I Picked Up a Hitchhiker

Jimmy decided that on their stop in Chicago, Illinois they would go walking around the town just feel what it was like to be in a different town. While Jimmy said the scenery was different, he said that the people weren't different. They were either very nice or very rude. Jimmy didn't care. As long as he and Jarod were laughing, he would never care.

They stopped by another gas station because he had to pee and he didn't want to get arrested for public urination and indecent exposure, so he just ran right into the gas station while the clerk was yelling "No shirt, no service!" over and over. Jarod laughed before turning her back and staring out at a few teens who were dancing together. Jarod recognized the dance to be something she learned back in California, so she ran out and watched with content in her eyes.

"What's up?" One of the kids asked before taking a long drag of his cigarette. Jarod shook her head and watched as the kids jerked, rejected and did all of these other dances that Jarod somehow knew. "You wanna know how to dance?"

"Already know." Jarod replied, not taking her eyes off of the kids.

"Oh yeah? Show us then." Another one said. Jarod brushed them off like they were nothing and wiped some fake dust off of her shoulders.

"You ready? You're about to be mind fucked." She said. As much as she tried to grow up, Jarod knew she just couldn't. She was a kid at heart just like Jimmy was. Where was the fun in growing up?

After dancing for a few minutes while hip-hop blared through loud stereo speakers, Jarod heard the gas station door open. Jimmy yawned loudly before looking over at Jarod.

"What the... fuck are you doing?" He asked through a long and drawn out breath. The teens smirked when he cussed, pounding his knuckles when he reached them out to them. Then he stared at Jarod's legs as she kept herself moving to the beat.

"Dancing. Didn't they teach you in Cali?" She laughed.

"No, you see, I grew up in a normal neighborhood where people taught me normal things."

"Oh c'mon, even in high school? You didn't learn this?"

"Jarod, I'm really old." He said. Jarod scoffed, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward her and the loud beat of hip-hop. "Like, way older than you are."

"Oh, shut up." Jarod ordered. "C'mon then, I'll teach ya. You just move your legs like this. You ready? Like this." Jarod said. Jimmy tried before nearly tripping on his own legs which made Jarod giggle uncontrollably. The teens stared in awe but humor as well at Jarod and Jimmy going back and forth.

"How the fuck are you doing that?"

"How did you grow up in California and not learn any of this?"

"Once again, Jarod, I'm way older than you think I am."

"Okay, well that's not an excuse." Jarod stopped her dancing, ordering Jimmy to keep dancing before she slipped her cell phone out of her pocket, staring at the display where it said her mother was calling.

"Hi mom!"

"Jarod Marie Rodriguez, where the hell are you?!"

"Chicago."

"Very funny." Her mother huffed. "I get a call from Drew, he said you haven't been home in days. Not a note for him. Where are you? Are you at a friend's house?"

"Mom." Jarod said. "I'm seriously in Chicago."

"What?" Her mother's voice went shrill like it usually did when she was nervous.

"Yeah. I'm in Chicago. I picked up this hitchhiker, and—"

"Honey, were you kidnapped?" Her mother whispered into the phone. "My poor baby! Don't worry, I'll call the police!"

"Mom!" Jarod shouted into the phone. "I didn't get kidnapped. I just picked up a hitchhiker." Jarod turned to look at Jimmy who now had a hacky-sack in his hands. He threw it up in the air and kicked it around a few times before dropping it at his feet.

"Well, what's his name?"

Jarod smiled and chewed at her bottom lip. "Jimmy."

" 'Jimmy' what?" Her mother asked cautiously. In the background Jarod could hear her boyfriend, Drew fussing over the phone, pleading to speak with her. But Jarod didn't really want to talk to him too much. She didn't want to talk to anyone until she came back from this adventure with Jimmy.

"I...." Jarod paused. "I don't know. Just Jimmy."

"What do you mean 'Just Jimmy'? He has to have a last name!"

"Just Jimmy."

"Well, that sounds pretty shady to me, Jarod. But why are you across the countr—"

"I figured it would sound shady to you." Jarod snapped. "But he's not like that, mom.... You wouldn't understand. He asked me if I would drive across the country with him, mom. I asked dad if I could borrow one of his cars. Dad knew where I was."

"I don't talk with your father anymore, Jarod." Her mother huffed, but Jarod paid no mind.

"Jimmy isn't some shady guy. He's just someone who really wanted to live his life. When we get back, I'll introduce him to you, just so you know he isn't dangerous. "

"Are you..." Her mother trailed of awkwardly. Jarod watched as Jimmy waved farewell to the teens with a smile on his face before walking next to Jarod. "Involved with him, Jarod?"

Jarod's eyes widened. "Gross, mom! He's just my friend!" She squealed like a child. Jimmy could tell that the conversation was about him, so he just smiled cheekily and tugged at Jarod's arm. When she looked at him, he tapped his wrist impatiently.

"I'm just asking!"

"I gotta go, mom. We're gonna hit Detroit soon." She said. "I love you, don't call me again!" Jarod yelled through one long drawn out breath before hanging up and throwing her phone back into her pocket. Jimmy chuckled under his breath.

"Your mom worried I'm gonna steal her daughter?"

"Her daughter left the building a long time ago." Jarod remarked. "C'mon, let's get going." She pulled on Jimmy's arm. Jimmy sort of hesitated before walking alongside her, their footsteps in sync with the background noises of horns and car engines being blocked out. Jimmy smiled awkwardly and rubbed his neck.

"Thanks for doing this with me, Jarod." There was a slight meekness to his voice. "I mean, I know I seem like some laid back guy, but... if you didn't pick me up, I probably would have given up. I-it sounds cheesy, but I know it's true." He paused. "You're a great person. Like a sister."

Jarod punched Jimmy in the shoulder.

"Don't go soft on me now, Jimmy." She said. Jimmy laughed. "We still got four more cities to hit."

"Yeah." He blinked rapidly, turning away from Jarod's gaze. "We got a long way to go."

"Race you to the car?" Jarod tapped the heels of her shoes against the sidewalk. Jimmy smiled.

"No rules?"

"No rul—"

Jimmy started down the sidewalk in the direction of the car.

Jarod screamed. "You cheating bastard!"

"How can I be cheating if there are no rules?!" He shouted back. "Maybe you're just slow!"

"Ow, my ankle!" Jarod fell onto the ground, groping her ankle. Jimmy stopped and jogged back, kneeling down to run his fingers along her ankle.

"Can you walk?" He asked. Jarod nodded, standing up with a fake limp to her step. She smiled mischievously and started sprinting down the sidewalk. "Damn it!" Jimmy chuckled, running after her. Jarod found the car and jumped into the driver's seat, face first. Jimmy laughed loudly, throwing her legs over to the passenger's side of the car. "Move over, toots, I'm drivin'!"

Jarod scooched over so Jimmy could push the keys into the ignition and pull away from the curb. Jarod didn't mind driving, but Jimmy was adventurous and he loved to prove to Jarod that he could pull his weight on the trip.

"To the highway?" Jimmy asked. Jarod nodded, leaning back in Jimmy's chair.

"To the highway!"

The sound of cars faded away as Jimmy sped up to well over 75 miles per hour. Jarod leaned her head against the back of the seat, sighing loudly while Jimmy tapped his fingers up against the steering wheel.

Jarod could have sworn that she heard Jimmy singing faintly through the loud sound of winds whipping in the air, but it could have very well been her imagination.

~*~

Jarod woke up to find Jimmy singing to himself quietly while the car engine purred through the silence of the night. Jarod thought the route from Chicago to Detroit would be filled with people, but she was shocked to find that only a few other cars were in sight.

"Now I think I understand... how this world can overcome a man...." Jimmy murmured quietly with an imaginary beat. His fingers slowly tapped up against the steering wheel. He looked bored, Jarod thought, but satisfied with what he was doing as well.

"...gave you all... place for me to rest my head...." Jarod could only catch small tidbits of what he was singing. She marveled at how melodic his scratchy voice really was. She loved his voice, even though he still thought she was asleep. She wondered if he would still be singing if he knew she was awake. "Not that I could..."

Jarod paused, letting out a fake sleeping sigh. He turned to her quickly, but assumed she was asleep and turned to face the road again. "Or that I would... Let it burn under my skin...." Jarod peeked one eye open while Jimmy belted out one last line. "Let it burn!"

"Your voice." She said. Jimmy jumped, the car swerving once when he pulled his hands off of the steering wheel. Jarod grabbed it quickly while Jimmy sneered at her, pushing her hands off of the wheel so he could take control again.

"How much did you hear?"

"When you started with 'now'."

"I've been singing for a long time." He muttered, chewing on his fingernail. "Sorry if I woke you up."

"Your voice is great." Jarod sat up, stretching her arms out while her seat belt held her captive against her seat.

"You don't need to lie." Jimmy shrugged. "It's not the best voice ever. But it's mine." Jarod smiled and grabbed the drumsticks out of his pocket.

"I'll be the drums and you can sing, okay?"

Jimmy stared at her with a look of surprise on his face. Before he could shake his head, Jarod started to imitate the beat he did while driving. Jimmy hid a smile from Jarod before starting to sing again. Jarod didn't ask him if he was in a band, or if he liked to sing so much. She just wanted him to keep singing.

~*~

On the last day of their trip, the absolute last day, Jarod felt this sinking feeling in her stomach. She had learned so much about Jimmy. She knew everything about his family, about how he was kicked out of Catholic school at a young age, and how he liked to walk behind everyone with his hands over his head, terrorizing everyone in his high school. She knew about his friends Matt, Zack, Brian and Johnny. He told her about how much he liked to bug Johnny more than anyone else. He told her about the time he saw a duck the size of a stallion, which they joked around about for quite some time. Eventually she started calling Jimmy 'duck-butt' because of his hair.

Jimmy told Jarod to stop at a few apartment homes where his friends would be waiting. As they pulled up, she noticed four strange looking men. One had long and greasy black hair, the next had Aviator glasses and a bandanna. The other one was sort of chubby, with shorter black hair. Then came the shortest of them all who had a dirty blonde shade of hair.

"Those are my friends." Jimmy pointed at them. He hopped out of the car, but instead of running off like Jarod thought he would, he walked over to her side of the car. "Well?" He asked. Jarod looked around helplessly. "Well get out of the car! I gotta hug you."

"Oh, no, Jimmy." She shook her head. "I'm not one for prolonged good-bye's." Jimmy rolled his eyes and reached out for her, dragging her body out of the car with ease. Then he threw his arms around her body, tightening his grip with every second that passed.

"I'm really going to miss you." He said. Jarod held him tightly. "Maybe you could stop by or something?"

"I don't know." Jarod paused. "We should do this again next year."

Jimmy's eyes brightened and he crushed her in another hug.

"Yeah. We should."

"How about this—" Jarod paused, and Jimmy nodded, urging her to go on. "Every year on the first Sunday of June, I'll come by here. You have your clothes ready, I'll have the car. We go on another trip. We'll take a different route. If your friends want to come, they could."

Jimmy pulled away and smiled at Jarod with a gleam in his eyes.

"It sounds like a crazy, stupid wonderful idea. Where'd you get such an idea?"

"I've had a great person to look up to." Jarod said. Jimmy ruffled her short hair.

"I'm really gonna miss you. Until next year, yeah?" Jarod swallowed a ball in her throat, but was reassured by the idea of meeting him again in a year.

"Until next year." Jarod paused. "Erm.... Jimmy?" He nodded. "How old are you?"

Jimmy rubbed his nose before simply murmuring, "I'm 26." Jarod was in awe, but instead of saying anything, she just hugged him again before sending him off to his friends.

As Jimmy walked toward his friends, Jarod saw a tattoo on his back that she really hadn't noticed before. Across his shoulder blades was the last name 'Sullivan'. The text was decorated like a football team's name with the number zero beneath it. Jarod smiled. His name was Jimmy Sullivan.

~*~

The seasons came and passed. The summer of '08 came along, and Jarod met Jimmy again. The summer of '09 rolled by and Jimmy was at his house again. But when 2010 came into view and Jarod stopped by Jimmy's house, she wasn't greeted by his bright smiling face. Instead stood Zack, Matt, Johnny and Brian. They all looked very uncomfortable when she rolled up in the same car her and Jimmy used during their first road trip.

"He's gone, Jarod." Zack said quietly. Jarod didn't understand what they meant until they handed Jarod two drumsticks with Jimmy's name carved into the side. Jarod pushed them into her pocket, blinking away a few tears. She knew Jimmy wouldn't have wanted her to cry.

"Well?" She asked all of them after regaining her composure. Each of them looked confused. "Get your stuff. We're going on this road trip to remember Jimmy." Zack smiled, hiding a gleam in his eye that just showed how much he truly like Jarod's spirit. "Go get your things."

As each of them turned and walked away, Jarod stared down at the drumsticks. She remembered how he would tap them up against her dashboard, or even his own stomach. Jarod pulled up her shirt to reveal a newly inked tattoo she had gotten just last week for Jimmy. She was going to show him when she picked him up. It wasn't much, just a spider that she noticed he liked to draw during their last trip across the country. It sat upon a web.

Matt walked out first and patted her shoulder gently. "He'd be proud."

Then Zack and Johnny. They both stared at her tattoo in satisfaction. Brian hopped into the back of the car, praising Jarod for her strength and spirit in having a tattoo for somebody else.

But Jarod knew her tattoo wasn't finished. Before they left town, they stopped by a tattoo parlor, and they watched in pain, but content as the artist began to ink in small cursive words that said 'For Jimmy'. She knew it wasn't much, but it was enough to make her remember.

On the way out of California and into the desert of Arizona, Brian pulled a cassette out of his bag and handed it to Jarod.

"He wanted you to have it." He said. Jarod stared at the cassette, pushing it into the player in the old time car. There was the slight strumming of guitar before Jimmy's voice came faintly from her speakers. Jarod turned it up with a smile on her face. It was the song he had sang to her such a while ago, but seemed as though it was literally just yesterday.

"Now I think understand...." Jarod mumbled along with Jimmy's word. Matt sat in the front seat of the car, staring out of the window in sadness. Jarod decided to turn the cassette off.

"You can keep playing it, Jarod." Zack said from the back seat, leaning forward so he was level with her face. Jarod shook her head and slid the tape into her pocket. "Really, it's okay."

"Maybe another night." Jarod smiled. "Jimmy didn't really want to listen to music the first night we traveled anyways."

So together they joked about Jimmy, the things he used to do. Johnny was a bit quiet, but he came out of that rut when they remembered the time he dropped a few bottles of alcohol and Jimmy was freaking out. Jarod liked hearing these stories about Jimmy. It was one thing for her to have known him before he died, but it was another for her to find more out about him after his death. It was like he wasn't even gone. They each had a piece of Jimmy inside of them.