He was good at not asking any questions.

Questions like, why did he bring a truck load of cars from Savannah down to Coco Beach in Florida, spend one night in a local hotel room across the street from the car dealer. Then drive the same truck load of cars back up to Savannah the next Day? But he always kept his mouth shut.

This was his first time going north to Virginia. Instructions were simple and never written down. Go up I-95 to Emporia in Virginia then onto Hwy-58. Go thru Courtland to Ivor Road and turn left. Then make a delivery at the car lot in Ivor. He was to drive up on Friday, get there in the evening, and leave to come back on Sunday morning. Coming back he was to go up 460 to I-95 then back to Savannah. Like always he was had been given an envelope of cash for fuel and other expenses and was told what hotel to stay at in each town. He never asked questions and life was good.

He had grown up in Savannah and this was his first time up North. The only thing he knew about Virginia was that a girl who used to live in the same trailer park he grew up in was supposed to have moved there.

But what were the odds of running into her? Besides that, he hadn’t known her that well. To help keep his mind focused and awake while he was driving he tried to remember her. She was a couple of years behind him when she dropped out of school. He really only had two memories of her, both were violent.

When his family first moved to the Isle of Hope trailer park he was waiting at the school bus stop with the other kids, casually checking everyone out. When you’re the new kid sometimes it pays to move slowly in getting to know other people. There was another boy who kept ragging on one girl about wearing the same dirty clothes to school every day for a week. The girl was not overly pretty but not bad looking either. Skinny with long dark brown hair. His comments to her for wearing the same dirty clothes had gone on for at least a week. Everyday her clothes were a little dirtier and his taunts a little more insulting. She never said anything to him just kept in her own little world inside her head.

This particular morning though, the kid had evidently gone too far. She had taken enough and slowly turned to him. The boy belatedly realized he had gone past the line and put his hands up in front of his face, like he thought he was in a boxing match. The girl didn’t cry, scream or any of the things other girls do. In fact she almost smiled at him then suddenly kicked him just below the knee cap. His hands went down to grab his leg and she head butted him in the face and broke his nose.

He was on the ground screaming while she sat on his back. She rubbed a handful of dirt in his face while whispering softly in his ear “Who’s dirty now?” Then she stood up, grabbed her book bag from where she had dropped it, and went back to waiting patiently with the others. Everyone in line stared anywhere but at her. They pretended that nothing had happened. Meanwhile the boy was lying in the dirt at their feet bleeding and sobbing.

The other time he remembered seeing her was when an older boy, who was also new, thought he would have some fun.