Johnny & Sonny
Screeching can be heard a mile away drowning out fainter sounds of clock towers chiming midnight as the locomotive tethering railroad cars almost as long slithers to a stop at the station. A slow, lazy rain creating mud and puddles earlier now give an eerie effect as mist evaporates off warm rails and creosoted lumber holding the steel together producing what appears floating clouds visible due to lamp posts in need of cleaning giving off golden light augmented by a sliver of a moon only to be seen with stars barely visible through floating damp fog. The train yard has the appearance of ghosts with many types of box cars, vessels and containers on wheels lined up one across from the other as far as can be seen waiting for deployment to some unknown destination and purpose. Their only redeeming feature is blue, yellow, red, white, and other colored graffiti painted on them with spray cans telling stories of where they had been and those met on the way.
It had not always been like this. During their heyday railways had been a bustle of activity with people coming and going in passenger cars being the principal form of transportation. They yard was brilliantly lit at night as were stations full of shops with those dressed in best attire often accompanied by live orchestras with string and other instruments making harmonious music for all to enjoy. It wasn’t until automobiles and planes became more reliable that the principle use for railways became dependent on delivering commodities and produce. Not many use trains for transportation being considered noisy and sluggish now. Except for a few.
Johnny sits on a concrete sidewalk elevated several feet above rails still damp from rain and out of what little light there is as the locomotive screams to a stop with headlights muffled by heavy fog that night. He has on a black nylon jacket keeping him warm enough no longer needing the plastic poncho to protect him from the rain. Obscure and silent he watches the few attendants hired by the railway and waits for what is about to unfold. About an hour after the employees retire becomes what to most is an unusual sight. Slowly but surely persons start coming out of the woodwork. Some out of the train that just arrived and others out of railroad cars scattered around the yard. Some hurry to get out of there as others transfer to other abandoned box cars. And still others came out of hiding from who knows where looking for sanctuary on trains expected to leave soon. Johnny sits patiently trying to assess best options for departure before receding further out of sight between large metal shipping containers stacked ten feet high and lined in rows to wait for daylight for better assessment of the situation.
As a bright golden sun rises thousand miles west of Johnny in a vivid blue sky seemingly void of lofty white clouds a red convertible barrels down Interstate 15 somewhere south of Helena, Montana. With the top down Sonny’s long hair whips in the wind as she ponders what just happened. She drives big eighteen wheel semis and after unloading a trailer full of cattle hauled for ten hours from Bismarck pulled into a truck stop to fill the rig up with more diesel. It was fairly late at night and hard not to be enticed by a club alongside all lit up with a loud band playing and couples seen dancing through large windows. What the heck? It had been a long day and what could it hurt to go inside and have a drink? After about an hour what appeared to be a gentleman came up and asked her to dance. That went well when they went back to the bar where he orders her another drink. It wasn’t long before his hand is between her legs wanting to know if she wants to screw. Before noticing how it happened she slaps him.
That was a big mistake. As the room fell silent it became apparent he was someone of importance there. Come to find out he is the son of the owner of the trucking company she works for. But she wasn’t willing to back down and Sonny immediately stomps out of the club climbing behind the driving wheel of the rig she just delivered. She didn’t drive far, in fact barley turning out of the truck stop when two highway patrol cars raced behind the semi with red and blue lights flashing whereby she was ordered out of the truck. She thought the sobriety test went fairly well walking with one foot right in front of the other and holding her fingertip to her nose with head laid back considering the tiring, long day. When asked to blow into the breathalyzer she didn’t mind but almost fell to the ground when informed the result was a point 15. How could that be considering she didn’t even finish the second margarita. With hands cuffed behind her back she was ordered in back of one of the patrol cars and taken to jail.
After couple days behind bars and a court appearance she was allowed to call a trucker she became friends with. He posted the thousand dollar bail which she immediately paid back and he took her to a motel where the red convertible was parked. Didn’t take long to figure out she was in a pile of trouble. With her driver’s license taken she could no longer drive for the trucking company and no need to wait around to see if she were fired. Besides being in the middle of nowhere without public transportation she had no way to make the scheduled court appearance at the county seat. Like that would go well anyway. Sonny packed the convertible with a few belongings she had in the motel and spent a restless night waiting for the sun to come up. There is no need to go to Canada and would surely be arrested at the border anyway.
As the sun peaks above the horizon the red convertible speeds south on Highway 15 without a destination. As the sun rises, lofty clouds have a reddish-orange glow and as her hair blows in the wind it is like being in a dream that never happened.
Johnny wakes startled by the hustle and bustle of banging and clanking and sounds of forklifts unloading and reloading box cars and flat beds with crates and other storage containers to and from the train that arrived late last night. He is amazed he’d slept so sound and long amongst the large crates providing refuge and finds it alarming as the sun climbs higher in the sky behind low misty clouds left from the drizzling rain. There will be plenty of places to hide when this train departs but then he rationalizes others are thinking the same and food he has stored in his backpack will be easy pickings. Then another train arrives he finds peculiar. It isn’t that long but is loaded with new sedans, trucks, and SUVs.
Johnny was a bar tender at the Dancing Dragon nightclub before the Covid pandemic took its toll and he was a good one. He has the uncanny ability to remember customers’ names he’d served a month before if they’d been mentioned and what they were drinking almost as if he knew what they were thinking. As the city shutdown to brace for the plaque so did the bar. He was three months behind on his rent as the metropolis begins to breathe again and was lucky to get his bartending job back but business wasn’t booming like before with limited seating capacity and tips hard to come by. Live bands were allowed to perform now. People were on the floor dancing but a strange sight with most of them wearing masks. In the middle of the dance floor was Nancy in a sparling gold dress cut low on her shoulders and too high below her waist.
Johnny had gotten to know Nancy since she was a waitress there before the pandemic. In fact they’d had sex on several occasions. But he had never seen her as promiscuous as she was behaving. The Dancing Dragon was in jeopardy of going under and she was a main attraction. As several men flocked around her watching her dance Johnny lost control. He raced around the bar onto the dance floor pushing one of the men to the ground demanding to know what the hell she was doing. With tears in her eyes Nancy pleaded with Johnny to leave. The pandemic hit her parents hard and although they recovered it took its toll aging them and were acting strangely despondent. She had had two younger sisters and a brother to look after and there was better money at this bar than working the street. Bouncers immediately rushed to the scene and escorted Johnny to the alley outside. Management knew this problem was not going to easily go away.
As Johnny pulled the car into the driveway at his apartment building red and blue light started flashing in his rear view mirror. He was ordered out of the car and blow into a breathalyzer. He immediately knew he’d been set up. He recognized a couple of the cops as patrons of the club and although they were out of uniform at the time recognized them nonetheless with his keen memory. Why should he trust them and refused to take the test whereby his hands were cuffed behind his back before being thrown in the back of one of the squad cars and hauled to jail.
At the court appearance he pleaded with the judge that the Fifth Amendment guaranteed he was not required to provide evidence against himself and the Constitution also states the severity of the penalty cannot exceed the severity of the crime. There was no crime since no damage was caused as if possible by driving twenty miles an hour down the street anyway. He was sentenced to sixty days behind bars. Johnny managed to post bail by hocking his car to some unscrupulous individuals. Having no car, not much money, no driver’s license and being three months behind on his rent anyhow Johnny returned to the apartment just long enough to pack a few clothes, some canned goods and dry food in a backpack and hit the streets.
It is now around noon as Johnny sits patiently in hiding surveying all the activity at the railroad yard when he hears one attendant telling another that the train with all the new cars has only stopped to fuel up and soon will be departing to Salt Lake City expected to arrive in three days. Quite the gamble but what does he have to lose? What is the worst thing that can happen, going back to jail? Johnny starts walking down the train tracks as if knowing what he’s doing and ducks under the tether holding the rail cars loaded with new automobile together. Much to his surprise he finds a tan Lincoln Continental on the lower level with a back door unlocked. As the train pulls slowly out of the yard Johnny finds it unusual to be laying on the rear, cushioned leather seat.
As the red convertible barrels down Interstate 15 Sonny finds it odd at first passing big semis pulling their large trailers when some of the truckers looking down have awkward grins on their faces. It starts to dawn her story might very well be circulating among them. They all have radios and a good bet the highway patrol is listening as well. She feels luck might soon run out and detours at Idaho Falls on less traveled highways into Wyoming pushing further east toward the Winy River Mountain Range. She observes several old taverns alongside the road and in small towns all boarded up as if ghosts from days gone by of happier and more prosperous times. Also not unusual are hitch hikers alongside the road with thumbs out wanting a lift. She has her own problems and no need to add to them by picking up strangers.
Late in the evening Sonny spots a small town about five miles off the highway. Seems good of place as any to hunker down out of sight for the night. It is a small town if could be called that of about five hundred residents. She’s in luck pulling into a motel. Not many cars parked at the rooms but there is a café attached to the far side that seems fairly busy. She made good money trucking stashing most of it in several bank accounts able to be accessed on a cell phone transferring cash onto debit cards kept locked in the glove box. Once checked into the motel she heads to the café starving not eating for over twenty-four hours but not certain what to expect there. The waitress seems friendly enough as Sonny sits at a table toward the back of the room. It’s almost as if the waitress is happy to see someone not familiar around the area. Roast beef with French fries smothered in brown gravy is very tasty. Fairly often local customers glance her way and although not threatening she is probably the new topic of discussion. Reception on the satellite tv in her motel room isn’t bad and Sonny makes up her mind to spend a couple days while the heat dies down before falling into a deep sleep.
Going to the café for breakfast on the second day she is invited to join two elderly couples at a larger table by the window in front. They probably want to know what is going on but she don’t care eager for some company. Not really meaning to she ends up spilling her guts telling them the circumstances why she is there. The table falls silent for a moment before they decide to console her by telling a story of how it came to be this way. During the 1980s before she was born the national government mandated DUI laws states were forced to accept or lose federal funding. No one was allowed to vote on them then and they probably never will. She could blame the cops but they were only doing as instructed by legislatures and courts even though they all took oaths to protect Amendment rights at all costs. Once the Constitution was breeched life in America was never the same and isn’t getting any better. All work and no play make for dull and unimaginative boys and girls. Funny how marijuana was illegal long before that until the majority of people finally got to vote on it. She is welcome to stay in town but winters in these parts could be brutal. Work is scarce and other women around her age will be difficult since there aren’t enough eligible men to go around as it is.
During the day Johnny stays low in back of the Lincoln Continental as the rail car it sits on is pulled by a locomotive often slowing down when approaching towns it must go through with barricaded crossings on both sides flashing red lights, bells clanking and cars lined up on both sides waiting for the train to pass. It isn’t until dark he dares going outside stretching his cramped legs by walking around on metal, grate walkways on both sides of the cars being transported. He then throws away candy bar wrappers and empty cans from food kept in his backpack and do his business. Further west the train goes towns get smaller and farther apart.
When the sun comes up in the morning he finds himself traveling in the rolling hills with green and yellow Nebraska wheat and corn fields all around. Doesn’t feel like there is much chance causing alarm by going outside now and gets in the driver’s seat of the luxury car pretending he is driving down the road. Upon spotting a clip on the sun visor he pulls it down finding a registration for the car. That’s odd for a car to be sold. Even stranger than that when going outside sees Utah license plates on the vehicle. None of the other new automobiles have any plates at all. This gets him thinking and starts fingering around under the dash until finally finding a metal, magnetic container stuck to the steering column with keys in it. Not long before he’s out opening the trunk where two black brief cases lay and hauls them to the back seat.
Although both containers have locks on them it isn’t hard prying them apart with a pocketknife. One case has clear plastic bags in it stuffed with white powder. No doubt some kind of drug no use to Johnny since he needs all his wits to survive now. But in the other brief case is a gold mine with hundred dollar bills wrapped in paper bands and stacked side by side, one bundle over the others. What better way to smuggle contraband across state lines with no chance of the car being stopped for any driving violation. He don’t think it wise taking all the money which would surely be tracked down, but what could it hurt to stuff several of the hundred dollar packets in his knapsack? No doubt they would be missed but maybe not worth causing a scene to go after. With the brief cases put back in the trunk and keys returned to the steering column night returns and he retires once again to the tan back seat of the Continental.
The train rattles all night across Wyoming only stopping to fuel up in Cheyenne. Once again the sun comes up but in a desolate countryside. Feels like he can breathe easier far away from confines of big cities. Besides, he isn’t about to find out what happens when this car reaches Salt Lake City. The train slows down upon entering Rock Springs to about twenty miles an hour as it approaches a railroad crossing. He recklessly jumps out of the Lincoln’s back seat abruptly hitting grey pavement and rolls to a stop in front of an approaching red convertible. Jumping fast to his feet Johnny stares face to face with Sonny sitting behind the steering wheel of the car. Startled, confused, and not knowing what to say, “Are you going my way?” blurts out of his mouth. Sonny’s not sure what to think. For some reason there is an immediate attraction between the two, perhaps because of the wild, desperate look in both their eyes. She’s been starving for some kind of camaraderie and makes a hasty decision. “Jump in” she responds. Johnny throws the backpack on the rear seat of the convertible, gets in the passenger seat and they head out of town south on Highway 191.
Eberling @ www.thndrsns.com
