Chapter 5...Part 5

Monday dawned and it was decided that the best course of action was to head back towards Florida. The guest was sure that things would work out much better if he went to the Miami office of Merrill Lynch. So back on the road they went after saying good-bye to John and Jane.

The next week or so was riding in the truck, stopping at truck stops and deciding on the best course of action. The guest talked Sam into getting him and the girl cell phones. Finally, she had a way to call her parents and on the sly text some of her friends. It was so nice to be connected to the world again. She had to be really careful and had a few scares but it was so worth it in the end.

Finally the guest told Sam and the girl that he wanted to get things going with the business (car racing). By then the girl was back on board so to speak and again believing what the guest said. Sam was completely hooked also and interested. The guest asked Sam if he knew of anyone that could do secretarial work. Sam said that his ex sister-in-law, Candy, could do secretarial work and he had a friend, Beth, that could also work.

The guest then spent time talking with both women and decided that Candy would do a good job. He got her started working on the MySpace page and doing research. The girl had been through so much by this time that she didn’t even realize that this was exactly what had happened back in Utah. She was just excited that things might get done and that things were happening.

Sam got a load to Michigan and off they were to a new destination for the girl. They drove through a lot of snow and ice. It is scary to be on icy roads in a car, even scarier in a truck. The girl spent several hours just hoping they would be okay and completely freezing. There was only so much heat in the truck and the girl ended up huddling under blankets trying to keep warm.

They spent a few days at a TA truckstop in Michigan. Ironically it wasn’t as cold there as it had been driving there through Indiana and other near locales. After a couple of days they decided heading south toward Florida was a good idea.

They spent a week on the road and Christmas came nearer and nearer. The girl really wanted to be home to spend time with her family for Christmas. While the guest was working on getting a friend of his to help get the girl home, she got a phone call she had been dreading. This was the hardest trip of the entire journey. The girl received a call from her mom, he grandfather had passed away. The girl burst into tears of course. This was totally devastating to her. She had missed saying good-bye to her last grandparent. She knew her mother really needed her because she just lost her father. It broke her heart that she could not be there for her mother when she needed her. She cried for a little while then the guest told her that it was time to stop crying. He claimed that when his wife died he didn’t cry much and didn’t see the need for the girl to cry either. She spent the next couple of days trying to be pleasant and not depressed over the death but it was incredibly hard for her. Shouldn’t her partner support her and try to be there for her?

The guest swore he would find a way for the girl to go home for the funeral for her grandfather. He spent time on the phone trying to arrange a way to get her home. He even told her mother over the phone that he would find a way to get her home.

The guest told the girl that he had talked with a friend of his, Barry, who owned his own private jet. Barry had told him that if they could get her to the airport he would find a way to get her home. They decided on the date and time and the girl packed her stuff ready to go home to Utah. She was so excited and didn’t want to spend her time awake even because she was so ready to go home.

The time came closer and the girl was ready to leave. The guest got a call from Barry. He said there was bad weather and they would need to postpone the flight by a few hours but that he would call back.

The 3 of them were watching a movie and the girl fell asleep. She woke up a couple of times and looked at the clock on her phone. She would ask the guest if he had heard anything. As soon as she heard the bad news she would go back to sleep. Finally she woke up and it was about 3am. This was when she finally started to give up hope. No one was calling and she was not going to the funeral. She cried for a while and the other 2 were sleeping. She finally cried herself to sleep knowing she was not going home.

The next day the guest told her how sorry he was. He said he had been trying to call Barry and he was not answering the phone so he didn’t know what the problem was.

The funeral came and went and of course the girl didn’t get home for the funeral. The 3 of them spent the few days leading up to Christmas at a Pilot truck stop in Georgia. This was very scary. The girl was not even let out of the truck alone even to go to the bathroom. She always had to be accompanied by one of the men. They both told her it was too risky and that she could be hurt or kidnapped or raped. Yes, a bit of a scare for her and kept her on her toes to be sure.

Those days in the truck stop were spent hoping and praying for money. The guest had talked with Merrill Lynch and they were supposed to load a credit card for the guest. They were supposed to have a wonderful Christmas and the girl was supposed to go home for Christmas.

Christmas came and no money. They all had Christmas dinner at a Flying J in Georgia. This was one of the times the girl used money from her emergency $20.00. Flying J gave away dinners to all the truck drivers. Both Sam and the guest had CDL’s and could eat for free. The girl was able to also eat because of the money she had saved. Lucky for her she had been smart about the money and had saved it all this time.

Dinner wasn’t horrible and afterward she was able to watch a few episodes of one of her favorite TV shows, Monk, without anyone giving her grief or looking over her shoulder. She sat in the TV room and the guys sat in the truck. It was very freeing and was a nice evening.

After Christmas it was decided that the 3 of them should go to North Carolina where Candy lived and meet her and also meet Beth. So off to North Carolina they went.