“Okay, let’s get this show on the road.” She jerked a mousy-brown ponytail through the hole in the back.
While the radio didn’t work and the air-conditioning had gone out last summer, the gas tank was full. If those bald tires would just hold up until she got to her cousin’s place, that’s all she’d ask.
She drove past the place where her granny’s trailer used to sit. Now it was nothing but a field of dandelions and weeds. In Jancy’s mind a little three-bedroom, single-wide trailer with a flower bed on each side of the wooden porch occupied the lot. She slowed down at the church a block down the street. She and her mother had walked there every Sunday morning. A white-frame building with a steeple and a gravel parking lot, it had been filled to capacity the day they’d had Granny’s funeral, but then, she’d lived in Pick her whole life.
Jancy had always yearned for a life like that, but those things didn’t just happen overnight. To be that ingrained into a community, a person had to not only be born there but had to put down roots. She slowed down as she drove through town and passed the familiar places. The old junkyard had entered her rearview mirror when the car first sputtered. She patted the dash and sent up a silent prayer. Evidently God was listening to her mama and granny that day, because it didn’t stall out. She glanced over at the tall fence surrounding acres of wrecked or dead vehicles and wondered if Shane Adams still helped his grandpa with the business.
One block down the road was the Strawberry Hearts Diner. If she had had the money, she’d stop there and have breakfast. Her mouth watered just thinking of a plate of biscuits and gravy, but today she’d finish off the cheese crackers and day-old doughnuts in the back seat. She’d refill her water bottles in a gas station restroom. Food and coffee could wait until she reached Minnette’s place. She sure hoped that her cousin had been serious the last time they’d talked on the phone when she’d said that Jancy would be welcome to stay with her for a spell.
Jancy caught a whiff of bacon as she drew near to the diner. Her stomach grumbled, but then the strong smell of smoke filled the air. She first thought that someone must be burning old tires back at the junkyard, but then the smoke began to boil from the vents. By the time she braked and swung into the diner parking lot, her eyes were watering and she was coughing so hard that she could hardly breathe. Then she saw flames shooting out from under the hood.
She grabbed her purse and hurriedly made her way to the back of the car. Her hands shook as she unlocked the trunk and started throwing the four duffel bags and a suitcase as far as she could. If the fire hit that full gas tank, the people in Pick would think that a bomb had gone off. Was it parked far enough out in the lot that it wouldn’t damage the diner? She broke out in a run for it. Someone had to call the fire department.
God was finally punishing her for the past. Her car burning right there in Pick, Texas—that was too much to be coincidence. It was karma in the purest form coming back around to bite her on the fanny the very week after she was allowed to leave the state of Texas. Two days ago, she’d finally spent her last day in Amarillo and couldn’t wait to get on the road to Louisiana to Minnette’s place. Now all her plans were going up in smoke in front of her eyes.
When she heard the sirens, she plopped down on her old green duffel bag. With her head in her hands, she wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. Never, not once, in all her wandering had she been so destitute. She had sixteen dollars in her purse, half a pack of gum, and a Texas driver’s license that was only good for eight more months. Good luck renewing it without a place to live.
Of all the places in the state of Texas—for that matter, the whole world—Pick, Texas, was the last place she’d want to be stranded with nothing. Hopefully, truckers still stopped at the diner for those blue-plate specials. Maybe she could hitch a ride with one of them.
The red fire truck rolled into the lot, and two volunteer firemen hopped out, unwound the hose, and started spraying water on the vehicle.
“How much gas you got?” one of them yelled.
“Full tank!” She looked up and hollered. That’s when she saw Nettie and Vicky start toward her. Vicky knelt beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Can I help you or call someone for you?”
Jancy shook her head slowly. “Nobody to call, and I don’t think anyone can help me. Y’all still get truckers coming through every day? I’ll hitch a ride with one of them.”
“Jancy Wilson?” Nettie frowned.
“That’s me, Miz Nettie.” She nodded.
“We haven’t seen you around here in, what? Five years?” Nettie asked.
“Six,” she answered and pointed toward the diner. “Are y’all really hiring? Where’s Emily?”
“Finishing up her last week of the year in college,” Nettie answered. “She’ll be home on Friday. And yes, we are hiring. You want to apply for the job?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jancy swallowed hard and nodded. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she’d lived in Pick—an eternity since she’d been that young, naive girl who’d wanted so badly to fit in and never did.
That Emily got to go to college didn’t surprise her. She’d been the most popular girl in school—a cheerleader, smart enough to win all kinds of awards, pretty and actually kind of sweet even if her group of friends could be downright bitchy. And Jancy would be long gone by Friday. She just needed enough money for a bus ticket to New Iberia. Minnette would drive down and get her from there. With good tips and minimum wage, she should have that much in a few days.
“Got any waitress experience?” Nettie asked.
“Started working in fast food when I was sixteen. Moved up to the better places when I graduated high school. It’s all I’ve ever done.”
“Can you start right now?” Vicky asked.
Jancy nodded again. “Got a place I can store my stuff? And would you mind if I throw a pillow in a booth and sleep in the diner a few nights—just until Emily gets here and takes my place?”
“Come on inside where it’s cool. We can talk over a cup of coffee,” Vicky answered.
“My stuff?” Jancy looked around her as she stood up.
“It’s okay right where it is for now.” Vicky extended a hand. “Where have you been the past six years?”
“Louisiana and Texas, mainly. A few months in Oklahoma. These last few months, I worked as a waitress at a steak house in Amarillo.” She put her hand in Vicky’s and let her haul her to a standing position.
“You’re Emily’s age, aren’t you? I remember when y’all moved back here and were in school together for a year or two. How is Elaine these days?” Vicky dropped her hand and led the way to the diner.
“She and my father are both dead. Mama passed right after I graduated from high school, and Daddy died a couple of years later.” Jancy opened the door to allow Vicky and Nettie to go inside before her.