I Picked Up a Hitchhiker

Jimmy never really liked to wash his clothes, Jarod noted. She didn't have an issue with it since she grew up with three brothers and they hardly ever washed their clothes as teenagers. She just thought it was kind of funny that he had all this time to wash his clothes but he never did.

"Fuck, the sun is really bright right now." Jimmy said with a small slur to his voice. Jarod laughed.

"The sun went down hours ago." She said to Jimmy. "That's the moon."

"Whatever it is, it's fucking bright." He sat up, rubbing the back of his neck gently. Jarod had considered stopping for a hotel along the way because Jimmy was always in the most awkward sleeping positions ever, but he insisted they would get nothing done if they kept stopping. Jimmy always carried around some body spray, so he didn't offend or anything. "What were we talking about before I passed out?"

"Dunno." Jarod replied. "Something about my boyfriend."

"Oh yeah!" Jimmy pointed a finger at her with a look of dismay on his face. "You've been going out with this guy for three months and you don't even hold his hand. I say you're a tease."

"I'm not a tease!" Jarod said defensively. Jimmy settled back down in the seat, kicking back in the convertible car Jarod borrowed from her father who was divorced from her mother. Her father had plenty of money, so he had old-fashioned cars in garages that he had never touched. Jimmy shut his eyes and smiled.

"You haven't even made out with him yet." He said. "Your boyfriend must be a really nice guy. I would have dumped your ass in the first week."

"Wow!" Jarod exclaimed. Jimmy still had his eyes closed but she could see that look of satisfaction on his face. "You're an ass!"

"I know! My friends tell me that all the time!" He rubbed his nose lazily. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I gotta piss." Jimmy said, peeking over at Jarod out of one eye. He chuckled when she turned into an exit where a gas station was.

"Again. You're like a horse, Jimmy. Pretty soon I'm just gonna start stopping and make you pee in the bushes." Jarod flicked her hand over the turn signal, slowing down eventually when a AM/PM gas station came into view. The car came to a stop in front of a gas pump and Jimmy hopped out faster than Jarod could blink.

"Thanks again, Jarod!" He shouted, running into the gas station. Jarod pulled out a few twenties from her pocket, slipping the money into the gas pump.

"No shirt, no service!" There came a shout from inside of the gas station. Jimmy stood at the door of the gas station.

"It's the tattoos, isn't it? Whatever it is, baby, I can change!" He said through a loud laugh. The clerk threw something at him and Jimmy turned around, walking out of the station. He stomped his ratted shoes along the sidewalk before snatching a bag of clothes out from the back seat.

"What happened?" Jarod asked without looking at him. She knew, but she was just asking to make him mad. Jimmy huffed at her, slipping a black shirt over his body. "Were you not good enough for her?"

"Apparently you can't walk into a gas station while you're naked. Who knew?"

"Get me some sushi while you're in there."

"Sushi. From a gas station. In the middle of nowhere." He asked. Jarod nodded, clicking the pump to the gas nozzle a few times. The smell of gas leaked into the air and Jarod covered her nose. "That doesn't sound legit."

"Shut up and go get some."

"Y'know for a tease, you sure are bossy."

Jarod pointed her finger at Jimmy and he smiled, turning his back on her. "All right, all right. I'll get it." He ran to the front door, bursting in with confidence and a smirk on his face. "Baby, I'm back! I'm here to cater for you!" He sang. The clerk threw something else at him before he scampered off in the direction of the bathroom. The clerk rubbed her face hopelessly.

Jarod laughed to herself.

Jimmy was always so charismatic. He was always a happy person, but he cared about making Jarod laugh more than he did himself. It was always jokes and fun and games with Jimmy. Jarod never thought it could be real for somebody to be so happy, but apparently it was.

Now thinking about the situation she was in, Jarod couldn't have thought this was real. Was it really just a few days ago that she was driving home from McDonald's when she saw this tattooed figure standing on the edge of the road? Most hitchhikers would ask for a ride to the highway. But this guy just asked for a shower and a washer and then he would leave. As crazy and stupid and fictional as the idea of meeting a hitchhiker who was going cross country was, Jarod didn't care. Jimmy was like her brother, and she would never give that up now.

She wondered why his friends wouldn't come with him. Jimmy praised them all the time, but it seemed sort of disappointing that his friends decided not to come with him because they were afraid of getting tired of each other.

Jimmy came running out of the gas station, a bag hanging off his arm. He hopped into the car and smiled at Jarod.

"Got your stupid sushi." Jarod just finished putting the gas in, finally getting rid of the terrible smell of gasoline. Jarod slipped inside of her car and opened the container, slipping a piece of the raw fish into her mouth. Manners weren't her strong point. As she was starting the car, she noticed Jimmy was staring at her intently.

"What?" Jarod said, turning the wheel to the car.

"Sushi is raw fish, rice and seaweed, right?" He asked. Jarod nodded, taking another bite of the sushi. Not the best she'd ever had, but it was better than nothing. They would stop at a hotel the next night so they could both shower, wash their clothes and eat some real food. "I don't understand how you can eat that shit, but you won't let a guy's tongue in your mouth."

Jarod laughed, nearly choking on a chunk of rice. She smacked her chest a few times while Jimmy chuckled to himself and sipped at the slushee he held. Some blue slush fell past his lips and Jarod pointed it out and giggled.

"Can I eat?" She asked. Jimmy raised his eyebrows, chewing at his bottom lip.

"I don't know. You can give it a shot."

Jarod threw a piece of sushi at him. After a few long minutes of fighting, there came a chirp of police sirens behind them. Jimmy groaned, throwing his head back.

"Fucking pigs, always ruining the fun."

Jarod pulled over slowly, twiddling her fingers stupidly while Jimmy pulled out those two drumsticks again, tapping them up against the dashboard. When the officer walked up, Jimmy laughed under his breath to hide his hate for the cop.

"Ma'am, do you have any idea how fast you were driving?"

"I swear I'm not drunk, ociffer!" Jimmy shouted, purposefully changing 'officer'. Jarod hid the laughter behind a weak and nervous smile.

"Is he drunk?" The officer asked Jarod. Jarod shook her head, gasping for breaths after a few loud laughs. "Are you drunk?"

"It's because I'm black!" Jimmy shouted.

"N-no!" Jarod threw her hand over Jimmy's mouth. "He has Tourette's syndrome. He can't even control what he's saying most of the time! Usually he spits, this is nice talk for him!"

"Well, ma'am," The cop rolled his eyes. "You were 20 miles over the limit. Now, I know this is the wide open road, but I think you should slow it down some." He said. "I'll leave you off with a warning."

"Thank you, officer." Jarod said, stifling laughs. Jimmy kept his lips pursed as the cop walked away and drove away in his car. Then Jimmy broke down into laughter, throwing his hands to his face to hide his reddening cheeks. "Can you imagine that cop in his car? 'Yes, we are on the lookout for a couple in a red and white car. Yes, the passenger looks like a man, but he is actually female. Notice when he snaps in a 'Z'." Jimmy snapped his fingers again and shrieked out in happiness.

Jarod never thought she could be so happy with someone she was only friends with. Jimmy was like her brother, a brother that she never really had. To explain, even though she had three other brothers, they were never as much fun as Jimmy was.

With a couple of yawns, Jimmy fell asleep again. Once again, Jarod thought he was in the weirdest sleeping position ever.