Kayla shivered from the cold wind as she walked in the dark with her fingers tucked under her armpits to keep them warm. The light jacket with broken zipper did little to keep her warm, and it rubbed her cold nipples until they started to feel raw.
She kept her head down as she walked to shield her face from the bitter cold.
Her boyfriend Larry had been drinking for two weeks straight. Kayla couldn't take another night of his drunken, babbling verbal abuse.
She could tell it was going to be an instant replay of the last two nights. He was already demanding that she bring him another beer, and telling her that she was worthless, telling her that he should not need to tell her his bottle was empty. Telling her that she needed another lesson on how to give a proper blow job.
Kayla walked out the front door of their dumpy apartment to smoke a cigarette. Larry sat on the couch watching some stupid reality show about mountain men in Alaska.
Outside, she lit a half smoked cigarette, then walked across the dead grass that covered the small front yard. She stopped and looked both ways then turned her back to the wind and started walking.
Kayla stepped off the broken sidewalk and crossed the road at a stop sign that swayed in the wind. She tucked her chin under her light jacket and headed north on the highway. The farther she walked the more she felt a sense of freedom.
Kayla walked faster and faster until she was almost running. With no place to go, no money and nothing more than the clothes she had on and half a pack of cigarettes.
The wind chilled her thru her clothes. She thought about turning around and going back but she just kept walking.
Nineteen years old, alone and hundreds of miles from her family. Kayla truly felt like her life had just taken a turn for the better.
She could hear a car approaching from behind in the distance. The car's headlights lit the trees around her.
She moved to the edge of the road and kept walking with her head down hoping the car wouldn't stop. The thought of some drunk men chasing her thru the woods made her feel even colder.
Paying close attention to the sounds, she could tell the car was slowing down as it got closer. It pulled over and stopped just after it passed her.
Kayla felt nervous, but she kept walking until she was beside the car. The passenger window opened and a voice asked.
"Why are you out walking in this weather?"
She looked in the window to see an older, gray haired man with a big smile.
"I'm Just walking!" she replied.
He looked at her, with a concerned tone in his voice he said
"You're going to freeze your ass off out there, get in!"
He waved his hand motioning her to hurry as he picked up some stuff from the seat and tossed it in the back. He seemed pleasant enough and she was getting colder just standing there. Kayla opened the door and climbed in. The warm hit her as soon as she shut the door and it felt wonderful.
The silvery, gray haired man put the car in gear and asked as they pulled onto the highway. "Where to sweetheart?"
Kayla realized she had no destination in mind, no place to go and she hadn't really given it much thought. She was just running away from her life as it was.
She answered thru chattering teeth. "I dddon't know Sssir, I was just walking away from unhappiness!"
The older gentlemen was silent for a short time, then he told her.
"I've been in your shoes myself sweetheart;" "I know the feeling but you're not dressed for the weather and I'm betting you're flat broke too, so what's your story? If I may?" He glanced at Kayla and smiled, Then looking back at the road he waited for her answer.
Kayla hadn't realized how cold she really was. She sat shivering and hugging herself.
He seemed sincere in his concern. Kayla started talking and he just listened as he drove. She told him about her boyfriend and how they had ended up in this place. How she lost her job because they couldn't afford to pay rent and fix the car to get to work.
The drinking and verbal abuse and how she had walked out to smoke a cigarette and just kept walking.
Ahead in the distance, lights of a small town reflected an orange glow off the low clouds. The man said he was going to get something to eat and gas up the car. He asked Kayla if she was hungry and offered to buy her dinner.
She accepted his offer as they pulled into the small town. He gassed up the car than parked in front of a small empty restaurant.
It made Kayla smile when he offered his hand and said. "My name is Taylor!" they had not introduced themselves but for some reason he felt like an old friend to her.
"I'm Kayla!" she smiled at him and shook his hand.
"Well Kayla, let's get something to eat!" he said as he reached over the seat and pulled a sweater from the back seat. He handed it to Kayla. She slipped the extra large sweater on over her light jacket. The sleeves hung well below her hands.
Inside the restaurant they sat in an old booth with worn out seat cushions. A big woman with a dirty apron and stringy hair took their order. She looked tired and Taylor got the feeling she was also the cook.
He ordered coffee and a hamburger.
He told Kayla. "Order whatever you want, I'm having coffee because I have another three hour drive to get home."
Kayla ordered the same and asked Taylor where he lived. Taylor started talking now and Kayla just listened as she took a sip of the hot coffee.
She set her cup down and wrinkled her nose.
Taylor laughed and said "This coffee is strong! I think I could spread it on toast!"
They both laughed.
Taylor was a very soft spoken gentlemen with a funny sense of humor. He made Kayla feel comfortable.
"A few miles west of Denver." he said. "I lost my wife of twenty four years two years ago. I'm thinking about moving to Santa Fe." he sipped his coffee. "I went there yesterday to look at a house."
He went on to say. "It's so lonely at home now, we never had children and what little family I have left live back east."
He smiled, looked at Kayla and said. "I guess in a way I'm doing the same thing you are Kayla, just running for my life!"
