Highway Don't Care (Freebirds) (25 page)

  He listened for a few minutes as expressions came in went
on his face.  Nervousness, indecision, anticipation, hope, and finally
savage joy.  A bright smile lit his face as he heard what I was assuming
the lawyer, told him.

  “That sounds wonderful.  When do I get to pick her
up?”  He asked.

  Nodding his head he said, “Okay.  Neutral is
probably better.  How long do I get to keep her?”

  “Okay, thanks for everything.  I’ll see you tomorrow
morning.”

  We all watched him as he processed the information he was
given. 

  Making eye contact with me he said, “She’s mine. 
Not that we had any doubt.  We have to go pick her up Friday evening at
her daycare parking lot.  They feel its best that we meet somewhere
neutral for the first time.  I’ll get her until Monday morning, and then
I’ll take her to her daycare.”

  A smile broke out on my face when I jumped up and clapped
my hands.  “That’s fucking great!  Cheyenne, we need to go
shopping.  Like now.  That’s two days away.  WAIT!  We’re
going to a bike rally on Friday!  Can we take a baby to a bike rally?”

  We all sat silently thinking when Cheyenne said, “Well
we’re taking the twins.  They are the same age, so what’s the problem
here?”

  That was true.  We were planning to ride there, but
that would be out of the question when there was a baby involved. 

  “Well Cheyenne and I can ride in the car with the kids.”

  “Y’all don’t know how to drive a trailer.  James was
going to drive it with the kids.  One more kid won’t make a
difference.  I bet he’ll enjoy the shit out of this trip.”  Gabe
grinned evilly.

 I ran into the bedroom, grabbed my tennis shoes, and then
came back out finding them still in the same spots as when I left. 

 “Alright, let’s get going.  We have two hours until
Target closes.”

  Sam decided it was in his best interest to stay
here.  Something about being allergic to Target.  On impulse, I
grabbed my coupon binder before I headed out the door.  I wasn’t sure I
would need it, but I brought it anyway.  Who could go to target just for
what you came for?

  I think Gabe was secretly excited.  He didn’t
out-right say it, but you could tell he was eager to buy something for
her.  He didn’t let out one argument about not wanting to go
shopping.  He was silent on the trip there, and only said something when
asked a question.  When we actually got to the baby section was a
different story. 

  He started piling crap in by the bucket load. 

  “Gabe!  Why are you getting newborn?  We don’t
even know what size she is.  Let’s focus on the main essentials like a
bed, car seat, and some accessories.”

  He gave me an “are you kidding me” look and continued to
toss anything he liked in the buggy.  I didn’t interrupt him.  He
looked like he was on a mission.  Not that he ever lost sight of me or let
me get more than four feet away from him.  While he was busy buying junk,
I was getting baby wash, towels, diapers, blankets, wipes, and on and on.
 By the time we were finished and I pried the shopinator away from the
baby section, we had two buggies full of baby stuff.  As well as tickets
to get a crib and changing table, dressers, and a jungle gym.

   We got up to the checkout and while they were going
through the buggies, I started pulling out the coupons, pulling up my Cartwheel
app, and bring up my mobile coupons.  There was a line behind us, and they
were all gawking at the price and the mass amount of shit we got. 
Cheyenne walked off, because she hated to be with me when I started arguing
with the cashiers.   

  The total rang up to nearly three thousand, and then I
handed her the coupons.  One and two dollar coupons don’t seem like they
would add up, but they most certainly do.  Especially when you combine
them with store coupons.  The total went down nearly two hundred
bucks.  Then I went to the mobile coupons, which brought it down another
thirty dollars.  By this time, we had a crowd watching to see how much I
could bring it down.

  Gabe stood by fascinated.  Once all the manufacturer
and store coupons and Cartwheel coupons were subtracted, the total was brought
down to nearly five hundred dollars.  Now tell me again, why does everyone
bitch and complain when I just saved five hundred bucks just by being a
couponer? 

  There were a shit load of people behind us watching
though, and they even clapped as we left.  It was wonderful to have someone
be aware of my awesomeness.

  “That was pretty fuckin’ awesome.  Do you do that
all the time?”  Gabe asked as we made our way out to his truck. 
Cheyenne was knocked back in the front seat reading on her phone.  We
started loading the junk into the truck, and just loaded the last box of
diapers when a Blue older model Chevy turned slowly into the parking lot. 
The bass on the truck was thumping so hard the entire car was shaking.  It
sounded awful, and I would have loved to make a comment to them but I was sure
Gabe wouldn’t like that too much.

  It was when I was getting into the truck that Gabe’s body
covered my own.  He’d stepped in front of me and backed me up hard against
the truck.  The car passed us though without incident.  My heart was
pounding so hard I thought it was going to pop out of my chest.  Gabe
herded me to the backseat and got me in without any further ado.  He took
off out of the parking lot and we were on the highway in no time. 

  Gabe clenched the steering wheel with one fist.  His
knuckles were white; the veins pulsed on his arm and neck.  He was
severely pissed, but I didn’t really understand why.  Nothing happened,
and it seemed like a coincidence that they were even in the same parking lot as
us. 

  “Gabe, what’s the big deal?”  I asked.

  He ignored me, so I tried again.

  “They didn’t even see me.  Nothing happened.”

  Still no answer, so I shut up.

  We drove home in silence.  Cheyenne must have sensed
the tension in the air, because she didn’t say a word either.  Gabe stopped
in front of Cheyenne’s door and helped her out, walking her to the front
door.  I decided to go drop in on Max.  I was thinking that Gabe
needed a minute, so I’d let him unload all the shit since he decided to ignore
me the entire way home.

  Walking in Max’s front door, I closed it with a bang, not
looking back to see if Gabe noticed or not.  Max was on the floor, back up
against the couch.  He had the remote in one hand and a beer in the
other.  In front of him on the coffee table was a slice of cake.  My
mouth watered, and I looked at him.  He didn’t acknowledge me, but he knew
who it was.  Plopping down next to him, I grabbed the fork and ate half of
his cake. 

  I longed for the other half, but I wasn’t going to eat
all of his cake.  I knew how much he loved his sweets.

  “What’s wrong, babydoll?”  Max said finally.

  “Gabe’s mad about seeing a skull in the parking lot of
Target.  He ignored me all the way home, so I’m gonna ignore him for a
while.  I’m letting him unload the truck while I sit here and ignore him.”

  Giving me a sideways glance he said, “Sounds like a solid
plan.  Let me know how it works out for you.”

  It ended up working out better than I anticipated. 
I sat there for three hours before falling asleep at one in the morning. 
Max covered me up at some point, and I slept the rest of the night on the couch
before waking up somewhere around five in the morning with a bladder that was
about to burst.  Once taking care of the awkward morning moments, I walked
out into the cool morning air and headed to Gabe’s place.

  Something must be really wrong for him to not even come
get me.  I twisted the front knob and opened the door.  I found him
sitting on the couch.  He was staring at the dark flat screen that hung on
the wall.  His head turned and watched me cross the floor until I took up
a seat across from him.  He stared into my eyes for long moments before he
spoke.

  “This isn’t going to work.  How do I do this with my
little girl?  How do I put her into danger?  There’s no way to protect
her with all this shit swirling around her.  Something’s got to
give.”  He said quietly.

  My stomach sank as his meaning filtered through my
brain.  He wanted me to leave.

  “I understand.  You do what you have to do.” 
My voice quivered.

  He stood and stared down at me for a few long moments.

  Walking towards the door he said, “I will.  I’m
going for a ride to clear my head.  I’ll see you when I get back.”

  He didn’t even give me a kiss.

  The roar of his bike broke the silence of the
morning.  He rode out of the back lot, and then around to the front. 
I could track him in my mind.  I saw him turn the of the garage. 
Stop at the front gate to put the code in.  Then he roared off down the
street, taking my heart with him.

  I knew what I had to do. 

  Going to his bedroom, I packed all my things and loaded
them into the car.  If I wasn’t here anymore, he wouldn’t have to worry
about his baby.  If I wasn’t here, she wouldn’t be in danger.  Gone
would be the danger swirling around her.

  So I decided the best thing to do was to go to the
cabin.  Once I got there, I would figure out my next move.  I knew I
had to get out of Kilgore though.  This wasn’t going to work anymore, and
I would have to pick somewhere that the Blue Skulls didn’t have any affiliation
with, maybe somewhere up North.

  Once all my stuff was loaded, I gave a last glance around
the living room.  I took the ring off my finger, laid it down on the
coffee table, and wrote a quick note.

 
Gabe,

  I’ll let you know where I end up.  Don’t worry about
me, worry about your sweet girl for now.  I’ll give Max updates when I
can.

  Ember.

Once the note was written, I tucked the ring on top of it, and
stared for a few seconds.  A lone tear rolled out of my eyes and dropped
to the paper, splashing onto it and making a small watermark.  That was my
cue to go before I was crying too hard to see.

  I got into my car, started her up, and took off out of
the driveway.  Luckily Free had an automatic gate for those who had the
tag reader in the window.  If not, I might have ran the thing down in my
haste to leave.  I drove for nearly an hour before I pulled up into the
old driveway.  The last time I’d seen it the road was nearly washed out
where the creek ran under.  Max must have had it fixed recently because a
brand new road was poured, and a shiny huge tube ran under the road to allow
the creek to flow through it without causing any damage.

  I drove up and passed the pond, wondering if there were
any fish after all these years.  Most likely there wasn’t.  Years
ago, we used the pond as a shooting range.  Daddy would toss bottles and
cans and we would practice shooting, or just shoot for fun.  Mom would sit
back and take pictures while I shot to my heart’s desire.  That had to be
the thing I missed the most about them. 

  I spent more time with my dad.  It wasn’t that I
didn’t get along with my mom; it was because my father did the things that I
loved doing.  Hunting, fishing, riding 4-wheelers, and shooting guns were my
hobbies back then.  When he died, all of that was a distant memory, along
with my parents. 

  Seeing this cabin brought back bittersweet
memories.  As I made it up the steps, a smile crossed my face as I
remembered the time my uncle fell through the railing when he was drunk. 
Then I passed the window that my dad’s best friend shot a hole in while he was
cleaning his gun.  Using the key on my keychain that hadn’t been used in
years, I breathed a sigh of relief when it opened the door.  It never
occurred to me until right then that Max might have changed the locks.

  The cabin still had the smell of the old wood burning
stove that took up the majority of the living room.  The kitchen and
living room had an open floor plan with vaulted ceilings.  Two bedrooms
sat across from each other, and a bathroom in the middle of the two.  It
was a small, quaint retreat that held many loving memories.  Today was a
good day to remember those loving times, because if I didn’t have those to
think about, I would be remembering the smell of Gabe’s skin, or the deep
timber of his voice.

  The longing for Gabe was too powerful to ignore,
unfortunately, because it wasn’t two seconds later that I started bawling and
didn’t stop.  Laying down in my parent’s old bedroom, I saw that Max
hadn’t changed a thing since they left.  The candle still sat at the
bedside.  The same comforter adorned their bed.  My dad had had an
old green plaid one for years before he met my mother, and they brought it out
here as soon as they bought the cabin.  It’d been washed so many times
that it was smooth and soft just like a t-shirt that had been worn a million
times.

  Burying my face into the comforter, I cried.  I
cried for my parents, for Gabe, for Gabe’s situation, and finally for the baby
that I was carrying that I had no clue would live or die.  This has turned
out to be one hell of a week, and I didn’t think I could handle anymore. 
I just wanted to lay here and sleep forever.  Sleep didn’t come easily, I
must have cried for nearly two hours before it finally caught up to me.