Page 36 of Almost There
14
Tessa
Tessa struggled to focus on the open road. Miles had passed behind them in a blur of desert highway and her back ached from leaning forward on the pillow to see over the dashboard. Even Robin had checked out, too exhausted to stop the kids from bickering for the twentieth time that day. The last words an adult had spoken in over an hour were, “I’m never having kids.”
“Mom, he’s touching me,” Emily whined, shoving her elbow into Mason’s ribcage.
“You’re touching me.” Mason pushed her away and the girl burst into tears.
Tessa licked her cracked lips. She’d been too afraid to touch any water or food in case they needed it for later even though her throat still burned from the torment she’d put it through earlier. Something bad is going to happen. She could feel it in her core. But the irritation of not knowing what it was made her jumpy and disassociated.
You’re just freaking out because there was a change in plans. But that shouldn’t have bothered her as much as it did. If Arthur had never given her the list, then she would have figured out another way. Maybe it was in believing everything would work out and trusting in someone else to take care of them. She was a mom. She couldn’t afford to put the lives of her children in someone else’s hands.
“Mom,” Emily cried as fat crocodile tears ran down her cheeks. “Mason is being mean.”
“Am not,” Mason muttered under his breath.
“Seriously, guys? Can you just cool it for a few seconds?” Tessa straightened out her lower back. “I’m trying to keep you both alive right now.”
“Are we going to die?” Emily gulped.
“No, but I might throw you out the window if you don’t stop picking on your brother.” Tessa cringed when Emily burst into tears again.
“I have an idea,” Robin groaned, putting her fingers in her ears. “How about we play I-Spy? You know that game, right?”
“Uh-huh.” Emily nodded, wiping snot across her arm. “Mom, you go first.”
Tessa sighed, scanning the barren horizon of rocks and dirt, looking for something to stand out. She squinted when a shiny blob appeared in the distance that was man-made and not of the desert scenery. “Is that a car?”
“That’s not how you play,” Emily pouted.
Robin ignored her as she removed her sunglasses and leaned closer to the windshield to get a better view. “Looks like one. Are you going to do that thing again?”
Tessa nodded, her tongue still feeling thick and gross from the taste of gas, as she pressed harder on the pedal. She wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. “But this time I have a better plan.”
“Are we there?” Emily shrieked as Tessa eased Old Blue onto the shoulder of the road. Both women scanned the area again, making sure this wasn’t some kind of trap. Moose whined, his heavy paws clawing at the seat, as he begged to be let out.
They all need a break. She clipped the leash onto the dog’s collar and then handed the rope to Robin. “Not yet. This is the last pit stop before we get to the place we are staying tonight.” And possibly longer. She willed the anxious thoughts to stay away.
Please have keys, please have keys. Tessa approached the abandoned car cautiously with the tubing and gas cans in hand. She pressed her forehead against the burning hot metal of the roof of the car, wincing even as she smiled. Yes.
The keys dangled from the ignition inside the vehicle. She didn’t stop to think of the desperation that would have driven the owner away, leaving his keys and car in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t matter now. All that mattered was making sure they had enough, her kids had enough, and she could get them to safety. She popped the hood, insanely grateful that she wasn’t eating gas for a second time today.
Robin stood behind her, watching Tessa as she worked, while Moose laid in the shade of the car panting heavily in the late afternoon sun. The kids threw rocks in the distance, best friends again.
“How do you know how to do this?” Robin asked as Tessa pulled the relay switch to the fuel pump and opened a paperclip that she’d found buried in the glovebox to connect the main positive and negative terminals in place of the discarded switch.
“You don’t want to know,” Tessa said, embarrassed. She checked the owner’s manual again before pulling the fuel pump fuse.
“Oh, I want to know.” Robin stood wide-eyed as Tessa removed the pressure relief valve on the fuel rail and attached the hose to the opening before lowering the length of tube into the gas container on the ground. “Since when are you a mechanic?”
“I’m not.” Tessa cringed, making her way to the driver seat of the car. Her hand hesitated on the keys. Memories and the past were catching up to her, or maybe she was heading straight to them. She turned the ignition to the on position. “Let’s just say I had some cousins who used to do this kind of stuff.”
“Work on cars?” Robin hovered behind her as Tessa went to make sure the hose was still in place with the fuel pump running gas through the line.
“Um.” Tessa bit her lip, struggling for the right words to explain. “Not really. They were just good at getting in trouble and figuring out how to get out of it.” So were you, her conscious nagged. She turned to her kids to shut it up. “Make sure you don’t go too far away from the road. There are probably rattlesnakes out there.”
“Okay, now I’m dying to know. You said your dad was the sheriff. Who are these cousins that taught you to steal fuel?” Robin leaned in with a conspiratorial wink, wanting all the dirty details.