Un-Connected Read Online Free PDF Page A

talk to anyone any more than you have to, but be polite. Don’t get in the
truck. …I’m locking the truck.  Don’t mess with anything else.” With that she locked
the doors with the remote, turned on her heels and walked away.
    I felt a big sigh of relief coming over me.
While she might be turning me in right now, I somehow didn’t think so. I felt
somewhat safe for the first time...since…that night.
    Not long after I put up the hose on the
driver’s side, she came out carrying a sleeping bag. She showed me how to check
the oil. Then we drove to the back of one of the largest parking lots I had
ever seen. She found an empty parking space in a rather dark place and pulled
in forward with the trucks on either side facing out. This way her cab was
toward the back of their trailers.
    She asked if I had a toothbrush or a change
of clothes. When I shook my head “no”, she told me to get out and go with her.
She was carrying a duffle bag.  She handed me a plastic bag and told me it
would be for my dirty clothes.  I wasn’t sure what that meant but I kept my
mouth shut.  We went into the main building where she’d gone when I was pumping
the fuel. She asked if I was hungry and I said yes.
    We went to the restaurant and sat away from
others. We ate quietly and talked a little. It was shallow conversation about
the weather, unusual people we saw, things people said. She was nice but
guarded. I thought she was probably trying to figure out where and how to get
rid of me. It was so easy for her to do it at any time. I was a fish out of water.
    She paid for our meal, and we walked to the
back of the large building. We came to a hallway, where there were frequent
doors with numbers on them. She found the one she was looking for and punched
in a code. The door made a sound, and she opened it. She told me to go in and
take a shower. She’d be back with clothes in a few minutes. She asked me what
size I wore. There were two towels, a washcloth, shampoo, and soap. I would be
clean in a few minutes and was getting happier. The water was hot and steamy,
and it felt so good. I was taking a long shower, enjoying myself, when I heard
a knock on the door. It scared me to death.
    “It’s me. I have your clothes,” Deb shouted.
    I pulled a towel around me and went to the
door. I opened it a crack to see what was going on. She had a roll of clothing,
which I took and closed the door. I opened it again to see her about to walk
off, and I asked how much time I had. She replied she was about to take a
shower. She would not be in any hurry, and I should wait on her in the TV room
when I was done. Was I thankful!
    I had never been so needy in my life, and she
was taking really good care of me beyond anything I had hoped for. I knew it
could come to an end any moment, but for now I was enjoying this one. She had
given me a pair of jeans, a sport shirt, some tennis shoes, socks, boxer
shorts, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash. I was about to look and feel
somewhat normal for the first time in days. Maybe I could start building back
and trying to get myself out of trouble.
    After finishing my shower and dressing, I
only waited a few minutes in the TV room until she appeared and asked if I was
ready. I said yes, and we walked out together. I had put my dirty clothes in
the plastic shopping bag she had given me.
    She didn’t smile or do more than glance at
me.  We walked to the back of the building to the dumpsters. She told me to see
if I could find some corrugated boxes. After poking around a bit, I came up with
a large one and two small ones, which we carried to the truck.
    She told me to break the boxes down flat and
put them on the walkway behind the cab and put my sleeping bag on top of them.
She said good night and got in the truck. I didn’t have a pillow but I was not
going to complain. I slept really well that night. I awoke several times when
one of the trucks pulled out in the middle of the night, and a short time