Chapter 5...Part 4

The guest decided at that point it would be best to get back together with Sam. He called Sam and told him that he needed to meet them in Knoxville, TN so that they could decide what to do about things. The guest was so good at talking people into things that Sam agreed.


Now the couple had to figure out how to get to Knoxville.

That evening the guest talked someone into giving him some money for them to move on and they met a couple, John and Jane, who had some change and wanted to get out of the truck stop also. It was freezing in Arkansas and everyone just wanted to get somewhere else.

The 4 of them headed to Tennessee. The couple found out the story of John and Jane. They said that they had been on a truck. John was a driver and Jane joined him. They were married with a couple of kids. Supposedly the truck they were driving burnt to the ground and that is how they got stranded. They were headed east somewhere and any way they could figure out was how they were getting there. That is why they joined the couple on the road.

They reached Knoxville early in the morning. John and Jane went into the Flying J where they stopped to watch TV and the couple again slept in the car. When they awoke, they called Sam to see where he was. Sam was still several miles away so they had a few hours to wait.

While they waited the couple ended up talking with a driver, Bob. The driver told the guest about his trucking company and how to get a job there. The girl was so excited as she thought the guest might actually get a job. He talked with the driver and it sounded like he was really interested. This excited the girl. Maybe things would work out anyhow. Bob bought them lunch and they had a good talk. One thing the guest never knew is that Bob gave the girl some money in case of emergency. She would keep this for a while utilizing it here and there as she needed to. Bob wanted her to make sure she had some emergency money. This was so nice of him and the girl really hoped that the guest would get a job.

Late in the evening Sam finally arrived. The girl was amazed at how the guest could talk Sam into doing anything also. Sam bought them dinner and they discussed the best plan for the future. The guest was of course still telling Sam that he was going to buy him his own truck and what they needed to do to accomplish this.

After this it was a 4-day wait and see what happens. It was the weekend and the guest said that he couldn’t get in touch with Merrill Lynch until Monday. So they waited out the weekend sitting in the truck at the Flying J truck stop. John and Jane joined them for meals which they cooked in the truck after a run to Wal-Mart and the guest told them they could sleep in the rental car since the rest of them would be sleeping in the truck.

The 3 spent all their time together except when the girl took time out to do laundry for everyone. It was a long weekend and Knoxville was getting cold by that time too. The girl was so grateful she at least had a coat and shoes, something that Sam had bought her before they got to Maryland.