Bumpy Road to Phoenix

Bob Derner pulled his rig into The Cascade truck stop. Like a lot of truck stops, drivers could load up on supplies and even get minor repairs taken care of. Seven miles off the Interstate’s Amarillo exit, The Cascade did a tremendous business in spite of being so far away from the highway. This was true for three reasons. Instead of a couple of fast food chain outlets, they had an old fashioned, full-service diner that served hundreds of reasonably priced dishes 24 hours a day, all of them good. The Cascade’s bar sold bottles of the coldest beer ever for a buck-fifty. They also offered private showers, something that veteran drivers in particular appreciated. Communal showers not only lacked privacy, some of them were dens of unseemly behavior.

Derner was bone tired and he had not had a shower for two days. Once his tractor-trailer was safely parked, he had to decide whether to eat first, or take a shower. He was so exhausted that he was tempted to skip both. Situated right behind his driver’s seat, his sleeper was very tempting. Then again, he remembered his bedsheets were stinky enough to keep him awake. Add one more thing to his to do list. No sleeping until he changed his sheets.

“Hey, is that you, Bob Derner?” It was Travis Taylor another over the road driver he worked with in the old days.

“I’m glad you said my name, Travis. I’m not sure I remembered it.”

“I pulled in about forty minutes ago,” Travis said. You wanna get a bite?”

“Sure, as soon as I get a shower and into some clean clothes.”

“I just took a shower. I’m ready to eat, man.”

Derner pulled out a change of underwear, clean socks, a shirt and a pair of jeans and put them in a bag. He stepped down from his truck and onto the pavement. “You eat, I’ll shower. If you eat slow enough, I’ll buy you a piece of pie while I eat one of Nina’s ribeye’s.”

“Hell, Nina’s gone man.” Travis fell into step with Derner. “She did the unthinkable. She married Preston Cosgrove last Sunday. On Tuesday, they hit the road.”

“She married a bedbug guy? Seriously?” Bed bug was the derogatory nickname freight haulers had for furniture movers. “She’s too tiny to help Cosgrove lift even a pillow case. That’s the craziest thing I ever heard,” Derner said.

“Is it her ribeye or her bones you’re gonna miss, Derner? Everybody knows you have a thing for her.”

“Doesn’t matter now does it? I’m not getting either one anymore.” Derner had been known to invite Nina to spend the night in his sleeper on stopovers. Unlike other drivers who asked using descriptive four-letter words, he always asked politely, hopeful, but certainly doubtful. He asked her out on an actual dinner date once, but Nina said, “I have a boyfriend.”  Travis was right, he had a thing for Nina. He couldn’t believe how pretty she was. He liked the way she moved, the way she talked, how she handled herself around so many rough around the edges men.

Only once, the last time he asked, about six months ago, did she accept his invitation. It was the night one of the freight haulers was killed when his tractor trailer jackknifed less than an hour after he had stopped at The Cascade for a quick dinner and fuel. Derner had pulled in later that same night, near the end of Nina’s shift. She was crying when she told Derner what happened. She said she didn’t want to spend the night alone. He invited her to stay with him. The sex Derner and Nina had that night was mechanical and ended with both of them in tears. Derner, who didn’t know the driver, cried for himself. He grasped his error as soon as he rolled away from her. He was crazy about her, but he would be just another horny driver to her now.

Nina, on the other hand, knew the guy well. She told Derner the unlucky driver was like a big brother, that he had a family somewhere in Wisconsin. She had served the man his last supper. After that night, he was sure Nina would never set foot in his cab again, let alone his sleeper. When he replayed the scene while he was driving, (he did this frequently) he always came to the same conclusion no matter how he played it out in his mind. He took advantage of a vulnerable woman. That he was vulnerable too, and lonely, did nothing to assuage his guilt.  

The two men reached the building and Derner headed for his shower. The Cascade provided soap and two towels for two bucks. Hot water cost a quarter for seven minutes. When he was done, he found Travis sitting in a booth taking his last bite of chicken. “Just in time, Derner. I ate a light meal so I wouldn’t feel bad about ordering a slice of lemon meringue pie and a nice piece of apple pie ala mode.”

“I’m so tired you could order five slices of pie and I probably wouldn’t notice,” Derner said.

“Where you going this trip?” Travis asked.

“Phoenix. I started out in Port Newark yesterday morning. Took off from 50 miles west of Indianapolis this morning. I got a load of auto parts made in Germany. I’m due into the 602, tomorrow night.”

“Long day ahead of you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, ten, eleven hours. You?”

Travis stuck his arm out to stop a waitress who was walking by their booth. He ordered his two slices of pie, instructing her to bring them one at a time. “Put it on his check,” he said, pointing to Derner. “I’m going the other way. Started in LA, headed to The Big Easy.”  Derner didn’t bother to ask what Travis was pulling. He didn’t care. He was still reeling from the news about Nina.

“Preston Cosgrove? I can’t get my head around that. Why would Nina want to spend her life on the road traveling from town to town, all those stops they make, loading and unloading, sleeping in cheap hotels, or worse, in Cosgrove’s cruddy sleeper?”

Travis smiled. “You’re still thinking about that? What were you offering her?”

Derner blushed. “I didn’t offer her a thing. I didn’t think I had a chance with her, you know? But Preston Cosgrove? Listen, if I had any idea she might bite on that, I would have asked her to marry me the day I met her.”

The waitress placed the apple pie ala mode in front of Travis after she gave Derner his rare steak. Travis took a big bite. The pie was just right, warm enough that steam wafted from the crust. “So, if I understand you, buddy, it would have been fine by you if Nina slept in your cruddy sleeper.”

“My cab is a hell of a lot newer than that bedbug’s” Derner said. “And my wall doesn’t have notches on it like his does.”

“Hey, it’s not just notches. He carves the area code of the city and puts notches next to them. He showed me. He was real proud like”

“A jerk if you ask me,” Derner said.

“Maybe, but some woman might see that as a challenge.”

“Not Nina. I’ll bet if she knew about that, she’d never have given him the time of day.”

“Or, she’d carve her initials next to every city where they did it,” Travis said.

“You really know how to hurt a guy.”       

“Other fish in the sea, Bob Derner. There are other fish.”

Derner finished his dinner and skipped dessert. He said goodnight to Travis, sorry he bumped into him. When Travis asked Derner if he wanted to have a couple of beers before turning in, Derner said no. Travis was the kind of guy who would get you drunk, let you spill your guts and leave you with the bill. Then he would tell stories about you at every truck stop on his route.

He climbed into his rig and changed his sheets, putting them in a bag with his dirty clothes. He set his alarm and fell asleep quickly. His sleeper wasn’t the largest one available, but it was comfortable. It had a fold down table, a microwave, storage space and a refrigerator. He also had a small sink and a portable TV with a satellite hookup. Derner didn’t buy the truck, though. It made more sense to lease it, which was exactly what he had done, picking up a low mileage, 2015, Peterbilt 579 from a dealer in Atlanta.

Derner woke up just before his alarm sounded, feeling refreshed. He checked the mirror and saw he needed a shave. He grabbed his bag and headed to the diner for a quick breakfast. He would shave after he ate and then hit the road. He never went more than a couple of days without shaving if he could help it. It was one of his few superstitions. He took the same booth he shared with Travis the night before. He hated eating breakfast, but over the years he learned that eating it made for a better day on the road, especially mornings.

He picked up the menu and looked over his choices. Then he heard her voice. “Hi, Bob. It’s been a while. Do you want waffles or pancakes this morning?”

He looked up and confirmed what his ears just told him. Nina stood there staring at him, order pad in hand, a sweet smile on her face. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Bob. What’s up with that?”

“Nina! I just heard last night you got married to that bed bug guy, Preston Cosgrove.”

“My Lord, exactly who told you that cock and bull story?” Nina asked.

“Travis Taylor. Had dinner with him last night. I couldn’t believe it really, but when you weren’t here, well, he seemed dead serious.”

“That’s what I thought. That man has been trying for a long time now to get into my pants.” Always discreet, she was whispering to make sure she wasn’t overheard. “Every time he’s here, he asks me to go on the road with him. Not like some of these cowboys either, who probably don’t mean anything by it. He means it.”  

“For what it’s worth, Nina, it broke my heart when I heard it.” Derner wanted to say more, apologize to her again for their one time together, but the look on her face stopped him.

“Waffles or pancakes, Bob?”

“Waffles, I guess, bacon and coffee, too, Nina.” He said her name just to hear it. Derner was pushing 50. Nina was maybe ten years younger than he was, but she still had the same figure she had when he met her seven years ago, just about ten pounds more than she needed, with blonde hair and blue eyes. To his way of thinking, her smile was her best feature. He wondered what his best feature was, or if he even had one. Short, with a trucker’s belly and a classic bald spot, he felt like the best thing about him might be that he was gentle with women. Growing up with five sisters, two older and three who were younger, taught him how to behave.

Another waitress brought him a cup of coffee, a few creamers and a glass of water. I guess Nina would rather not serve me, he thought. But ten minutes later, she was back with his waffles, covered in strawberries and whipped cream. “Where are you off to this gray, cloudy morning,” she asked.

“Phoenix. Gotta get there tonight.”

“Seriously? Let me get you a refill. I’ll be back in a sec.”

Derner went to work on his waffles. He had to admit, breakfast could be good when it was done right. He forgot that The Cascade’s food always had that homemade taste. He added a bit more maple syrup, wondering where Nina was with his coffee. He looked up and saw her coming down the aisle, walking faster than usual, and looking better than ever. “I didn’t forget you, Bob. Had to make an important phone call.” She poured his coffee and put the pot on the table. “Mind if I sit with you?”

“Please, have a seat,” he said.

“I got a business proposition for you,” she said. “My mother is sick. I’m not really sure what’s wrong with her, she complains a lot, but I’m worried about her. Anyway, she lives in Phoenix.” She looked into Derner’s eyes, not wanting to actually ask him.

“You need a ride?”

“Would you?

“Of course, but I have to get on the road this morning, the sooner the better. You ready to leave?”

“I can be ready in an hour, no problem. I just have to run home and pack a bag. I’ll be back here in forty-five minutes,” she said. “I’ll pay you, of course.”

He laughed. He couldn’t believe his good luck. “That won’t be necessary, Nina. Just get back here. What about your job?”

She stood. “I called my boss and got her ok. I got some time coming anyway, and this is sort of an emergency.” She looked at him and pursed her lips. “I can trust you right, Bob?”

The question hurt Derner’s feelings. He stood up and looked around the diner until he saw another driver he knew. “Danny, Danny Prado, come here for a minute, bud.” Prado looked up and smiled. Derner waved him over.

“You too love birds quarreling?” Danny had a thing for Nina too, but like any of the regulars who were paying attention, he knew Bob Derner was in love.

“Danny, I’m going to give Nina here a ride to Phoenix today. I’m telling you because I want somebody else around here to know I’m doing it. Anything happens, it’s on me.”   

Prado laughed. He turned to Nina. “Wouldn’t you rather go to Miami with me?”

“I have a family emergency in Phoenix. Should I let this goofball take me?” she asked.

“Derner will take good care of you, Nina.” Now he faced Derner. “By the way, Dummy, the minute she gets in your truck, you’ll have twenty-five witnesses right here in The Cascade taking note of it and gossiping over the CB all day.”

“Very helpful, Danny. Appreciate it,” Derner said.

Nina smiled for the first time. “You guys all suck, you know that?” As she walked away, she told Derner she’d be back in less than an hour.  

An hour later they were on the Interstate heading west and making good time. Derner was searching for an opening so he could again tell her how sorry he was for what happened the night the trucker from Wisconsin was killed. But Nina wasn’t in the mood for conversation. She kept her eyes on the road, seemingly lost in thought. Derner realized he would have to broach the topic himself, cold. “Listen, Nina, about that night we were together, I want you to know…”

“Please, Bob, I don’t want to talk about that night. It was very upsetting. I can’t imagine what you must think of me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. All you drivers think alike. You see a blonde with a friendly smile, a cup of coffee and a piece of pie and you think, ‘she’s lonely, poor thing. She probably could use a few extra bucks. I’ll bet she would just love some company tonight.’”

“Except for the part about the money, some guys I know do think like that, yeah,” he said. But not with you. Want to know why?”

“You’re about to have the nerve to try and speak for the hundreds of drivers that come through The Cascade?”

“No, I can’t do that, Nina, but I know how I feel and I know how a lot of drivers think. Most of these guys, they feel obligated to act like they’re the top stud on the road, you know? I’m not sure the way they talk means anything, really.”

“That’s because you don’t have to listen to what I have to listen to from these men. And it doesn’t matter how old we are either. You know Eva? Derner nodded. “The poor woman is pushing seventy, looks older, God bless her, and she has to listen to filth from thirty-year-old perverts,” she said. “It doesn’t matter that they don’t mean it. It’s hurtful. And you can be sure if any of us said yes, they would mean it.”

“So, why do you do work there?”

“Obviously, the money is good. Should I give it up because men are pigs?” She sighed. “Maybe I like my job. Ever think of that?”

Up ahead Derner could see traffic was building up. It had been smooth sailing until then. He looked at his GPS. There was a traffic accident about two miles down the road. They would be crawling for a while. “Are you saying that every trucker is like that?”

“How long is this traffic going to hold us up?” Nina asked.

“Well, we’re moving a little. Probably won’t be too bad. On the other hand, if it turns into a parking lot, that might be another story.”

“You asked me if every man is rude and inappropriate. To be fair, the answer is no. But the ones who are jerks make life miserable,” Nina said. “And, of course, they’re lousy tippers.”

They didn’t talk for a while. When they got to the next truck stop, Derner decided to check his tires. The pavement was smooth, but he felt his PB 579 wasn’t responding the way it usually did. Everything looked fine, so he told Nina they would press on, wait until they reached Santa Rosa, and grab a sandwich there. He’d already lost an hour in Amarillo waiting for Nina. The traffic accident cost them another hour. Back on the road, Nina spoke up. “I don’t want you to think I was talking about you back there.”

“Nice to know. You said earlier you couldn’t imagine what I think of you. The truth is, I think you’re great. And I feel like I ruined any chance I might have had with you that night. I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I want you to know, I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I wish I could believe that,” he said. He decided to change the subject. “What do you do when you’re not working?”

“Sleep.” She stretcher her arms and legs. “I went to cosmetology school for a while last year, but I didn’t care for it.”   

“I went to college. Can you believe that? Derner asked.

“Really, where’d you go?”

“I graduated from the University of Delaware. Majored in Economics.”

Nina laughed. “Sorry,” she said, “but that was a waste of somebody’s money.”

“Because I’m a trucker? Maybe I like my job. Ever think of that?”

“Touché.”

They rode silently again for a while. There weren’t many cars or trucks on the road, which Derner hated. Traffic forced him to stay alert. It was less likely he would dose off. “I’m glad you’re here this morning Nina. Not enough traffic to suit me,” he said. “I don’t drive late at night too often.”

“Afraid of falling asleep? she asked.

“My biggest fear. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what got your buddy killed.”

“I remember my friend said he was tired that night, but he was behind schedule. Had to make it to Dallas, he said.” Nina looked out her window.

Out of the corner of his eye, Derner could see something was on her mind. “What is it girl?”

She continued to face the window. “I told you he was like a big brother to me, remember?”

“Yeah, you said he had a family in Wisconsin somewhere.”

“Racine. A wife and three children. I wasn’t being entirely truthful with you that night.”

Subconsciously, Derner pressed down on the accelerator pushing the Peterbilt’s speed near 80 miles per hour. “You want to tell me about it?”

“You’re a little slow for a college man, you know that?”

“You and Racine had a thing?”

“Bingo. You didn’t know about it? I thought what Danny said this morning was a true statement. You guys must have talked about us on the CB.”

The speed alarm sounded, letting Derner know they were now doing 85. He lifted his foot off the accelerator. “Nope, never heard a thing about it, honest.”

Nina reached for a bottle of water, twisted the cap off and took a drink. She handed it to Derner who did the same. “He came to The Cascade almost every week. We were just friends at first, but things happened and we fell in love. I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t. I swear I didn’t mean for it to happen. I’ve worked there seven years and I never did anything like that before.”

Derner reached over and patted Nina’s hand. “I’m not here to judge you. It must have been a nightmare for you when he died.”

“He wasn’t even supposed to be anywhere near Amarillo that night. He took a detour so he could see me. It’s my fault that he’s dead. And his kids have been deprived of a father because of me.”

Derner accelerated again. His speed had dropped all the way back to fifty. When they reached Santa Rosa, New Mexico, he pulled into a full-service truck stop. “Howdy.” The man behind the desk looked to be a native American. “Whatcha need friend?” His name tag said Pete.

“Steering is a little weird today on my rig. Can you check it while we have lunch?”

The man didn’t even glance at his appointment book. He said, “You’re in luck. Been slow all week, especially for this time of year.”

Nina and Derner walked into the truck stop’s mall area and ordered Subway sandwiches. “What did that guy mean about this time of year?” Nina asked.

“September is usually a busy time,” Derner said. “I hope they don’t find anything major. My shipper is going to be royally pissed if I’m delayed.”

“Why didn’t you chance it then? Considering how far you guys drive, we’re not that far away from Phoenix.”

“I probably would have if I didn’t have precious cargo.”

“Oh, please. There is nothing precious about me, trust me,” Nina said. “I never met my daddy, but my mother made up for that. She introduced me to a lot of daddies.”    

Derner gave her a look, but held his tongue. He had something else to worry about at the moment. A delay of more than a day could result in the shipper contracting with another driver to finish the job if someone else nearby was available. Since Texas ranked near the top in the number of over the road drivers, it probably wouldn’t be hard to find another driver. If it happened, he would lose money.  The carrier would pay him for the miles he drove and since he had driven most of the trip already, that loss would be minor. The bigger problem was picking up another load. He would probably have to drive to Phoenix anyway to get something worth his while. It was anybody’s guess when his dispatcher would find him a suitable load. Although it wasn’t likely, he could even wind up deadheading all the way back to the east coast. That would cost him a small fortune. Nina was right about one thing. He would have rolled the dice and tried to get to Phoenix if he was alone. She was wrong about herself. She was indeed precious. He wouldn’t dream of taking a risk with her riding in his cab.

The news wasn’t too bad. “Looks like your front shocks need to be replaced, my friend,” Pete said. “I can have you out of here inside of two hours if you want to go ahead and get it taken care of.”

Derner asked Pete to wait a minute so he could check his log book. It didn’t seem like that long ago that he’d had them replaced. But when he checked, he saw he had put 95,000 miles on his rig since his last shock absorber job. It was time, overdue, in fact. “You sure you can get me out of here in two hours?”

“Might be less. We good to go?” Pete asked.

He thought again about waiting until he got to Phoenix to have his shocks replaced, but the ride was already rough and steering on turns wasn’t what it should be. Derner nodded, “Yeah,” he said, cursing under his breath. Hopefully, the rest of the trip would go smoothly. The law was specific. He couldn’t drive more than eleven hours a day. Since he’d only driven about two and a half hours, he wasn’t too worried about that, but he was also limited to working no more than fourteen hours. He was pretty sure he could make it to Phoenix under the limit, but more delays were always possible and they always seemed to come in bunches.  

Back on the road, Nina started reading a People Magazine she picked up at the truck stop. They drove without speaking for a solid three hours. By the time Nina asked Derner how many more hours to Phoenix, they were forty miles west of Albuquerque, approaching Gallup, NM.

“About five hours,” Derner said.

She put her magazine away. “I have no idea how you cowboys do it. Such long stretches of open road and not that much to look at.”

“It’s like anything else. How do you spend day after day serving up the same food to people who don’t give you the time of day?”

Nina took out a Milky Way bar and broke it in two. She handed half to Derner. “Thanks,” he said.

“Bob, thank you for not giving me the standard, ‘it’s not your fault speech when I told you about Matt.”

“That Racine’s name?”

“Yeah. Anyway, thanks.”

“The way I see it, Nina, you have a right to enjoy your guilt. I wouldn’t want to deprive you of that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”  

Derner laughed. “Nothing.”

“Are you suggesting I get some pleasure out of feeling guilty?”

“Don’t we all?” he asked.

“I want my Milky Way back.”

They were quiet again for a while. Nina started filing her nails. She took a bottle of nail polish out of her purse and did some touchups. “Why did you go to college? She asked.

“My best friend’s father was a truck driver. He took us to Miami and back one summer. We actually hauled live sea turtles up from Miami. I fell in love with it. I went to college to please my mother. As soon as I graduated, I went to school to get my CDL.

“Does your childhood friend drive a truck too?”

“No. He was an actor for a while, or I should say he tried. Last I heard, he owns a furniture store.”

“I need to use a bathroom. Can we stop soon?” Ten miles up the road they saw a sign for a rest area, another twenty miles away.

“Can you wait that long?” he asked.

“Do I have a choice?”

When they pulled out of the rest area, Derner called his dispatcher, who told him he didn’t have anything going out of Phoenix or Tucson, but to call back later. He turned to Nina. “One thing that’s hard to get used to is never knowing one week to the next where I might be going.”

“I don’t know. That might be exciting. I always know where I’m going, The Cascade. The only thing that changes is my shift.”

“Have you had a chance to call your mom to see how she's doing?" he asked. 

She pulled down the visor and looked in the mirror. Again, she looked away. “Bob, please don’t hate me for this, but I didn’t tell you the truth about why I wanted to go to Phoenix.”

Derner knew what was coming. He didn’t know how he knew, but he had no doubt. He waited for it. The temperature was dropping outside and storm clouds were forming, a perfect backdrop to what he knew was coming.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Nina asked. He turned and looked at her, giving her his best poker face. Nina looked down at her hands. “Two months ago, I sort of reconnected with a guy I went to high school with. We dated for a while back then and drifted apart after graduation. He got married and I chased an Air Force pilot to Amarillo. Anyway, out of the blue, he called me. We talk a lot and I think we might have a future together. Sorry.”

“Sorry for lying, or breaking my heart?”

“Both I guess.”

It started raining then. In less than two minutes it was pouring so hard that visibility dropped dramatically. Derner had to slow the truck down. He cursed himself for not having checked the weather, something he always did. Having Nina with him threw him off his routine. He checked his weather app and saw right away there was going to be a problem. It was unusual in that part of the country, but just twenty-five miles ahead, there was some flooding. He turned his CB on for the first time. He had deliberately kept it turned it off because he knew some of his road buddies would rib him when they heard he had Nina with him. He didn’t want to take the chance that one of them might say the kind of thing Nina complained about.

Right away he heard, “Hey, you guys, this is BBQ Memphis here. If you’re heading to Flagstaff, forget it. Raining, greasy and flooded in some areas.” He picked up his mic and said, “Can I get through that stuff BBQ Memphis, or are the roads closed?”

“Driver, the roads are closed five miles south of Flagstaff.”

“What does that mean?” Nina asked.

“It means we aren’t going to Phoenix until tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, shit, Bob. I really have to get there tonight.”

“Call your boyfriend and tell him you’ll see him in the morning. Sorry.”

Nina slumped back in her seat, thinking. Derner handed her a map and asked her to look for the next rest area. She found one twenty miles shy of Flagstaff and pointed it out to him on the map. “I refuse to spend the night in a rest area, Bob. You can drop me off at the next motel and pick me up in the morning.”

“No. We are going to spend the night in the rest area. You can have the bed. I’ll make do right where I am.”

Why? That doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“Maybe not, but when you tell lies, you give up the right to make decisions that involve me and my livelihood,” he said. “I wonder what else you haven’t told me.”

“There’s nothing else. Please, I don’t want to sleep in your sleeper. There’s nothing but bad memories there.”

“Fine by me. You can sleep in the cab and I’ll take the bed.”

“I’m sorry, Bob, I didn’t mean to hurt you. It just never occurred to me you were serious about having a relationship with me.”

“Would it change anything if you knew I was serious?”

“I know it would be wise of me to lie to you right now, but I won’t do that to you, Bob. It isn’t you, really. I just know I don’t want to live the life of a trucker’s wife. It’s too lonely.”

“What about Racine? Was he going to divorce his wife and marry you?”

“We talked about it, but I told him the same thing. It’s possible to love someone and still see it would never work.”

“But you kept seeing each other.”

Nina started crying, really letting herself go. “The last time I saw him,” she said through sobs, “I told him it was over between us. Maybe that’s why he jackknifed that night.” She hid her face in her hands.

There was an exit up ahead and Derner took it. He made a left over the bridge and drove over the Interstate, pulling into one of the chain motels. “We can stay here tonight. Looks almost empty. Go on and check in.”

“Are you going to stay in the motel too?”

“Haven’t decided yet.”

Nina stepped down from the cab and stood waiting for Derner to pull her bags down, which he did without saying a word, and handed them to her. “Will you be here tomorrow morning? I wouldn’t blame you if you took off and left me here,” she said.        

“I probably should, but I’ll be here when you get up in the morning.” He watched her trudge over to the motel door. Then he called his dispatcher and explained the weather situation. The guy was nonchalant about it, letting Derner know he was expecting his call. “Lot of delays out your way. Get it there tomorrow and call me. I might have a return load for you.” That news improved Derner’s mood. The delay might actually work in his favor. There was a McDonald’s next door to the motel. He decided to eat there and then decide whether to get a room. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t think of paying for a room in a situation like this when he could sleep for free in his cab. But, Nina would be riding with him in the morning and he didn’t want to impose his body odor on her. 

After he ate, he walked into the motel and got a room. He took a long shower and went to bed. At one in the morning, his phone rang. It was Nina. “Bob? I’m sorry for calling you. I can’t sleep. Meet me at your Peterbilt in ten minutes.” She hung up. Derner wondered for a moment if he’d dreamt it. He stood up, went to the window and waited to see if Nina was really going out to the truck. It was parked under a bright light. The rain had stopped. The first thing he saw was a shadow. There she was, carrying her bags. He dressed quickly, washed his face, brushed his teeth and picked up his bag. When he got to the truck, he found Nina shivering in the wind and crying. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Everything, Bob. Can we just get in the truck and get out of here?”

“Nina, I’m tired. I need to sleep. We can get in the truck, but I’m going to bed, okay?  She nodded. He helped her climb into the cab and got himself situated. He started the big rig’s motor and turned on the heat. “So, what’s wrong, girl?” He didn’t wait for an answer. He pulled off his boots and climbed into his bed. Nina joined him, which confused him. She snuggled up to him and said, “I googled my high school friend. He’s married and he’s in prison.”

“You telling me you didn’t check him out before you decided to make this trip?”

“No, I did check him out. His name is Owen Walter Zane. He has a Facebook page under the name of OW Zane. He probably paid somebody to set it up for him. It says he’s single.”

“How did you find out he’s in prison?” 

Nina turned her face up to look at Derner. “Last night, I tried to email him and got a weird message back about how he wasn’t accepting any messages at this time. That seemed odd. We talked on the phone a lot, but he told me not to call him because he only had a company owned cell phone and he would be fired if he took any personal calls. He said his employer checked all his calls. Last night I had the funniest feeling about him. Something wasn’t right. So, I googled him and really looked at everything I could find.”

“Do you know what he’s in prison for, or how long?”

Nina buried her head in a pillow and cried. Derner didn’t say a word. When it was out of her system, she said, “He was convicted of rape charges. Apparently, he was a serial rapist.”

Derner took her into his arms and rocked her. “I’ll get you back to Amarillo, if you want,” he said. 

“Why are you so good to me?” Derner didn’t respond. “I’m so stupid. I do these things and I don’t even know why. And they always turn out like this. Matt dies. OW is a liar. I’m sorry Bob, for everything.” She pulled her face away from his chest and reached up to kiss him.

“No, no, Nina. Not now. I made that mistake once. You’re feeling low now. I don’t want you that way,” he said, stroking her hair. “Let’s get some sleep.”

They reached Phoenix by ten o’clock the next morning. He dropped his trailer, which would remain at the shipping dock and drove to the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport tractor trailer parking facility. Derner called the dispatcher and asked if he had anything for him. “Matter of fact, I do. Run over to Honeywell and pick up a load of aerospace parts bound for Houston.”

Ordinarily, Derner would turn down a job like that. He preferred getting back east, where he was based, after a trip out west. “When does it have to be there?”

“By Friday. That gives you four days to get there. You can thank me later.”

“That’ll work. I hope you got something for me headed east from Houston. I need to get home. I’ll deadhead back if I have to.”

“Can’t promise, but I’ll try,” the dispatcher said. 

When Derner told Nina the good news, she surprised him. “Let’s spend another day here doing something other than driving a truck. I’d like to see what you’re like when you’re not behind the wheel.”

“That’s cool. Listen, I need to run a couple of errands at the airport. I’ll grab the shuttle.  Do me a favor and watch the rig. I’ll be back in an hour. We’ll see what Phoenix has to offer.” Then he added, “Maybe we can find a couple of rooms at one of the resorts in Scottsdale.”   

Nina smiled. “Sounds like a plan. We can look for a room with a nice view. Pick up some sunscreen, please. I don’t want to get a sunburn in this heat.”

It wasn’t lost on Derner that Nina had corrected him, casually suggesting one room. It was too late for that now. Between Amarillo and Phoenix, his dream died. He took care of his business and was back in forty-five minutes. Nina told him some guy came by and told her they were parked in the wrong spot. “He offered to move it for me, but I told him you’d be right back,” she said.

“Good work. There’s nothing wrong with where we parked. You saved yourself a heap of trouble turning him down.”

“I’ve been around truckers for seven years now. I can spot the jerks a mile away. I’ve been thinking, maybe we should just get on the road now.”

“You in a hurry to get back to Amarillo all of a sudden?” 

Nina reached up and touched Derner lips with her finger. “We can run all the way down to Houston if you want. Maybe you can show me how to drive this thing.”

Derner took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Nina, that’s your problem, I’m afraid. You had an affair with Matt from Racine, a guy you really didn’t know much about. I made a couple of calls. He was a dealer and a user, mostly meth. His accident was bound to happen sooner or later. Inevitable, if he didn’t get caught first.”

She looked at him, her eyes cold. Derner continued, “Then you take up with an old boyfriend from high school. Turns out he’s in prison. Now, after telling me I’m not your kind of guy, you don’t want someone who’s always on the road, you turn around and ask me to take you to Houston.”

“I’m just a stupid shit I guess.”

“I didn’t say that. You’re confused, maybe. Anyway, this is the end of the line for me. Here, take this.” He handed her an envelope. “It’s an open, one-way ticket to Amarillo and a C-note. You can use the ticket, or turn it in for cash. Up to you.”

“I can’t believe this. You’re dumping me?”

“I’m setting you free, Nina. I’ll drop you off at the airport. You can fly today, or stick around Phoenix for a while.”

The dispatcher kept his word. When Derner got to Houston, there was a full load of computers and printers bound for the 215, Philadelphia.

Six months went by before Derner found his way to Amarillo again. He had not heard a word from Nina. He walked into The Cascade, wondering if she would be there. He had his doubts. The first familiar face he saw was Travis Taylor, the driver who told him Nina married Cosgrove, the bedbugger. Something seemed off. What was Travis doing standing behind the bar? He walked over and said hello.

“That you Bob Derner? You’re a sight for sore eyes.” Travis opened the door to the kitchen. “Honey come out and say hello to an old friend.” He turned back to Travis and put a longneck bottle of beer in front of him. “I quit driving.”

She walked out, came around the bar and gave Derner a hug. “I’m Mrs. Taylor now.” She showed him her wedding ring. “Isn’t that wonderful?”