The last bell rings and my final class ends, which means I can go home. I rub my temples. Thank you, God. I find myself contemplating giving up substitute teaching and becoming a waitress like mom, or something. Samuel and Xander just reinforced my desire to NOT have kids.
I look at Stitch. "Boy, I love teaching from time to time, but I don't know how teachers do it day after day."
He looks at me as if to say, "Same, mom, same."
I pack up my laptop and pick up Stitches leash. We walk out of the building where Nana is waiting on us. Stitch gets in the back seat and lays down. Nana hands him a peanut butter doughnut, which he wolfs down.
"Nana, you wouldn't believe the day I've had." I sigh, leaning back into the seat. "My day began with two boys beating on each other, and I've been emotionally exhausted ever since."
"Something told me you would need this." She smiles, giving me my favorite doughnut from Sugar Sweets Bakery.
"I swear, Nana, if I smoked, I'd be through a whole carton by now." I say as I scarf down the doughnut.
She lightly swats my thigh. "You better not take up smoking, it causes cancer."
"I won't Nana, I was explaining what my day was like." I say, relaxing in my seat.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and text Cyrus.
Want to go shopping with me later? I can have Nana drop me off at your shop and wait til you get off work.
My phone dings almost immediately.
Absolutely 😊
"Hey, Nana, can you drop us off at Fix Em Mechanic?" I ask nicely.
"Sure, dear. Is Macey meeting you there or something?" She asks driving towards town.
"Actually, I'm meeting my boyfriend at his job." I answer. Boyfriend? That feels foreign to say. Guess it has been a while for me.
"When did you get a boyfriend?" She asks, learning for the first time.
Ever since the Ryan issue, I don't really talk about my love life to anyone other than Macey.
"We've gone out a couple of times and decided to make it official. I really like him, he's a sweet guy." I tell her.
"What's his name?" She pries for information.
"Cyrus Dicks."
Nana pulls into the parking lot of Fix Em Mechanic. "When will I get to meet this mystery boyfriend." She asks.
"Sometime." I reply vaguely as get out of the car and get Stitch out of the back seat. "See you tomorrow, Nana. Be safe, love you."
"Love you too." She replies.
Stitch and I walk into the building and one of the workers stands at the register. He's an older man, probably about my dad's age, with strawberry blonde hair and a receding hairline.
"How can I help you today ma'am?" He asks politely.
"I'm just waiting for Cyrus to get off work." I say looking at the floor.
"Oh, you must be his sweetheart." The guy grins at me.
My ears burn with embarrassment. "I suppose you could call me that."
"He hasn't shut up about you." The man scoffs. "My name's Hank."
"My name's Lucy." I introduce myself.
"I know your name." He says, turning on his heels and sticking his head out of the back door. "Cyrus, there's someone here to see you."
Cyrus comes jogging through the door like his butt's on fire. He's covered in grease and sweat. "Hey, sweetheart." He huffs, out of breath.
"Hi." I reply.
"I get off in thirty minutes, so just hang tight." He says.
Something in my brain short circuits. "Ok, babe."
Cyrus's pupils dilate when I call him that. I find myself wondering, we've only known each other for a short while, yet he follows me like a lovesick puppy. What motivates him to fall in love so quickly? Or am I just too guarded?
"Stitch and I will just hang out on the love seat." I smile at him.
I sit down and start studying the places Macey and I plan to visit on our seven-day trip. In the past month several "animal" attacks have happened. Several campers were torn to shreds at a campsite in Black Caves, Arkansas, the assailant was believed to be an unidentified canine. A similar situation happened in Halter, Mississippi and Bearroot, Louisiana. I notice a pattern; all the attacks took place only miles away from where the state borders meet. Strange. It's as if it forms a triangle. The common factor amongst these encounters is a road where the states meet, Great River Road.
Logically, I know this just an excuse to act like Thelma and Louise, to make fools of ourselves, but maybe we'd discover something new.
"Ok, my shifts over." Cyrus says to me.
"Great, how about we go grab some food, then go shopping?" I smile at him.
"Where do you want to go?" He asks.
"Sonic?" I suggest.
"Sounds good." He chuckles.
We walk to his Durango and help Stitch get in the back seat. Cyrus helps me get into the passenger seat; I'm not used to riding in big vehicles.
I enjoy the hot grilled cheese and tater tots from Sonic.
"Hey, Cy." I say between bites. "I'm leaving on the 13th and won't be back until around the 20th." I finally find the nerve to tell him.
He pauses, pulling his cheeseburger from his mouth. "Where are you going?"
"Macey and I are going to Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. She wants to look for Sasquatch, and…well…you know what I'm looking for." I chuckle nervously, waiting for a judgmental scoff or something.
He looks at me, deadpan. "Are you serious?"
"If I'm lying, I'm dying." I reply with the response my dad would always use. "It was a plan she sprung on me last minute. A weeklong girl's trip doesn't sound bad. We won't find anything, probably, but I just want to have some fun."
He raises a brow at me curiously, "I may never understand you, but I trust you." He chuckles taking a bite of his cheeseburger.
Cyrus insisted on pushing the cart, because according to him, my driving was making him nervous. Oh well, saves me from pushing a heavy cart. Sucker.
I'm not only shopping for the trip, but I'm also grocery shopping for the house. Two gallons of milk for my house, one for the trip. A gallon of sweat tea for the house, and a gallon for the trip. I'm completely focused on shopping, separating groceries from traveling needs.
"Good grief woman, all this for a seven-day trip?" Cy gasps, pushing the cart into the bread aisle.
I throw two loaves of honey wheat bread into the cart.
"No, silly, I'm also grocery shopping for the house." I chuckle.
"I've noticed a lot of cheese products in here." He observes.
"And?"
"Isn't that unhealthy?"
"Probably, but ask me if I care." I giggle. Cheese is a staple food in my diet.
Eventually, we finish shopping and make it home. I'm dreading carrying the extra groceries inside. Just as I'm thinking that, mom's Jeep pulls into the driveway. Oh, thank you God! Mom gets out of the Jeep and looks at the Durango.
"Lucy?" She asks, hesitantly approaching us.
Cy rolls down the window. "You must be Mrs. Bolton, I'm Cyrus, nice to meet you." He gives her a friendly wave.
She looks at him skeptically. Mom and I don't talk about our love lives much.
"Nice to meet you too." She reaches out to shake his hand.
"Hey, mom, can you help me carry in the groceries?" I ask.
"I can do it." Cy volunteers.
"If you want too." Mom says, taking me by surprise. Normally she doesn't let strangers in the house, unless, it's clean to her liking. Guess she's too tired to care.
I let Stitch out before opening the Durango's back hatch.
"Want to see something cool?" I ask Cy.
"Sure." He says.
I pull out the bag with the bread in it, "Stitch, carry inside."
He takes it in his mouth and disappears into the house.
"Pretty helpful, huh?" I boast.
"Yep." He snorts,
Cyrus does the typical, I'm going to carry all the groceries in one trip or die trying thing. He refuses to let me carry a thing. We walk into the house and set the groceries on the floor for me to sort them out.
"Why do you have so much extra food?" Mom asks as she sets her purse on the table.
Well, shit. She's been working and going out with her new boyfriend so much; I haven't told her about the trip yet.
"Oh, I haven't told you yet, but Macey and I going on a weeklong girl's trip over spring break." I say vaguely.
"Where to?" She asks.
"Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana." I answer as I put away groceries.
"Why there?" She asks visibly confused.
Cy looks as if he is about to say something, so I give him a cutting look. Best just shut the hell up! He swallows and just stays silent.
"We're kinda going…cryptid hunting." I say inaudibly.
"What?" She asks.
I've never been able to lie to mom or dad, because by nature I'm so blunt. "We're going cryptid hunting."
Mom puts her hands on her hips, with a look on her face as if she doesn't know what to say or think. "I could kill dad for getting you into all that fairytale bullshit." She sighs.
She doesn't want me to go, I feel like I'm fifteen again, asking her and dad to let me stay out past ten o'clock.
"When do you leave?" She asks.
"Saturday the 13th at nine a.m."
"Make sure that Macey carries her gun, and you carry some sort of weapon, people are crazy." She shrugs.
Guess I better get a silver knife.