Hiding Haelo by T M Holladay

Author:T M Holladay [Holladay, T M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780997375909
Publisher: Naniloa Books
Published: 2016-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

Outstanding Citizens

WE PULLED INTO AN EMPTY, dusty parking lot in the next town. I found a spigot in the back corner and tried to rinse away as much of the residual mud, blood, and dirt as I could, then followed up with a quick toothbrush rinse. A wide tree on the edge of the lot proved to be a decent place to duck behind to change into fresh clothes. I emerged feeling loads better. Though a hairbrush would have been nice.

Dagger got out a tool kit and an Arizona license plate from underneath Clementine’s back seat. After switching the plates, he started pulling something off the side of the car. I bent down to help. We peeled away the black paint job on the bottom strip of the Tahoe as if it was nothing more than some sort of silicon sticker, revealing the true, shiny chrome. Next, he lifted the hood to forcefully tap out the dent with a large rubber mallet. The remodel wasn’t perfect, but at least it looked different than the original dent, maybe even unnoticeable to the casual passerby. Clementine looked like a new girl.

Back in our seats, Dagger mumbled something about how he finally got to show off her chrome.

We had just escaped deadly mercenaries and he worried about how his car looked. “I always thought it was cliché, but ‘men and their toys’ is a real thing, isn’t it?” I waited for a retort, or even a glimmer of a smile. Alas, no.

Dagger was not paying attention. He sat completely still, eyes unfocused. I had seen it before: he was feeling for candeons. After his mini-trance, he relaxed and started the engine.

“Can we stop for some food?” I asked. It had been hours since the few onion rings and sole chicken strip I had managed to get down, and even longer since a real meal.

He agreed with a nod and went through the only twenty-four hour drive-thru we could find on the town’s main road. In a gesture worthy of Neo, I ordered nearly the entire left side of the menu. Dagger raised his eyebrows but had the sense not to say anything. After paying and pulling out of the drive-thru, he turned back the direction we had come.

“What are you doing?” I yelped after a quick and painful swallow of milkshake.

“Haelo, you have got to learn to trust me.”

“I do trust you, I just want to know.” I held my perturbed eyebrows as if to say Don’t I deserve to know?

“Here, watch.”

Right outside of town, we pulled over alongside a hitchhiker—the grubby, hairy, toking, hippie, friendly-looking kind. It was so stereotypical it was surreal. Dagger rolled down the passenger window, calling out over me. “Hey there! Where’re you headed?”

The backpacker walked right up to my window and yelled, “Making my way east! This is going to be an awesome sunrise, yeah? I can feel it in my bones, man!”

I had to shake my head to get the ringing out of my ears. He had an overgrown, blond beard and a fringed vest.

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