Liz's father didn't try calling back, and that was a relief. She hated having to pretend her phone didn't work. It always made her feel guilty.

Liz was torn between the desire to check her Facebook and ignore reality. In the end she just sat there with her face in her hands while she waited for her phone to charge. No, she couldn't help it, she had to look. She couldn't resist the call of the little waiting messages notification icon. She had a number of messages from Amy.

AMY

Where did you go? You didn’t come home this morning

AMY

Hello? Liz?

AMY

You really made a mess of the bar. Half the bottle of Whiskey was empty. I think you really have a problem

AMY

What the hell, dude. Where are you?

Screw it, Liz thought, I can't deal with this right now. She went back to covering her eyeballs.

She had been there about five minutes when all of the sudden she heard the sound of ice shaking in a cup. She looked up and was Rick waving a soda at her.

“Soda?” Rick asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“No. I'm fine. I just need a minute.”

“It's like the Fresh Prince said, parents just don't understand.”

“Who?”

“Will Smith.”

“Oh, right,” said Liz in a rather exhausted tone, “He used to be a musician.”

“Vocalist,” Rick corrected her.

“What's the difference?”

“Musicians are talented.”

“Eh. Whatever.” Liz was not in the mood for humor. She felt like there was nothing humorous about her life at the moment.

“Sure you don't want some soda?” Rick asked again.

Liz didn't want a soda, she wanted a bottle of tequila, but she wasn't going to say that to Rick. She borrowed a lot of money from him and she had no way to pay him back. She didn't like being in anyone's debt.

“I didn't get to ask my father for the money. I'm not going to be able to pay you back.”

“Sure you are. Maybe not right now, but nobody in America is broke forever. Even still, you weren't prepared for this trip. I understand. If I'm going to get upset about something, it's not going to be about money. Money was never important to me in life. People first.”

Rick shook the soda at Liz again and it made her want to punch him, but she smiled instead. She took it and sipped it down. It actually did make her feel better. The ice-cold sugar pouring down her throat. It was no tequila but it would do for now.

“You want a sandwich? My treat.”

Liz didn't know what it was about tuna salad sandwiched that always made her feel better, but they always did. Maybe it was because that's what she would eat when she went to her grandparents' house as a child.

With her father being a career military man and her mother being a career military man's wife, she would often be left with her Nana and Pappi when she was young.

Her father would always say the military was about rank and file, no room for politics, but by the amount of dinner parties and soirees her parents had to attend, it seemed the military was as much about politics as anything else in life. First Pappi died, and then Nana soon after. Then it was military school for Liz. She missed them dearly.

“So... You want to talk about it?” Rick asked.

“Nope.” Liz took another bite of her sandwich.

“Are you sure?”

No, she wasn't sure. She did want to talk about her relationship with her parents and how tuna salad made her think of her grandparents. She also wanted to tell him about the vision she had of them in the tornado. She wanted to tell him about the strange dream she had the night before. But, Rick probably already thought she was crazy, and none of that was going to help any.

“Yup,” said Liz in between bites of sandwich, “We're are we headed next?”

“Colorado,” said Rick, “I've got a friend there, well, an old manager. We can stop and shower up for the night.”

“A shower sounds lovely,” said Liz, “So tell me about this manager. What's he like?”

“She actually,” corrected Rick, “Her names Mandy. She used to be my manager back in the day, when I was just starting out.”

“That must have been a long time ago.” Liz wasn't thinking and the words just left her mouth. She stopped chewing and put her hands over her lips. He face flushed with blood. “I'm sorry,” said Liz, “I didn't mean to call you old.”

“It's alright,” said Rick, “I'm aware of my age and it's not something that bothers me. I feel the same as I always did, just smarter and more talented.”

“It doesn't bother me either,” said Liz, “I always liked old people.”

“Hey,” said Rick, “Don't push it.”

“Sorry,” said Liz, “I meant people older than me.”

“That must be like everyone,” said Rick.

“Yeah,” said Liz with a smirk, “You're a real cradle robber.”

“I haven't robbed anything yet,” smirked Rick back.

When they were done with the sandwiches, Rick took Liz out to the parking lot and he taught her how to drive a stick shift. They spent 15 minutes driving in circles around the truck stop until Rick felt she was ready to take it out on the road, then off to Colorado they went. Rick stayed awake for a little bit to make sure she could handle the stick alright, but it wasn't long before he passed out from exhaustion.

Liz was enjoying the view as the flat plains of the Midwest transformed into the Rocky Mountains. Then, without warning the engine of the car started to get weaker and weaker. She had her foot all the way to the floor, but cars were whizzing past her as the car dropped down below forty miles per hour.

“Rick!” Liz cried, “you got to wake up! There's something wrong with the car!”

Rick popped his head up and rubbed his eyes.

“Are we in Colorado already?”

“Rick! The car!”

“Huh? You're climbing the side of a mountain. You have to downshift.”

“What-shift?”

“Downshift. You're in fifth gear. Put it in fourth.”

Liz Downshifted.

“It's not working!”

“Then put it in third.” Rick said.

Liz did and the car began to gain speed again.

“See,” said Rick, “it's easy. Third or fourth on the way up, fifth on the way down. You got this, kid!” Rick instantly fell back asleep.

She could have done without the “kid” part, but Rick was right. She had this.