Ellen sat in front of the television set on the sun porch of her mother's home a few miles outside the city. She relaxed with a glass of lemonade in her hand, letting her thoughts go back for the first time to the violent experiences that had transpired only a few days before. She recalled with a strange sense of gratefulness how Billy, Cash and Pop had driven her to the outskirts of the suburban village where she lived and remembered the last look of almost gentle affection Billy had given her before the truck had disappeared forever – traveling the entire length of the Florida Peninsula before inevitably approaching their capture that she had read about briefly in the newspaper that morning.
She heard her older sister's voice coming from the living room behind her, and smiled as Jennifer entered the sun porch and embraced her warmly. Ellen had made up a few excuses to her family about staying with a friend in Tampa for a few days and that had satisfied her mother somewhat; and now the young girl felt she could continue her life without having to bare the sordid details of her kidnapping to anyone. It just wouldn't help things, she thought, and she felt she could be closer to her sister by not mentioning the lewd spectacle of Jennifer fucking two men at the same time that had sent her off onto the lonely road that night and resulted in her kidnap-rape.
"Well," Jennifer said, smiling and sitting down on the divan in front of Ellen. "Don't we look rested now?"
Ellen shrugged and sat down next to her sister, offering her a sip of lemonade. "I really feel fine. You know, a little vacation really does a person a world of good."
"I've got a date with Phil tonight," Jennifer said. "What do you think I should wear?"
Ellen smiled to herself, knowing that her sister had no idea what she had seen from the sand dune a few days before. She thought for a moment and then said, "Something light and comfortable. It's warm out and maybe a mini would be nice."
Jennifer nodded and trotted off the porch, leaving Ellen alone with her thoughts again. The young girl leaned forward and turned on the color television once more. The news was on and she watched film clips of an earthquake disaster flash onto the screen.
A moment later the picture of three handcuffed men being led up a stairway to a courthouse appeared before her, and Ellen felt an electric shock run down the length of her spine when she recognized the figures of Billy, Cash and Pop, although all three of them tried to cover their heads.
For a brief instant Billy turned his face toward the camera, and Ellen thought she could make out a searching look in his eyes that reminded her of the last tender glance he had given her before the pickup truck had dissolved into the semi-tropical darkness of the Florida night.
And suddenly she was weeping again – crying for him and what he might have been… and what he would mean to her through the long sunny days ahead.