By Jan Petersen and Jodi Rezac
Based on a true life adventure from one of Jodi’s Middle School friends.
This story is based upon a true tale. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
The murderer was bored. He was driving his huge Kennelworth semi-truck between the cities of Des Moines and Omaha and he was sick of driving and sick of sitting behind the wheel. “What can I do for fun?” he muttered to himself. As he pulled out to pass the car in front of him, he caught a glimpse of two of the cutest girls he had ever seen! And, they were going his way! “Well,” thought he, “this may not be such a bad trip after all.”
Not knowing if his ‘attempt at fun’ was going to work, he nevertheless turned on his CB radio. “Hello, car in the right lane, this is your friendly Kennelworth driver wondering if you can hear me.”
“We can!” was the instant response from the driver of the blue Camry. She flicked her head to the left, gave a finger wave, and smiled. The truck driver saw that she sported a long brown pony tail and wore glasses. The girl in the passenger seat gave a horrified look toward her friend who was responding to this guy!
“What are you doing?” she shrieked. “Don’t you know this is dangerous behavior?” (He, of course, could hear this.)
“Oh, I’m just having a little fun,” remarked her friend and looked over at the trucker again. Mr. Murderer smiled at Eleanor and gave a thumbs up back to her. Ellie said to B, “Boy, is he cute! Look at that gorgeous blond hair and those big bulging arms!”
B, as her friends called her, groaned and murmured, “Ellie, don’t play this game; it could be a disaster.” A few minutes later, B asked Ellie, “Could we pull in at the next rest stop? I need to use the rest room.”
“Sure,” smiled Ellie, “it will be a good time for a break.” Mr. Murderer was right behind them.
About 10 minutes later, the sign for the rest stop appeared and Ellie prepared to stop. As she glanced in her rearview mirror, she saw that the Kennelworth semi was pulling in behind her. “Ah,” Ellie thought to herself, “just look at this luck. Here comes Mr. Incredible.”
The car glided to a stop and the girls jumped out. B started for the rest room and didn’t look back. It was just beginning to darken in the skies ahead of them, and B wanted to be back to Omaha before it got too late. School tomorrow, she sighed. B was a senior at the University of NE at Omaha majoring in nursing. She needed to hit the books this week in preparation for mid-terms.
As she washed her hands, B wondered if Ellie had come into the bathroom. She started out the door and stopped to catch her breath. Ellie was talking to the truck driver! “Oh, great,” thought B. “What if this guy just wants to pick up stupid women and rape or murder them! I don’t like this at all.”
Ellie waved B over and introduced her to the Kennelworth man whose name, it turned out, was actually Ken. He was, B thought, kind of cute after all. As Ken smiled at her, his brown eyes squinted upward and accentuated his attractive face and hair. B felt herself going a little weak in the knees. What was wrong with her? She was entertaining thoughts about a deviant?
Ken put out his hand and said, “And what does the B stand for, may I ask?”
“I’m Barbara, but my friends call me Barbie,” she squeaked. And then she blatantly asked, “Are you a murderer and are you after us? I am pretty scared right now.”
“Well, no. I’m not. I’m just a college kid trying to make some money driving truck on the weekends, but I was wondering if you girls were prostitutes looking for a guy to shack up with! And, one with money.”
Barbie and Ellie stared at Ken. And then, Barbie burst into laughter and the other two followed her lead. “How silly we all must seem. Prostitutes! Do we look the part?” Barbie giggled. “Boy, Ellie, I must be Stereotypical Barbie after all! Here I thought this guy was going to do something unspeakable.”
Ken shook his head and said, “Well, you had me fooled, too. Long blond hair, bright blue eyes, washed out denim jeans and a hell of a smile. When we get back home to NE, can I ask you out for a coffee?” Barbie lowered her eyelashes and said quietly, “I think I’d like that.”
Then Ken turned to Ellie and said, “Ellie, you are cute, too, but this one grabbed my heart.”
THE END
