“Would you give me a ride?”
“A ride? Where to?”
“Where are you going?”
He laughed. “Just anywhere but here, huh?”
“Yes.”
“Hop in,” he said.
I did, and closed the door. He put his truck in gear and started out of the parking lot. I looked back at the restaurant. Buddy had not yet returned to our booth.
“So, don’t tell me you’re running away from home?” the truck driver said.
“No. I think I’m running toward it.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Just that where I belong is somewhere out there,” I said, nodding at the road ahead.
He laughed. “You young kids today,” he said, shaking his head. “What’s your name?”
“Lorelei.”
“That’s a beautiful name. My mother and father decided to call me Moses. Hey, maybe I’m taking you to the Promised Land.”
“Maybe,” I said. “I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”
Ahead, the road seemed to stretch toward forever. The lights of the truck parted the darkness and drove it back. That gave me hope. Maybe I could be just as comfortable, if not more so, in the sunshine.
“Can’t imagine what would put a girl as pretty as you on the road,” Moses said.
“No. You could never imagine it.”
Moses laughed. It was melodic and beautiful.
I heard myself laugh, too.
It was like hearing the laughter of someone I once knew, someone who was truly going home.