Chapter 4 Captain Dave returns to New Orleans
Musical Theme; Hope You’re Feeling Better by Santana
Jainie flicked the truck in gear and headed toward the Interstate. “I guess a real truck driver would have done it without the clutch.”
“You’re a real truck driver. You started being one when you unlocked the brakes. You can use the clutch or not. If you don’t know you are a real truck driver, you pull it to the side the road and let a real truck driver take it from there.”
“OK.” She pulled onto the on ramp.
“When you see everything is all right, put on your left turn indicator, and start up through the gears.”
She put on the indicator, and started up through the gears. She got an open space, and went up to 10th and came up to 65, putting on the cruise control.
“Most companies don’t let trainees use cruise.”
“Take it off?”
“I didn’t say that. I just want you to be aware that that little thing will drive you into trouble. Be careful about it. You fall asleep at the wheel, that little thing will make sure we get killed.”
“You just terrify me.”
“Maybe that’s what I should be doing. It’s usually the passenger in the sleeper who dies. The one who caused the accident lives to regret it.”
“I would rather I died than I caused an accident that killed you.”
“I would, too. It’s just selfishness. I don’t want to see you dead. I would rather I die first.”
“You’re starting this awful stuff again. You decided to run away from me the last time. We need to stop this.”
“We can do that. Look in your mirrors.”
“There is nobody there. I knew that.”
“That’s good. You should always know. Where are you in the lane?”
She corrected left. “I was too far to the right.”
“In a strong crosswind, especially with an empty van trailer, you can have the trailer out of your lane when the tractor is where it normally should be. You’re driving a rig that is about 70 feet long. You have to be aware that it might not be following straight.”
“What can I do?”
“On a bridge or in a crosswind spot, maybe nothing. But if it’s happening on the open road, you may be looking at getting overturned. You may have to get off the road.”
“You don’t mean now.”
“No.”
She continued on the road, a thoughtful look on her face.
“Some trailers don’t follow right. They might be actually twisted. If you tow something like that, you need to be super careful. We won’t let our equipment get like that. Mechanics can make the trailer follow correctly, and we will always insist that our equipment does so.”
“If something breaks, though?”
“You call a heavy tow truck. The salvage tugs of the highway. They will charge us a lot, but they’re worth it. The guys who drive those trucks are the best of the best. If it happens in Texas, we will call Santolina heavy towing and salvage. Mick and Misty Santolina have a great tow rig, and they’re pretty reasonable. Their truck is called ‘Misty Girl.’”
“Is she hot?”
“Best looking truck in Texas, darlin’.”
“This Misty, though.”
“Misty Santolina, you mean?”
“That is exactly who I mean.”
“Very nice looking lady. Amazingly skillful truck driver. Mist takes it right to the edge.”
“How old is she?”
“Oh, not real old.”
“Is she better looking than me?”
“Well, no.”
“How old is she?”
“Mist?”
“Yes, Mr. Mathematician.”
“About 65 I would guess.”
“I see.”
“Downshift to ninth.”
She double clutched it down.
“Lose some speed. And be ready to brake hard.”
“Why?”
“Get eighth.”
She did so.
He turned on the CB. “Real bad. Southbound right lane.”
“I should have had this on all the time, but I get sick of the chatter. Slow down some more. Put it in 6th.”
They crested a small rise, and there were wrecked cars all over. The State Police were waving the traffic left. Jainie took the left lane.
“Slow and easy. Watch the officers, in case they need you to do something.”
“Don’t look at the wrecks. Look at the cops.”
They went by, and the highway was open. “Just go on, but take it kind of easy. People are going to be shaky.”
She upshifted. “What did you see?”
“An accident. Another gear up.”
“What did you see?”
“Put it in 8th. Get back in the right lane.”
She did so. “Dave, what did you see?”
“I’ve seen a lot of things I am not ever going to tell you about, OK? Just drive the truck.”
“I’m driving the truck.”
“Go to 10th and don’t put her in cruise. Stay in the right lane, and make your speed 65.”
“OK”
“We are never going to talk about that again.”
“Back there? Why not?”
“We are god damn it never going to talk about that again!”
“OK, Dave.”
They drove a while in silence.
“I have a cat.”
“I like cats.”
“Henry is a big cat.”
“I like cats of any size, Dave.”
“68 pounds?”
“That’s a big cat.”
“He is a leopard. He is an illegal alien. He was shot by poachers in Brazil and brought back to the United States illegally by a ‘Security Contractor’.
“The same cat?”
“Sounds like Henry to me.”
“The ‘Security Contractor’ being a former USMC captain with some little ribbons he has never mentioned to his fiancée?
“It sounds like Henry’s best human.”
“Just sort of hypothetically.”
“Like that.”
“I have your whole 201 file, Dave, including the black parts. The military is not anywhere near as smart as it thinks it is.”
“We are the few, the deranged, the jarheads. So what’s your point, Jainie? You decided you don’t like me any more?”
“You’re keeping things from me. Not anything much, but you go down the road and tell me about Henry. I’m cool with illegally bringing a leopard into the United States after some poacher tried to kill him. Henry is welcome at the ranch, of course.”
“So you had me investigated, and you know all this stuff. I knew that already. So far as the black ops go, I am not going to discuss them. You know whatever you know, and I will not confirm or deny. You might as well take this exit and stop for fuel at the TA. They have a good chicken place.”
She pulled off the highway and into the lot of the TA, downshifting smoothly. She pulled into a fuel island. They went inside to get the diesel turned on.
“Your shifting is really good. Of course, you need to keep watching your tandems, so you don’t roll over something. We’ll do parallel parking tomorrow or the next day. It’s about how far to cut the wheel, really. You won’t have any trouble with it.”
“Black ops.”
“I will neither confirm nor deny. Not even to the President of the United States.”
“Dave!”
“Not in here.”
They got some food and sodas. They went to the fuel desk, and the clerk waved her hand over the food. “You’re good on this.” She pushed a package of cookies over the counter. She rang up the diesel bill, and handed Dave the receipt. “Thank you, Ma’am.”
As they got out of the store, she started in. “Dave, what have you done that I can’t know about?”
“Lots of things, as you know.”
“I don’t know.”
“And if you did, someone might want to hurt you. Honey, you don’t want to know anything about black ops. You don’t, and you need to keep it that way.”
“I don’t want to keep it that way.”
‘You do. I’m not telling you anything.”
He held her close, and whispered into her ear. “I whacked some terrorists, baby. They don’t want anyone to know. Don’t ever let anyone suspect that you do. You might end up killed over it.”
She pulled back. “I love you, too.” She said.
They went back to the truck. She gave him a questioning look, so he took her over by the exhaust. “Honey, they could be listening anywhere. Never say a word about it again, OK?
“OK.”
They got back in the truck with Jillian in the driver’s seat, and pulled back onto the highway.
“Where is Henry?”
“In Texas. I have a friend who feeds him. He is going to miss me, though.”
“How do you know he misses you?”
“When I’m gone, he rips the furniture apart, shreds the trash can. Things like that. He would like to be let out, but some asshole would shoot him.”
“Could we let him out in Wyoming?”
“It would be a calculated risk. Someone might shoot him, or he might run off. On the other hand, I love him and want him to be free.”
“How about me?”
“You have always been free. Thing is, I can tell you about risks. Henry would be out walking around in a world where people think he is dangerous.”
“Is Henry dangerous?”
“He could be. There isn’t a dog in the world he couldn’t kill in a few seconds.”
“The boys will like him. They even liked Cain, and he was an asshole, really.”
“You’re not just saying that.”
“Because you shot him? Not a bit of it. He was a nasty animal, and I’m glad you blew him away. Actually, I think my stock went up from that. Bobby has told every cowboy for a thousand miles that the boss lady’s fiancée shot that bull in the eye. But it’s getting to be more than 150 yards. They are saying 300 and so.”
“Next thing you know, they will be saying I am a decorated Scout/sniper with such and so many confirmed kills in the sandbox.”
“Next thing you know.”
“I like your Springfield 03. But I would have used the .375 Whitworth Express if we’d had time to get it out.’
“I’m not sure it is sighted in right. Bobby shot it a few times, but he didn’t group it.”
“A .375 will hit you. It’s hard to sight in, because it will bruise you on every round.”
“I was going to sight it in, but Bobby said I shouldn’t.’
“I thank him for that. You are too small for that thing. It throws a 300 grain round at the same velocity a 30-06 throws the 150 grain round. So you have twice the recoil.”
“So it wasn’t a ‘keep away from the big rifle, little lady’ thing.”
“It was more of a ‘Don’t fire that cannon, little lady, so I don’t need to take you to the emergency room with a dislocated shoulder’ thing.”
She giggled. “Your own piece is a .375, though?”
“It’s a Whitworth, like yours, but mine has a custom barrel and a Leupold Vari x 3 4x16 scope.”
She leaned over to him. “How far away could you have killed Cain with your rifle?”
“I love you too.” He said. Into her ear he whispered “Two thousand yards. A mile. Let’s not talk about this stuff.”
She went into the left lane. ‘This guy cannot decide how fast he wants to drive.”
“It will be faster when you are passing.”
“Yeah. Idiot four wheeler.”
The car did speed up as she went to pass him. She flicked on cruise and waited him out. “Do you believe this weenie?”
“Pretty much anything from a four wheeler. He will get tired of the noise from our truck, and either speed up or slow down.”
The car sat alongside the truck. “Jainie, slow down and let him win. Don’t put him in danger driving alongside a truck.”
She took two ticks off the cruise, and the car was gone. “He won.”
“Get back in the right lane, and resume your speed. The road is not a contest. It’s just the way we take a load to a receiver.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“Because I am a veteran driver, because I’m older, because I didn’t play kid games? You tell me. If that clown is going to get killed on the highway, I sure don’t want it to involve our truck. Is that why it is easy for me to say?”
“He was such a jerk.”
“Honey, half of all four wheel drivers are jerks. You want to risk their lives with your 80,000 pound machine because of their bad manners and stupid driving habits? Not one of ten has any clue how to drive safely. If that is going to affect the way you drive, maybe you shouldn’t ask for a CDL. You should set an example of courtesy and safety. If you can’t be one of the best, safest, most courteous, and careful drivers on the road, maybe you shouldn’t be a trucker. We are the elite. We are the best. It’s safe to drive your little bitty car alongside my truck because I am a professional driver who carries out the job with the highest standards of safety and performance. The day I can’t be an example of how driving should be done, I will park the truck and throw the keys down the sewer.”
“I found something you care about.”
“No shit.”
“You’re right, Dave.”
“I know that.”
“I’m going to be an example of how driving should be done. I am not going to be a disappointment to you, and our profession.”
“You fucking better not be diddling me on this, girl.”
“I’m not like that, and you know that. Don’t you?”
“Yes,”
“I’m going to be a real good truck driver.” She scanned the mirrors. “I will, Dave. I won’t disappoint you.”
“Let’s stop at the Pilot up a couple of miles.”
“Sounds good.”
“We don’t need fuel, but I want to eat. If you don’t, we will stop whenever you want to. Team driving always gets you out of sync on sleep schedules and such.
“I would like to get something to eat, myself.”
“Great.”
Dave had dozed off when she pulled into the Pilot. They got out of the truck, and started into the restaurant. A driver got out of the next truck. “Y’all like the Volvo?”
Dave smiled. “We sure do. My fiancée got it all rigged up, and we have a refrigerator, a stove and stuff.”
The driver held out his hand. “I’m Cain.” As Dave shook his hand, Dave and Jillian laughed. “Good thing you weren’t in Wyoming Tuesday.”
Cain gave them a questioning look.
“She has a ranch in Wyoming. A bull named Cain got out of hand, and she had me shoot him.”
“Actually, Cain, we have a ranch in Wyoming, and Dave here decided he needed to shoot the bull because our cowboys are so silly, they might have tried to rope the critter.”
They went into the restaurant. Jainie held up three fingers, and they were seated together.
“Where did you find this girl, Dave?” Cain smiled.
“On I-49, just north of Opelousas, Louisiana.”
“It was me who found Dave, but he doesn’t know a thing about it, Cain.”
“We might as well get the buffet, don’t you guys think?”
They followed her, and the waitress handed them plates. “I’ll see you in a minute about drinks.”
Jainie smiled. “Water all around.”
They sat down, and the guys set into the chicken you always get in truck stops. Juice Newton was on the speakers, which Dave liked all right. One of very few country singers with a trained voice and talent. She was also cuddle worthy.
Jainie fiddled with an assortment of vegetables and things, eating hardly any of them. Dave was offended at first, by her paying for a meal and not then eating. Then he was worried that something was wrong with her, and lastly, decided that this was what she wanted to do, and so why bother about it. Steve Earle came on the speakers. Guitar town, one of very few listenable country songs.
Dave felt tired, and was ready to go out to the truck and sleep. They got up, and Cain left a $10 tip for the waitress, perhaps wanting to make it with her. Dave and Jainie went out to the Baby, and he took off his shoes and laid down. Moments later, Jainie was underway. He couldn’t see where she was going, but the authoritative snap of her shifts told him he had already taught her how to drive truck. He was about to ask her what they were doing, and he heard her say “Next stop, New Orleans.” He thought it would be a good idea to show her parallel parking and take her to the DMV to get her CDL before she got stopped without it.
He woke up with Jainie chousing him out of the truck. “I can’t have a passenger on my driving test.” He got up, put on his shoes, and went to sit under a magnolia tree. He dozed off, having a dream about Jainie roaring down the road in a truck. She woke him up. “Get in the truck, Dave. I have my CDL”
He got in and laid down in the sleeper, tossing off his shoes. “When did you sleep?” He did not hear the answer, if there was one. The truck was going again. Life with Jainie was going to be a lot of waking up to find out they were somewhere he had no idea they were going to.
He woke up with her shaking him. “Dave, we’re blocking traffic, and I don’t know how to park this thing.”
He put his shoes back on, and walked behind the truck. There was space to park it parallel. He got back to the driver’s seat, and put the truck into the parking space. He locked the brakes. He shut her down. He rubbed his eyes. “Where are we?”
“Other side the block from Marcie’s house. I didn’t know how to put it in this space, though.”
He rubbed his face. “No. Well, I was still going to teach you that. But you had to do it for your CDL test.”
“No, we just drove around a little.”
“OK, I’ll show you soon.”
“I saw how to do it just now.”
Dave stared at the road. She probably had. She already knew. He had always wanted a smart woman, and now he had her.
“Come on, Dave.”
She was wearing a cream colored pantsuit he had never seen, and her high heeled sandals. He followed her, amazed that someone that pretty was with him. When did you sleep, honey?”
“Oh, I hardly did, Dave. I was so excited. I got you some new overalls, but they aren’t Carhartt, and we need to make sure they fit you. The Irish Setters will fit you, of course. I got you a white cashmere sweater. I know it’s foolish, because you get everything stained, but just for today, anyway. I think it will look great on you.”
They came to the house, and Dave followed the cruise missile in. “Dave, take a shower here, and I will go upstairs. We only have two hours.” It was the 22nd. Dave took a shower, and dried off. The new overalls fit fine, though why he was wearing them almost escaped him. He put on the boots, brushed his hair, and put on the sweater. It was real nice, you had to give her credit on that. She had bought him garters like the 101st Airborne liked. He put them on his boots and bloused the overalls over them like paratroopers do.
Almost before he knew it, he was standing at the alter, and the priest was saying “I now pronounce you man and wife.”
He was looking at a beautiful woman with cobalt blue eyes, and long curly strawberry blonde hair. She was wearing a white silk gown. Then he was kissing her. The whole thing seemed like a dream.
She took him around the corner, and they were in bed, making love. Then they were going to Marcie’s house for the reception.
When they got there, Marcie and Danielle were there in their bridesmaids’ dresses, yellow linen, with yellow nylons, and open toed sling back pumps. Marcie even looked virginal and pure. Dave realized that she could look any way she wanted. She was a model.