Tina cupped her hands over her eyes and let out a shrill utter scream. Vinny laughed as he pushed down on the windshield wiper fluid button to wash the blood off the windshield. A deer had jumped out in front of them and Vinny sped up to hit it with full impact.
"I told you if you want to sit up here you have to shut up!"
"I'm sorry." Said Tina finally uncovering her eyes.
Vinny had a bomb locked around her neck that would go off if she strayed more than 40 yards from him. The transmitter was hidden inside his wristwatch and if he pushed a certain button on his watch the bomb would go off. Tina fully understood the danger of the contraption around her neck. Vinny had the upper hand now. If she made one wrong move he would push the button on his wrist watch and her head would blow off.
The inside of the van smelled like sulfur and mildew. There was clutter all over the place. Lots of balled up Subway wrappers that still had a bite of sandwich left in them. French fries lay strewn on the floor covered with ants. Every 2 minutes the van jerked back and forth because the transmission was going bad. As they journeyed through the woods on Rt.68 the trees looked like they were morphing into scary looking trees. The same kind of scary trees that could talk. The kind of trees that she used to read about in fairy tales when she was a kid.
Out of the blue Vinny started laughing hysterically. His whole body shook as he laughed uncontrollably. The voices were talking to him and cracking jokes about Tina. How could you let a girl almost over power you you retard said the voice in his head. Vincent's body shook even more and Tina wondered if he was having a seizure.
"What's so funny?" She finally asked.
"Oh, nothing. I just get these laughing spells sometimes. I've had the problem since I was a kid."
Maybe Tina was feeling braver or she was finally loosening up, but she struck up a conversation.
"So where exactly are we going?"
Vinny's laughter spell had finally ended. He sat up in the driver's seat and concentrated on the road.
"Don't worry about it. First we have a phone call to make."
"To who? My daddy?"
"Yeah. You're going to be doing all of the talking."
Tina kept her gaze on his massive forearms while she chatted. It looked like he may have once wrestled with a tiger or a bear. There were thick cut marks engraved into his forearms about 4 inches long. Her second thought was that Vincent might be a cutter. She once had a friend like that.
"What happened to your arms?" She finally asked.
Is this chick ever going to shut up? Vincent thought to himself. It left him with a sudden pang of frustration pour through his body. He had a flashback of the time Theresa talked too much and he almost had to kill her. If Tina didn't soon shut up he just might lose control and something terrible could happen.
"Could you just shut up like I asked you?"
Tina suddenly got quiet. In the corner of the dashboard she noticed a picture of a cute happy couple at the beach. Tina leaned forward to take a closer look. They were both in their swim wear and it looked like they both worked out. The girl in the photo looked as content as a little kid on Christmas day. Then Tina's jaw dropped in awe when she studied the man in the picture. The steely look on the man's face she recognized. The man in the picture had short hair, both eyes, and an unblemished face. It didn't look remotely like him but Tina was sure the man was Vincent. Her curiosity took over and she forgot her promise to remain quiet.
"Is this you at the beach?" She finally asked.
Without thinking Vinny jerked the wheel to the right into an oncoming tree. He had had enough. He told the broad to shut up and she just wouldn't listen. Miraculously the van missed the tree by inches and continued plowing through the forest.
Vincent gripped both hands on the wheel trying to get back control of the van. Before they could do anything a loud thunk sound erupted from underneath the van and they came to an abrupt stop. Tina screamed while Vinny's head got rammed into the steering wheel. The van hissed and fluids started leaking from the van. Vinny's nose was bleeding but he was still alive. Tina remained completely unscathed.
"You idiot! Look what you made me do!" raved Vinny.
They both got out of the van to check the damage. The van wasn't completely wrecked but it was elevated under a tree trunk. There was no doubt about it, they were stuck in the woods. Vinny yanked off the license plate, folded it up, and stuck it in his pocket. Then he grabbed his gun and leather gloves from the van. Next he took an old t-shirt and doused it with motor oil and shoved it in the gas tank.
"You can kiss our ride goodbye." He said as he lit the t- shirt on fire. He grabbed Tina's hand and they took off running into the night.