B005HF54UE EBOK Read Online Free PDF

he caught the waitress’s attention. She came back over and he ordered another shot from her.
    ‘Maybe she’s Faith Hill’s sister,’ the girl said.
    ‘Maybe,’ Jimmy said and lit another cigarette. ‘I wonder if that band in the lounge is any good?’
    ‘We could stay here.’
    ‘Sorry about going off like that.’
    ‘You’re just talking, it’s better than keeping it in,’ she said and put her fork down. ‘This is really good. Sometimes truck stops have the best food.’
    ‘I like this song. It’s an old Merle Haggard song,’ Jimmy said. His eyes began to water. ‘Music’s saved my ass so many times.’
    ‘You got more records than anyone I’ve ever seen. If you don’t mind staying, could I get a piece of pie?’
    ‘I don’t care,’ he said and looked at a waitress across the way. They sat silent for a time, then he got out of the booth and stood up. He took out two twenty-dollar bills and set them on the table. ‘I’ll be back. You get whatever you want.’
    When the waitress came she got a to-go box for his dinner and ordered a piece of peach pie and a refill on her coffee. She stared out into the parking lot and tried to think about what to do. She thought about getting a room before he got back. A room under a different name. Spending the night there, hiding, then calling her sister or mom in the morning. Or maybe she could catch a ride with a trucker. Maybe the bus stopped there. She wasn’t sure what to do and it made her nervous. When the waitress came back with the pie she couldn’t eat it.
    She waited a half hour for him, then paid the bill and left the restaurant. She walked into the lounge and looked for him there. She went to the gift shop and to the TV lounge and then walked outside to the lot where the car had been parked. She saw him then, in the distance near a lamp post. He was sitting on the asphalt leaning against a concrete barrier.
    The moon was beginning to show and she could see it rising. There was a cool breeze starting. When she got to him she stood above him and stared in silence as he smoked a cigarette. She could see he had been crying. There were five or six cigarette butts next to him and an open can of beer.
    ‘I thought you’d left,’ she said and sat down across from him.
    ‘Sorry,’ he said.
    ‘What’s wrong?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I got so many goddamn thoughts.’
    ‘You’re tired,’ she said and looked at him. ‘You need to go to bed.’
    ‘I don’t know,’ he said. He took a drink off the beer. ‘I’d like to murder the motherfucker.’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘My old man.’
    ‘You need to sleep.’
    ‘I just slept for thirty-six hours.’
    ‘I don’t know then.’
    ‘I remember this time when my mom was out of town visiting her sister. This was when I was ten, maybe twelve. My little sister was taking a bath. She was probably six or seven. My dad had this thing about water around the bathroom. Water on the floor. Anyway she gets out of the tub and runs around the house, then gets back in the tub, gets out, and runs around the house, you know?’ He paused and wiped the tears from his eyes. ‘Just little kid stuff. He was in the family room watching TV. I was in there, too. For a long time he didn’t notice her, didn’t pay attention to her. I did. I saw it, but I didn’t do anything. I don’t know why. Did I want her to get in trouble? I don’t know. I mean, I was young, too. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. Finally he sees her naked and wet running around the room. He yells at her and she screams and runs back into the tub. Five or ten minutes later she comes running back out doing the same thing, and I remember sitting there thinking, “Jesus Christ, Jessica, what the hell are you doing? Get back in the fucking tub.” I remember watching her, scared for her. And then allthe sudden, he sees her again and he gets up and starts yelling at her. He follows her into the bathroom. He sees all the water on the