I bring her on the rig to hide her. Legally, she’s mine, but I don’t know if they can take her from me.
Amelia’s hair traps the smell of pine freshener and Armor-All. How did Grace keep those rat nests out of our five-year-old’s hair, anyways?
Amelia munches on the truck stop-hot dog; grease and ketchup drip down her chin and make a mess of the seat. The failing shocks bounce Amelia up and down like an amusement ride. In an hour, she will cry from the gassy belly she will have. Truck stop-hot dogs. -not exactly the diet to sustain the growth of a young child.
“I’m tired. I wanna go home.”
“You can take a nap on the bed.”
“No,” she screams.
The novelty of the bed has run its course. At first, she never wanted to come out of the sleeper. Now I can’t get her to go in it.
“I want Mommy.”
As do I.
I slam my brakes for the reckless driver. Amelia’s body flies forward, barely restrained by the oversized belt. The road is no place for a five-year-old girl stuck in the company of a newly widowed bachelor.
My mind flashes to Steve showing up at Grace’s funeral. I didn’t expect him there. I had always wondered if he and Grace had been more than friends. But nothing could prepare me for what he did. Steve slipped an envelope in my hand as he walked out of the funeral parlor.
Talk about tacky. Couldn’t he have picked another time, any other time except the day I buried my wife?
I now sit in the cab of the truck. Four hours have passed since I lost Amelia in the truck stop. Should I call the cops? I pull Steve’s letter out of my pocket. I have looked at it a thousand times. The DNA test matches Steve as Amelia’s biological father.
I jump from the pounding on the cab and open the door to the lot lizard.
“Pete, I found your daughter,” she says, handing Amelia to me. Amelia wraps her sooty arms around me and sobs.
“Thanks.” I hand the lot lizard a hundred.
“Listen, this is no place to raise a little girl.”
“I know, but this is how I don’t lose her.”
“If you keep her trucking, then this is how you’ll lose her.”
I can’t lose her.
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Hiding Amelia
by Stephanie Daich
