Traveler

"Oh, yeah, I forgot, he's honest too," Shannon quipped.

Dawn just looked at her.

"Okay, okay, so he's a little full of himself sometimes, big deal. You can overlook that once he starts buying you expensive jewelry." Dawn didn't say anything and Shannon knew her well enough to know conceited people turned her off. "Okay, the least you can do is give the guy a shot."

She wasn't convinced. "I don't know..."

"Well at least think about it."

"Yeah, okay, I'll think about it," Dawn promised.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. Shannon left the apartment for a little while and didn't say where she was going but she was only gone a couple hours. No more was said about her and Al although she couldn't keep him from invading her thoughts from time to time.

When Monday rolled around, Dawn found herself very conflicted. She and Al shared a class together. It was a two o'clock class on nonfiction literature. She'd never tell Shannon but in spite of what he'd done, she missed him. She certainly didn't want another confrontation, especially in public, but she did want to see him—just to make sure he was alright.

The problem was he wasn't there. That concerned her. Rarely did Al ever miss a class. Maybe he didn't come because he knew she'd be there? Well, she was convinced he'd show up sooner or later. He wouldn't risk failing a class just because she was in it. Luckily, she had her part-time waitressing job to go to later that night. For the first hour of her shift she'd glance toward the door every time it opened to see if it was him but he never showed.

Later that night she had a hard time getting to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she'd see the pain screaming from behind his eyes when she told him she was breaking things off.

Tuesday was a carbon copy of Monday, he wasn't in class nor did he show at the restaurant that evening. When she didn't see him in class again on Wednesday she was really getting concerned. She thought about calling Terry, after all they were still roommates. She had resisted calling him earlier because she didn't want Shannon to know she was still worried about Al after what he did but after four days she had to check on him.

"Hi, Terry, it's Dawn."

"Hi, Dawn," he answered, elated that she called. "Hey, I saw Shannon; she said something about double dating on Saturday. I guess we're all going to the sh..."

"Terry, I haven't made up my mind yet but that's not why I'm calling. Al hasn't been in class all week. Is he sick or something?"

He was a little ticked that she wasn't calling to confirm their double date and even more ticked that she was asking about Al. He wanted to give her a little time to get over the guy so he wasn't pressuring her but after talking to Shannon he thought everything was all set for Saturday. "Dawn, I haven't seen Al since he took off on his bike last Saturday," he said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

Dawn hadn't even considered he hadn't returned since then. She was speechless while her brain was processing what he'd just said. Finally it registered. "You mean you haven't seen him at all since then?"

"Nope, now what about Saturday night; are we going or..." Suddenly he was talking to a dead line.

Again, she remembered the look of heart break and anger on Al's face as he left her apartment and wondered what other emotions he may have been experiencing; emotions that she couldn't read. For a moment her thoughts were frozen with fear. Finally reason worked its way through the fog. His parents...of course, she thought. He went home. That was the logical conclusion.

"Dawn, break's over," she heard the restaurant manager call.

"Yeah, I know. I need another five minutes," she answered. "I just have to make one more call." She hurriedly scrolled through her contacts. "Hello, Mrs. McCain?"

"Yes, who is this please?"

"Mrs. McCain, this is Dawn Spencer. How are you?"

"Oh, Dawn; it's nice to hear from you. How are you?"

"Ah, I'm okay. Listen, I just wanted to check and make sure Al is okay."

"Al? Isn't he there with you?"

"No, we, ah...we had a falling out a few days ago and I haven't seen him since. I...I thought maybe he went home."

"No, dear, we haven't seen him. He did call last week. Does this have anything to do with some girl saying he attacked her?"

Dawn was trying to hold it together but was getting more frantic by the minute. "Yeah, Mrs. McCain. Did he say anything when you talked to him; where he was going or anything like that?"

"No, I'm sorry, Dawn. We didn't talk long. His father got on the phone and started to yell at him and Al hung up on him. I wanted to call him back but Ralph wouldn't let me. He says he made his bed, he can lie in it."

Wow, Dawn thought; it certainly didn't sound like he got a lot of support from his folks. She wondered if there was a reason. Had he done something like this in the past? She had to ask. "Mrs. McCain, I've only known Al for three years. Has he ever attacked anyone before?"

"Oh no, never," she stated. "Al's always been a good boy. His father's just always been kind of hard on him. You don't really think he attacked that girl, do you?"

"Ah, I...I don't know what to think, Mrs. McCain." She was in silent thought again for a few seconds then wondered... Mrs. McCain, is he really not there or did he just tell you to say that if I called. If he did, just say yes."

"No, I'm sorry, Dawn but he's not here, honest. When you see him though, ask him to call me when his dad's not home. I know my boy. He'd never attack anyone so I'd like to find out what this is all about."

"I will Mrs. McCain. I'll tell him as soon as I see him."

Suddenly Dawn felt like she was breaking out in a cold sweat. Where could he be? Al never spoke much about his parents. She'd only met them a couple of times and they were short visits. Now she understood why. She thanked his mom then decided there was only one more person to call.

"Dawn!"

"Yeah, just a minute," she snapped back at her boss. She hit the call button.

"Hola."

What the hell? A Spanish speaking woman just answered Al's phone. Now she was confused. "Ah, hello; who is this?"

"Who is this?" the woman responded with a heavy Spanish accent.

"I am Al's girlfriend," she snarled. "Now who the hell are you?"

Suddenly the woman sounded frightened. "I...I did nothing wrong."

Dawn was getting exasperated. "I didn't say you did. I'm calling for Al McCain. Please put him on the phone."

"I...I'm sorry; I know no one named Al."

"Then how the hell did you get his phone?" Her voice went up several decibels.

"My son, he found it in the park," she replied.

"Dawn, if you don't get your ass out here right now I'm sending you home for the night," yelled her angry boss.

She was now bewildered and confused. She hung up because she couldn't think of any more questions to ask the woman. It didn't make sense. How could someone just find his phone like that? Where the hell was he?

"Dawn..." Her boss went to the break room to retrieve her but stopped when he saw she was white a sheet. "Ar...are you feeling okay? You don't look good."

Her eyes were listless as she looked up at him. "Ah, I...I have to go," she said in a voice that matched her eyes.

She was normally a good employee, a hard worker, and reliable. Obviously something was wrong so he told her to let him know if there was anything he could do and let her go for the night. Dawn was so preoccupied she didn't even think to thank him.

There was one more possibility. From Monday through Thursdays, Al worked as a bartender at Plato's Place. She hated to spend the money on a cab but she had no choice. She nervously waited outside the restaurant until it came.

She was happy to see the owner behind the bar when she walked in. She'd met him a couple of times when she was in there with Al. He seemed like a nice guy.

"Hi, Steve..."

"Hey...Dawn, right?" He didn't wait for her to answer. He had his own questions. "Hey, where's that lazy boyfriend of yours? Is he sick?"

Her heart sunk. "You mean he hasn't been in?"

"No; I haven't seen him since Friday night. Is he okay?"

"You mean Thursday night. He stays home and studies on Friday nights."

"No, I mean Friday night. My other bartender's wife was having a baby. Al came over to fill in for him."

"A...are you sure that was Friday night—last Friday night?"

"Last Friday night, yeah, of course I'm sure. The place was hopping. We worked shoulder to shoulder all night."

"What time did he come in?" she asked with a frantic voice.

"Eight o'clock, just like always; eight to two."

Dawn's legs felt weak and she sat heavily on a barstool. She lied, she told herself. Her best friend lied to her. Why? Why would she do something like that? She started to tear up. Finally Steve's voice broke through her cerebral daze.

"Dawn...are you okay?"

"Ah, oh Steve, I've done a terrible thing. I...I share an apartment with my girlfriend. Al always stays home on Fridays to study. It's about the only time he gets all week so I usually leave him alone and go to the library. Last Friday night my girlfriend said he came over to the apartment and molested her."

"What? Al? That's ridiculous; he'd never do anything like that."

"Your right, Steve, and that's exactly what I should have said. Instead I believe her. I got home about nine-thirty. My girlfriend was there and it looked like she'd been crying. She said Al had come by about eight and forced himself on her when he found out she was alone. There was another guy there who said he saw Al leaving the apartment about eight-thirty. He said it looked like he was angry so he knocked to see if everything was okay. That's when he found my girlfriend with her blouse ripped and almost in shock.

"I broke up with him and now he's disappeared. No one's seen him, his parents don't know where he is, and some Spanish woman said she found his phone in the park. I'm really worried, Steve. You don't think he'd hurt himself do you?"

Steve couldn't decide whether he was pissed at her or felt sorry for her. He knew how much Al loved her. Hell, she was the only thing he ever talked about. He could only imagine how devastated Al must have been. He tried not to sound incriminating. "I don't know, Dawn. I hope not. You should call the police and report him missing." He didn't want to tell her but if Al didn't have his phone on him, maybe he didn't have his wallet either. He could be a John Doe in the morgue.

"Yeah," she answered, still in a daze. "That's a good idea. I'll do it right now." She pulled out her phone before realizing she didn't have the cop's number. "Do you think they'll get mad if I call nine-one-one?"

"Yeah, that's for emergencies only. Here," he said looking at one of several phone numbers taped to the wall behind the bar. "The number's eight three six, nine one one two."

Steve listened in for several minutes while Dawn gave all the information to the cop on the other end of the phone. She told him her worries about Al possibly hurting himself and of the Spanish woman who now had his phone. The whole time she spoke, more and more tears were starting to flow and her voice was getting weaker. Toward the end of the conversation, the cop gave Dawn an email address for sending in a picture of Al from her phone. Steve prayed they didn't ask her to go and identify a body when she was all done. He sighed with relief when she hung up.

"What'd they say?"

"They're going to send his description and photo out to all the patrol cars and hospitals in the area. They're also going to contact that Spanish woman and see if they can get any more out of her. He said they'll take his phone from her and put it into evidence just in case of foul play. Oh Steve, I'm so scared."

"You did about all you can do, Dawn; that and pray, I guess. Here," he said, handing her a napkin to dry her eyes. "Can I get you a glass of water?"

She just nodded while she wiped the napkin over her eyes several times. "Why, Steve," she questioned as he laid the glass down on the bar in front of her. "I've known Shannon since we were kids. She knew I was in love with Al. Why would she lie to me like that? Why would she want to hurt me like that?"

The anger he felt earlier had pretty much subsided; only the sympathy remained. "I don't know, Dawn. Maybe she was jealous. It happens; sometimes people are jealous of someone else but it takes years to show itself. That's the only thing I can think of. Either that or she got really pissed at either you or Al for some reason. Did you have a fight or anything?"

"No," she sniffled.

Steve set several more napkins in front of her.

"We never fight and if she and Al would have gotten into it for some reason he'd have said something. God, Steve, what am I going to do if something's happened to him. I'll never forgive myself," she sobbed.

"Dawn, you were lied to. You can't blame yourself."

She stayed another half an hour while Steve tried to convince her it wasn't her fault. It was after ten by the time he put her in a cab and slipped the driver a twenty to take her home. She knew Shannon would be at the apartment when she got there.

Shannon hadn't been home long. She'd just gotten out of the shower and was putting her robe on when Dawn walked in. Shannon saw her red, puffy eyes and the tracks where tears streaked her cheeks. "Dawn, what's..."

She never even saw it coming. The open hand blow was so hard that it spun Shannon's head around and knocked her across the bed. The attack was so sudden she was scared to death as she felt the side of her face with her hand. She looked into the raging face of her long-time friend with fear.

"WHY DID YOU LIE TO ME? WHY, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?" Dawn screamed while leaning over her former best friend. She burst out in tears again as she sat on the bed and threw her face in her hands.

Still shocked, it took Shannon a minute to get her voice back. "I...I didn't..."

"STOP LYING!" Dawn shouted. "Al was at work all night Friday night. He was there with his boss serving drinks at the same time you said he raped you!"

Oh shit, Shannon cursed at herself. The jig was up. She never thought about getting caught in her lie. Al always spent Friday nights in his dorm room alone. Shit, shit, shit.

The side of her face felt like it was on fire. Before saying anything, she was going to get up and get something out of the freezer to put on it. Maybe she could come up with some kind of back up lie in the meantime.

***

Al was surprised at how much real estate he'd been able to put between him and his problems. Between his anger, adrenaline, and his life-long love of biking, he was already in Ohio.

He could have been a lot further if he'd had a course mapped out or even knew where he was going. He stayed off the main highways and just kept following county roads. East, that was the general direction but that was as far as his route was planned.

If he had been thinking at all he'd have thrown some clothes in his back pack before he took off. Talk about roughing it; he didn't stop Saturday night until two in the morning, not even to eat. Then he grabbed a couple winks on a park bench in Indiana somewhere. He was going to stop and buy some clothes on Sunday but just kept going. He didn't actually stop until Monday when he saw a Target in some small town in Ohio. By then he was smelling pretty rank and making himself sick. He was embarrassed going into the store like that but then he thought, hell—it's not like I'm ever going to see any of these people again. So, he stuck out his chin and went in to buy a couple shirts, a pair of slacks, some underwear and socks, a backpack and a small nylon pup tent. The pretty, young lady behind the register wrinkled her nose when he stepped up to pay.

It was early evening when he stepped out of the store. He'd already spent two nights in a row sleeping under the stars so he thought he'd treat himself to a shower and an actual bed for the night. He asked around for the cheapest motel in town...and found it; forty-five dollars a night and the cockroaches were free.

There was a coin operated laundromat only a couple blocks away so he took a shower then changed into clean clothes before washing the dirty ones. He felt like a new man by the time he stopped into a little diner for some supper.

The place didn't look that much different than where Dawn worked. Try as he did to not think about her, it was his first thought as soon as he walked in the door. He wondered what she was doing. Did she even know he left? Did she care? Probably not—not if she believed that bitch she lived with and she obviously did. His mind blocked out everything else around him as he drifted back to that last conversation.

She said there was a witness? This was obviously some kind of a conspiracy against him but by who...and why? He wasn't aware of having any enemies. He still wondered about Dawn—was she in on it or was she a victim?

Soon regret was squeezing its way between the anger and pain. Maybe I shouldn't have left, he questioned himself. I guess I could always go back—try to get to the bottom of this—see if I can find out who has it in for me. I could start with Shannon, but how would I get her to tell the truth? I couldn't threaten her physically, that would only make me look more guilty.

Damn, he wondered, was this just some stupid elaborate plot between Shannon and Dawn to dump me? But why would she go to those extremes?

He had finished eating by the time he realized it just didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. All his life he had tried to be someone he was proud of. To find out even his own parents thought him capable of such a horrendous act was more than heart breaking, it tortured his very soul.

No, there was no going back. What for? If living his life the way he had didn't convince those he loved, no amount of denial or proof was going to assure them of his innocence. No, he was alone. In the past he'd always hated being alone, now he'd embrace it. At least when the hurt finally goes away he won't have anyone else to hurt him again.

That night, in spite of the tormented thoughts swirling around in his brutalized brain, Al was still tired enough to be able to fall asleep.

Waking up in an actual bed for the first time in several days was nice. Al threw the sheet from his naked torso and swung his legs over the side, planting his feet on the cheap carpeting. He raised his head and the first thing that caught his eye was the checkout card on the back of the door. That's when everything from the last several days came into focus. Being careful not to flash anyone, he stood off to the side and pulled the drapes back three or four inches to peek outside. He knew he was in Ohio but that was as far as it went. From what he could see, it wasn't anywhere he wanted to stay.

After a nice long shower, Al made his way to the little diner again for a good, hearty breakfast. He wasn't sure how long he'd be on the road before eating again. On the way out of town he stopped at a Convenient store for a few Granola bars and to fill his water bottle then was back on his way. The sun had moved from in front of him, over his head, and was at his back by the time he stopped again.

During the day he had passed right through a couple more small towns but he was getting hungry so this one he would stop in. As he walked into the first diner he came to he wondered if they were all going to remind him of the one Dawn worked in.

He could run from the people but he couldn't run from his thoughts and memories. They'd been his constant companion since he left. At times the little voice in his head whispered notions of reconciliation and finding a way to work things out. Other times that same voice screamed in his ear with anger, pain, and rage, I don't need them, it would exclaim, fuck'em!