Kyle Beauchamp
The Hitchhiker
It was approaching 5:30 a.m. according to the clock at the old Country Corner
Truck Stop And Diner. A familiar Stranger walked through the door and grabbed a copy
of the Grove Daily Sun local newspaper. At this point The Stranger was the only
customer in the diner.
Lucy the waitress broke the silence by saying, “Howdy cowboy, what can I do for
ya this mornin’?” as she put out one cigarette and lit another.
The Stranger responds by saying, “yes ma’am I will have two eggs over easy,
toast dry, and a cup of coffee black” Lucy took down his order on her little pink notepad
and sent it back to the kitchen. The Stranger opened up the front page of The Sun and
began reading the main headline “MASS MURDERER LOOSE AND HEADING
FOR THE BORDER!” Lucy brought his coffee as he took out his plug of smokeless
tobacco leaving a small puddle of brown stained saliva resting on his beard-covered chin.
The Stranger asked Lucy “Have you heard this story about that murderer running
round these parts?”
Lucy responded by saying, “why yea, of course, it’s been in all the papers, I don’t
know what would disturb a man to do something so wretched? I can understand if
someone did it out of revenge for a cheating wife or something like that, but it seems like
this maniac is doing this just for fun like it’s a game. But last I heard he was headin’
toward the Arkansas border, Bentonville maybe”.
The Stranger chipped in on her observation of the event and said slowly in his
deep scrappy voice, “Maybe it’s a sex thing.” The two made eye contact and The
Stranger’s eyes fixed on Lucy like a tiger eyeing his next meal.
Lucy looked back at The Stranger with a sense of uneasiness. She asked, “Would
you like me to warm up your coffee?” with a soft shaky voice, sounding a little more
nervous than when The Stranger first walked in. He nodded his head yes and continued to
read the paper. Lucy came back with a fresh pot of coffee filled up his cup and turned to
go back to place the coffee pot back on the burner.
As Lucy placed the coffee pot back in its assigned position The Stranger took a
sip of his coffee and stated, “It says here that the murderer has been killing his victims
violently with a switch-blade knife cutting their main arteries and letting them bleed out
slowly and painfully and after he does it he goes through their pockets, grabs their keys,
and then steals the victims car until he meets his next victim where he does it all over
again. That makes you feel kinda’ uneasy don’t it? Knowing that this guy is around these
parts, it could be anybody.”
“Well yea, I suppose but I’ve always been the kind of person who can take care of
themselves. Plus I’m sure if I saw this murderer I could spot him, I am usually a spot on
judge of character.” Lucy stated with her hands now shaking of nervousness. As The
Stranger finished his breakfast, Lucy quickly hurried over to grab his dishes and asked
him if he was ready for his check, for now she was more than ready for The Stranger to
leave. As Lucy turned around to take the dishes to the kitchen, The Stranger stood up as
to grab something from out of his pocket. His right hand grasped a cold metal handle as
his index finger activated the spring-loaded mechanism ejecting the razor sharp doublesided blade.
At that moment he started approaching Lucy from behind, wrapping his left arm
around her back pinning her up against him from behind as he then whispered in her ear
with a fierce animosity, “How do you judge my character?” And before she could even
open her mouth, The Stranger took the cold, shiny, and freshly sharpened blade and slid it
across her neck like a butter knife sliding through a stick of butter. The knife entered
Lucy’s neck slicing through her corroded artery and completely severed her jugular vein
with surgeon like accuracy. The Stranger manically pulled the knife out, and the skin on
her neck parted like the Red Sea as blood started spurting in pulses all over the diner.
Right before The Stranger dropped Lucy to the ground he rifled through her apron and
grabbed the keys to the red big body Ford pick-up truck parked right out front.
He set her on the ground without making a sound and kissed her on the forehead
and then started undressing her button by button all the way down her red, black, and
white long sleeve flannel shirt. Next to go were her slightly faded Levi Strauss blue jeans
first the top button then the zipper revealing the secret that The Stranger had been after
since he first stepped foot in this rinky dink hole in the wall diner. And finally the
delicates, pretty pink and lacy just as he liked it, he slid those off with ease and eagerness
and prepared himself for his reward from his newly slain victim. Of course, he leaves the
brazier in place, (he could never figure those things out anyways) and prepares to mount.
After all is through he walked back to where he was sitting grabbed his
newspaper and coffee and nonchalantly walked out the door. He shut the door making
sure it didn’t shut too loudly and approached the old Ford. The Stranger opened the door,
hopped in the drivers seat, cranked the engine, and put it in gear. The Stranger pulled out
of the parking lot and started heading east as he turned on the radio. As the music from
the radio started playing The Beatles song “Revolution”, The Stranger said, “Damn this
rock n’ roll bullshit, whatever happened to ole Hank, Marty, and Merle? Now that’s real
music.” Soon after The Stranger found a station to his content he approached a tall, thin
scraggly man walking down the road with his thumb raised toward the sky. As The
Stranger approached closer to The Hitchhiker he began to slow down to a complete stop.
He rolled down his window and said, “Hey there partner, where abouts you headed to?”
The Hitchhiker replied, “Umm well, I’m just headin’ a couple towns north to
Miami, you figurin’ on going up that way?”
The Stranger responded, “Well it must be your lucky day partner, because that’s
exactly where I’m headin’.” The Hitchhiker opened the passenger side door and climbed
in the old Ford placing what appeared to be an old suitcase full of clothes in the middle of
the benched seat.
The Hitchhiker got himself and his possessions situated and said, “Thanks for the
ride sir I’ve been walking for a couple hours and haven’t seen a car in miles.” The
Hitchhiker outstretched his hand and said “Pardon me for being rude I’m T…..”
As soon as The Hitchhiker was about to state his name, The Stranger said, “No
names son I’m terrible with them it’s jus another thing for me to forget. So you say you
headed to Miami huh. What you doing in them parts?”
The Hitchhiker replied, “Well, I’ve been looking for some work since I was in
Vinita a couple days ago, and some ole boy I ran into down there said his uncle was
looking for a hand on a ranch he had up in Miami. I was able to catch rides all the way to
Jay, but haven’t had much luck since then of course till’ you showed up. I’ve must’ve
been walking for the past day in a half or so.”
“Well damn son, you sure have had a stroke of bad luck haven’t you? What’s the
name of that there ranch you goin’ to?” The Stranger asked.
The Hitchhiker responded, “It’s Jude Campbell Ranch. That boy said was a nice
spread of land about a couple miles past the store on the left. Yes sir I sure ain’t the kind
to turn down three square meals and two dollars a day.”
“Well that sounds like a pretty good ole deal I’m not too sure I would’ve turn that
down back in my day. I know of a shortcut down passed the Zena turnoff, cut bout half
an hour off the drive.” Said The Stranger.
The Hitchhiker said, “Sounds good to me. The sooner the better, I wouldn’t know
my way round these parts anyways. The mechanic at the fillin’ station just pointed me in
right direction so that’s the way I went.”
“I tell you what partner, you sure do have more guts than me, flagin’ down folks
round these parts. You ain’t seen the paper today boy? There’s been some crazy running
round cuttin’ folks up. Here check it out for yourself.” The Stranger picked up the copy
of The Grove Daily Sun and handed it to him.
The Hitchhiker grabbed the newspaper out of his hand and started reading the
article following his finger after every word. After about 5 minutes of silence between the
two of them. The Hitchhiker said, “Sorry it took so long I don’t read so good. But
anyways I don’t give a damn I ain’t scared of no one. If that crazy ass tried to do that to
me, I swear it would be the last time.”
The Stranger said, “You a cocky son of gun ain’t you?” as he started slowing
down the truck to a near stop, pulling off to the side of the road.
The Hitchhiker asked, “Why the heck are you slowing down for?” with a little bit
of anxiety in his voice, as he nervously puts his hands in his old leather jacket pockets.
The Stranger answered, “You better start getting scared you cocky piece of sh…”
as soon as The Stranger pulled out his bloody blade, BAM! The Hitchhiker reacted with
cat-like reflexes, pulled a piece of re-bar out of his jacket pocket, and smashed it right
into the side of The Strangers head, right around the temple region of the skull.
Rendering him unconscious.
The Hitchhiker said, “I told you I ain’t scared of no one you crazy mother
fucker.” He then grab the knife out of The Strangers now loosened grip, detracted the
blade back into the handle and stuck it in his pocket. As soon as he disarmed the
unconscious maniac, he slid him in the passenger seat, turned the truck around, and
started speeding back to the Phillips 66 they had just passed about two miles back to
phone the Sheriff.
The Hitchhiker slung the car in gear and spun the tires as he nervously sped down
the road. As soon as he started flooring the accelerator he saw a police car fly passed him
with his sirens on. The Hitchhiker started to ease off the gas as the Deputy started to turn
around. The Deputy quickly caught up to the old Ford pickup and pulled it over. The
Hitchhiker thought to himself how lucky he was to have an officer get to him so quickly,
before he even made it back to the filling station. The Deputy approached the driver’s
side of the door, swiftly opened the door, and yanked The Hitchhiker out by his shirt
placing all five of his knuckles on the side of The Hitchhikers face, knocking him off his
feet onto asphalt under him. The Hitchhiker was in complete shock at The Deputy’s
reaction and was rendered speechless on the ground.
All that he heard was The Deputy yelling, “Why the hell did you kill my wife you filthy
prick!” as he went through his pocket finding the bloody switchblade. The Deputy
quickly pressed the button activating the blade and sticking it right into The Hitchhikers
abdominal region, he then pulled out his 45-caliber pistol and put a round right in
between his eyes at point blank range, spraying blood, pieces of his brain, and chunks of
his skull all over the street where The Hitchhiker laid, leaving blood spatter across the
front of The Deputy’s uniform. The Deputy then saw The Stranger lying in the front seat
and quickly went to him with his sense of revenge fulfilled for the moment, and called for
help over his walky talky as The Stranger began to come back to his senses.