Hazel's Hitchhiker

34: Sheep City Sucks

Hazel

What the hell? Out of all the things that had happened on this trip. Having one of us being arrested was something that seemed the least likely. What the hell was I going to do now? I was literally in the middle of nowhere. Sheep City was barely a freakin' town. According to the sign we passed, it had a population of about nine hundred people. That's the very definition of rural. And to make things worse, the signal on my phone was absolute horse shit.

Okay fine, it wasn't that bad. Sitting in the car on the side of the road, all I wanted to do was puke. My head began growing dizzy. A fever seemed to be breaking out of my body. At that moment, I hoped there would be an epidemic in the near future that could kill me. But that was unlikely. Tears began rolling down my eyes and breathing became impossible. We would never get to Austin now. Never.

After a few minutes, my body ended up on the driver's side and found a local Denny's. Pulling the car into the parking lot, my stomach was growling. Damn, I was hungry. Had my stomach been doing the thinking for me these last few minutes? Without another thought, my feet took me inside, and with a very small crowd, I had a seat within two minutes. No time was wasted in ordering simple water. An Arizona Iced Tea was the last thing that was craved. Weird. Hell, with Joey in jail, my stomach didn't want food.

A thought quickly entered my brain. What if I took off to Austin without Joey? What if he just stayed behind? No, there was no way that I could do that to Joey. Another thought occurred to me. With all the money we got in Vegas, was it somehow possible to bail him out? My insides were going crazy at the thought and for a moment, all I could do was laugh. Reaching into my pocket, my heart began to sink. Oh Shit! Joey had the money. He had every single penny and dime. There was absolutely no way to possibly bail him out. The temptation to throw my glass of water onto the floor was all too real.

Shit, Joey was in jail and I still had to get to Austin. Because of that boy, I made the choice of not getting to my destination by Thursday. My own father would be disappointed in me. And it would be a cold day in hell if I had to call him for bail money.

"Honey let me tell you something you might not realize. You know how your oldest sister Hannah decided to drop out of college and move to LA to pursue her dream of becoming an actress?" When was the last time we saw her? Can you remember the last Christmas or Thanksgiving that we saw her?

"She lives in New Mexico now with her fiancé. "She's doing pretty decent for herself."

Oh damn, my sister Hannah! Hannah lives in New Mexico. And she didn't live very far either. Maybe she could be the savior of the day. It had been a while since we had actually seen each other. My very own father asked it best. When was the last holiday we saw her? And with that, my phone was pulled out. My fingers which began shaking did their business of dialing up a long-forgotten sibling. My heart couldn't stop beating waiting for her to answer.

"Hazel?" asked Hannah as she answered the phone.

"Yeah, hey Hannah. How are you doing?" This was kind of awkward. Was she actually on the other line of this phone? Was this really all a dream?

"I'm doing good. Just had lunch. What about you? What have you been up to lately?"

Of course, the temptation to have small talk and chat about our lives was truly a real temptation. But this wasn't the time to have that discussion. Joey was in jail and desperately needed help. The catching up would have to wait at a later time.

"Listen, Hannah," before another word was spoken, a sigh left my mouth. "Um, I'm on my way to Austin to start school, and this boy Joey hitched a ride with me. But right now, we're stuck in Sheep City because we got pulled over and he got arrested." Crap, I really didn't want to ask her this next part. "Is there any possible way you could somehow help? Maybe you have some bail money or something? I know it's a lot to ask."

"Hazel calm down," my sister responded. "Of course I'll help. Talk about luck. The last thing anybody would want is to get arrested in Sheep City. Literally the shittiest place in New Mexico."

"Oh my gosh. Thank you so much." My eyes became like a waterslide in joy. Hannah was going to help me out. It was like a great miracle. Maybe this was all a blessing in disguise."

"Hey, it's not a problem little sis. But we have to catch up when this is over. Where are you right now?"

"I'm at the Denny's in Sheep City."

"Alright, I'll be there in about thirty minutes. Let me know if anything changes."

With the call coming to an end, we hung up and the phone was put on the table. Everything would be fine. Hannah would arrive in half an hour and help me get Joey out of jail and we could go on our merry way. These next thirty minutes would be the longest minutes of my life. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to order some food. But my stomach wasn't in the mood for Denny's. For some strange reason, it wanted pizza, marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. Unfortunately, Google Maps couldn't find a nearby pizza place. And the nearest grocery store was a bit far out. My appetite was screwed. Maybe some pancakes wouldn't be so bad.

About five minutes before the half-hour mark, my ears heard a familiar noise. A noise that was never anticipated.

"Dude, Hazel!" shouted Amber who appeared right in front of me while I sat at the table.

"Amber?!" My throat almost choked on water. "What the hell?"

"Get in my car," she commanded. "We're getting Joey out of jail. I'll explain everything later."

Amber showed up? Bet you didn't see that one coming! Thanks for reading! Don't forget to comment and vote!

Did you know Sheep City is fictional? Yes, I made it up. lol

Should Hazel have ditched Joey in New Mexico?

Thoughts on Hazel reuniting with her sister?

Can you believe Amber showed up? What's that about?