chapter 107
SHAKING HIS HEAD, Moon Pie was having difficulty focusing his eyes as he drove. Blurred vision and bouts of confusion were making the drive out of the dark woods even extremely difficult. Grimacing in pain, he touched his side and saw that his hand was covered in blood. He knew that he needed to get to the ER, but being gunshot was going to necessitate police involvement, and that would be a problem he didn’t know how to solve. He sped up, grabbed his cell phone, and tried to remember Levi’s number, but his mind went blank. As he began searching his cell phone’s address book, he glanced up to see that he was running off the side of the old dirt road. His instinctive reaction was to punch the gas. The truck dug down in the mud and slung rooster tails. The limbs from an oak tree scratched down the side of Jake’s truck, causing Moon Pie to laugh deliriously, missing the turn that led to the highway.
After another mile, the river cane became more prevalent, and Moon Pie realized that he had missed his turn. He was now closer to the river and deeper into the swamp. The road had become muddier, and Moon Pie was in danger of getting stuck. He stopped on a dry spot and turned on the windshield wipers, smearing mud. “Son of a bitch!”
Moon Pie looked around inside the truck for something to wipe the windshield. The only thing he found was Jake’s corduroy sport coat. He smiled at that and enjoyed the thought of Jake struggling inside the muddy drainpipe, waiting to die.
While Moon Pie was wiping the mud-spattered windshield, his knees buckled, and he barely caught himself before hitting the ground. Shit! I gotta get the hell outta here!
He climbed back into the truck and looked for a place to turn around but didn’t find one. Beginning to panic, Moon Pie reversed the truck, plowing through bushes and small trees. He dropped the gearshift into drive and stood on the accelerator, causing the truck to fishtail out of the muddy ditch.
As he raced down the muddy road, he tried to think of something to tell the hospital that wouldn’t raise too many suspicions. He knew that going to the hospital was a huge risk, but he couldn’t think of an alternative. He was about to bleed out, and he knew it. He drove faster, screaming, cussing, and pounding the steering wheel. This was not how he wanted to die…or get caught.