The Long Run by Joseph Bruchac

Author:Joseph Bruchac
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Book Publishing Co.
Published: 2016-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

7

Sioux Falls

Travis looked down the road. He had been standing there for hours and no one had stopped. It was dark. He was near a town called White Lake in South Dakota. It had taken him two more rides to get here from Sturgis.

A big car was heading his way. It looked like a Cadillac. Travis held up his sign. The car shot past him close, so close the sign was almost knocked from his hand. Then he saw the red flash of brake lights, bright as fire in the dark. The car screeched to a stop fifty yards beyond him.

An arm reached out the driver’s window and waved to him. It looked like a woman’s arm. Charm bracelets dangled from her wrist.

“Come on,” a woman’s voice shouted. “Come on! I haven’t got all day.”

Travis ran up to the car. He opened the door.

“Get on in.”

He had barely gotten into the seat when the woman thrust her foot down on the accelerator. The wheels spun on the gravel and then squealed as they caught the pavement. Travis almost fell out. He grabbed the door handle and pulled the door shut. The car was still picking up speed. He clicked his seat belt. There was a familiar smell in the car. Too familiar. It smelled like his father’s breath when he’d been drinking.

“Oh no,” Travis thought.

He looked over at the woman. It was hard to tell how old she was. She was wearing a yellow pantsuit. She had long auburn hair and a lot of makeup on her face. She smiled at him. Her smile was crooked.

“What a nice-looking boy,” she said. Then she pushed her foot down even harder on the gas.

Travis tried not to look her way. She was waving her arm at him as she talked. He was glad it was a big car and her arm couldn’t reach him.

“You can come to my house, honey,” she told him. “Just over the border in Iowa. You’re a nice boy, aren’t you?”

The miles flashed by.

“What can I do?” Travis thought. “What can I do?”

It was after midnight when they drove into Sioux Falls. There was a stoplight. As soon as the car stopped, Travis opened his door. He jumped out.

“Where you going?” the woman said. Her voice was slurred. “We’re not there yet.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Travis said. “This is far enough.”

“You come back,” the woman yelled. She held up a cell phone. “Come back now or I’ll call the cops!”

Travis ran. It was the only thing he could think to do. He could hear the woman screaming from her car. One block, two blocks, three blocks. Finally he couldn’t hear her anymore.

Maybe she’s given up. Maybe she’ll just keep going.

He kept running. The streets were empty. He was the only one around.

“I’ll be okay,” he thought. “I’ll be okay.”

He ran down a hill toward a huge brick building that looked old. Maybe it was some sort of hotel. He turned the corner and almost ran into a black-and-white car parked facing the other way.

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