Part 4: Not a Light Sleeper

After picking up her camera phone from a propped-up position on the trucker’s dashboard, Lily quickly pressed the button to cease recording and then used her fingers to wipe away the fog from the window. She moved them from side to side, just enough to get a visual of Jack. The trucker, ignorant of where Lily’s attention was, pulled up his pants and rambled. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you in the dark. Just to think I’m subscribed to your videos, now tonight, I got to be in one.”

Lily quickly finished dressing while glancing back out of the window to keep an eye on Jack’s movements. The trucker frustratedly grabbed her arm.

“Did you hear me talking to you?”

She placed her hand over his and answered softly. “When the camera is off, nobody touches me.” Her cold stare burned into the overweight trucker’s bosom.

The man withdrew his hand and nervously scoffed. “Yes, ma’am.”

She quietly closed the truck door, attempting to remain discreet and avoid drawing Jack’s attention to her. While walking back to the cargo van, she noticed that Jack was by himself also heading back, but with his head down.

“I thought you were abducted.” she said.

Jack’s worried eyes locked on her. In an effort to divert from his melancholy expression, he forced a smile, adjusted his tie, and spoke. “And you didn’t come looking for me?”

 Lily grinned. “Isn’t there a verse in the Bible that says, I am not my brother’s keeper.”

 He clapped his hands slowly. “Very good. That line was also quoted by a murderer.”

 She leaned closer and used her alluring brown eyes to enhance her charm. Lily’s eyes frequently served as a metaphorical mallet used to ground any heart of stone into particles of dust. “Do I look like a murderer to you?” she asked.

While Lily was batting her eyelashes, the man cleared his throat and checked his watch. “We should get back on the road.”

Lily followed Jack as he walked back to the cargo van. Right before they got in, they were interrupted by a voice. “Hey pretty lady, you forgot this in my truck.”

Jack saw the trucker hand over the crucifix to Lily. She nervously grabbed it from him and hurried to get inside the cargo van. Although the car window played as a barrier between her and the trucker, the man was still heard from the inside of the van. “You can’t forget to take Jesus with you.” The disgusting man laughed in amusement at his comment and waved at her. He saw Jack leaning forward in the driver’s seat and winked at him. Jack fastened his seatbelt, and without saying a word began to drive.

Ten minutes passed, and Lily was expecting Jack to say something about the trucker. Lily figeted in her seat – first looking outside, then looking back at Jack, then outside again.

“Okay, I have a confession,” she said.

Jack looked at her and snickered. “Do I look like a priest? Besides, you shouldn’t go to any man for forgiveness, go to God directly.”

She looked at him and snapped. “I don’t want forgiveness right now. I want you to listen.”

The man briefly turned over to her, and then refocused his attention back on the dark, wearisome road. “I saw you. You were trying to get that man saved, after you came out of the bathroom.”

Jack continued to stare at the road but gestured a nod to show he was still in the conversation.

“Well, I saw an opportunity to try and get somebody saved also.”

Jack shot Lily a smirk peppered with disbelief.

 “It’s not what you may have been thinking. I was in that man’s truck trying to share the love of Jesus with him,” she explained.

Jack, trying to restrain his frustration, restlessly tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. His tone slightly elevated. “How did your cross come off?”

“I took it off,” she said. The girl feigned a tear and a slight sniffle. “I took it off to show him the level of intensity that Jesus went through for him.” She held the crucifix to Jack and began pointing to the limbs of the man on the cross. “I used it to show him each part where Jesus was nailed. I used it to remind him that it was our sins that put him there.”

The man cleared his throat, almost as if he was trying to diffuse an onset of sorrow and sadness.

“I apologize. I read the situation wrong.”

Lily placed her hand on top of his. “What kind of Christian girl would I be if I didn’t forgive?”

Jack noticed that the truck stop he intended to pull over at was closed. The lights were off, and the lot was vacant. Frustrated, he sped faster. “The next decent stop to rest at isn’t for another seventy-five miles.”

“Guess, I’m staying around longer than you wanted,” Lily said. “Can I ask you a question?” she asked. Jack looked at her and nodded.

“What if I was in the truck having hot and sweaty sex with that fat slob? That’s what you thought anyway, right?”

The man grew nervous. “I’m trying to concentrate on the road.”

“Shame on you preacher man! You shouldn’t think those things about such a cute and innocent young girl like me.”

The man began to sweat profusely, and she took notice of it. “I didn’t know your mind could go down such dark places, preacher.”

Jack checked his rear-view mirror, knowing that he was going slightly faster than the speed limit.  After making the adjustment back to the road in front of him, he noticed a deer dart out in front of his van. He quickly maneuvered away and veered toward a patch of land off road. The vehicle started to spin, and Jack couldn’t regain control. After the final spin, the car rolled backward, and the rear of the cargo van slammed against a tree. Thud! Jack and Lily jolted forward. Lily’s head slammed against the dashboard.

A now unconscious Lily faced Jack with her head lying on the dashboard as if it were a pillow.  He unbuckled his seatbelt quickly, left the vehicle and rushed over to the passenger side.

“Wake up. Please.” He checked her pulse. It was weak and thready, but nonetheless, a pulse was still present. Jack frantically picked up her phone and desperately sought out to find an emergency contact but was faced with one of her explicit videos which popped up on the screen and started playing. He quickly tossed the phone to the ground.

“Forgive me, Lord. I did not mean to set my eyes on that.”

Even after the phone was distant from him, he heard the moans of Lily coming from the device. The man covered his ears.

“Make it stop. Make it stop.”

Immediately after his plea, the sounds ceased. Jack curiously turned around and saw the man in black holding the phone.

“Sweet girl she was.”

Jack, flustered and breathing heavily, snapped at the man.

“What do you mean was? She’s still alive.”

The man walked closer to Jack. “Well, that part is up to you.” The man handed Jack the phone and lit up a cigarette. Jack squinted and slowly backed up after recognizing the man.

“You’re the guy I gave the gospel to at the rest stop.”

The man took a bow. “That was an outstanding presentation by the way, but I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to.” The man walked toward lily and grazed his fingers against her face.

“If this girl dies now, your reputation will be destroyed. People would wonder why preacher Hartwrong was in the middle of nowhere with this harlot. You just saw what her … line of business is. She is very well known among her fans.”

After rubbing his fingers against Lily’s eyelids, the man blew smoke in her face. “Not a light sleeper this one.”

Jack, overtaken by aggression, grabbed the man. “I’m not in the mood for games.”

“Well, you’re kind of in one. Make the right decision and everybody wins, make the wrong one, and everything goes. Your reputation, your family, and … her life.”

Jack took his hands off the man and glanced around at the vast sea of darkness surrounding them.

“I know what this is. If you’re proposing something to me, I decline. I don’t make deals with devils.”

The man, obsessed over Lily’s face put his fingers to the edge of her lips to make her smile then frown. Afterward, he turned toward Jack.

“Mr. Hartwrong, why can’t I simply be an angel, here to bring you good news? The good news is you can make sure this girl lives. All you have to do is sleep with her when she wakes up. Nobody will even know. Just you and her and the eyes of the creatures of the night you’re surrounded by.”

Jack looked upward at the stars which were plastered throughout the sky, shining bright, and seemingly dancing over the grounded trio.

“I ask God for help, not you.”

The man stomped out his cigarette. “I’m sorry you have such a low opinion of me. I’m merely just a hitchhiker passing through who happened to come across a preacher and a whore in the middle of nowhere.” The man put his thumb up.

Jack rushed to the front of the cargo van and tried to start it. The engine stuttered.

“I’ll wake the girl up, start your van, and preserve your reputation. All you have to do is agree to sleep with her when she wakes up.” Jack, ignoring the man, continued to try and start the vehicle.

The man mocked the stuttering engine as he stood in front of the vehicle.

“Guess the vehicle is at a … Standstill. Wouldn’t you say, Jack?’

Finally, Jack got the vehicle to start and turned his headlights on. The man stood there with his shades still on and unaffected by the bright lights while smirking at Jack.

“You win.” The man put his thumb back up. “Hey Jack, how about a ride?” He burst out into laughter as Jack gripped the steering wheel tight and floored it toward the man. As Jack got closer, the man vanished, and Jack spun the vehicle around. Lily woke up immediately after Jack got back on the road.

She looked at Jack. “What happened?”

Jack mustered up the strength to overcome his emotions and kept his eyes on the road. “You just dozed off for a second,” he said.

Lily rubbed her temples gently. She smiled and poked his arm. “You never answered my question.”

He politely moved his arm away. “What question is that?”

“What if I was having hot and sweaty sex with that trucker?”

He turned toward her and shrugged. “Well, I would probably drop you off at the next town and politely ask you to leave.”

“Well, you’re doing that anyway, right?”

“No. I had a change of heart. You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like. You just can’t come to Standstill with me,” Jack said.

Lily grinned. “It’s a good thing for me that I’m a nice Christian girl then.”

He turned toward her and smiled. “Yeah, good thing you are.”