I couldn’t stay my rage anymore, so I grabbed my fork from the bar and charged at him. He grabbed my wrist with his meaty fist and stopped me.
I tried my hardest to break free of him, but he was just too strong. With his free hand, he pulled off his sunglasses and leaned down to me so we were face to face.
“Are you going to play nice?” he said.
I clenched the fork, and my teeth, tighter. But I knew it was pointless. I dropped my weapon and gave up.
He continued his walk toward his motorcycle, and I followed. However, it was right at that moment that my exhaustion took over. The color left the world, and everything went black.
4.
Things came in patchy at best. I remembered someone hovering over me and checking my vitals; then I remembered Rex throwing me on the back of his bike and taking me for a ride. I wasn’t exactly sure how much time passed before I woke up.
I was on a bed. Looking around at the single bedroom and the crappy TV sitting on a table in the corner, I figured I was in a motel.
“So you’re finally up,” I heard Rex say.
“How long was I out?” I asked, rubbing my head.
“About a day,” he replied. “Don’t worry; nobody has come looking for you yet. And I got the boys keepin’ watch.”
I smiled. “Got anything to eat?”
Rex tossed a sack full of convenience store food at me.
“Didn’t think you had time for steak,” he said.
He wasn’t wrong. I chomped down on whatever I could get my hands on. It might not have been the best food for you, but when you just woke up after passing out from exhaustion, anything was a gourmet meal.
“Thanks, Rex,” I said.
He grunted.
“Don’t thank me yet,” he said. “We gotta hit the courthouse and get hitched. Then we’ll be on our way out of this Podunk town and back to the road. I think we’re going to head out to—”
“You still want to do the marriage thing?” I interrupted.
“What part of our deal didn’t you get?” he replied.
“Yeah, well, don’t you wanna have a little ceremony where we get all our friends together?” I asked.
He bellowed out a laugh.
“Celia, you and I both know that the only friends we have are either dead or out there riding a motorcycle right now,” he said. “Besides, this makes things easier.”
I sighed. I needed to know something, and I was hoping he’d answer me truthfully this time.
“Why didn’t you ask me four years ago?” I asked.
He stopped laughing. His face went back to the cold, angry stare I was used to seeing. He reached over and drew the tiny curtain shut before plopping into the only other chair in the motel.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“Well tell me something, Rex,” I said.
He slammed his fist on the table.
“It's freedom,” he started. “You weren’t giving me that. You wanted to take it away and settle down with some stupid white picket fence fantasy. You wanted me to get a stupid job where I’d walk around like some penguin and take phone calls.
“That’s not me, Celia. You wanted that back then, and you pushed me really hard for it. It drove me nuts. Well, now you’re back on my terms. We do things my way or you can kiss your ride good-bye.”
The truth always hurt. I didn’t really know what to say. My memories were much different from his. I only remembered the drunken fistfights and the nights we would pass out after some of the wildest sex imaginable under the starry sky.
“Why didn’t you tell me then?” I asked timidly.
“Do you think you would’ve listened?” he said.
I sighed and shrunk a little. I had been young and dumb, and I hadn’t listened to anyone. I still feel that way sometimes. Rex knew me better than I did.
“All right, let’s go,” I said.
Rex stomped out of the motel, and I weakly stood up. The food was helping a lot, but this would still take time. I put on my things and went out to join Rex on his chopper.
We flew down the road toward my inevitable fate.
5.
I wasn’t excited to be married in the slightest, but I didn’t mind the man I’d be marrying. Old feelings had been stirring up inside me lately, and I couldn’t help myself anymore. While we rode on his motorcycle, I gripped his waist just a little tighter.
If he was excited, he didn’t show it. Then again, he didn’t show much of anything except maybe anger at anything in his way. Then again, he did laugh louder than just about every other guy in the club.
The courthouse wasn’t much to look at, just a small box with a door. I didn’t expect much in this small town anyway. Behind the courthouse was the small local police station. I did my best to act nonchalant, but I was still nervous.
The inside of the government building wasn’t much to look at either. Notices were strewn about over the walls, and a row of chest-high desks were set up just inside the door.
“Can I help you?” said an old woman who appeared to have been sitting behind that desk since the dawn of time.
“We’re here for a marriage license,” Rex said.