After reuniting with Jay at Maine's tiny-ass airport, I managed to get a hold of Leo. My new truck driver friend was heading back in our direction. According to his message, he would be 'passing through in about two hours.'
'2hrs?' I texted back. That seemed a little long for this time of night, especially in Northern New England. As far as I knew, Maine was tiny. "Two hours?" I turned to Jay who was reclined across a row of seats, using his carry-on bag as a pillow. "Does that sound right?"
"I guess so," Jay said with a yawn. "If the bloke had to go all the way to Canada, that's easily a bloody five-hour round trip."
"Why does your accent seem more British than usual?" I asked, just to get a reaction.
"You do not call an Irishman a brit!" Jay reached behind his head, hurling something at me from his bag.
It took me a second to realize what it was. The small white object started to vibrate the moment it made contact with my arm. "Take back your 'personal massager.'"
"Who said it's mine?"
"Oh, fuck off." I returned my focus to my phone. Replying back to Leo, I was hoping for a play-by-play; one hour away, thirty minutes, just passed the exit, etc. Instead, I was met with an auto message, 'This user is currently driving. They will respond when they are safely off the road.' That made sense, but it was still annoying. And then my phone pinged.
Jay shifted his weight to his arms as he sat up. "Is that your friend?"
"No." I checked the message confirming my appointment time to take the GED test online. Thankfully It wasn't for another two weeks. "No, just a notification. I got a confirmed date to take the GED test online."
"Oh?" Jay, now fully awake, leaned over to look at my screen. "I didn't know that was something you could do online."
"I think it's one of those tests where you're required to be on webcam the entire time to avoid cheating." That would explain why I needed to pay a fee to get an appointment slot; there would be an actual human watching me, an idea which made me kind of nauseous.
"Couldn't you still surf the net?" Jay asked. "Or do they need to see your screen? That would be some major bullshit."
His choice of words made me chuckle. I couldn't help but find his 'bro' attitude endearing. "I don't think so. I mean, I know how to share my screen, and I wouldn't be offended if I had to. But there wasn't anything about it on the site."
"Sorry, mate, I didn't mean to get you bothered." He patted my arm. "You're a bright kid, it's going to be a walk in the park."
I looked at Jay, meeting the light of his eyes. He didn't speak like someone old enough to have an adult daughter. "All is forgiven if you promise to buy me a padlock."
"To keep my daughter from sucking your dick on camera?"
"Yes, please keep Becca locked out of the room. I can't imagine the kind of hilarious crap she'd try to pull."
"Yeah," Jay leaned back, resting his arm around my shoulder. "She's a real nutcase, but you know she loves you."
"Well, she is your daughter." I wasn't sure what I meant by that.
"I'd be honored to take credit for her sweetness, but she's also her mother's child," he said with a sigh. "Do you think she's actually pregnant? That's just the sort of rubbish her mum would pull."
"Hell, if I know. I haven't had the balls to make her take a test in front of me. As far as I know, she could be like one of those women who fake a pregnancy."
"And then murder a stranger on Facebook or Craigslist," Jay said with a laugh.
"Mostly Craigslist, right? I read a few different stories about people responding to ads offering free baby clothes or nursery supplies, but all they got was a beating and a bullet."
"I think some escaped," I muttered under my breath. "I heard stories of guys who answered the ad because their partner was too sick. They either scared off the potential attacker or were able to escape with their lives." I wasn't entirely sure if I was confusing actual news stories with internet horror fiction. "I just like to think that the world is not a completely fucked-up place."
Jay placed his hand over mine. I could feel the cold steel of his rings. One was a dragon, while the others were Celtic designs. "I wish you could see yourself the way I see you."
"Thanks, I guess." At first, I took that as a compliment.
'It had to be, right?' And then I realized, I knew what those words meant. He thought I was a naive little kid who believed in fairytales. I stood up, no longer comfortable with how close he was sitting.
"Marcus." Jay lowered his head, running his fingers through his hair. "You're a good person, and you deserve good things in life."
"What? No." My brain froze up like a computer. The way he spoke was surprisingly not patronizing.
"No? Because of the sin of pride? I never took you to be a religious man."
"And now you're joking about faith?"