Under the Table(56)

“Keep an eye on my girl there. Make sure she’s not having any shutter trouble.”

“Okay,” Zoey said, without having the slightest clue what she had agreed to.

Phyllis brought the CB handset back to her own mouth. “So, yeah, the only thing in the bushes for me today was a snake in a roller skate.”

Zoey didn’t need much clarification there. She had an excellent idea of just who the snake was.

“Bet you showed him a thing or two.” Jeff added a laugh of his own.

“That’s a negatory. Didn’t get the chance.”

“The Lord was with him today.”

“Or the devil. How you doing, Bubba?”

“Had to mash the motor after some road-rager went greasy-side up. Had me brake-checking for miles. Luckily, the coop was all locked up so I saved some quality time. I’ll make it to the yard tonight, but might miss the lumpers. I’ll fingerprint that shit myself to get out of there.”

“Flex those muscles, handsome. Me and seat cover here are going to pull into the next rest-a-ree-a and fill up on some go-go juice.”

Zoey could hardly contain her glee at the exchange taking place. It was true, truckers did have a language all their own. She wasn’t sure exactly what they were saying, but it was every bit as amusing as she’d hoped it would be. She was, however, pretty sure that she was the seat cover.

“Be careful they don’t confuse you two for a couple of lot lizards.”

Phyllis let loose a hearty laugh. “Fat chance. You be careful out there now, ya hear? This life ain’t no fun without you.”

The last thing Zoey heard, before Phyllis turned the CB off, was Jeff saying, “Love you, baby girl.”

“That was amazing.” Zoey giggled, completely enthralled.

Phyllis released a much more subdued laugh, shaking her head, and said with true affection, “He’s been waiting for that since we knew we were going to pass each other. It makes his day when I play along. And he really gets off talking like that when he knows there’s a captive audience. He’s such a goofball. I only turn the radio on when I pass him, or I’m stuck in traffic.”

“I figured you would have it on all the time.”

“Honey, this is the twenty-first century. We use cell phones the same as everyone else.”

“What the heck is a lot lizard?”

“A prostitute that works lined-up rigs at a rest stop.”

“Oh,” Zoey said. “They really have those?”

Phyllis graced Zoey with a look that translated her disbelief that a person could be so naive. “Yeah. They’re also referred to as commercial company. Guy ones are called male buffalo.”

Zoey may have been ignorant, but it didn’t curtail her fascination. In fact, it added to it.

They exited at the ramp into the rest stop and slowly pulled into the lanes to get gas. Phyllis swung down from the cab to deal with the go-go juice. Zoey carefully got out to make a beeline for the bathroom on the other side of the parking lot, keeping an eye out for any sign of lot lizards on the way.

“How long have you two been married?” Zoey asked from her side of the table after they met up at the stop’s main building and ordered some burgers and fries from the Burger King.

“Almost twenty years. Probably lasted that long ’cause of all the time apart.”

“I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder?”

“It probably sounds unconventional to most folks. But it works for us.”

“People need to mind their own business.”

“Hallelujah, sister.”

They finished eating and went back to the truck, where Phyllis took a nap and Zoey mostly kept watch for any sign of the activity Phyllis alluded to. It was a lizard-and buffalo-free night, and Zoey was mildly disappointed. As soon as Phyllis woke up two hours later, they were back on the road.

“I log a crap-ton of miles during the nighttime hours,” Phyllis said.

*

Zoey stayed with Phyllis for three days, stopping at countless greasy spoons and truck stops along the way. They made for good traveling companions. Phyllis had an aversion to extraneous small talk, although she would swear a blue streak when reckless idiots cut her off. Jeff checked in with his wife several times a day, mostly by phone. It was heartwarming to see Phyllis’s softer side during those conversations.

Zoey let her phone battery die and never bothered to recharge it. She had nothing to say. To anybody.

Zoey was finally able to hear herself think. During the days, she watched hundreds of miles of scenery fly by the passenger window. It was different from the road trips she had taken as a child. This time, there was no final destination to get excited about reaching, just miles of open road. She tried to associate it with where she was in her life. All her roads were open. Now she just had to choose one.

After they left Detroit, Zoey insisted on treating Phyllis to a night in a nice hotel, mostly because she was starting to get a backache from all the sleeping she did sitting up and she was desperate for a good shower. She got them separate but adjoining rooms, saying both of them were probably ready for a little privacy. Phyllis didn’t argue.

They showered and met up to head down to the hotel’s restaurant for a good meal. Zoey did a double take. Phyllis was dressed in a flowery sundress with a cropped jacket. Her hair was down around her shoulders in waves, and she had applied some lipstick. She looked adorable.