I Stopped to Fill My Car Up

It was always the way Kelly liked to cool off after an argument. When she was young, before she could drive she would go for a walk, to nowhere in particular, just walk until she’d calmed down. When she was younger it was normally her younger sister who she’d argue with.

Today it was her boyfriend, and today she had a licence and a black ford focus that she could drive around in, music cranked up helping her cool down.

She’d driven for about half an hour, listening to Nimrod by Green Day, when she noticed her fuel gauge approach the empty mark.

“Shit!” she exclaimed to herself “there better be a filling station around here somewhere” she said, glancing at the road signs hoping to see a sign for the next gas station. She drove for another five minutes before she past a sign that indicated that there was a gas station in ¼ of a mile. “Great” she said, again to herself.

She pulled into the gas station and took out her wallet. She had a $20 bill and some loose change. She filled the car with $15 worth of gas and proceeded to the store to pay. Before going to the counter to pay she went across to the fridges and took out a bottle of coke and then made her way to the candy bars and picked up a three musketeers bar. She paid for her items and the gas and then slowly made her way back to her car, opening her candy bar as she did so.

Before she pulled out of the filling station she opened her bottle of coke and took three large gulps. She placed the bottle on the passenger seat and took the last bite of her 3 musketeers bar, chewing it as she started the engine. Immediately “Take back” began to play again, the album starting off where it had been interrupted.

As she was pulling out of the gas station a small raindrop hit the windscreen, followed by another, and then another and within 30 seconds it had began to rain heavily causing Kelly to put her wipers on and shut her window that had only been open an inch but was letting in a lot of rain. She glanced up to the top of her windscreen to look at the large grey clouds that had accumulated over head.

She then looked up into her rear view mirror, her heart skipped a beat and she almost went into the back of the car in front of her at the sight of a man sat in the back seat.

“What the fuck?” she yelled.

“Just keep driving.” The man said “As far out of the city as you can.” He said raising his right hand slightly to show the top of a hand gun. Kelly nodded, glancing rapidly between the road and her rear view mirror. She could feel her heartbeat quicken but continued to drive. She didn’t really know where she was going but she knew that her life depended on getting as far out of the city as she could. With every glance into the mirror she took in another piece of detail of the man’s appearance. He was in his mid twenties she would guess. Well built with tattoos covering his arms. His nose and ear was pierced. He had black hair and deep brown eyes. Truth be told she found him quite attractive.

Kelly’s heart skipped a beat when the CD came to the end and the radio came on automatically. She suddenly realised that the news story that she was listening to was about the man sat behind her.

“This is you isn’t it?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, it is.” He replied simply.

“You know it’s only a matter of time before they realise that you got into my car at the filling station and track us down.” Kelly said bravely.

“Yeah, I’m well aware of that, which is why I need you to drive me as far out of the city as possible.”

“Ok, well, knowing my car, I reckon I’ve got enough gas to get us about four hours away, if we keep heading north we could reach somewhere around Lone Pine, maybe even cross over into Nevada.”

“Good.” He replied. “Why are you so calm?” he asked.

“What’s the point in panicking? Panicking will only increase my chance of getting killed right? I figure that if I stay calm I may get out of this alive.” Kelly explained as she continued to glance between the road ahead of her and the face in her rear view mirror, who nodded silently to her reply.

“Do you mind keeping the radio on so we can hear any developments?” the guy asked.

“Sure, if you want.” Kelly replied with a smile. Why she was smiling she wasn’t sure. Maybe it was the way he asked when he could easily have pointed the gun to her head and made her do it. Or maybe it was because of how good looking he was. Either way she smiled, causing him to smile back.

“So, what’s your name?” the man asked after a short silence.

“Kelly. Don’t worry I won’t ask for yours.” She replied turning briefly to face him.

“Thanks Kelly.” He said simply and the pair became silent, listening to the news updates.

The silence was broken by the sound of Kelly’s cell phone ringing. She glanced up nervously, requesting permission to answer it.

“Message or call?” the guy asked.

“Message.” Kelly answered.

“Ok.”

Slowly Kelly picked up her cell of the passenger seat and flipped it open. It was from Matt, her boyfriend.

“Anything I need to worry about?” he asked seeing the look on Kelly’s face.

“Well, it’s my boyfriend, he wants to know if I’m going to be home before he has to go to work. We had an argument, that’s why I’m out driving.” Kelly explained.

“How long before he leaves for work?”

Kelly glanced at the clock on the dash board. “Just over half an hour.”

“Write a message back saying you’re stuck in traffic so you won’t make it back in time, but you’ll see him when he gets home, but I’ll send it, just to make sure.”

“Can I pull over or do u want to write it? I can’t drive and text sorry.”

“Ok, pass it here, tell me what to write.” As Kelly passed her phone to the man behind her heart yet again skipped a beat as their skin touched for the first time. his hand was warm and sweaty, and his touch flipped things inside her stomach.

She told him what to text Matt and then he read out his reply before he handed her back her phone.

“So where does he work? It’s a bit late to be heading out to work.”

“In a bar in the city, he’s doing the late shift, he won’t be home ‘til gone three in the morning.” She explained and the guy nodded. Again there was silence. They soon passed through Lancaster and listened to the radio where the police were asking for witnesses to come forward if they had seen the suspect as they had lost him as he left Beach Boulevard, they think he was heading north on foot but lost him on CCTV.

“Sounds like we’re safe for a while. You hungry? We could stop and get something to eat if you are?” the man said as if they were best friends on a road trip.

Kelly glanced quickly back at him in disbelief. “Well, I could do with something to eat, and a break from driving would be good too I guess.”

“Ok, then keep an eye out for somewhere to stop, get some more gas so you can drive home as well.”

Kelly looked warmly at the man through her rear view mirror and smiled. “Thanks” she whispered and he returned the smile making her feel totally relaxed for the first time since leaving the filling station back in Huntington Beach.

A short distance down the road they passed a sign for a service station with a motel and snack bar.

“There will be fine, we can have a proper rest for an hour or so, if that’s ok?” the man asked, causing Kelly to giggle at his politeness. “what’s so funny?” he asked frowning.

“Sorry, it’s just that, I’m supposed to be, well, a hostage I guess, you’ve got a gun and you’re being so polite.” She explained trying not to giggle.

“Ok, then, if that’s the way you want to play it” he said becoming serious, moving closer to her and slowly raising the gun and placing it up against the side of her rib cage, causing her to gasp.

“You’re going to pull into this motel, and when you fill up the tank, I’ll go get us a room and something to eat.” He concluded and Kelly nodded furiously as she took the turning for the motel.

“While we’re here, we’re going to act like a couple, sneaking off to a motel for sex behind our partners’ backs. Ok?”

“Ok, sorry.” Kelly replied her heart beating faster and faster. Slowly the guy moved back and placed the gun back under his coat. He opened the small holdall that he’d been taking a firm hold of and took out a hand full of notes.

As planned Kelly filled up the tank with gas while the man went into the motel office and enquired about a room and food.

“Room 12 honey, don’t forget the bag in the back” he called over waving a key. In his other hand he carried two packs of sandwiches and two drinks. Kelly took a deep breath before answering.

“Ok babe, but it’s not as if we’ll need the clothes, I’m not planning to be dressed for too long.” She said walking over to him with the bag. As she approached he lifted his arm to place it around her shoulders and leant in to kiss her. Kelly was a better actress than what she thought she was and managed to convincingly kiss him back. Luckily for her it was made easy for her because he was very attractive up close and she always liked the bad guy.

“We’ll stay here for an hour or so and then we’ll head on to Lone Pine where you can go back to Huntington Beach.” He began once they were in the room sitting on the bed eating their sandwiches.

“But listen, I don’t want to hold a gun to you again, you seem like a nice girl and I don’t want to hurt you in anyway. And I’m grateful that you’ve cooperated with me the entire time.” the entire time he looked into Kelly’s eyes and Kelly could feel her heart rate quicken again. She had an overwhelming urge to kiss him again, to forget about Matt and rip this guy’s clothes off and have sex with him there and then. She shook her head to rid the image of the two of them from her mind and silently ate the remainder of her sandwich.

“Mind if I lay down for a while, it’s getting late and I could do with a rest, it’s going to be a long drive home on my own.” Kelly asked

“Go ahead.” He said motioning for her to stretch out “I’ll wake you when it’s time to go.” He added. She kicked her shoes off and stretched out on the left hand side of the bed as the man got up and switched the light off before he walked over to sit in the armchair in the corner of the room. It was approaching 9pm and night was beginning to fall so the room was lit dimly with the small amount of natural light that found its way through the netted windows. Kelly’s eyes soon adjusted to the lack of light and found herself watching the guy sit silently in the chair. She quickly closed her eyes when she realised that he kept glancing over at her as well.

Kelly stirred as she admitted to herself that she was awake. As she stretched she remembered where she was. She quickly opened her eyes although she couldn’t see anything as it was now totally dark in the room. She lay still, listening to hear him, but there was nothing. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she searched the room for his outline but nothing, the chair he was sat in was now empty.

Confused she searched blindly to find a light switch of some description. She squinted as the light came on but searched the room for the man. He wasn’t there. As her eyes got used to the sudden abundance of light her eyes fell on an envelope that lay on the desk opposite her. as her eyes focused on it she realised that her name was scribbled on the middle of it.

Baffled, she slowly made her way across to the desk and picked up the envelope. As soon as she had it in her trembling hands she could tell that there was money in it. She turned the envelope over in her hands and opened it. Her jaw dropped open as she looked at a pile of bills tucked inside. Underneath there was also a folded sheet of paper. Slowly she took it out of the envelope, pulling on of the paper caused three fifty dollar bills to fall to the desk.
She proceeded to open the piece of paper. As she began to read her heart beat quickened and her mouth became dry.

“Kelly – I can’t do it to you any longer – I’ve gone, don’t worry I’m not taking the car. I’m going to try to make it into Nevada before dawn. As you can see I’ve left you some cash for your trouble, do with it what you will. I hope you make the best of the life you’ve been given, you deserve it. In the few hours I’ve spent with you, you seem like an amazing person, if circumstances were different I would have liked to get to know you better. But that’s enough of me waffling on. Have a good life; I’ll always be grateful for your help. Brian x”

Kelly stood, shocked. She re-read the note and then took out the pile of money and began to count it. There was $1000 there in mixed notes. She held it in her shaking hands trying to work out what to do with it. How was she going to explain it to Matt? This was going to be difficult. She’d never lied to Matt but she knew she couldn’t keep such a large amount of money from him. should she leave it? Hide it until a later date? Get rid of it? It was stolen money after all.

She decided to think about it on the drive home. Her and Matt could definitely do with the money. It was a month’s wage for her. but how could she explain it to Matt? She placed the note and the money back into the envelope, folded it and placed it into her rear pocket. She walked back over to the bed and sat down to put her shoes back on her feet. she looked at her watch. 11:26. If she left now she should be home about an hour before Matt would be in from work. The freeway would be pretty empty at this time of night so there shouldn’t be any traffic to get stuck in. She stood up and made her way out of the room and over to her car.

She stopped at the junction of the motel entrance and looked north, towards the direction in which she would have gone with Brian. She wondered how long ago he left and how far he’d got. There was a part of her that wished he’d let her drive him and hoped he made it safely into Nevada. She wanted him to succeed and stay out of danger, to live the life he wanted to with the money he stole. With that thought she drove back towards Huntington Beach.

As she predicted the road was relatively quiet and she made good time travelling back to the city. all the way she continued to think about what she was going to do with the money and what she was going to tell Matt. As she neared home she decided that she would kept the money a secret from Matt, put it into a savings account until she could decide what to do with it. She got home just over an hour before Matt was due back from work. Shattered from her night’s events she changed for bed and crashed out, ready to explain to Matt in the morning. She was fast asleep within minutes.

Three days later Kelly sat at her kitchen table reading the day’s newspaper, sipping coffee. Kelly had watched the news and read the news papers looking out for news of Brian, hoping not to see that he’d been caught. She took a sip of coffee and slowly turned the page. The photo staring back at her made her almost chock on the caffeine.

“MAN ARRESTED FOR ARMED ROBBERY AT NATIONAL BANK” was the headline below which was a mug shot picture of Brian, unshaven and gaunt-looking. Slowly Kelly began to read on. “In the early hours of this morning Nevada State Police arrested the man who is thought to have robbed a branch of the National bank in Huntington Beach on Wednesday evening. Brian Haner, 24, was arrested at a Motel after the owner recognised him from the e-fit shown on the news and in the papers. He alerted police when Haner requested a room for the night and Haner was arrested in his Motel room at two o’clock in the morning. It is said that he was found with $48,675 in a hold all, that’s $1455 short of the $50130 reported stolen from the bank.” Kelly stopped, knowing that she had $1000 extra in her savings account.

She continued to read the details before finding the details about his court hearing and as she read it she decided that she was going. She didn’t know why but there was something at the back of her mind telling her that she needed to.

Two days later Kelly sat in the public gallery of the court room waiting for Brian to be brought through from the cells to the dock in front of her.

“All rise for the Honourable Judge William Sullivan” bellowed through the almost empty courtroom as the short, stocky dark-haired judge took his seat.

“Case Number 28934, of that between the State of California and Brian Haner.” The sergeant said taking over the papers to the judge.

“Bring the defendant through.” The judge ordered looking through the papers in front of him. Kelly felt her heart rate quicken as a door to her left opened and she saw Brian being brought to the stand. Kelly watched him as he glanced around the courtroom, looking saddened until he found her. she smiled weakly at him and he gratefully returned. Kelly could tell that he was as shocked to see her as she was at herself being there.

“Mr. Haner. You are charged with the armed robbery of the National Bank of Huntington Beach; in which you stole $50130. How do you plead?” the judge asked solemnly.

“Guilty your honour.” Brian replied defeated. Kelly gasped and threw her hand over her mouth shocked at her reaction. She knew he was guilty, but she didn’t want him to go to jail.

He’d been good to her considering the circumstances.

“Very well then. Taking into account that this is our first offence, you took no hostages-“ the judge began at which Brian shot a glance at Kelly. “and the fact that you’re taking full responsibility for your actions, I am going to give you the minimum sentence of 70 month with a fine of $1500, the amount missing from the total stolen. This sentence will be served at California State Prison – Los Angeles County.” The judge concluded.

“Please take the defendant back to the cells where he will remain until the prison bus arrives to take him away.” The judge added. As the two officers stood either side of Brian he glanced up at Kelly, who saw him mouth “sorry” as he was ushered roughly out of the dock, the way he’d entered not fifteen minutes before.

Without thinking, Kelly stood up and left the courtroom. She didn’t know why but she had to talk to him. she looked around looking for someone to help her. she spotted a desk with a young secretary sat behind it, typing away. She walked quickly over to it and the young girl looked up with a welcoming smile.

“Can I help you miss?” she asked cheerfully.

“Um, I hope so, a friend of mine has just been sentenced and sent back to the cells to await transportation to his prison and I was wondering if they allow friends to talk to them before they leave?” she said rapidly.

“Um, sure, follow the signs to “overnight cells” and talk to one of the guards on the desk, they should be able to help you.” She smiled sweetly at Kelly who nodded to show that she had understood.

Kelly set off following the signs and soon found where she wanted to be and approached the guard’s desk.

“I wasn’t aware that Mr. Haner had any family, certainly don’t think he’s expecting anyone.” The officer who reminded Kelly of Chief Wiggam from “The Simpsons”. But if you follow me, I’ll take you to the visitors room and fetch Mr. Haner.” He continued walking through the large oak door, Kelly close behind him. he showed her into a small room with a table and three chairs; two on one side, one on the other side of the table.

“Take a seat, I’ll be back in one second.” He said standing in the doorway, holding the door open for her to enter. “oh, by the way, who shall I say is here for him?” he asked as he was about to leave.

“Oh, Kelly.” She said taking a seat.

She heard the door close and felt her heart rate quicken. What was she doing here? Why did she have a sudden urge to see this man again? There was one thing she was certain about. She now knew what she was going to do with the $1000 she had in her savings account.

“Kelly? What are you doing here?” he train of thought was interrupted by the door opening and Brian being led in, hands in handcuffs, already dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

“I –“ Kelly began but was unable to find the words.

“Sit down Haner. I’ll be right outside the door watching you. You have five minutes.” The officer said as Brian sat down opposite Kelly looking as confused as what she was feeling.

The officer closed the door and Brian brought his gaze back to Kelly.

“Why are you here?” he asked again, looking deeply into her eyes.

“I don’t know.” She whispered, not breaking eye contact. “Guess I just had this kind of urge to see you.” She said with a soft laugh. A smile tugged at the corners of Brian’s lips.

“I’m sorry Brian.” She whispered.

“Why? You’ve done nothing wrong?” he replied with a smile, still not breaking eye contact.

“I could have gotten you out of California sooner, let you get further away.” She explained.

“Don’t be daft” Brian began, reaching over the table and took hold of her hands making her smile. “What if we’d been caught together, do you look good in orange?” he added with a small chuckle.

“But-“

“But nothing, I really appreciate what you did for me, you could have phoned the cops as soon as you found me gone. And here you are now, for no apparent reason, here apologising to me, when it should be me apologising to you – weren’t you scared?”

“Honestly, not really, you came across too caring, there was just something about you, I knew you wouldn’t hurt me.” She replied softly. “but there is one reason I’m here. That money you gave me. I want to give it back so you can use it to pay your fine.”

“No, that money was for you, for your help.” Brian began to protest.

“No, I insist, I want you to have it back, you need it more than I do, please.” She said firmly, griping hold of his hands.

“Thank-you. I guess I could do with the money. You’re amazing you know that?” he replied as the door opened and the officer reappeared in the doorway.

“Time Haner.” He said firmly. Brian let go of Kelly’s hands and slowly stood up and began to walk towards the door.

“One more second, please officer?” Kelly asked standing up pleading with the officer. He nodded and Brian turned looking at her confused.

Without really knowing why she was doing it she found herself taking hold of his hands. Slowly she reached up and whispered in his ear. “You look really sexy in orange.” To which he turned his head in surprise, catching her lips in a breathtaking kiss.

“Different circumstances.” He said simply as she pulled away from the kiss.

“Yeah, different circumstances.” She replied.

And that was the last time she saw him; but there’s not a day that goes by where she doesn’t think about him and what could have been under those different circumstances.