Hazel's Hitchhiker

10: Kingman, Arizona

Hazel

This was a nightmare that caused my head to feel dizzy. Breathing grew a little hard. The car couldn't be overheating at a time like this. All I wanted to do was pull the car over and hyperventilate. All I wanted to do was kick the dirt and scream. And I got to do that. Joey let me park somewhere with the car still running claiming that we would be in a wreck if this continued with me behind the wheel. Definitely couldn't argue with that.

While sitting on the back of the car, he watched me kick the dirt and scream.  We were never going to make it to Austin in time. There weren't supposed to be problems with the car. Once my body couldn't handle anymore screaming, I found myself sitting on the ground against a tree. Joey hopped off the car and sat next to me. Somehow, Joey putting his palm on my shoulder calmed me down. My stomach didn't feel like throwing up. Something about him smelt nice. Was he wearing cologne? What really calmed me down was a nice hand rub on my shoulder. All my tense muscles began relaxing. It almost felt like a dream.

"Let me drive and find a mechanic," stated Joey. "According to Google, we'll take a little detour that'll put us on Route 66 and take us through Kingman and back to our regular route."

Joey

With no argument, the keys were handed over to me and we got in the car. Once we approached Kingman, I sensed a completely different vibe compared to anything that I ever saw in California. My heart could feel a strange sense of freedom. Sure, the car was falling apart, but I was in Arizona. Freakin' Arizona. We were literally in the desert.

Driving through this small desert town, it was interesting to see how narrow the road was. There were no lanes in this town. You could either go north or south. If you drove on the other side of the road, you better be going in the opposite direction. Driving on this narrow road, you could see all the businesses on each side of the road. Yes, there will still other routes around town, but this was the main one. There was no highway. This was the highway.  This was Route 66. We drove by a green painted pizza place and several other colorful buildings.

"You know," I began. "This town kind of reminds me of that movie about the talking cars."

With Hazel leaning against her seat and her sight on the outside world through the passenger window, a small chuckle was detected.

"You mean Cars? This town reminds you of a Pixar movie?" she asked.

"You've seen the movie right?" You know how Lightning McQueen got stuck in that town. The town looked a lot like this."

"Yeah, I've seen the movie," she lightly laughed followed by a deep breath. "I've seen it. But to be honest, I don't remember what happened. The movie literally put me to sleep. It was honestly Pixar's worse movie."

It's hard to know why, but her response lit a grin on my face.  "Actually I would say Brave was the worse Pixar movie I ever saw. Complete horse shit. Who the hell thought that movie would be a good idea?"

For the next five minutes, we continued to discuss Pixar Movies. We both agreed that our favorite film by Pixar was Inside Out. Apparently, we both cried watching that movie. We both also saw the movie in theaters more than once. With so much excitement in the car, we reached the parking lot of the mechanic.

"Alright, just wait on that bench by the door. I'll go talk to the mechanic."

Once we took a step outside the car. It became apparent that the day was getting ready to end with the sun starting to set. Part of me began hoping that we'd be in Austin by Thursday. For the sake of Hazel, we were going to get there no matter what. I couldn't imagine what would happen to her if we couldn't get there in time. Would it be such a bad thing if we weren't there in time?

About half an hour later, the two of us were seated next to each other on the bench outside by the door. Being in the car for so many hours, it was almost a surprise as to how close our bodies were to each other. Our arms literally had no space between each other. It was pretty much impossible for us to get any closer. Only it was possible. With another great snuffle, her head found itself on my lap. What the hell was going on? Why was she on my lap? But it was hard to complain. My fingers found themselves on her cheek and made their way to the hair on her head. Damn, the skin on her head was baby-soft. Even her arms were soft. All this softness gave my spine chills.

"Joey," announced the mechanic stepping outside to meet us.

The two of us stood up waiting for the news. All we could do was hope this was good news. News that would be pleasing to Hazel. It had to be.

"We found a problem with the radiator. Should be no more than an hour to fix. And it would only cost about seven hundred dollars to fix."

And just like that, Hazel walked away from us. Where was she going? I had to excuse myself from the mechanic to catch up with her.

"Leave me alone right now," she commanded. Not listening, my feet followed her. "Damn it, I don't have seven hundred on me," she began weeping.

At that moment, a lightbulb found its way out of my brain. An idea was gained. Crap, I had an idea. Putting both hands on her shoulders and putting her body against mine in the form of a hug loving the way she felt and smelt, I spoke my idea.

"Alright, I know a way we can get some money. Vegas is about two hours away from here. We can get an Uber and make our way there tonight. If we're lucky and quick enough, we can at best get a couple grand." 

"One problem though," our hug died with her eyes on my eyes. "Don't we have to be twenty-one to gamble?"

My lips smiled proud of this moment "Did you forget I have a fake ID?"

Thanks for reading! Can you believe this is the tenth chapter? Remember to comment and vote!

Austin, Texas Clock Update: 18 Hours

What's your favorite Pixar movie?

Will Joey and Hazel be able to get the car fixed?