Johnny Seed Chapter 01 - Hit the Road

There were several roads out of town, other more trafficked roads, but

Johnny picked the one closest to the direction he wanted to travel as

he walked along it occasionally turning back at the sound of an engine

causing his thick, shaggy hair to sway about his head as he turned

slightly each time with his thumb out.  A rucksack on his back with a

spare change of clothes and a few essentials, a new pair of shoes on

his feet, old jeans with a few holes that clung to his body when he

moved, a shirt with the sleeves and sides cut out, bare shoulders and

a tease of flesh from the side, a hint of muscle could be seen.  He

walked along under the shade of trees trying to not think too much

about what he was doing.  He was afraid of what he might find yet he

didn’t want to stay.  The worst case scenario he had created in his

imagination was that in a day or two he’d catch a bus back home where

he’d find a summer job and go to college in a few months as his mother

had planned for him.

Cars passed by traveling at fifty or sixty miles per hour with no

signs of slowing for him, a few honked their horns as if to signal to

him that he shouldn’t be there, that he was foolish.  After all

picking up hitchhikers had gone out of style some twenty or thirty

years previous, no one had the time, no one had the trust anymore to

stop for someone on the road.  He had walked for hours, and though he

felt capable of walking for more the fact that not even one person had

slowed down to ask where he was going was disheartening.  And he

remembered the feeling of being in a car, of driving along these same

roads, just zip by at sixty miles per hour and he could be in the next

town thirty miles away in just twenty or thirty minutes, but as he

walked along he realized just how far away those places were.  A mile,

thirty miles, if he averaged three miles per hour, that would be ten

hours.  He shook off the thought and looked back once again at the

sound of a car speeding up from behind.  He forced a smile on his

face, turned to it, and stuck out his thumb.  He was surprised when he

saw it begin to slow and a turn signal indicating the driver was

pulling over.  He noted it was a man, a middle aged man, in the

driver’s seat, who pulled to the side of the road slightly ahead of

him and he broke into a jog to the passenger side window.  The man

lowered the powered window.

“Hey what are you doing out here?  Are you broke down?”

Johnny bent down and looked into the car.  The passenger seat was

littered with paperwork.  He recognized a coffee cup from the town’s

gas station in a holder.  The man was middle aged but fit, dressed in

a button down shirt and slacks, a gold watch on his wrist and a

wedding band on his finger.

“Something like that,” Johnny replied, “I’m trying to get out of town.”

“Are the cops after you?”

“What?  No, nothing like that, I’m on kind of a summer adventure,” he replied.

“Nobody hitchhikes anymore,” the man said.

“Can I get a ride?”

“Where are you going?”

“Anywhere but here.”

“I’m going up into New York.  Do you want to ride with me for a while?”

“Yeah,” Johnny said.

The man unlocked the passenger side door with a push of the button and

Johnny opened it.  He took off his pack and stuck it between his legs

as he sat.  The man stuck out his hand and said, “my name’s Greg” so

Johnny shook his hand and told him his name.  They smiled at each

other and the man quickly pulled back out onto the road, pressed on

the gas to get them back up to traveling speed.  Johnny heard the

familiar sounds of classic rock playing from the speakers and the man

turned up the volume.  They drove in otherwise silence for thirty

minutes, this road then that road until he spotted the familiar

neighboring town.  Johnny saw the signs and for a moment he thought to

ask the man to pull over and let him out.  It wouldn’t be easy to get

back home, he’d have to call his mother, maybe call his father, a

friend, and beg them to bring him home.  Someone would take pity on

him.  And yet the man kept driving and Johnny didn’t say anything.

They quickly passed the town and it was gone.

No more familiarity.  Each mile now it was less likely someone would

drive out an get him and he remembered the idea of getting a bus

ticket, yes, a bus ticket would get him back home, he told himself.

It was a little comfort to know, just a little day adventure, maybe a

night of rough sleeping, but he could get back home with the money in

his pocket, the money hidden in his boot, maybe even spend the money

in his pack and he’d get back home flat broke.  Johnny felt a pain in

his stomach but dismissed it as he looked to the man who showed no

emotion as he drove.

This was the beginning of an adventure and an hour later they were in

New York.  Somehow they had fallen into making small talk, the silence

had become unbearable and one of them just started talking, nothing in

particular.  The man didn’t ask why he was leaving, didn’t ask where

he was going, just idle chit chat, that is until the man pulled off

into a town.  Johnny felt something change.  It was over.  The ride

was over, just like that he was in a new state, in a new town.  The

man had gotten close to where he was wanting to go.  And Johnny, well

he was somewhere else but he wasn’t really anywhere, no he was now

completely on his own.  The man pulled into a fast food chain

restaurant parking lot and parked.

“Do you want my advice?” Greg forced into the silence.  “Go in and get

something to eat.  Whatever you want and think about what you want to

do next.  It’s not too late to call home.  It’s never too late to call

home.  You have to know someone who can pick you up.  Just go in and

get something, maybe something familiar, and think about what you’re

giving up.  And know that unless I’m wrong, you don’t have all the

money in the world.  Its tough out here for a boy like you.  I know

it.  Boys like you get chewed up and spit out if you’re lucky.  If

you’re not you’ll get swallowed and shit out like everyone else.”

Johnny felt the reality of the man’s words as he sat there in the

stranger’s car and yet he felt compelled to do the opposite.  He

thanked the man and pushed open the door, climbed out and put his bag

over one shoulder.  He looked down inside to the man who said, “think

about it” then he thanked him again and closed the door.  He stepped

back, watched the man pull out and drive away.  He looked around at

the unfamiliar town, then he looked to the restaurant, something

artificially familiar.  He shook off the thoughts and fears of the man

and walked the twenty feet to the door, just a quick bite and then I’m

on the road, he told himself.

Chapter 01: https://brieflytoldstories.blogspot.com/2018/09/johnny-seed-chapter-01-hit-road.html

Chapter 02: https://brieflytoldstories.blogspot.com/2018/09/johnny-seed-ch-02-smell.html

Chapter 03: https://brieflytoldstories.blogspot.com/2018/09/johnny-seed-ch-03-bf.html

Chapter 04: https://brieflytoldstories.blogspot.com/2018/09/johnny-seed-ch-04-savior.html