Chapter 5
By three that morning the rain had stopped. The air was damp and silky with the June smell of growing things. Noreen came out of a line of wet-dripping trees, a black freeze against the false dawn, and saw the lights of cars on the highway. Most of the vehicles would be trucks, she knew. The roar of the great engines came clearly across the wide cornfield separating her from the road. In a minute she heard another truck approaching. Noreen, the raincoat over her arm, stepped to the edge of the road. This was it. She glanced quickly in the other direction. Xo cars were coining. She was afraid of that damned police car mousing around.
She heard the truck shift gears for the slight incline. Must really be loaded. Then the lights shafted over the-rise, tilted down, and caught her full in their white glare.
Noreen stepped into the road. She stood full face, legs apart, so the lights would reveal every line of her body beneath the wet dress. She made the hitchhiker's gesture.
The big truck thundered down on her, picking up speed on the slope. Noreen could imagine what was running through the driver's mind. Holdup? Joke of some kind? Maybe even those lousy road inspectors trying to catch me giving rides? Should I take a chance? Jesus, look at die knockers on that kid!
Airbrakes hissed and squealed. The big double tires smoked and scorched the concrete. Noreen leaped back as the cab of the semi-rig passed her. Then the truck eased to a stop. She ran along the shiny aluminum trailer to the high cab.
The door of the cab opened and a face looked down at her. "What'sa matter, lady? You got trouble?"
Noreen smiled up at him. "Please help me, mister. I want a ride into Steel City." He seemed to be alone. Unless another man was sleeping in the bunk back of the driver's seat.
For a moment the man hesitated. Noreen fretted. Any moment now those cops might come prowling back.
"Please!" she entreated. "It's life or death, mister. I got to get to Steel City by morning!" That was no lie!
The driver reached a hand down. "Okay. Climb in. It's against the rules but I guess I gotta help a lady."
His big rough hand yanked her up to the high step and into the warm, leathery-oil-grease smelling interior of the cab. Noreen saw with relief that he was alone. His face, in the dimmed lights of the dashboard, was only a white blur.
The man slipped over behind the wheel. "Slam that door," he ordered. "It don't work so good." He shifted and the truck moved forward, growling in the low gear.
Noreen huddled in her corner of the cab, feeling his eyes on her even while he shifted, double-clutched, and finally got the rig rolling again. There would be a few minutes respite, she thought, before he got down to business. Before the question started-and the hands.
The driver tossed a pack of cigarettes toward her.
"Smoke?"
"Thanks, mister." She took one, lit it, and handed back the pack. Her eyes were becoming accustomed to the half-gloom of the cab now and she could make something of the man. He was tall and rangy, with big hands and wrists protruding from the sleeves of his windbreaker. He wore an old, oil stained felt hat pushed back from a high, balding forehead. He had a long thin nose and a lantern jaw covered with grizzled stubble. He looked as if he could be mean, the girl thought, and terribly strong.
Without taking his eyes from the road the man said: "What's so important you gotta get to town before morning?"
She was ready for that one. "It's my Mom," she told him. "She's sick. Maybe dying.. I been living on a farm down here and I just got word tonight. But our-the people I was staying with-their car broke down and I didn't have any money so I started to hitch-hike. I got a ride from Crawfordsville as far as where you picked me up, but the fellow had to turn off."
All in all, she thought, it was a pretty good story.
He turned to stare at her. His eyes were small and set close to the thin nose. They roved over her body in the wet, nearly transparent dress. For a long time he stared. Noreen pulled the dress down over her knees, thus only accentuating the long curve of her thigh. Here it comes, she thought. Damn men! Damn them all. One thing they got in mind. Just one! But she had to go through with it! She had come too far to chicken out now.
The man smiled. "You're sure as hell a pretty one! Pretty good liar, too, only I ain't buying that story. You know what I think?"
She gave him a defiant smile. "No, mister. What do you think?"
He chuckled. "Tough, ain't you? Now I'm sure. You're the girl from the reform school that the cops are looking for. They gotta block at the junction back in Crawfordsville. Stopping everybody. How in hell did you get through that?"
To give herself time to think Noreen stuck to her story, though she knew it was no use. "You're wrong, mister. I told you the truth. If you don't believe it you can let me out right now!" He wouldn't, she knew. Or so she hoped. She didn't want to chance the open road again. But she needed time to figure out how best to handle this. Teasing Studsy and the other boys was one thing-teasing a man like this might be dangerous. And she certainly had no intention of surrendering herself to a truck driver. Not except as a last resort.
The driver himself gave her the answer. He chuckled again and grinned at her. His teeth were stained with tobacco juice.
"Cut it out, kid. You and me can get along. I got a record myself. Did two years in State. 'Course that was a long time ago, but I know how it is." He flipped the pack of cigarettes at her again. "Here. And there's a jug in the compartment there if you want a blast. What's your name?"
"I don't drink. And my name is-uh, Debbie. Debbie Mason."
He laughed. "Lying again. Your name is Noreen Casey. The cops told me. They was a pretty sore bunch of cops, too. I guess you foxed 'em good. Said you slugged a screw and swiped a car!" He looked at her with new interest, peering at her face now instead of her body.
"If you did all that," he said, "maybe we can really get to be friends. I can use a kid with guts in a little deal I got cooking." When she did not answer for a moment he continued. "There ain't no side road back there where anybody could let you off. And the cops give a good description of you. Pretty as a speckled pup and built like a brick doniker. Come on, kid. Break down."
Noreen knew when she was whipped. "All right," she agreed sullenly. "You're right. So now what-you going to turn me in?"
So swiftly that she did not see it coming he reached over and put his big gnarled hand on her. He squeezed, his thick fingers like steel talons.
Noreen screamed. "Ahhhhh-don't!" She drew up her knees, squirming, fighting back another scream, tugging at his hand, trying to pull it away from her.
For another moment he squeezed, while the girl writhed in agony. Then he let her go. "That's for talking like that! I ain't a pigeon. I told ya I had a record. I hate cops as much as you do. So watch your mouth. And stop worrying. I ain't going to rape you. I told you I had a deal you might be able to help me out on. So relax, kid, and stop feeding me a lot of bull."
Even with his eyes on her Noreen could not help rubbing herself where he had grabbed. God, that had hurt. What a brute he was! But as the pain began to subside she remembered his promise. He wasn't going to rape her. Then what did he want?
His voice was friendly again. "You better take a drink, kid. Fix the pain."
She shook her head. "No! Drinking got me into trouble."
"Maybe you're right at that. But I'll have a snort just the same. Hand me the bottle out of there." She handed him a pint bottle of whisky from the compartment. He tilted it back and she heard the gurgle as the whiskey poured down his throat. That's it, she thought without surprise. He's a boozer. Most boozers weren't too interested in women, except now and then.
He took the bottle away from his lips and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Ahh! That's the stuff. You sure you don't want any?"
She shook her head. Making her voice friendly and interested she asked, "How come you can drink like that on the job? Won't you get fired?" Her drunken old man had lost a dozen jobs like that.
He snorted. "Fired? Hell, I own this rig. Got my own business. Can't nobody fire me!"
"But you said back there, when you stopped for me, that it was against the rules?"
He narrowed his small eyes at her. "You're a smart kid. Don't miss much. Yeah, I said that. I meant it, was against the rules-my rules! It's also against the state law and I didn't know who you was. Cops will do anything to catch a trucker breaking some half-ass law." He spat on the floor of the cab "Cops!"
He was driving rapidly now, peering ahead into rain that had started again. He started the wipers and their rhythmic swish-swish began lulling Noreen, reminding her that it had been a long time since she had slept. Or eaten. She jerked her head up, fighting off the drowsiness.
"Stay awake," he snapped at her. "You can sleep after awhile. And get down on the floor. We're going through a little town in a minute and I don't want nobody spotting you. These small town clowns of cops got nothing to do all night but snoop. They're worse than city bulls."
Noreen slid off the seat and huddled on the floor of the cab. The pulse of the powerful diesel throbbed in her ear. The brakes hissed as the driver began to slow for the town.
"Once we get to the other side of town," he said, "you can crawl in the back and sleep. It's gonna be full daylight pretty soon anyway and you couldn't ride up here. Don't worry, kid. I'll take care of you. Only you gotta trust me. I'll take you to a joint I know where you'll be safe. I gotta girl friend that'll look after you. Okay?"
"Okay." She had to play along. See what developed. Meantime this strange boozer was a Godsend for the moment. She knew she couldn't trust him. Or anyone. He had something up his sleeve. Time would reveal that. But right now there was nothing she could do but go along with him. She was still in desperate straits. Alone. No clothes, no money, no friends. Nowhere to go except with this man.
With the coming of day she dare not show herself in Steel City in her present condition. She would be picked up in five minutes. She had known that, of course, and had been racking her brains for a way to contact Studsy and Lucy Vandiveer without getting caught. They alone would help her because she could force them to. But now, as the truck slowed and stopped for the town's single traffic light, Noreen wondered if she could ever get in touch with Studsy? The lousy cops wouldn't miss a bet like that. They would probably be watching both Studsy and Lucy-