Runaway Bride, chapter 4
"Tre...oh God." I whimpered and sniffled from my place on the ground. It was weird...you know how they say before you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes? Instead, the last two days with Tre kept flashing over and over, as if my time with him was about to die. I was terrified, I didn't know what to do, if I should keep calling for him, or if it was too late. And if that was the case....I didn't know what I was going to do. I had been so happy, and if it was all going to be ripped away from me now...I continued to cry.
Just as I thought I was at the breaking point, Tre's head appeared from the other side of the car. I didn't know what to think, all I knew was that he was alive! An amazing relief and happiness washed over me.
"Oh my God! Cassandra!" He ran over to me and took me in his arms. I was so glad to see him I barely noticed the pain in my back and neck from the way he was holding me.
"Tre...Tre..." I continued to wipe away tears, but now they were tears of joy.
He looked at me. "We have to get out of here." I noticed it was the exact same thing he had said when the hotel room had been on fire, and I knew that this time it was more true than ever.
"Can you walk?" he asked, and gently helped me to my feet.
"I think so..." The force of the crash had made me extremely weak and tired, but I knew that we needed to leave before someone showed up. I managed to hobble, with Tre's help, over to a cluster of trees near where the car had crashed.
He sat me gently on a fallen tree and began to pace.
I started to cry again. "Tre...What are we going to do?" I realized how hopeless our situtation was becoming. At first being rebellious had been kind of fun and dangerous and scary, but then I hadn't been thinking of the future. Now we had no food, no car, I didn't even know how much money Tre had left. I hadn't even known to where Tre had been driving, or what we were supposed to do with the rest of our lives. It was becoming clearer and clearer to me that we were going to need some help, but from who? It wasn't like we could go back to my parents and my husband. Tre was right, they would probably find some way to put him in jail, and me in some kind of therapy. I cried harder as the terror welled up inside me.
"Cassandra." Tre looked serious. He put his hand under my chin and brought my face up so he could look deep into my eyes. "Look. I know it seems hopeless. And I know you're scared" It was scary how he could almost read my thoughts. "But I'm going to find us a way out of this. But I'm going to need to think, and you're going to need to be strong for me, okay? Can you do that?" I nodded. "I know you can." He gave me a little smile and sat down next to me.
He put his arm around me, and just the nearness of him made me feel inexplicably better.
"Tre." I know he said that he had to think, but I needed some answers. "Where were you planning on driving us to, anyway?"
"Well," he smiled guiltily. "I hadn't exactly had it all planned out, but I was hoping we could go back to California, and I know some people there that could...help us get new lives. And I could have gotten a job and saved up some money so we could go live somewhere...maybe on the east coast? New York? Would you like that?"
This all sounded so wonderful, almost too good to be true. I didn't know what to say. I didn't really know how we could do any of that now, or even what we could do now. I shrugged.
"Okay, well, we'll leave that until later. Right now I'm going to look around, and see what's around here." he got up and wandered off. I waited impatiently, just wanting him to come back with a flawless plan and say that everything was going to be okay.
He returned about fifteen minutes later. "There's a bus stop over there" he gestured with his arm. "And I think Billie Joe might have left a little money from our last couple of shows in the van. I'm going to check. Stay here, don't move." he said quickly, and left again, leaving me to wonder who in the hell Billie Joe was. He finally came back with a pile of clothes and other random things, stuff he must have salvaged from the car.
"I figured I might as well have taken everything, just in case we needed it." Tre explained as he set the pile on the ground and began to dig through it.
He smiled as he handed me some jeans. "You might want to put these on." I looked down at myself and realized that in all the excitement I had forgotten to put on clothes, and was still wearing the old Ramones shirt Tre had given me in the hotel room. "Thanks." I said, my face slightly red from embarrassment. The jeans were obviously his, and were way too big on me. But it wasn't like I had a suitcase full of other options, so I accepted the strange outfit and watched Tre go through the rest of the things.
He uncovered more shirts and pants, some cables and broken guitar strings, one lone drumstick, and a random red baseball cap. "Hey, I can use this." he said, putting the cap haphazardly on his head. I smiled at the way it made his hair stick out from the sides of his head. "I guess we should keep the rest of these clothes, for whatever." he said, folding and piling them on the ground.
"And!" Tre grinned and pulled out a wad of bills from his pocket. "Look...one hundred and twenty-eight dollars, and..." he dug around in his pocket. "Thirty-seven cents."
"That's great, Tre." I said, but my voice revealed otherwise.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his smile fading.
"I don't know...what are we going to use that money for?"
"Bus tickets, of course. To California. They can't be much more than that, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. Did you ask?"
"Well...no." Tre got more discouraged with each question I asked. I felt bad, but I felt a need to be realistic.
"Come on!" he said, trying to be cheerful once again. "The bus doesn't wait for anyone, now does it? Let's go buy us some tickets to freedom, shall we?"
I nodded and tried to smile. Tre helped me to my feet and we walked in the direction that he had said the bus stop was.
Finally my curiousity got the better of me. "Tre...who's Billie Joe?"
Just as I thought I was at the breaking point, Tre's head appeared from the other side of the car. I didn't know what to think, all I knew was that he was alive! An amazing relief and happiness washed over me.
"Oh my God! Cassandra!" He ran over to me and took me in his arms. I was so glad to see him I barely noticed the pain in my back and neck from the way he was holding me.
"Tre...Tre..." I continued to wipe away tears, but now they were tears of joy.
He looked at me. "We have to get out of here." I noticed it was the exact same thing he had said when the hotel room had been on fire, and I knew that this time it was more true than ever.
"Can you walk?" he asked, and gently helped me to my feet.
"I think so..." The force of the crash had made me extremely weak and tired, but I knew that we needed to leave before someone showed up. I managed to hobble, with Tre's help, over to a cluster of trees near where the car had crashed.
He sat me gently on a fallen tree and began to pace.
I started to cry again. "Tre...What are we going to do?" I realized how hopeless our situtation was becoming. At first being rebellious had been kind of fun and dangerous and scary, but then I hadn't been thinking of the future. Now we had no food, no car, I didn't even know how much money Tre had left. I hadn't even known to where Tre had been driving, or what we were supposed to do with the rest of our lives. It was becoming clearer and clearer to me that we were going to need some help, but from who? It wasn't like we could go back to my parents and my husband. Tre was right, they would probably find some way to put him in jail, and me in some kind of therapy. I cried harder as the terror welled up inside me.
"Cassandra." Tre looked serious. He put his hand under my chin and brought my face up so he could look deep into my eyes. "Look. I know it seems hopeless. And I know you're scared" It was scary how he could almost read my thoughts. "But I'm going to find us a way out of this. But I'm going to need to think, and you're going to need to be strong for me, okay? Can you do that?" I nodded. "I know you can." He gave me a little smile and sat down next to me.
He put his arm around me, and just the nearness of him made me feel inexplicably better.
"Tre." I know he said that he had to think, but I needed some answers. "Where were you planning on driving us to, anyway?"
"Well," he smiled guiltily. "I hadn't exactly had it all planned out, but I was hoping we could go back to California, and I know some people there that could...help us get new lives. And I could have gotten a job and saved up some money so we could go live somewhere...maybe on the east coast? New York? Would you like that?"
This all sounded so wonderful, almost too good to be true. I didn't know what to say. I didn't really know how we could do any of that now, or even what we could do now. I shrugged.
"Okay, well, we'll leave that until later. Right now I'm going to look around, and see what's around here." he got up and wandered off. I waited impatiently, just wanting him to come back with a flawless plan and say that everything was going to be okay.
He returned about fifteen minutes later. "There's a bus stop over there" he gestured with his arm. "And I think Billie Joe might have left a little money from our last couple of shows in the van. I'm going to check. Stay here, don't move." he said quickly, and left again, leaving me to wonder who in the hell Billie Joe was. He finally came back with a pile of clothes and other random things, stuff he must have salvaged from the car.
"I figured I might as well have taken everything, just in case we needed it." Tre explained as he set the pile on the ground and began to dig through it.
He smiled as he handed me some jeans. "You might want to put these on." I looked down at myself and realized that in all the excitement I had forgotten to put on clothes, and was still wearing the old Ramones shirt Tre had given me in the hotel room. "Thanks." I said, my face slightly red from embarrassment. The jeans were obviously his, and were way too big on me. But it wasn't like I had a suitcase full of other options, so I accepted the strange outfit and watched Tre go through the rest of the things.
He uncovered more shirts and pants, some cables and broken guitar strings, one lone drumstick, and a random red baseball cap. "Hey, I can use this." he said, putting the cap haphazardly on his head. I smiled at the way it made his hair stick out from the sides of his head. "I guess we should keep the rest of these clothes, for whatever." he said, folding and piling them on the ground.
"And!" Tre grinned and pulled out a wad of bills from his pocket. "Look...one hundred and twenty-eight dollars, and..." he dug around in his pocket. "Thirty-seven cents."
"That's great, Tre." I said, but my voice revealed otherwise.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his smile fading.
"I don't know...what are we going to use that money for?"
"Bus tickets, of course. To California. They can't be much more than that, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. Did you ask?"
"Well...no." Tre got more discouraged with each question I asked. I felt bad, but I felt a need to be realistic.
"Come on!" he said, trying to be cheerful once again. "The bus doesn't wait for anyone, now does it? Let's go buy us some tickets to freedom, shall we?"
I nodded and tried to smile. Tre helped me to my feet and we walked in the direction that he had said the bus stop was.
Finally my curiousity got the better of me. "Tre...who's Billie Joe?"
