Driving down a Texas highway at 80 miles an hour in what appeared to be a souped-up Skoda, lip-syncing to "Panama" because I really didn't know the words.
Everything had changed in the next several days. Nothing was as it should be. I was confused, confused, and needed some help.
He didn't tell me much. Really, didn't tell me anything at all. Not as far as I could tell. There was too much to process - it was all so new, after all, since it hadn't happened yet before. Nonetheless he kept talking. It was hard to keep up. I wondered if I was actually getting help at all, as he seemed to be making it worse than it already would have been.
I was on the run, you see. On the run. Everything had changed, you see. I had to get going, fast. I didn't want to know what would happen if I stuck around. All signs pointed to the inevitable, and the inevitable was bad. Don't think of me as cowardly. Anybody in my position would do the same. I'm sure if I could explain it to you some more, you'd understand. Then again, I'd just be wasting my time, wouldn't I?
He kept talking. So did I.
Suddenly, little by little, it all became very clear. Could he have somehow been involved? No, impossible. He's not that kind of guy. But he did know an awful lot, and I became suspicious. Yet I listened. I had no other choice, there was nobody else who could help me in my situation. It was either this or... I don't even want to think about it.
The Texas highway seemed to slow down as the Skoda accelerated. I tried not to pay attention to the black road ahead, bright stripes trying to distract me just for a second, working to trip me up and leave me for dead. Now I remember why I will hate this place.
Thinking back to tomorrow, I had wondered if I had made the right choice. What other choice was available? He told me everything I couldn't have possibly known. It was up to me what to do next, but between the both of us, the choice was clear. It was a gentleman's agreement. He spelled it out for me, little by little, over the course of the next several... Days? Hours? Minutes? I don't know, it all seemed so rigidly indefinite.
I had to keep going.
Thanks for the call, baby.