I jolt awake when I realize that we've gone over a pothole. When I look around I see that I was still tied in the backseat and the man was still driving, not daring to stop at least once. I had a major headache after I cried silently in the backseat for at least two hours until I decided to finally sleep, I was also dehydrated. And then I was back to being scared for my life and I wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and wish I was back in my bedroom, guards outside my door.
What if my father set this whole thing up? What if he wanted to scare me into obedience because I give him so much shit? Was it really that bad?
I saw the stranger glance at me through the rear view mirror before he looks back to the road, the furrow between his eyebrows never leaving. "Where are we?" I ask, looking around the moving truck, the roads weren't gravel anymore it was actual road and I was beginning to panic again.
"Texas." He says, keeping it short. I still had no idea where the destination was or how much longer of this trip I had to endure to see what was actually going on. He did say he was sent to protect me, but that is the part I was most confused by. My father had specifically assigned Clyde to the job because according to my father he was fit for the role. He was his new recruit and he showed ambition and determination, something not all his other men had.
The uncomfortable sensation in my bladder made me realize that we'd been in this same truck for over a day now and not once had I gone to the bathroom. "I need to pee." I mumble, breaking the silence once more but that didn't seem to help as he pretended like he didn't hear what I had said and just kept driving. I give it a second in hopes that he looks at me but when he doesn't, I speak again. "I said I need to pee."
"I heard you the first time." He retorts, still not bothering to stop.
"Okay?"
"Not my problem." He retorts, his eyes still focused on the road.
"I will pee on your seat." I threatened, willing to do it if I had to. When he doesn't answer, I speak once more. "I mean it." I watch him through the rear view mirror and he does the same, his eyebrows furrowed with an annoyed look on his face. He then swerved to the side of the road abruptly making my head hit the window again but he didn't seem to care, he did it on purpose. He turns off the car and removes the keys, probably as a safety method but it's not like I knew how to drive to do it. He walks towards my side, the gun in his hand before he yanks the door open and practically drags me out, giving his back to me.
"Hurry up." He says, making me stand awkwardly as my hands were still tied to my back, I noticed I had no shoes and was in socks.
"Can you untie me?" I hesitantly ask, "I can't pull my shorts down." I say but he stood his ground making me roll my eyes. "We're in the middle of nowhere. There's absolutely nowhere for me to run to, can you please untie me?" I plead, all I cared about was giving my bladder the relief it needed. I didn't want to get an infection, especially since he probably won't take me to see a doctor.
I heard him sigh in annoyance before he turned, taking a pocket knife out of his pocket and cutting the tape, releasing my wrists and my ankles allowing me to quickly slide my shorts down and kneel, practically sighing as I did my business. Once I finished, I pulled my shorts back up and he turns around, the role of tape in his hands. "Please don't, I have nowhere to go."
"I don't care."
"Didn't you say you were here to protect me? So then act like it. I'm not a prisoner. You already have a gun how much restriction am I going to get?" I say and walk towards the passenger side of the truck and buckle myself up. I saw him glare at me before he went around the truck and got in, putting the child safety lock on my door making me roll my eyes. "Can you at least turn the radio on?" I ask once he started driving again.
"No." He says sternly. And there it was. The silence was now back as I stared ahead of me, watching as every minute and hour passed by along with the sun until the sky was filled with stars. The dinging sound of the gas being half empty was heard through the car making him exhale in annoyance, driving faster in order to find the nearest gas station. As soon as the lights of one comes into view, he pulls in and fills the tank up.
I look around inside the truck, hoping I can find something to defend myself with but find nothing. If I slip out, I can run towards someone and tell them I've been kidnapped. But I don't even know my address and my father is back in Mexico, also he's the leader of the Mafia. If I were to go to authorities I'd be putting him at risk of being sent to prison.
"Stay." The man demands once he's finished filling up the tank, the windows were open slightly so that I couldn't escape trough them.
"No way." I say, unbuckling myself and hitting the window to catch his attention. "I want to go inside."
"I don't think I asked what you wanted." He remarks and begins to walk away towards the store.
"Someone can come around and take me!" I blurt out through the half open window making him stop in his tracks. He then comes around and yanks open my door, grabbing my forearm tightly and walked me inside the small store.
As I was about to walk off on my own he grabbed my arm again. "You open your mouth and I'm killing everyone in here," he lifts his shirt a bit, revealing his gun on his waist and the outline of a tattoo on his hip. "You got that?"
I glare at him. "Fine." I remark and he lets go, he watches as I walk towards the fridge and grab a water bottle and begin to drink it. My
throat was so dry. I grab more things like snacks and more drinks because I had no idea when the next time I would get to eat would be. Once I had what I needed, I made my way to the check out, placing the stuff on the counter. "Anything else?" The bearded clerk asks, the man takes his place next to me, the handle of the gun poking my side and he puts his arm around me to place on the counter, trapping me in between. I bite down on my tongue.
"That's all." He says, taking money out of his wallet and paying. We were about to walk out when he stops me, noticing a new truck had joined his on the gas pumps. Three men jumped out of their truck, looking at his truck before one of them signaled inside the store. He pushed me off to the side behind the ice cream box in the corner of the room and retrieved his gun, looking at the clerk who was already looking at us strangely. He points the gun to him as a warning to keep quiet and the clerk widens his eyes.
"Evening." One of the bulky men in black said as the other two looked around, guns visible in their pants. The man kept his gun pointed at the clerk.
"How can I help?" The clerk asks, looking intimidated by these men and the gun pointed at him.
"Twenty on number one. And a pack of Marlboro's." The man says. "Who's truck is that just outside?" The cashier slightly looks our direction before gulping.
"It's mine." He lies, I felt the man beside me breathe in deeply, keeping a steady hand. The man chuckled before he nodded and backed up towards the isles. I was sure he knew he was lying and was trying to find us himself.
"I can't say I'm too fond of liars." The man says. I notice a mirror in the corner of the store to the left that would let the clerk know if someone was stealing. It was pointed in our direction and I tap the guy beside me.
"I see it." He grits, as soon as the man looks up, he retrieves his gun from his holster and points it in our direction. Without much hesitation, the man in front of me stands up, firing his gun, shooting the two men and making the other one fall for protection, not giving him enough time to react. The man grabbed my hand, standing me up from my crouching position before we both ran out of the store running towards the truck. I climbed in through his side and right before he was about to shut the door after him, he shouted profanities out of pain.
When he manages to turn the truck on, he kept shooting at the other mans vehicle, popping the tires and making the hood of the car catch on fire. "Son of a bitch!" the man shouted as he kept shooting at us while we drove away.
"Fuck!" The man groans in pain. I searched him to see blood oozing out of his arm making me realize that he had been shot, I hide my disgust and turn to him in panic.
"Oh my God, you got shot!" I say, almost as if I couldn't believe it. "Do you need help? What do you want me to do?" I say frantic, putting my messy hair behind my ear as I inspected the wound. I was about to touch his arm when he jerks away.
"Just grab the fucking wheel!" He remarks making me jump but do as I'm told. He reaches inside the glove compartment and takes out a bandana and ties it around his forearm with his free hand and his teeth in a way to stop the bleeding.
"I think you should go to a clinic—"
"It's a fucking bullet wound, they'll ask questions."
"I'm just trying to help." I retort making him glare at me.
"I don't need your fucking help." He spits and I say nothing else.