Homecoming Queen: Chapter 27

Lex slept like a baby in the backseat of the Cutlass, cuddling his pillow and blankie. Llayne glanced back and was glad he’d conked out before seeing how bad Highway 23 had become. When they left Mt. Pleasant three hours earlier, there had just been a light snowfall. Now they were in the middle of a full-blown blizzard. 

“Damn” she whispered to herself. “I can’t see a thing.” She tried wiping the inside of the windshield with her gloved hand, to no avail. It was a frozen, white waterfall coming at her and visibility was almost zero. At a snail’s pace, she let state highway signs show her where the road was, even though she couldn’t see the green things until she was right on top of them. And none of them could be deciphered, they were so covered with ice and snow. Only little bits of the corners peeked out to guide her way. 

But there was no way was she going to let this damnable storm stop her from reaching the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. They had new drugs there. Drugs that Lex needed. And by God, she would make certain he got there. 

The car skidded on ice, and she carefully moved the steering wheel in the direction of the spin. The vehicle corrected its course and once again crawled straight down the road. Thank goodness there hadn’t been any oncoming cars. Most drivers had wisely decided to stay indoors, so traffic was light. There were a few cars stuck in the snow on the sides of the road. Wreckers and police cruisers were often nearby, but pretty soon they wouldn’t be able to get through either.

She squinted to try to see past the windshield wipers, flapping away like shaggy ice wings. But without them the pane would instantly be covered with a sheet of ice. It was one of those “white knuckle” trips; she clung so hard to the wheel her knuckles were undoubtedly white under her thick gloves.

Thank goodness they had left at seven that morning, even though it was usually a two-and-a-half-hour drive and their appointment wasn’t until one in the afternoon. At the rate they were going, they’d just make it.

Finally, the exit sign for Ann Arbor loomed ahead. Enough snow had blown away that she could read -nn Arb–. Then, suddenly, about a quarter of a mile from the exit, the Cutlass died. It just died, dead, kaput. Slowly, she coasted to the side of the road, seething under her breath. “No. Don’t you dare do this to us.” 

“Honey, did you say something?” Lex asked innocently, having been roused in the backseat. 

“Oh, well, sweetie,” she said, mustering up every bit of calmness she could, “the car has stopped. It isn’t out of gas.” She pointed at the fuel gauge. “The engine seems to be dead. See?” She tried to start it. Nothing. Lex pulled himself up and watched as she tried again. Nothing. 

“This sucker’s deader than a doornail.” He shook his head in despair. 

She tried intermittently for ten minutes, but it wasn’t going anywhere. “Listen, sweetheart,” she said soothingly, “I’m going to have to walk to the gas station that’s at the end of this exit.” 

“Damn. It’s snowed a lot. How can you tell there’s a station down there? I can’t see a thing.” 

“There was a sign for it back aways,” she lied. She had to take a chance there would be a station. She had to try to get help because help wasn’t coming to them, of that she felt certain. Every wrecker or police car was by now either occupied or stuck themselves. “It isn’t far,” she reassured him.

“I don’t know. I don’t want you out there. It looks treacherous. Let’s wait until a police car comes by.” 

“We can’t wait that long. We’ll freeze to death first. Look, I’ve got warm clothes on. Boots, coat, scarf, hat, gloves. I’ll be fine. I’ll be back in no time.”

He glared outside and was appalled at what he saw. “Oh honey, I’m  so sorry. You’re going through all this hell for me. Listen, let me go. I’m feeling much better. I’ll do it.” 

“No. You’ve had that wretched flu ever since New Year’s Day, and you were in pain this morning and took one of those strong pain pills. There’s no way I’m going to let you go out there and pass out in a snow bank. Absolutely not.” 

“I’m so sorry. I hate this. Listen, sweetie, I know I can make it. I’m not letting you go.” 

“I’ll do as I please. There is no ‘letting’,” she said, stretching around to kiss him. “Don’t you dare get out of this car. I love you.” 

“I love you, too.”

She got out in a hurry, closing the door quickly so not too much of a Canadian blast would attack him. She wrapped her scarf tightly around her neck and mouth and turned to wave. He waved back, his broad face barely visible in the frozen glass.

The moment her back was to him her demeanor changed. “That useless piece of crap car,” she seethed, her voice muffled though her thick scarf. “I hate its frigging guts. Nothing but a pile of trash. Leave my husband out there to freeze to death. No way.

“And you God. Where in hell are you? How could you let a good man like this go through all this? Why don’t you pick on some damned axe murderer or something? We’ve got plenty of them around. They seem to be healthy enough to kill and kill over and over again. Where are you? You bastard. I hate you. Do you hear me? I hate you!”

Her tears froze the moment they fell from her eyes, forming tiny globules of ice that clung to her lashes. The inside of her nose froze, too, making each breath feel like a freight train moving through her nostrils. The deep snow fell into the sides of her boots causing each step felt like she was lugging lead. Trouncing through snow banks, sometimes three feet tall, she cussed and cried all the way across the field that appeared to be a shortcut between the Cutlass and what should be the end of the exit ramp.

Twenty minutes later an old gent glanced up in surprise when she entered his Shell station. He hadn’t seen a car drive up.

“Why, hello, miss,” he said politely. “My gosh. Here, let me help you.” He took the crying snowwoman by the elbow and led her around the counter to the back of the small station where an even older man sat by the fire of a Franklin stove. He immediately gave up his chair and Llayne plopped down. 

The first man said, “Miss, we have coffee and cocoa. Would you like a cup?”

“Co… cocoa,” she said, her sobs finally subsiding. “But I can’t stay here. I have to get help to my husband. Our car is dead out on the highway and he has to get to the hospital right away.” 

A pause ensued as the gentlemen absorbed what she’d said. 

“Okay,” the older one said, taking over. “You stay right here by the fire. Get out of your wet coat and boots while I call the police. Won’t do any good to call a wrecker, but the police will answer. Now, you get dry and warm or you’ll catch your death of pneumonia.” He went to a greasy yellow wall phone and dialed while the other guy went to the back of the room to get her hot chocolate. 

“But, but…” She popped up out of the chair, not knowing what to do. “We have to get back out there.” 

“Now, now,” the younger of the old codgers came back with her steaming cup of cocoa. “You need to get warm. The police will take care of this. There’s nothing you can do at the moment. If you try, you’ll only get lost in the storm and then the police will have to try to find you.”

“Oh, yeah. Okay.” She took off her gloves and hat and scarf and coat and laid them out on a stack of tires near the stove. Then she took off her boots and turned toward an oily patch of cement to empty them of snow. She left on her thick, wet socks as she stuck her toes up to the toasty, warm fire. The heat felt like heaven.”

While she drank her cocoa, the older man still talked on the phone. The other one rummaged around in a bucket and came up with a pair of hand-knitted wool socks. “Here. Jacob’s wife…” he nodded toward the man on the phone “…always keeps us in good supply. I’m Caleb.” 

“I”m Llayne. Thank you so much, Caleb.” 

She set down her cup and had to struggle to get her wet socks off her feet. When her feet were finally bare, Caleb handed her a towel, which looked like it was meant to be used when working on a car. She didn’t care. It felt wonderful to dry her frozen tootsies. When she pulled on the wool socks, she wanted to cry from the sheer bliss of it. She rubbed each socked foot to get the circulation going then put her feet up to the fire.

“Caleb, this is the best gift I’ve ever received. Will you be sure to thank Jacob’s wife for me?”

“I sure will. She’ll be so glad she was of help in this horrible situation. Now, Llayne, you walked here. I’m wondering if I could walk out there while we wait for help, so your husband won’t be alone. I know the lay of the land and won’t have any trouble. You can stay right here.”

She didn’t get a chance to answer.

“The police want to talk to you,” Jacob said. The wall phone had a long, spirally cord, so he was able to hand her the receiver without her needing to get up.  

They wanted to know if her husband’s illness was contagious. “I hope not,” she said. “It’s cancer.”

Within five minutes a police cruiser with heavy, metal snow chains on its tires pulled into the station to pick her up. It was miserable putting on her damp outer garments and leaving that fire to go back out into the cold, but at least her feet were warm and dry. Relief swept over her that they’d be getting back to Lex.

They drove the wrong up the ramp, which didn’t matter as no traffic was moving in either direction, and turned the cruiser around beside the Cutlass. Lex was so exhausted that one of the two officers had to help him into the back of the police car, beside Llayne. A wrecker showed up to take the car to the station to be fixed. The police car inched its away down icy roads to get to the front entrance of the University of Michigan Hospital, and again one of the policemen helped Lex as he shuffled inside the building. 

It wasn’t until later that Llayne realized she hadn’t thanked Jacob or Caleb or the police. It was inexcusable, but she didn’t have the energy to worry about it. 

After a half-hour examination of Lex, a Dr. Germaine came out to the waiting room to talk to Llayne. No one else was there, so he didn’t hesitate to say, “Mrs. Lexington, I’m so sorry, but your husband’s condition has deteriorated rapidly. I found a lump today on his neck, which means the cancer has developed into lymphosarcoma, a much more aggressive cancer than what they’ve seen in him to this point. That’s why he’s had these flu-like symptoms. He was in pain again, so I gave him another strong pain pill. He’ll be out for five or six hours. The experimental drugs that Dr. Klickensteiner wanted me to try on him won’t do any good now. The cancer is too far gone. The drugs wouldn’t do anything but make him sick. I’m so sorry. The prognosis has changed.”

When she didn’t say anything and merely stared at a bland abstract painting on the wall, he added, “Mrs. Lexington, do you understand what I’m saying?” 

She didn’t look at him. “I understand.” With that she dismissed the useless physician by putting on her soggy coat and going to get her groggy husband.

Back in the hospital lobby, Jacob and Caleb waited for them. An attendant had brought Lex down in a wheelchair.

“We’ve fixed it, Llayne,” Caleb said. “Your car had a dead battery, but there’s a bran’ spankin’ new one in there now. It’ll be fine.” 

 Jacob asked, “Do you need help finding a place to stay tonight? I’m sure my wife wouldn’t mind if you came to our place.” 

At that moment, they all looked out through the big glass doors, their attention caught by intense late afternoon sunlight, blinding as it reflected off of snow and ice.

“Wow. Look how pretty it is outside,” Lex slurred. “It stopped snowing. I’m so sleepy. I sure would like to go home to sleep in my own bed tonight.” 

“Oh, no,” both men protested at the same time.

Jacob said, “The snow clouds have passed over and the sun’s out, but the roads will be impassable for days.” 

Llayne didn’t give it a moment’s consideration. Her husband wanted to sleep in his own bed, and so he would. “Thank you so much,” she said, “but we already have a place to stay.” 

The men nodded, no doubt assuming she meant a nearby hotel. It was then she remembered she needed to pay them. However, they absolutely refused to let her give them money. At least she remembered to thank them this time. 

 They settled Lex into the back of the car, and she got in and took off toward home. This time it was a fairytale journey in a wonderland of crystal and white. She wondered if it was possible that the same vengeful God who had made the first trip such hell had given her this one as a gift. Although a few cars were splayed about on the highway like tinker toys buried in sparkling sugar, the Cutlass was the only vehicle in motion, blazing a trail through thick snow that parted to reveal a mirror of ice underneath. Surely it was the hand of God which nudged the machine in the right direction. Heavy icicles hung from snow-laden trees and power lines, glistening in the setting sun. Even those lines that were down and criss-crossing one another on the sides of the road added an element of tangled glory. It was like journeying through a web of wonder. Millions of diamonds, droplets of melting ice, twinkled everywhere. 

About forty miles from Mt. Pleasant, after it had grown dark, a snowplow joined her, so she fell in fifty feet behind it to make the drive easier. As the stars took their tour of the night sky, she pulled up at the apartment.

Lex got out on his own, gazed up at the sky, and said, “Look at the Milky Way. It’s a miracle, this life we have here on Earth, with all that’s going on out there.”

He went inside and slept in his own bed. 

Utterly exhausted, Llayne built a fire and drank more cocoa in front of it, cozy and warm in her comfy robe. She’d left on her wool socks, the small gift that meant so much. It seemed as if her skin felt the kindness of the woman who’d made them. And the kindness with which they’d been given offered hope for all humankind. There truly were selfless, wonderful people out there, random strangers brought into her life for the most horrific reason. 

She had been blessed in so many ways with so many good people in her life. But the best one of all would soon be gone.

When she finally finished her cocoa and tamped out the fire, she went to bed and wrapped her arm around her sleeping husband.

But tried as she might, her eyes refused to close for sleep.