Chapter 4...Part 5

The couple drove south back to I-10 and continued on their journey west and toward Utah, at least that is what the guest told the girl they were doing. They drove across Texas via I-10 west. They stopped and begged for money when and where they could. They slept wherever they could. Sometimes in truck stops, sometimes in rest areas. They made it to Las Cruces, New Mexico.

At the rest stop just over the border the girl called her mom. This was the first time she had called her mom in weeks. It was so good to hear her voice. She told her they were on their way home and that they were in New Mexico. She told her that she would hopefully be home soon. The girl truly believed they would find their way home.

In Las Cruces they kind of hit a dry spell. Las Cruces is a college town with a lot of wealthy people. It was not as easy to ask for help. The girl finally broke down and called a friend of hers. She had avoided calling any of her friends for a few weeks now but she wanted to get home so desperately that she was ready to do almost anything.

The friend she called was really good about loaning her the money. She had never done anything untrustworthy before and her friend worked it out to send the money. The girl was so excited. She was sure that with the money her friend loaned her that they would make it home with no problems.

The couple drove across highway 10 all the way. They made it to Arizona. They drove through Phoenix and on to Tonopah and stopped at the TA. Again, they had to decide what to do. They had gone through all the money that the girl’s friend had last sent to her. The girl had no choice she thought since she just wanted to get home. She called a different friend. She didn’t ask for money but was hoping she might offer help. She got her wish, her friend sent her some more money. They were back on the road again.

They went across I-10 and toward Barstow, California. When they got to Barstow they were almost out of money again. The vehicle was having problems and they didn’t know what else to do. The girl called a friend of hers again and asked her for more money. Her friend sent them more.

From where they were in Barstow they could have just gotten on I-15, driven north and been home. This was not what happened. The guest told the girl that since they were so close they should go to Visalia. It was not after the guests 45th birthday and he said that Merrill Lynch was supposed to release his money on his birthday.

They drove back to Visalia and visited his brother. The guest called Merrill Lynch and they told him they would be able to give him some money at the Bank of America in Visalia. He just needed to wait until Monday and they would take care of things. It was Friday so they needed to figure out what to do for the weekend.

They got a room and stayed for the weekend. The girl was so excited. She looked through the newspaper and looked at ads for things that she knew they needed. She was so glad that her journey was going to come to an end and things would be all worked out.