Dog, window, freeway, boiling blood.

Pets weren’t allowed at the motel. I didn’t want to share a room anyway, so I offered to let the pup sleep with me in the van.

I gambled dollars on video poker and broke even. Nick wouldn’t let them gamble. I drank a few free whiskey sours while I played and went back to the van. The pup was on my bed. He was small and brown with a big head. I picked him up and held him in front of my face. Some little creature. Without her he would die. He clamped his gums around my finger. I liked his puppy breath. His little eyes were barely opening and they were dark blue. He was a feisty little shit. We wrestled a bit and he fell asleep on my chest, his head buried under my chin. I didn’t mind at all. During the night he would whimper so I stuck my finger in his mouth and he sucked on it until he bonked out again.

In the morning I heard the van door slide open. I had forgotten to lock up before I went to bed. I looked down. I had my hand over the pup. Lana looked in.

“Are you decent?”

“Yes.”

She climbed in and saw the pup on top of me.

“Oohhh, there he is.”

He woke up and smeared his nose across my neck. She put her hands out.

“Let me hold the baby.”

I didn’t want to. I patted his back.

“What’s his name?”

She picked him up and nuzzled him.

“His name’s Bubba. ’Cause he’s going to be big and strong when he grows up and he’ll protect his mama.”

The guys piled in. They smelled better. I was glad we’d stopped there. We drove through Nevada all day. The plan was to cut left at Flagstaff and go down through New Mexico. It was dark when we hit Vegas. I pulled over and called Greg. His machine said that he and Stephanie were in San Diego. We passed the big dam and made Kingman. I saw the hotel where I had met Julie and her boyfriend. Nick offered to drive. I told him to wake me up when we hit Albuquerque because the van had loose steering and the weather was getting worse. I bumped Lana to the floor but kept Bubba with me. Craig was bitching about the dog holding them back. He had a real problem with her. He was bitching a lot about everything, the gas station food, my music not being “punk” enough for him, the length of the trip and the money it took. He was getting on my nerves. Nick was quiet because they were buddies, but I knew they wouldn’t be buddies when they got back home. Traveling together will make or break people.

I woke up to the sunlight. We were far out of the mountains. Nick said he didn’t want to wake me. I sat up and gave Lana the bed. I handed Bubba over. I told Craig he could have the floor. He took on a pissy air.

“Finally.”

I was ready to pop him one. I couldn’t stand whiny, precious assholes. We stopped at a gas station and I drove from there. We made Texas by late afternoon. Craig wanted the bed. Lana said she was having cramps and that she needed to lay down on something soft. Craig then told her that they wouldn’t be in this mess if she hadn’t taken the dog. They were arguing again. He wrestled the dog from her and threatened to snap its neck. I couldn’t slow down because a trucker was tailgating me. I finally got over to the right lane. Craig held the pup to the side window and threatened to toss it. I told him to give the pup back to her. Nick didn’t say anything. Craig told me I could go fuck myself. My blood boiled. There was someone like him everywhere I went. We were eight hours from Austin. Lana reached out for her pup but he tossed it. I heard him yelp, and in my side mirror I watched him hit the freeway and tumble and break until he was stiff. My heart sank to my stomach. Lana buried her head into the pillow and sobbed. I pulled onto the shoulder and stopped. In the rearview Craig asked me if I wanted a piece of him. I jumped out of my seat and grabbed the back of his hair and punched him right in the mouth. Blood sprayed into my eye and he went down against the door. I hit him hard across his body. He curled up into a ball and swore at me. Nick did nothing. Lana was still sobbing over her pup. I jumped out of the driver side and walked around to the sliding door. When I opened it, Craig almost fell out but he caught himself. I grabbed his bags and threw them as far as I could into traffic. Then I pulled him out by his belt and the back of his shirt and swung him to the ground. After he hit I got a running start and kicked him in the back. And then, just for myself, I rabbit punched him in the back of the head. He wasn’t swearing anymore. Nick got out and stood by his door, eyeballing me. I walked up on him.

“You got a problem with this, Nick? Fucking silent partner.”

He put his hands up. I told him I would still get Lana to Austin, and him, unless he wanted to stay with his buddy, that I didn’t care either way. He did what I thought he would. As we pulled away I saw Craig’s body struggling in the rearview, getting smaller and smaller. I wanted to turn around and run him over. Lana dug into her backpack and licked a clean sock and dabbed the blood from my eye. Nick stared at the road.

“I fucking knew this day would come. I always told him he was going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and he would pay for his mouth. But he always said that everyone was a pussy. Man.”

“If I see him again I’ll kill him,” I said. Nick told me that he knew Craig had warrants in Texas, and that he knew a cop would stop him on the highway and that he would go to jail. He also told me that he hadn’t seen him in a few years before they set out to Alaska. I considered Nick to be smarter than I had thought. He was simply watching Craig get his. He was having a fair time with it. I spoke to Lana’s reflection in the windshield.

“I’m sorry about Bubba. He was a good one. I don’t think he felt any pain.”

Nick shook his head, “Nah. He didn’t feel a thing.”

We both kind of looked at each other. Lana cried. After awhile we were quiet. I kept thinking about the pup, picturing his big head and little face. It was horrible. Something so beautiful and innocent and undamaged, destroyed like that. If the trip had been any longer than it was and if he hadn’t been killed, I would have fallen in love with him.