Take Me Home {Completed}

Chapter Five

"A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal." 
― Steve Maraboli

***

Chapter Five:

"Not one to talk, Aye?" Parker stated after a good minute of silence. He glanced away from the road for a second and looked over at Nola to find that she was fiddling with the hem of her purple t-shirt.

"I-I don't know what you want to talk about," She proclaimed. "This is the turn," Nola stated as she pointed to the street that they were approaching.

Parker kept on driving, completely missing the street. "Ooops," he said. "Do you have another route?"

Nola shook her head once. "No, I only know one way there . . . He works at the V-Valley Farms factory."

"Oh, I know how to get there. It's a back road but it'll get us there," Parker tried to convince Nola.

She looked over at him, unsure. "Well . . . you say so. . ."

Parker wanted to be all self-absorbed and go 'of course, I know everything'. Yet, he held it in because he felt like that would be the wrong thing to say. His humor was not for her, at the moment, because she was in a fragile state and might take it the wrong way. "So, tell me about yourself, Nola."

She glanced out the window, "I-I . . . I don't know . . . what you want to know. . ."

Parker shrugged his shoulders, "I don't want anything specific. I just wanna know who Nola B. is."

Nola sat there, silent. However, Parker knew that she was only being silent because she was considering what she should say - not because she was ignoring him. "I'm a girl. . ."

Parker couldn't hold it in, he released a laugh. "I couldn't tell!" He joked.

Nola looked over at him with wide eyes before sinking into her seat. "I-I'm sorry. . ."

Looking over at her, Parker halted his drunken laughs. "Sorry? For what?" He questioned.

"I-I don't look like — like a girl."

"Jeez Louise, I was kidding Nola B," He quickly stated feeling like a complete fool.

She looked away from him while muttering a simple, "oh."

Parker noted that it was about time that he follow through with the next phase of his plan. "Man, I really gotta go pee. Mind if we stop at a gas station?"

Nola didn't know what to say, she wanted to tell him that she should get to Mitch as soon as possible and not make any stops. However, she knew it was her place to agree and go with whatever a man wanted. "Yeah . . . okay."

"Cool vanilla beans," He said as he pulled his car into a gas station lot. "I'll be right back, just stay here and don't let anyone in. Got it?"

Nola nodded. "Yes."

Parker got out of the car and locked the doors. He walked in the store and up to the register.

"You owe me thirty bucks, Man," Jeff said as he reached behind his counter and pulled out a brown bottle.

"Thirty bucks?" Parker asked his best friend.

"It ain't cheap," Jeff said as he handed Parker the bottle.

Parker grabbed it and looked at it, "Where did you find this?"  

Jeff smiled before running a hand through his black hair, "I have my ways. So, tell me, why do you need that stuff? You're not planning to do something stupid, are you?"

Parker chuckled, "I'm always up to something stupid, Jeff. You know that."

Jeff rolled his gray eyes and shook his head, "Whatever you are planning, you never got that from me."

"Got what?"

"Exactly."

Parker paid Jeff and then went into the restroom. Pulling out the rag from his back pocket Parker poured some of the liquid from the bottle on the rag. He was about to leave, once done, but he hesitated, wondering if this was a good idea.

What if she really was a clumsy person? . . . What if no one was abusing her? . . . If so he was just plain kidnapping her — no protecting her about it.

Yet, Parker couldn't ignore all the signs. He couldn't come up with enough excuses to dismiss how she flinches at the touch of other people, the way she's alert and watchful, how she wears long sleeves (even in the middle of the summer), or even the way she keeps losing weight, staggering to an unhealthy size. There was not enough excuses in the world that could be given for all that he was seeing.

So, without second guessing himself, again, Parker tossed the bottle in the trash and placed the rag back in his pocket.

Walking out of the store, he knew this had to be done. . .

"Don't you ever just feel so much better after you've used the restroom?" Was the first thing that Parker said as he got back in the car.

Nola looked over at him with a raised eyebrow but dropped it within milliseconds.

"Oh shit, look at that big bird," Parker pointed out her window.

Turning her head, Nola tried to see what Parker was talking about but didn't see a bird. She was about to question him when she felt something cover her mouth and nose. Nola tried to pry the hand that was holding the rag over her nose and mouth. However, it wouldn't let go. She opened her mouth and tried to scream as she attempted to wiggle out of his grasp. Yet, nothing was working — she was helpless.

"I'm sorry, Nola B. . . . I really am sorry. . ."

That was the last words Nola heard before passing out.