esperanza

Kelly

Harder and harder it rained around Willowpeak. The low-lying areas were starting to flood. I got stuck behind a couple of big rigs going up a hill. It was so dark from the really dense black storm clouds and heavy rain that it looked almost like the middle of the night, even though it was only in the mid afternoon.

Just as I slowed to no more than a walking pace, the passenger door of my car suddenly opened and a girl climbed in. She was soaked, dripping water on my seat cushions as she turned to lock the door after she was inside.

"It's too late now," I said.

"T-too late?" She looked back at me with gray-green eyes and a mouth
opened to reveal a slight overbite and a trembling lip.

"To keep anyone from getting in while I'm driving so slow."

"Oh." She tried a smile. She wore no make-up but her skin had that
clearness only the young achieve. Her tangled hair, dark in what light
filtered though the storm, lay plastered tightly to her cheeks, neck and back. In much the same way, a cotton shirt clung to her shape. I mentally revised her age, those breasts seemed adolescent.

I smiled back, feeling a thrill of anticipation rush through me. She might be delectable, but there was also a possibility that she was underage. My heart skipped a beat.

"I hope you don't mind too much, sir. I'm wet and cold and..." She turned her face away but continued looking at me sideways. "And I need a ride to L.A." She wasn't dressed for a fall thunderstorm in the California mountains, but Los Angeles would likely still be warm and dry at almost the end of
October.

I turned some heat on and just drove for a while. The traffic cleared as the big rigs sorted things out up ahead. She studied them through the right-hand window as we moved ahead into clearer weather.  I studied her in little sideways glances. Her face was undeniably young, no older than eighteen, maybe early twenties. The length of her legs, perfectly framed by her too tight chinos, supported that assessment as well. Despite her appearance, she still had only budding breasts, like those of a twelve-year-old, barely noticeable beneath her shirt. Perhaps she was a late bloomer, an extraordinarily late bloomer, I mused to myself.

"If I'm giving you a ride, I want something in return."

I glanced over at her, trying not to let my curiosity get the better of me. Her posture was tense, her shoulders hunched defensively, and she whipped her head around nervously, trying not to look at me.

The girl, clearly uncomfortable, shifted in her seat. "I... I... Um..."

"Like your name," I finished. I had just found something out; she had no intention of offering herself to me. Instead, she was just desperate. Or maybe my appearance had made her reconsider the idea.

A girl bold enough to steal a ride from a stranger, but not bold enough to accept any advances. It was a strange dichotomy. It made me wonder what kind of life she led, what kind of circumstances had brought her to this point. And in that moment, despite the tension between us, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her.

She considered the question of her name. I felt certain that in some way, her answer would be a lie. "Kelly." she said at last, and her stomach made a punctuating growl. "Excuse me."

"Hungry?"

She nodded.

The risks of me, a man, taking a young girl into a cafe seemed worth it. I took the next exit and parked at the coffee shop in the middle of a big truck stop. I got out my umbrella and hurried around the car. She might have been examining the big rigs parked in the lot more than waiting for me to open the door for her.