Francis and Marco had been heading west on Interstate 80 for a couple of hours. The road was dark and depressing. Las Vegas seemed very far away. “This isn’t worth it,” Francis declared, breaking a long silence. “It’s going to take too much time.”
“Francis, relax! This is business. We’re not on vacation, we’re going to make money. When you have the extra dough in your pocket, you’re going to thank me. Suck it up and call Joyce. You’ll feel better once you get that over with. Tell her you’ll be back in a couple of days.”
Silently Francis picked up his cell phone, opened it, and grimaced. “My battery is going to die soon. And I don’t have my charger.” He dialed Joyce’s number. Her voice mail came on. “Hi, this is Joyce. Leave me a message.”
“Honey, it’s Francis. Give me a call. I hope you’re having a good time.”
When he hung up, Marco mimicked him. “Honey, it’s Francis…”
“She’s a good person,” Francis said. “We’ve both been taking advantage of her sweet nature.”
“I told you, I’ll be out of there very soon. Then you two can resume your exciting life together.”
“I like my life with Joyce,” Francis said defensively. He longed to be home. He wished he were sitting with Joyce watching television, hearing about her day at the pet store. In her quiet way, she was funny. The parrot who couldn’t stand him would be in the background squawking. Francis missed that, too. All the comforts of home. If I get out of this mess, he silently promised God, I’ll be so good you won’t believe it.
He tried Joyce’s cell phone three more times in the next half hour. She still wasn’t answering. He knew his battery was on its last legs so he left her a message to please call him on Marco’s phone and resumed staring out at the seemingly unending road in front of them. The unending white line. With each passing mile, his anxiety mounted. He fidgeted in his seat and caught sight of the dishwasher. Turning to Marco, he blurted, “I’ll buy Joyce another dishwasher. I think we should get rid of this one. It’s making me nervous. It’ll just attract attention wherever we stop along the way.”
“Now you’re talking sense, buddy,” Marco said. “I’ll get off at the next exit, and we’ll leave it on the side of the road somewhere. Maybe someone with a sink full of dirty dishes will get lucky.”
Francis breathed a sigh of relief. But he’d breathe an even bigger sigh of relief when Joyce called him back.
What was taking her so long?