The Power to Live

by Thomas Porter

  Chapter 7

  At midday, as the van drove through the endless Nevada landscape, Serio reached backward from the front passenger seat and pulled the tarp off Lozen and Napolita. He climbed into the back and untied the ropes from their wrists and ankles.

  "Bathroom break," he said as he climbed back to the front.

  Chase opened the driver's side door, stepped out, stretched, and walked to the building to pay for gas. Cash. Serio exited his passenger door, walked stiff-legged to the back of the van and opened the rear door. A blast of hot, dry air whooshed into the van's interior and Napolita shivered.

  "Warmth. Finally," Samantha said. She was the first one to exit, followed by Napolita. Lozen, still sitting on the floor, rubbed her scalp with both hands. She had long ago given up on worrying what her hair looked like. Slowly, she swung her legs out, stood up on the pavement, and squinted into the clear blue sky.

  Chase returned and gave the bathroom key to Samantha.

  "Bathroom's around the side," he said, pointing past the ice machine. With Samantha in front, the three walked single file toward it. Chase moved about 15 feet away from the front of the van and stood in the middle of the parking lot. From that spot, while Serio pumped gas, he watched Samantha lead Lozen and Napolita into the bathroom.

  ~ - ~ - ~

  Marcos had acquired Samantha when she was 12 and by the time this trip occurred, half her life had been spent working at The Taurus. During those years, as she grew in age and beauty, she watched countless other girls come and go. For them, each day was filled with fear in an unfamiliar, terrifying new situation. For Samantha, each day was familiar routine. And so, over time, she learned that these other girls listened to her and obeyed. Samantha learned control.

  But through those same years, as her control grew, whatever thoughts of resistance she may have harbored likewise receded until, by her nineteenth birthday, she was Marcos' madam and kept the new girls in line for him.

  That ended for Samantha nine months earlier. Her increasing clout seduced her into letting her guard down and she joked about Marcos' arm being too skinny for the barbed wire tattoo circling his bicep.

  “They could only fit two barbs on that wire before they ran out of room,” she had said and laughed. Marcos was holding a glass coffee pot at the time, full of hot coffee, and he swung it full strength into her face. She collapsed onto the floor and he struck her three more times as she lay unconscious. The other girls pulled her away to her basement bedroom, cut her thick auburn hair down to her scalp and nursed back to life. But the cuts and burns on her left cheek and forehead healed into wide white scars and her days of control were over. After recovering her health, she was kept in the basement where she applied her natural talent for numbers and computers to balancing Marcos' books. Now she was seduced into joining this trip willingly by the promise of a job at an even larger organization in Denver, and an escape from the man who had mutilated her.

  ~ - ~ - ~

  While Chase watched the bathroom door, a thin, dirty, short-haired white dog with brown spots trotted to him and wagged its tail.

  "Hey pooch," he said as he squatted and scratched the dog's side. It curled slightly in reply.

  The gas station was next to a single-story stucco house with a split rail fence in front. A yucca plant grew in a half barrel between the house and the fence. A flagless metal pole shot skyward next to the barrel. A rope was twisted onto a cleat about four feet off the ground. The metal clip on the rope hung silently against the pole. Two ruts opposite the gas station led to three similar houses further off the main road.

  As Serio held the fuel hose in the tank, he said to Chase, "I can tell why Samantha's the one going to von Broughton's."

  "You got that right. Her face. Ugh. But the other two definitely need to be working. Top dollar with those girls. Very fine. Samantha, no way," Chase said while scratching the dog.

  "Still, it's a shame. I wish we could tell her why she's really going to Denver," Serio said.

  "Not me. I wouldn't have the stomach. Known her too long. She's happy she's gonna be working on O'Groghan's books, so why ruin that? I mean, that she thinks she's gonna be working for that slime. At least let her have that, okay?"

  The dog, which by then was laying on its back, flipped itself upright suddenly, trotted past the stucco house, and was gone. The bathroom door opened and Lozen, Napolita, and Samantha emerged. Without being told, they walked to the back of the van and climbed in.

  "Your turn to drive, right?" Chase asked Serio.

  "Right," Serio replied and they were off.

  After they pulled out of the gas station but before they got back on the highway, Serio pulled to the side of the road. Chase climbed in to the back and retied Lozen and Napolita, but left the tarp in a ball near their feet.

  "Can we eat something?" Samantha asked. "I'm starving."

  Serio, now in the driver's seat, looked at Chase and said quietly, so the girls could not hear, "I think yeah. We should stop at a real nice place. For Samantha." Chase nodded.

  "Can't you untie these two?" Samantha asked as she unconsciously rubbed her wrists.

  "Can't do it, Samantha."

  "Says who?"

  "Says Marcos," Chase answered.

  "That skinny whoremonger? So what?"

  "So if you guys run, he'll take my organs..." Chase stopped himself mid-word.

  "He'll take your what?"

  "Just forget it. I can't untie these two," he said, tipping his head at Lozen who looked up at him wide-eyed.

  "Who's running, anyway?" Samantha asked.

  Chase answered, "Maybe not you. You're like, moving up in the world, working for O'Groghan, isn't that right? These two, though. They're new. Still wild."

  Napolita said, "I didn't run from The Taurus, and that was in San Fran. What makes you think I'm going to run out here where there's no where to go?"

  Chase twisted his upper torso so he could see into the back. "We'll stop for food as soon as we can, OK? We probably shouldn't even do that."

  "They're not gonna run, you know," Samantha asked.

  Serio, keeping his eyes on the road but lifting his head upward, said loudly, "Just drop it, Samantha. We'll get you your last...We'll get you your supper as soon as we can."

  "What about the girls?"

  "That's what I meant. We'll get you guys your suppers," Serio said. He turned to Chase and said, "Give them a blanket, will ya?"

  Chapter 8

  The lullaby hum of the highway under Lozen's head soothed her to sleep. She dreamed.

  The streets are bright tonight. Shiny. Lots of people walking now that the rain has stopped. I love walking but I can't leave my room. My door is locked from the outside. Why did Papi put these bars over my window?

  Hey Elizabeth! Elizabeth! I see you. Can I walk with you?

  Papi? Are you on the roof? What's that big mushroom cloud over our house?

  "Quiet now, Lozenita. Someone will know where you are."

  Who will know where I am? I want everyone to know where I am. I don't like these bars.

  Are you downstairs, Papi? Why are you yelling? Who are you yelling at? "She's not here. No one is here. Take my money."

  "Si, we'll take your money. I already took your money."

  "This is all I have here. I'll take you to the bank tomorrow and you can have everything else."

  "We are taking more than your money, senor. You know what else we want."

  Chapter 9

  Several hours later but still in Nevada, Serio pulled the van into a gravel parking lot in front of "The Chuckwagon BBQ", a wooden building about the size of a two-car garage. A cement patio extended about 5 feet off the front of the building, separated from the gravel lot by a fence rail. Rusty spurs and horse shoes were nailed to the vertical roof supports. A half barrel grill stood idle near the front corner of the building. Long stacks of saw mill castoffs were piled next t
o the grill. A cluster of houses off the road were visible in the early twilight.

  Samantha shook Lozen awake, who opened her eyes. "We're gonna eat," Samantha told her.

  Without looking behind him, Chase reached his left hand into the back of the van and tapped the first leg he felt. It was Napolita's. "Let's go eat. I hope you like barbecue. Samantha, you like barbecue?"

  "Sure. I'm hungry," she said.

  "Untie those two. Go out the side door," Chase said as he exited the van. He opened the side door for them and the girls awkwardly climbed out.

  "We're not running, you know. You should just put the seat down so we can sit," Samantha said.

  "Be quiet, will ya? C'mon, let's eat."

  Serio went in first, then came back out.

  "There's three booths to the right, past some tables. I need you girls to sit in the corner booth. Pulled pork okay?"

  Samantha said, "Okay. But no beans for me. Extra cole slaw."

  "You got it," Serio said.

  Chase pulled the glove compartment door open but Serio told him, "Leave it. I've got money." Chase wordlessly slammed it closed.

  "If they have hush puppies I don't want corn bread. Hush puppies," Napolita said.

  "What about you, Lozen?"'

  "That's good."

  "What's good?"

  "Pulled pork. And hush puppies."

  "Let's go then. I'm hungry," Serio said. He re-entered the building and waited just inside the door.

  Samantha followed him in. Serio turned around and jerked his head slightly toward the booths. Samantha navigated past the tables and slid into the booth in the corner. Her back was against the wall and she could see the entire room.

  The walls were lined with unfinished wood slabs and decorated with more rusty spurs and horseshoes. A neck harness collar was centered on the far wall. Two people, a man and a woman, sat in the far booth.

  Lozen slid into the booth next to Samantha, followed by Napolita. Chase told Napolita to move to the opposite side. She did and Chase sat in her place, trapping Samantha and Lozen in the bench seat. He pulled a half-quard flask of tequila from his shirt pocket and set it on the table.

  "There's some plastic cups by the register," Samantha told him.

  Chase put the flask onto the bench and walked to the stack of cups. He lifted one from the top of the stack and said to the teenager at the register, "You mind?"

  "No sir. Are you eating here?"

  "We're with him," Chase said and looked at Serio, who rested his hands on a tray sitting on the wooden track that ran in front of the sneeze guard.

  "What about the girls? Are they, you know, like, with you?"

  "If you're smart you'll forget about them," Chase told him. The teenager replied with a confused look and a glance at the corner booth.

  An older man with a beard stood behind the guard and slid five styrofoam plates stacked with pulled pork toward the serving trays full of beans and slaw.

  "Mind your register, Steve," he said, then turned toward Serio. "What'd you like on this first one, partner?"

  As the man filled the plates with beans, slaw, corn bread and hushpuppies, Chase sat back down and poured about 2 inches of tequila into his plastic cup. He downed it and poured another just before Serio set the tray overflowing with five plates onto the table.

  "Here's yours, Samantha. I got extra cole slaw. I hope it's good," Serio said.

  Samantha's face scrunched in confusion. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked.

  "No reason. Maybe because you're gonna be working for O'Groghan. He's big time, you know. Big organization. You'll be handling millions and millions I bet. You'll be big time too," Serio said and glanced at Chase.

  Chase poured another two inches of tequila into the cup and slid it in front of Serio, who downed it and tapped it on the table several times until Chase poured another. Serio downed that one too.

  Samantha, whose expression said "whatever", took a plastic fork and began eating. "Mmm. Yes, it's good."

  Serio, in mid drink, looked at her over the rim of his plastic cup. When he set the cup on the table he said, "I'm glad. I love coleslaw."

  "Really?" Napolita said in disbelief. "You love coleslaw."

  "I do. There's lots of stuff you don't know about me. Fun fact. Chase loves cole slaw."

  "I know you like your tequila," Samantha said and the girls laughed.

  The man and the woman, who had been sitting in the other booth, walked toward the door. The woman looked disapprovingly at Chase and Serio. Neither noticed her stare.

  It took about 30 minutes for Serio, with some help from Chase, to finish the flask of tequila and 45 minutes for the five to finish their meals. Lozen cleared the table while Chase went to the bathroom, followed by Serio. On his way back to the table, Serio handed a $50 bill to the teenager at the register. "Keep it," he said.

  Again the three girls went into the bathroom together. While the man with the beard eyed Steve, Steve eyed Samantha, Napolita, and Lozen.

  When they emerged, five minutes later, the older man followed them to the exit and opened the door for them. "Have a good night, ladies," he said.

  Just before she passed through the door, Lozen looked up from the floor and met his stare. He returned her gaze before she passed through the door. What is he thinking, Lozen asked herself. Does he know who we are? Is he he last stranger I see before I die? As he returned to behind the counter, he said to Steve, "Something about those girls ain't right. Can't put my finger on it."

  The sky was clear and orange as the sun approached the line of bare mountains off to the west. Again without being told, the three climbed into the back through one of the van's back doors. Serio sat in the driver's seat. "Didn't you just drive?" Chase, standing on the opposite side of the van, asked him.

  "I guess I did," Serio said. He reached his left arm out the door opening and tossed the keys over the roof. They passed over Chase's left shoulder and landed in the gravel.

  "Nice shot," Chase said as he turned to look for the keys. He shuffled futilely, kicking up dry dust, until Samantha emerged from the back door, picked up the keys, took Chase's forearm in her hand, and placed the keys in his hand.

  "Shouldn't we stop for the night?" she said.

  "Can't. Got to get you to Denver by morning," he said.

  "Really? What's the big rush?"

  As he and Serio passed each other in front of the van, Chase just said, "Denver."

  "Whatever," Samantha said and climbed back in. Chase started the van and backed out of the gravel lot. Serio turned the radio on while the three girls sat on the floor in the back, free of the ropes.

  "Headlights," Serio said as he played with the audio settings.

  "What for?" Chase asked.

  “Don't know,” Serio said as he turned the bass control up and down and moved the sound back and forth between the left and right speaker.

  Chase looked at him with annoyance. "Can you cut that out?" Serio looked back at him and laughed loudly. "I knew we shouldn't have finished that tequila," Chase said.

  Serio reached over with his right hand, squeezed Chase's cheeks together, laughed and said, "Aw, am I making wittle Chase angry?"

  Chase slapped at Serio's hand with his right as the van drifted, drifted over the yellow line and across the road. It pitched forward violently when it nosed into the ditch.

  Samantha screamed as Chase tried to grab the steering wheel with his right hand but missed. He tried again, caught it and held tight just before the grill was crumpled by the bottom of the ditch.

 

  Chapter 10

  Chase, who had not been wearing a seatbelt, rested his head against the white airbag. Serio's upper torso had rolled off the passenger side airbag and his head was wedged between the side of it and the right side of the windshield. His right temple had struck the post that separated the windshield and the door and he lay motionless.
>
  The van was pointed nose down in the ditch at about a 45 degree angle, forcing the three girls in the back to slide forward. Gravity held them against the back of the front seats although Lozen's head and shoulders had slipped into the foot well just behind Serio's passenger seat. The sunlight, which had turned orange in the twilight, glinted into the left side windows.

  After several minutes of silence, Samantha was the first to speak.

  "You ok?" she asked Lozen and Napolita.

  "I don't think so," Lozen said as she struggled to pull her head past the narrow space between the folded-down rear seat and the front passenger seat.

  "You hurt?" Napolita said. Her fall into the front seats was cushioned by Lozen.

  "I don't think so," she said as she twisted herself around and propped her back against Serio's seat. In that position, she almost looked comfortable. Samantha watched her and then did the same. Napolita reached over Lozen's legs and pulled on the door handle. Locked.

  Chase groaned slightly and raised his hands to his head. He turned his head to the right but his eyes remained shut. He groaned slightly again and Napolita said, "We've got to get out of here." She swung her feet into the space between the front seats and gravity pulled them down until she was nearly standing on the dashboard.

  Samantha twisted to her left and said, "Wait. Where you going?"

  "Out of here. Somewhere."

  Lozen asked her, "Is it open? The front door?"

  Napolita steadied herself with her left hand on the van roof and squatted until she was fully in the front. With her right hand she reached behind Serio, who still lay motionless, and pulled on the front door handle. It flopped open, pulled by gravity.

  "Come on," Napolita said. She climbed carelessly across Serio's back, digging her right knee into his spine as she passed over him, but he did not move.

  Lozen rolled to her right and dropped her feet to the dashboard below.

  "We have to say here," Samantha said.

  "No," Lozen said. "I'm getting out of here."

  "You can't. We'll be safer here."

  "Maybe you'll be safer here. You're one of them, aren't you? Come on, Samantha. Get away before you lose yourself. Hurry, Chase is waking up," Lozen said. She squatted on the dashboard, looked up at Samantha, and reached up with her right hand until it rested on Samantha's left forearm. "We've got to get away from them."