, no matter how deserted a place seems to be. I walk to the bank of the lake and lower the beers into the water, getting down on one knee doing so. I hear Christine slam the car door. The next thing I feel is her hand on my shoulder. She sits down besides me. 'What the fuck are we doing here Peter?'. She asks me in her low and crisp voice. 'I needed something to cool our steaming beers' I say without smiling. She lights a smoke, passes it to me and then lights another one for herself. 'What are we going to do about the money?' she asks me, speeding up her sentence word for word. 'I think we ought to get our sleepy friend a new pair of shoes. She won't get that far in a set of high heels' I let out, still keeping a straight face. 'Why did you want to pick her up?' I ask Christine, carefully trying to read her eyes for a moment, then turn my attention back to the lake.
'I... uhm.. Well she just looked like someone who could use ride...' Christine says hesitantly about a minute after I asked her. 'Come on Christine, why?'. I look at her and roll my eyes. 'I just thought she'd be a lot of fun having tagging along. I know I don't know her and all, but I just had that feeling' she responds almost like an apology. 'And I'm so glad you did!' a voice says from behind us, startling both of us. 'I don't think I got to introducing myself before I fell asleep, I'm Liz!' she says freshly. 'I'm Peter, this is Christine' I say, shaking her hand akwardly over my shoulder. 'In for a beer Liz?' Christine asks the redhead.
We sit there in the sun enjoying our almost cool beers when Liz asks 'So, are you guys married or what?'. 'Married?? Us? I wouldn't marry him in a million years!' Christine says, uttering a loud laugh almost choking on her beer. 'Nah girl, we're just friends... We dated once but that didn't quite work out' I tell her. 'That's a prize winning understatement. We went to an italian place and got kicked out because we couldn't stop laughing at the other couples feeding each other spaghetti!' Christine says putting on an exaggerated grin, if there's more to it than pure nostalgia I can't tell.
I hear Liz laugh for about five seconds, carefully listening for a scratch in her beautiful girlish laughther. Not a single one was to be found.
'Where the heck are we by the way?' Liz asks with an adventurous voice. 'Smith Lake, New Mexico. Sorry we haven't ”Gotten you the hell out of New Mexico” yet.' I tell her. She smiles and I see a faint blush on her cheeks. 'Well... I'm just glad I never have to set foot in the Blue Bell again' she says as her smile fades and her face turns pale. 'What do you plan to do for a living gal?' Christine asks. 'I... I don't know...' the red shade comes back to her face just as quick as it left, she turns her face to the ground and a tear comes rolling down her nose. She starts weeping and several more tears hit the ground. 'Hey girl, easy now' Christine says as she puts an arm around her shoulders. 'We'll make sure you turn out all right... I never left a hitchhiker until I was sure they'd make it' I say dryly, not intending to. 'Thanks... You...' is as long as she can keep her throat under control. She takes a pause to sink and say 'But I'll never make it, I've got 25$, no family and no friends... The only pet I ever had was a cockroach!' The last things she says with a miserable laugh.
'You know what Liz, I'm quite sure you'll make it. We've got six hundred thousand bucks in the trunk of the car and all I could come up with spending them on was a new set of clothes for you...'

4
We finish our beers and throw the cans into the lake. We've been sitting there for half an hour without saying anything at all. It's hard to tell if Liz is in shock or just calming down. I decide to get moving. The sun has moved a tiny bit longer on it's journey above the mountains. It's so beautiful here. I have not yet acted on my decision to get moving. 'If we wanna get to Flagstaff before midnight we better get moving' I say getting up. I walk to the car. The keys tingle in my right hand. I get in and start the engine. Christine rose a moment after I got to the car, but now she's standing about ten feet from the car looking at Liz. She hasn't moved an inch. 'Get moving girl! Unless you wanna try to get a ride out here!' Christine shouts. Almost thought she'd turned soft. Damn was I wrong! I smile and watch Liz walk to the car. Her face is completely expressionless. She gets in and I turn the car around and drive back to the I-40. As we enter the old ”Route 66” Liz clears her throat and says 'I just don't get it! Why the heck did you pick me up? Who the fuck would pick up a hitchhiker with six hundred grand in the trunk?'. She stares out the window. 'I can tell you this much lady. Yestesday I wouldn't have. Yestesday I wouldn't even believe I would ever get near that much cash. But guess what! My luck changed a good deal.' I say without the least bit of hesitation. I squeze the speeder a bit harder. I tend to do so when getting frustrated. 'Yesterday afternoon Christine and I went to see a movie, that changed my perspective on a lot of things' I say squeezing the speeder even harder and look in the mirror for a patrol car. Not even a bird in the horizon. Just dirt, sand and some tumbleweed. 'Well we'd just come out of the cinema and were chatting about the movie...'

5
'I just don't get it!? Why did he have to shoot her in the end? It doesn't make any sense...' Christine says. 'What'd you expect from a movie called ”Spectaculon and the ten dogs”' I say laughing at her. The sun has just set when we come out. 'Wanna get a beer?' Christine asks with a very tempting smile. 'I'd really love to but I'm running a bit low this month.' I say frowning. 'Ah come on, forget about it. No worries tonight, you can think about money tomorrow! I've heard the ”Zero PM” is open tonight for a change, lets paartaay!' she keeps begging me. 'You know me too well gal! Downtown Albuquerque here we come!' I say setting off in a run down Gold Avenue. Christine follows and we laugh all the way down to the 0-PM dance club. When we get in we sit in the bar for a while and order two shots of clean crisp vodka from a ramdom bottle on one of the maple shelves. 'I wonder if they had vodka in the ancient orient!?' I shout into Christines ear. 'I don't care, as long as they have it here!' she shouts back. Buddha statues, Moroccan henna lamps and glass mosaic tiles has set the theme for the place. And it sure does seem to attract people. Even on this sunday night the place is crowded. We order two beers to pour down with another couple of shots. Christine takes me by the hand and leads me to the dance floor. We really could be a couple, but it sure wouldn't work out. We've already tried that. Fuck it, this is our night, let's have some fun! I feel the spirits affect my mood. I feel the rhytm pounding on my chest as well as Christines hands going down it. We dance for half an hour or so then return to the bar. We have a few more drinks at the bar and after the third Christine leans over and whispers into my ear 'You know I would have loved if we could have made it work'. Once again she grasps my hand and leads me to the dance floor. This time we dance a lot more intensely. I see her blond hair flying through the air. I see her blue eyes looking right into mine. I feel her body against mine. Suddenly I feel her lips touching mine. We stand there kissing on the dance floor. Suddenly the crowd is gone. We're the last people left on the dance floor and for that moment I feel like we're all of existence. Our tounges toy lightly with eachother. Suddenly she grabs a hold of my shirt and starts dragging me out of the place. All the way down Gold Avenue we stop once in a while and let our hands roam eachothers bodys until one of us breaks it off and gets us moving. I don't know what time it is, all I know is that I'm drunk and I'm having a wonderful time. We've slowly tumbled uptown and we've almost reached Christines neighborhood. Suddenly we stop and she pushes me against a brick wall. We stand there kissing beneath a broken streetlight, our hands roaming more and more wildly. None of us have noticed the black Ford Lincoln that has just driven into the parking lot between the two warehouses on the other side of the street. If we'd been aware of anything other than eachother we would have seen a man in a black suit getting out of the Lincoln. He's carrying a suitcase matching his car, his suit and probably all of his nightlife. Black. At the other end of the lot a man is walking towards him carrying a brown sportsbag. At the blink of an eye the man in the black suit puts a hand inside his jacket, draws out a 9mm and puts a hole through the other mans right lung. He has misplaced his shot. From his belt the other guy grabs his .44 revolver and puts a hole right between the eyes of the man in the black suit. 'You... bastard.. you fucking bastard...' he says and starts moving towards the end of the lot he came from, leaving the brown bag and the suitcase. Halfway to the other end he coughs and stumbles. After the thunder of the huge .44 the place is completely quiet.
I remember running to Christines place, I remember calming her down, but I still have no idea how the black suitcase followed us home.

6
'We planned to get out of Albuquerque the next day... and thats how we got here'. Is how I finish telling Liz of our sunday night. I left out the details of how hot it'd gotten between Christine and I.
I didn't even tell her we kissed at the club. I just told her we were walking home after a few drinks.
'Fuck... I've teamed up with a bunch of criminals...' Liz says. She is laughing. I don't see how she can be laughing after a story like that. But she is, and it's a good thing. After a long pause Liz says
'You know what guys. Let's keep on going down this ol' Route 66 and see where it takes us!'




7
'I call' Michael says putting another stack of chips worth 150$ on the table. He's been sitting at Binion's Casino all night. Ripping off tourists is his deal. Pretty much how he makes his living. The pre-flop pot has somehow made its way to 1350$. The game is No Limit Texas Hold 'em, the game of the gamblers, the winners and the fools. Only three players remain in the hand. I shouldn't have made that call. It's fucking stupid. My eyes have been cheating me four times tonight. This time I'm sure I've got shit though. Where except for losing will this hand take me. Fucking 79 of hearts. Whatever, I've made 20 kilos tonight. What are these 150$ gonna change. While waiting for the fortysomething year old texan guy to call, Michael scratches the back of his head thinking about getting home to his craphole of a home. Playing it cool with a bluff strong enough to strike Gus Hansen dead is what these cards are going to get me. The flop is a 8 of hearts, a ten of hearts and amazingly a jack of hearts. What the fuck is going on? This can't be happening. I hit a fucking straight flush on the flop. Let's see how this guy plays it, I'm on the dealer button, their turn to act first. A guy who looks like this might be his first time to Binion's puts his hand to his cheek. In a splitsecond he has taken a quarter of his stack, which equals exactly 5000$, and put it on the table. What the heck does this guy think he is doing? Might be a bluff, or maybe he actually hit the flush on flop. Stupid bet. If the texan haven't got the flush he'll fold, and if I hadn't either I might too. 'Ace-sevan of clubs aint gonna do me no good in this hand' the texan guy says throwing his two cards on the table. Michael gives newguy a very stern look over his glasses, even though he doesn't see nothing than a blur where the guy is sitting. Never the less it doesn't matter. What matters is what is going through Michael's head at the moment. Ok this is a terrible flop for anyone who hasn't hit. This is a typical bluff situation. A flush flop. Maybe he's got the ace and hopes to hit another heart. Good for me. Especially if he does hit a heart. Maybe he's just bluffing for the 1350 bucks. Let's push him. 'I raise you' Michael says putting half his stack in the the pot. I just doubled his bet. Why is he taking so long to throw away his cards. Thirty seconds have passed when the guy calls Mikes bet. The dealer takes his time to deal the turn. It is a queen of hearts. Great, fantastic... Fucking marvellous. He has hit his ace high flush and I've got the straight flush. He must believe I've got the king. And now he's gonna go all-in. Just as Mike predicted the newguy gestures an all-in and puts the rest of his chips in front of him. The smile on Michaels face is as wide as it has never been before, a poker face means nothing now. It's all up to him. Michael turns over his stack onto the table with an all-in gesture. He knows he is going to win. The smile on newguy's face doesn't scare Mike a bit. The dealer turns over the river. A deuce of diamonds. It doesn't matter at all. Mike puts his 7-9 of hearts on the table expecting to see a look of pure sorrow on newguy's face. It doesn't come. 'Straight flush' Mike says keeping on his grin. 'ROYAL FLUSH SUCKER! HA HA!' newguy laughs at Mike. Mike doesn't know what has hit him. It was... It... Mike moves away from his chair with some trouble. It is even harder to keep walking. He's lost all his winnings for the night. He's in trouble. Big trouble.

8
Mike stumbles out of the casino. 'Hey! Watch were you're going dude!' a guy standing outside Binion's yell at Mike when he rushes past him. 'I have no idea where I'm going do I? I should have just thrown away that fucking hand shouldn't I? Booze... Gotta get some booze... '
Mike keeps on going down the street, not knowing where he's going. He's only got 50$ on him and his head is throbbing violently. He crosses the street and just barely miss a cab going past him. Where the heck am I going? Oh yeah, the booze...

II

1
A roadtrip to the nowhere. A trip doomed to end in chaos, by being robbed or going to jail for double homicide. There is no way Peter's two passengers can have any idea what's going on behind his cool grin. Nonetheless Liz says 'This is not going to work out... It can't... Who can be this lucky?'. 'You know what sugar, it's about time our roll of bad luck ends! We've had nothing but one huge case of misfortune all our lives so far. 'bout time we start living life on the top floor.' Christine responds with a dry voice and an even dryer smile. 'You know what girls, it's about time we have some fun... Let's see how fast this rust bucket can take us to Flagstaff' Peter says as his grin widens. This time not because he's being stressed, but just to get his adrenalin pumping. He pushes the pedal to the bottom of car making it utter a quick rusty roar. He loosens a bit up, but pushes the speeder a bit harder nonetheless. The dial slowly moves from the steady 55 mph to a still increasing 60 mph. Christine smiles as she feels the growing hum of the engine as they accelerate. Liz has once more turned her head to look out the window. Seemingly the increased speed hasn't thrilled her the least bit. 'Wooohooo!' Christine ironically utters as the dial passes 80 mph. Peter puts another couple of pounds on the pedal, still keeping his cool grin. Meanwhile Liz turns to look out the front window. 'Quit it will ya?' Liz says putting on a little frown. Both Peter and Christine ignores her request completely. The dial passes ninety and Liz starts to look more than a bit worried. The dial stops moving at exactly one hundred miles. 'Old pice of shit. Thats what this is!' Peter says and his smile narrows a bit. 'Peter please slow down!' Liz says. 'Ah come on girl, you can take it.' Peter responds. 'No I can't! SLOW DOWN!' Liz roars. 'Easy girl...' Peter says decreasing the pressure on the pedal. As the dial drops below 60 mph a single tear rolls down Liz's cheek. 'I'm sorry... My parents died in a car crash when I was twelve, it took me two months to even get near a car again.'

2
One akward moment follows another for the next twenty miles. Peter feels like he should apologize but has absolutely no idea how. He doesn't know the least bit about this girl. He begins to doubt if picking her up was far out or utterly insane.
Liz interrupts his chain of doubtfull thoughts. 'I'm glad you guys picked me up. I don't know why you did it but I'm glad you did.'
'Well gal, someone expendable might come in handy some day' Christine says with a cheery voice, as she unbuckles her seatbelt and turns to Liz. 'Mind if I join you back there for a while?' she continues og crawls between the front seats without waiting for an answer.

Temporary afterword
This is a story built on a few facts and a lot of fiction. There is no such thing as the ”Blue Bell Cafeteria”, there isn't and probably never will be a movie called ”Spectaculon and the ten dogs” and I haven't got a clue what Smith Lake NM, looks like. What I do know is that there is a Smith Lake in the state of New Mexico, there is a lot of cheap motels near the Santa Fe trail in Flagstaff and the ”Santa Fe” sure can keep you up all night. I've also gathered a bit of information from the internet to refresh my memory for example there is a 0-PM club on Gold Ave, Albuquerque with an Asian theme, but I don't think it's ever been open on a sunday night.
I've been down the I-40 once and this is mostly where I've found my inspiration. A lot of thanks to mapquest.com for providing me with a good overview of the southern states and the whereabouts of, for instance, Smith Lake.
This story is mostly a personal project with the single purpose of developing my own sense of writing and a way to evolve my imagination. I've had a lot of fun writing and I'll keep on writing until Peter, Christine and Liz have found a place to settle down or I've found a publisher crazy enough to publish the mind of a crazy guy. Aalborg, Denmark

P.S. If you wan't to know about ”the fifty cents” ask for more:)