33. Goodness

A flashing yellow turn signal caught Roxy’s attention. A hunter green pickup truck slowed down next to her. She checked her rearview mirror, nothing behind her. She sped to let the truck in, it roared its engine and sped up with her. She pressed the breaks slowing down. The truck merged and hit his breaks. Beaded necklaces hanging from her mirror slapped the windshield.

Bright red light filled her car. She squirmed in her seat trying to see why they stopped. Up ahead the stoplight turned from green to red and back to green again. They didn’t move. The truck turned on it’s turn signal and veered into the next lane. A small, fading blue sedan slammed on it’s breaks, the father reaching his arm out instinctively to protect his little girl. Squirming again, she saw the hold up. A skinny teenager with a faded pink mohawk was trying to push a black beat-up to the side of the road. Cars were honking and trying to switch lanes. Roxy pulled over to the side of the road and walked up to the teen.

“Need some help?” she asked. She gave her best smile.

He looked up, meeting her in the eyes for a moment before staring at the ground.
“Uh yeah, kind of.”

“Sit in the car and steer, make sure all the breaks are off.” She put her hands on the trunk and waited for him to sit down. The car was covered in pockmarks and rust was forming around the wheel wells. She pushed, her feet slipping on the asphalt, and the car moved to the side of the road. The other cars honked a few more times as they sped off.

The teen came out, his eyes still on the asphalt. “Thanks.”

“Do you need a cell phone?”

“Huh?” he twisted his foot on the ground.

“Do you need to call someone? Like your parents or a tow truck or something?”

“Um, no I haven’t called anyone.” He kicked one of the small rocks around his feet.

“Do you need to?”

“Oh, yeah, I got a quarter.”

Roxy fished a phone from her back pocket. “Here, use this.”

He looked up far enough to see the phone. “For what?”

“Call your parents, a tow truck?” It was obvious to Roxy that he had an invisible monster devouring his left shoe. “Let me guess, you live alone and don’t have the money for a tow truck?”

His face betrayed him with quick smile. “How’d you know?”

“Trust me, I’ve been in worse. Where do you live?” Roxy called a tow truck. They sat down on his trunk. Cars blurring past them. Gary told her how his dad walked in on him and his lover, Mike. She laughed and gave him a sympathetic shoulder squeeze. She told him how lucky he was to have a place to turn after his parents kicked him out. She paid the tow truck driver and Gary promised a free meal at the Mexican dive he worked at.

An hour late, Roxy came home. Her boyfriend came around the corner, smiled and gave her a kiss. She told him all about Gary while he cooked dinner.

© Chris Richards 2009