The Midnight Blue Semi (1345 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: Ark
Rating: 1.79 on 46 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Jack McCallum (View user info) at 2006-08-01 16:00:28 EDT
[I tried to cut this down to make it an ADD entry, but fuck, there was too much to tell. So it is not part of the ADD competition. Hope you enjoy it anyway.]
Layman looked at the girl in the passenger seat.
"What's your name, kid?"
She sniffed, rubbed her nose. "Ruth."
The kid wasn't into drugs. Layman knew that.
How did he know? Who knows?
"What's so funny?"
She was trying to look tough, as if the skinny guy in the white t shirt and jeans didn't mean shit to her, but Layman could see past the heavy make up, the piercings, the tattoos and the fucked-up hair. She was just a kid, sixteen, seventeen. A kid out on the road, a kid with the sniffles cause she got caught in a late afternoon cloudburst. A kid who was desperate. If she wasn't desperate, she wouldn't have climbed up into the cab of the dusty midnight blue semi. Not with someone who looked like Layman.
Layman shifted in his seat, his body alive with pain. "You a Jew?"
"Fuck you. Redneck prick."
"Little girl, I may look fried chicken and steel guitar, but I'm a Jew too. My momma was a Jew."
The girl squirmed in her seat. Her face was bright pink in the light of the setting sun.
God, Layman thought. She's so young and fresh and vibrant. So alive. She'll last a long, long time.
"When was your bat mitzvah? Four years ago? Why are you on the run so young?"
She stared straight ahead, embarrassed, angry. "My family's just a bunch of freaks, all right? Fuck."
Layman was rolling west on I-40. After passing Amarillo, a construction detour led him off the interstate and through the town of Vega, following what had once been Route 66.
On the western edge of town Layman had seen her, thumb out, backpack at her feet. The sun had been behind her and streaks of golden cloud had spread out from behind her like wings. She had been a mere silhouette. A silhouette with a halo.
Layman knew a motherfucking sign when he saw one.
"You think you could handle this rig?"
The kid rolled her eyes.
Layman waited.
"My uncle had a truck like this. Showed me how to drive it. Had me sit in his lap. He grabbed my tits about the same time I felt his dick pressing against me."
Layman coughed, rolled down his window, and spit a pink and red wad into the evening air.
"I always liked him," she said. "When I was little, I always thought he had a roll of Lifesavers in his pocket. How sad is that?"
Layman shook his head. Sorry, sweetheart.
A star flashed high in the western sky, and Layman knew it was time. He'd been holding on for so God damned long now. It was almost done. His part, anyway.
Layman pulled the truck over on the side of the road.
They weren't far from the state line.
"Why are you stopping?" The girl looked from side to side, seeing nothing but scrub brush in the dying light.
"It's time, little girl."
Layman switched off the ignition and opened his door. He went to step down, but he was weaker than he realized. He slid out of the seat and collapsed on the gravel scattered on the shoulder of the road.
The girl waited long enough for crickets to begin chirping again before asking if he was okay.
Layman heard her climb across the cab and hop down onto the road.
"Not gonna hurt you, if that's what you mean." He took a breath. "Help me up."
She got her shoulder under one arm and hoisted him to his feet.
"Jesus Christ, mister, you have to eat. You're as thin as a rail. You can't be screwing with your diet at your age."
Layman laughed, and red flecks appeared on his white t shirt.
"I'm thirty-eight years old, little girl."
"Bullshit."
"Help me around back."
She was looking at him, shaking her head.
Layman didn't have any illusions about his appearance. He knew he looked like a skinny, frail old man, because that's what he had become.
He unlocked two big padlocks, and needed Ruth's help to open the big trailer doors, swinging them wide.
Layman tried to climb up into the trailer.
"Hell. Its not gonna happen. You gotta climb up there alone."
Ruth shook her head. "Yeah. And you'll slam the doors shut and drive off into the desert. And thirty years from now some hiker will find my bones, all gnawed and shit."
"Come on, kid."
Layman was really struggling to breath now. Shit, this was happening faster than he thought it would.
He looked up at the stars spread across the deep purple night.
"Just give me a few more minutes," Layman said softly.
Ruth watched the old guy lean against the truck, shaking and breathless and muttering to himself.
"Well... I'll take a quick look."
She hopped up into the trailer, hearing dull echoes.
"Light switch..." Layman sucked air. "Above your head. Chain..."
Ruth felt for the chain and pulled it.
A forty-watt bulb came on overhead.
The long trailer was almost empty.
There were a few things on the floor close to the doors and held in place with straps. Two big toolboxes. A ladder. A shovel. A cooler.
"What's in there? The head of the last person you picked up?"
She eased open the lid of the cooler with the toe of one sneaker. Two cans of RC Cola floated in cool water among tiny fragments of ice.
Layman gestured, wondering how his arms could feel so damn heavy.
"Go back..."
Ruth walked deeper into the echoing space. Worn old wooden planks set down on the steel floor of the trailer creaked under her feet.
There was something right at the back of the trailer.
It was only a few feet high. It was sitting on a wooden pallet, covered with a canvas tarp.
Ruth shook her head. For a moment she thought she had heard singing, high pitched and lovely, like ringing crystal.
Had she heard that sound when she was little, long ago? She was sure she had, but couldn't remember where.
She reached for the tarp. It was stiff with grime. She pulled it to one side, and simply stared.
"What is this?"
"You know... you know." Layman's voice was almost gone.
The thing was made of old wood. It was about two feet high, two feet wide, and four feet long. It was covered with metal on each side. Decorated. Adorned.
Ruth thought it might be gold, but it looked stained and shitty and she thought gold was always bright and shiny.
There were metal loops low on two of the four corners. There were remnants of similar loops on the other corners.
The top of the thing had a heavy layer of what Ruth now thought of as shit-gold. Sculpted in the same stained metal were two angels. They were kneeling and facing each other.
The angels had big wings of tarnished gold that rose up and touched at the tips, creating a hollow that almost looked like a seat.
One angel was missing its head and one arm. The other was missing a wing.
"This some sort of movie prop?"
Ruth reached out and touched one angel wing and pulled her hand back with a yelp.
Burned into the pad of her finger was the delicate pattern of a feather.
She looked over her shoulder at Layman.
"You kidding me?"
Layman gave his head a slow shake.
"If you weren't really special, you would have been burned to a crisp the moment you pulled that tarp aside."
Ruth looked back at the old wood and tarnished gold.
"So... what the fuck?"
"You have to take it," Layman said. "Take over. Take the truck. Keep it moving. Keep this sacred thing safe until it is time for it to be revealed."
Ruth shook her head. "I can't—"
"You must."
Layman suddenly realized he had gone blind. He didn't say anything to Ruth. He needed her focused right now. She had to listen carefully.
"The same thing happened to me, not so long ago. I was on spring break. Hitching to South Carolina. An old man picked me up. Showed me this. Told me to keep it moving. Keep it safe."
Ruth put the tarp back in place, and returned to Layman.
"Girl, once you've been in the driver's seat a while, you'll understand. I never heard any voices or anything. I just got... feelings. This has been a strange way to live, and doing this service takes it toll, believe me... but I have spent the last nineteen years without any fear or doubt or worry. I have felt bliss."
Layman lost his footing and fell flat on his back.
Ruth leaped down out of the trailer and hunkered down beside him,.
"Don't worry about me." Layman's voice was just a whisper now. "When I'm gone, take that shovel and dig a hole out there... anywhere. Roll me in and cover me up."
Ruth shook her head. "This is crazy. I have to call someone and—"
"Can't... you can't. There are others looking for this. They want to destroy it. That can't happen. We have always been on the road, moving it from place to place. All Jews. The man who handed this cargo down to me said that when he took over, the truck was a different make and model. Over time, it changed. Hell, there was probably a time when it was a horse and cart, or a sailboat, or whatever."
"What if I get pulled over? I don't have a license."
"All will be well."
Ruth bit at her thumbnail, something she hadn't done since she was a kid.
"So I just... leave you here?"
"Leave my body, yeah. But the real me will be moving on. Don't worry, girl."
"But what if I..."
In the blink of an eye something about the old man had changed. She could feel it. He was dead.
Ruth got the shovel out of the trailer, and an old flashlight. She dragged Layman's body fifty feet away from the road and buried him as deep as she could.
When she got back to the midnight blue semi she took an RC Cola out of the cooler and sucked it down in a few gulps. She locked up the trailer and climbed up into the cab, settling into the driver's seat.
She started the big diesel engine, and suddenly another rig roared by, sounding its horn.
The road had been quiet up until now.
She hit the midnight blue semi's horn in response, shifted gears, and pulled out onto the road.
A feeling of calm came over her as she drove down the highway. She would not ever have an accident. She would never be pulled over by the cops. She would always have enough money in her pocket for gas, or to buy a meal at a diner or new underwear and socks at Wal-Mart. She would never have to worry about her family finding her.
She was free.
"I'll tell you one thing," she said aloud in the empty cab. "I'm not gonna end up like the old man, burned out and dried up. I'm gonna find a way around that. I swear."
Ruth turned on the radio and found an AM station playing oldies. As the signal faded in and out, the midnight blue semi rolled down Interstate 40, and the girl behind the wheel decided that when she reached the Pacific Ocean, she would head north.
User Reviews
Submitted by spyder882001 (user info) at 2008-04-28 20:30:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good story
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2006-08-03 13:12:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-03 12:33:25 (#)
Ranking: 0
--
First everyone accuses poor Paris Hilton of being a slut, and now I have to deal with this.
Oh, the injustice of it all.
---
hmmm... Paris Hilton huh?
Yer a massive attention slut AND bloated with your own self-importance... come to think of it - I thought she was fairly useless until I saw her "work" as well.
HOLY CRAP, are you two, like, twins?
That story was hawt.
Submitted by Maltese (user info) at 2006-08-03 12:52:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Wow. Just... wow. You get this nice lil' +2 here, and a +2 on your next five posts, just for this.
This was amazing.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-03 12:33:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2006-08-03 02:13:48 (#)
Ranking: 2
You may be an arrogant, obnoxious jack-ass...
--
First everyone accuses poor Paris Hilton of being a slut, and now I have to deal with this.
Oh, the injustice of it all.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-03 12:07:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Everything you ever wanted to know about PerkMan
Registered on or around: 2006-05-10 01:23:07
# Messages posted: 36
Average rating of all messages: -0.83
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2006-08-03 02:13:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You may be an arrogant, obnoxious jack-ass... but you definitely got yoos some writin' skills.
Bravo.
r.
Submitted by PerkMan (user info) at 2006-08-03 01:24:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
This sucks. yep it does.
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2006-08-03 01:17:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-02 15:53:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Professional_Peon (user info) at 2006-08-02 15:06:45 (#)
Ranking: 2
You know I'm very upset :-(
I thought I was gonna get to read some porn at work
PORN AT WORK!!
P@W!!!
--
I have the exact opposite problem at work.
Must... not... think... of... boobies...
So please stay away. Please.
Submitted by FaceOfGod (user info) at 2006-08-02 15:27:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
It's my girlfriends sons 30th birthday..this just seemed to fit.
Submitted by Professional_Peon (user info) at 2006-08-02 15:06:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You know I'm very upset :-(
I thought I was gonna get to read some porn at work
PORN AT WORK!!
P@W!!!
Submitted by the_lone_stranger (user info) at 2006-08-02 13:58:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
OK, OK, I read it. I still have a throbbing purple semi.
Girl driving a semi is HOTT!
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2006-08-02 13:56:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
lovely.
Submitted by coley (user info) at 2006-08-02 13:39:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good
Submitted by Chillax (user info) at 2006-08-02 13:26:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Awesome. Simply, awesome.
Submitted by precision (user info) at 2006-08-02 11:35:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I really like this...
Submitted by Ditka (user info) at 2006-08-02 11:16:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by DrogoRoch (user info) at 2006-08-02 10:29:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Superb stuff.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-08-02 08:09:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-01 19:10:04 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by indoninja (user info) at 2006-08-01 18:58:01 (#)
Ranking: 2
Did you publish your own book?
--
Yeah, with Xlibris, back when it was cheap.
After more than 6 months of trying to sell it, I wanted to move on to another novel.
It is pretty scattershot though. My first, in need of a good editor.
Cue the Jacktrashers: "That's not a real book. Self published? AHAHAHA!"
Hey, the important thing is I sat down and wrote a novel. And it's available on Amazon, B&N, etc. Not the greatest shit in the world, but it beats what most of the so called writers on this site have done.
And I'm still trying to get a legitimate book out there.
Fucking hard work, man.
Now if Bubba will just get up out of his La-Z-Boy and stop yelling at his grandkids for another beer and put that cold cash I gave him to the use for which it was intended and write a glowing review of the damn thing all will be well with the world.
C'Mon old man!
Damn it!
__________________________________________
Life would be a dream (sh boom) if that was all I had to do.
For the record, Jack didn't send me any money, but the $342.45
worth of coupons for Febreeze were appreciated.
I may reread the book again before I review it, if only to savor the
really good parts, of which there were many. You folks should get a
copy of Made In The USA.
Submitted by WatchMyStep (user info) at 2006-08-02 04:11:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good story.
Submitted by ColchesterDr (user info) at 2006-08-02 04:04:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by whysenheimer (user info) at 2006-08-02 01:29:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
[I tried to cut this down to make it an ADD entry, but fuck, there was too much to tell. So it is not part of the ADD competition. Hope you enjoy it anyway.]
HAR HAR
very subtle jackito.
Pandering=auto-2
Submitted by WingedFoote (user info) at 2006-08-02 00:15:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Holy fucking shit, Jack McCallum, you're good. I mean, I knew you were good, but this, this... Wow.
Submitted by fun_with_needles (user info) at 2006-08-01 23:51:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Jack you may or may not know this, but have you been here? http://www.writersmarket.com/index_ns.asp
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2006-08-01 21:35:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Don't tell ME what is and isn't an ADD entry.
This is now an official ADD competition entry.
And it's in 1st place for the fiction category.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-08-01 21:03:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I hate you so much...
Submitted by the_lone_stranger (user info) at 2006-08-01 19:16:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I didn't read it, but the title gave me a Throbbing Purple Semi.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-01 19:10:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by indoninja (user info) at 2006-08-01 18:58:01 (#)
Ranking: 2
Did you publish your own book?
--
Yeah, with Xlibris, back when it was cheap.
After more than 6 months of trying to sell it, I wanted to move on to another novel.
It is pretty scattershot though. My first, in need of a good editor.
Cue the Jacktrashers: "That's not a real book. Self published? AHAHAHA!"
Hey, the important thing is I sat down and wrote a novel. And it's available on Amazon, B&N, etc. Not the greatest shit in the world, but it beats what most of the so called writers on this site have done.
And I'm still trying to get a legitimate book out there.
Fucking hard work, man.
Now if Bubba will just get up out of his La-Z-Boy and stop yelling at his grandkids for another beer and put that cold cash I gave him to the use for which it was intended and write a glowing review of the damn thing all will be well with the world.
C'Mon old man!
Damn it!
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-01 19:03:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by indoninja (user info) at 2006-08-01 18:58:01 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:36:26 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:18:28 (#)
Ranking: 2
This is the shit I love. You need to write more like this.
--
Thanks. I'd be cranking this stuff out like a rabbit shits pellets, but for the last few months I've been shithammered at work. Hopefully things will be better in the fall.
--------------------------
Knock off the rabit shit pellets and crap out a huge thanksgiving dinner crap sized story.
--
If I do that everyone will whine like Eric Rice's last victim.
"It's too big! It's too long!"
(The only time he ever hears that, thus his preference for the kiddies.)
Submitted by indoninja (user info) at 2006-08-01 18:58:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:36:26 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:18:28 (#)
Ranking: 2
This is the shit I love. You need to write more like this.
--
Thanks. I'd be cranking this stuff out like a rabbit shits pellets, but for the last few months I've been shithammered at work. Hopefully things will be better in the fall.
--------------------------
Knock off the rabit shit pellets and crap out a huge thanksgiving dinner crap sized story.
Did you publish your own book?
Submitted by KindaNews (user info) at 2006-08-01 18:10:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-01 17:41:28 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by KindaNews (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:59:02 (#)
Ranking: 0
You should be published. Well worth reading.
--
Well... it appears that at least ONE of us is getting the kind of long sloppy blowjobs that leave us in that 'I just got my dick sucked and I'm so happy' daze.
--
You got me there, jackoff. Plus 2 for you, baby!
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-01 17:41:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by KindaNews (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:59:02 (#)
Ranking: 0
You should be published. Well worth reading.
--
Well... it appears that at least ONE of us is getting the kind of long sloppy blowjobs that leave us in that 'I just got my dick sucked and I'm so happy' daze.
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2006-08-01 17:39:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
chills
Submitted by hyprspacd (user info) at 2006-08-01 17:10:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by GodChicken (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:15:01 (#)
Ranking: 2
Someone tell Dr. Jones the Ark is on interstate 40.
_________
Awesome.
Submitted by DonovanMD (user info) at 2006-08-01 17:07:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Great stuff Jack, I always enjoy reading your work, its well done and thoughtful, a bit of an oasis in this wasteland. Check out my last post and see what you think, I try to do a little thoughtful writing myself, I'd appreciate your comments.
Submitted by MoneysWoman (user info) at 2006-08-01 17:04:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This is very good, thank you.
Submitted by KindaNews (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:59:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
You should be published. Well worth reading.
Submitted by Professional_Peon (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:39:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by GodChicken (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:15:01 (#)
Ranking: 2
Someone tell Dr. Jones the Ark is on interstate 40.
------------------
hehe
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:36:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:18:28 (#)
Ranking: 2
This is the shit I love. You need to write more like this.
--
Thanks. I'd be cranking this stuff out like a rabbit shits pellets, but for the last few months I've been shithammered at work. Hopefully things will be better in the fall. It's hard to get fired up about writing when you are brain dead from slapping special sauce on Big Macs all da-- I mean pushing piles of paperwork around all day.
Submitted by BobLobla (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:35:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
KICK ARSE
Submitted by alwayspeach1 (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:25:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:18:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This is the shit I love. You need to write more like this.
Submitted by GodChicken (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:15:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Someone tell Dr. Jones the Ark is on interstate 40.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:06:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good
Submitted by leilani (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:05:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
PRETTY KICKASS.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-08-01 16:04:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN