Chapter 19: Midnight on the Interstate

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"It is not down in any map; true places never are." – Herman Melville

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I was surprised at how little it took to convince Della to finally let me drive. I lightly mentioned the idea to her in passing as we exited the cemetery, and to my delight, she agreed instantly. She passed the keys into my hands with little sound other than the quiet jangle of them clinking together. I clasped them in my lightly callused hands, feeling a sense of responsibility pressing on my shoulders.

Della Rae trusted me with her keys.

It made a warmth spread across my face, but I didn't smile. Instead, I sprinted ahead to the car and opened the passenger door for my companion.

Even through the rapidly-disappearing light, I could see Della's face brighten a little at this simple gesture. She sped up her approach, ducking into the car with a simple, "Thanks, Jasey."

I closed the car door behind her and rounded over to the unfamiliar side of the Beetle. When I was settled in my seat and had clicked the seatbelt in place, I chanced a look over at Della.

She had already reclined the seat and curled up. Her eyes, however, were still open. She stared back at me.

"It's weird to see you in the driver's seat," she murmured, tugging her sleeves down over her fingers.

I chuckled. "Yeah."

"You sure you know how to drive?" she teased.

"Better than you do," I returned, smirking.

She sleepily rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Lovett..."

"You should get some sleep," I said, gripping the steering wheel. "I'll drive for a while."

"Aren't you tired?" yawned Della.

"Nah," I lied. "I'm fine. Just sleep..."

I turned the key in the ignition and started the car. The radio switched on as well and began to play a song I didn't recognize, but I barely even noticed. It was a strange sensation starting a car that was actually in good repair. My thoughts wandered back to my piece-of-junk car that broke down in Pennsylvania. I certainly did not miss that pile of trash.

Della suddenly twisted around and flopped over to reach into the back seat of the car. When she rolled back into her earlier position, she had a plush, fuzzy blanket in her clutches.

As she made her little nest beside me, I backed the car out of its parking space and turned it around again. The little road looked smaller in the dark, so I turned on the headlights on the brightest setting.

Della sweetly hummed along with the song on the radio, making me smile without warning. Those sorts of smiles were wonderful, but I had a love-hate relationship with them. It just didn't seem fair that she could make me smile without my permission. Not fair at all... What if I wanted to hide me enjoyment or amusement? Not that it mattered in this case. It was too dark to see anyway. But it was the principle of the matter.

The rumble of the car was soothing, in its own way. It's ridiculous how something so commonplace and boring can lull the senses into an unusually peaceful trance-like state.

Before I knew it, I finally exited the country road and reached the intersection where Della had taken us out of the way earlier. I followed the signs and steered us in the right direction.

We were Louisiana-bound.

It wouldn't take long before we made it across the state-border. But time itself seemed nonexistent at this hour. It was as if we were stuck in a time loop and we would stay in this moment forever.

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