Somewhere Behind

Christopher Part VII

I drove off leaving Angel at her apartment, yet I had this feeling in my gut that I should have been with her.

I stopped at a gas station to fill up my tank which was nearly empty after all the driving I had done over the past few days.

I went back to Natalya's place, my current home and took a shower and put on some new clothes since I would be meeting with Angel at the diner.

It was now well into the late hours of the night and the house was in total silence. I wondered if Natalya had come home after she had left, but dismissed the thoughts from my head, I had more pressing matters to look into.

I went down the stairs and through the short corridor. I was surprised to discover Aunt Clara sleeping in the living room on the sofa. I paused and stared at her for a moment, and then I slipped out the front door and hurried to my car.

I turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the parking lot. I made a right turn onto the main street and headed towards where the diner was located.

It was an old-fashioned diner and lot of trailer trucks stopped on their way here it was quite a popular stop.

I remember Uncle John telling us that when you travel on highways, you should look for parking lots full of tractor trailers.

"Those truck drivers know where the good food is," he said.

That seemed so long ago now. I used to listen to everything he said those days. He was a truly heroic figure to me. He took me off the streets when no one else would and for that, I respected and loved him.

I pulled into the parking lot, parked, and got out after glancing at myself in the mirror and doing the best to fix my hair which ran wild all over my head.

When I entered I tried to be as inconspicuous as I could be, keeping my eyes low, head down, following the hostess to a booth way in the rear of the diner.

The place was very busy and occupied at even this time of the night almost exclusively with truck drivers. I saw two women who looked as if they were riding along with their husbands. Three countermen and two short-order cooks were working feverishly to keep up with the orders and demands two very overworked waitresses shouted.

The din of conversation was so loud I didn't realize there was pop music playing over the speakers until I had sat myself down and went through the menu.

I decided not to order anything but a small glass of water and wait for Angel to show up and then decide what to do about Hunter.

My plan was to contact the cops and tell them all that had happened and since Hunter had tried to rape Angel he was also a criminal like Spencer, which would put them behind bars for a long time, and since Angel was a witness she could testify against them in court, she was by far our main lead against the gang and justice for Uncle John.

I thought about what had just gone through my mind and it suddenly hit me, "Oh shit," I thought. "I have to warn Angel to stay in her apartment. She could be in grave danger. Hunter will obviously be after her, how could I be so stupid."

I immediately dialed in Angelica's number. It went straight to voicemail. "No, no, no," I muttered silently under my breath. I tried again only to reach voicemail. My anger was dangerously close to boiling over, I banged my phone down on the table.

I could see faces turning to stare at me, but I didn't care, at that moment all I could think about was Angel. I slumped back onto the chair and stretched out my hand to pick up the phone to try one last time to reach her. When it suddenly started to vibrate the screen flashing.