Vinny kept his speed at a steady 65 MPH. They were heading west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike making the long journey to Chicago. Vinny wondered if Jake the Snake managed to pull off the job that he paid him to do. The Catholic priest used to be Vincent's cell mate at one time and Vinny had told the priest that as soon as he got out of jail he was going to kill the judge that sentenced him. Later he found out that the priest was a big time rat. Tina's abduction was all over the news and Vinny couldn't afford to risk the priest snitching him out. A thousand dollars was a small price to pay compared to the almost quarter million dollars he was about to receive. One of the things Vinny had learned was that you had to spend money to make money.
Tina sat in the passenger's seat,arms crossed, and glowering at Vinny. She was still mad that she had to sleep locked up in a bedroom with a loud clicking strobe light that drove her insane. Since the window was boarded up there was no air conditioner and she sweated all night. The dark clouds up ahead was a clear indicator of oncoming rain. She wondered why two hours had passed and Vincent had not yet lit a cigarette. Because what Tina didn't know was that the Jeep didn't belong to Vinny. The 97 Jeep Wrangler belonged to Vinny's good friend Eric. A month ago Vinny had purchased a new Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. His friend fell in love with the truck and so since Vinny liked the Jeep they decided to temporarily trade vehicles. Upon discontent at any time they would agree to switch vehicles again.
Tina had just rested her head on the passenger door to try and get some sleep when she saw Vinny putting on his UNAbomber attire. The thick rectangular sunglasses looked just like what her grandpa used to wear. Vinny pulled into a rest area and parked the Jeep in the far back corner of the parking lot near the pay phones. Tina knew they weren't stopping for food because they were parked way in the back. Vinny pulled a note out of his pocket and handed it to her.
" I need you to read this note to your father. Make it quick and don't screw this up." Vinny got out of the Jeep and escorted her to the payphone. Tina picked up the phone and rested it on her shoulder and tilted her head to hold it in place. Then she cupped and held her hand out and patiently waited for Vinny to give her some quarters.
Vinny grimaced at her stupidity." Call him collect. I'm not giving you quarters with my fingerprints on it."
Tina turned her head and rolled her eyes then dialed some numbers. When her father answered the phone Tina heard a faint click sound. She knew the police were listening. She unfolded the note and read it aloud." Be at the Majestic Hotel located on Shoreline drive in Chicago by midnight. Bring the money in a brief case. Get a room and wait for a call for further instructions." Before the judge could even get a word out Vinny hung up the phone.
" Come on let's go." He said pulling her arm. Tina almost tumbled on the ground when she put weight on her left swollen ankle while trying to scurry back to the Jeep. Vincent helped her along into the passenger seat then darted across the front of the Jeep and got in on the driver's side. When he slammed the door shut the seat belt got caught in the door. He said a very bad word then re-opened the door to free the seat belt and closed it once more. Tina wondered if she had been on the phone long enough for them to trace the call. She pictured umpteen police cars coming from every direction and boxing them in.
Vinny slammed the Jeep in first gear and merged into the PA Turnpike traffic. Hearing her father's voice gave Tina a pang of nostalgia. She wanted to tell her father how much she loved him and was contrite for scolding him for not letting her go to Mardis Gras. Maybe brandishing her lovely upper body to the public in New Orleans was a bad idea. Perhaps her father was right. That kind of behavior could possibly get her raped or even killed. There were a lot of sickos out in the world. She couldn't understand Vinny. He never hesitated to bestow pain upon her but he had all the chances in the world to rape her and he never did.
Tina watched Vincent gnashing his teeth as he drove with both hands on the steering wheel. She tried to study his wrist watch wondering which button was the button that could blow her up. She could see the dental floss stitch marks in the watchband where Sparky had chewed through the watch. It felt weird knowing that today was the day that she would either be freed or be killed. Then she thought of Vinny's students. It was their fault that Vincent turned into a monster. Tina could no longer keep her thoughts to herself.
"So tell me more about your students." She finally said. Vinny turned off at the very next exit. Tina could tell by the way he handled the turn descending down the ramp that he hadn't driven the Jeep very long. Jeeps handled turns a lot different than regular cars. Had they stayed heading west on the PA Turnpike which turned into Ohio Turnpike it would've been the easiest and most direct route to Chicago. However there were lots of cameras and pay tolls on the turnpike and Vinny felt they would get discovered. Vincent got off the PA Turnpike and headed south for a while on a back road until he eventually got on route 322 west. A road without cameras and pay tolls that ran parallel with the turnpike that would take them to Chicago in a few hours longer.
After a long pause Vinny finally responded." I never knew those brats could be capable of so much turmoil. The only one that wanted to learn anything was a girl named Natasha." Vinny reminisced thinking about the short corpulent girl and the gaudy purple lipstick she always wore to class. He never did tell his wife about their little jaunts to exquisite restaurants after school. Natasha sure liked to eat and he wondered how much bigger she had gotten since 10 years had passed." She's going to be a lawyer when she grows up." Vinny said with assurance in his voice.
"Why didn't she stick up for you when you went to trial?"
Vincent almost felt a tear forming inside his eye." Her kooky parents wouldn't let her testify. She was only 12 years old." They drove further into the overcast. Little drips of rain smaller than a teardrop stuck to the windshield. The trees began to sway like NBA basketball players stretching before a game as the wind became brutal. As the wind blew harder and harder the roof of the Jeep made an annoying whistling noise. Vinny saw the big golden arches looming in the distance.
Changing the subject he asked," Are you hungry?"
After all the food she threw up the night before Tina felt extremely famished." Yeah, I'm starving." Vinny pulled into the Mcdonalds making a wide turn because of the boat he was hauling . At first he wanted to go through the drive-thru because it was raining harder but didn't want to risk the Jeep being seen on camera. So he parked aloof in the back corner of the parking lot. Since it was now raining the temperature also dropped tremendously. This made them not look so out of kilter with him wearing a hoody and her a turtle neck.
When they entered Mcdonalds there was no line at the cash register. A 16 year old girl with numerous piercings in her ears and nose was ready to take their order. She chewed gum obnoxiously while she waited for them to order. Vinny thought she looked like a character from one of those Chinese cartoons with her hair dyed bright pink and frizzy. The cashier didn't want to look at Vinny,instead she stayed focus on Tina. She gave shrewd looks as if to say What are you doing with this moron? Vinny pulled out a stack of dirty one dollar bills from his money clip. The cashier still kept her gaze on Tina. Maybe she was admiring her Gothic look and probably wondering how beautiful she would look without the excessive make up and dyed black hair.
"What can I get ya sweetie?" She said to Tina. " I'll have..."
Vinny cut her off." She'll have a happy meal with a water and I'll have a number three with a large coke." He said adamantly. An older woman with too much hair pouring over her visor was making fries. She overheard Vinny's rudeness and gave him a dirty look. The cashier continued chomping on her gum like a cow chewing grass.
"Okay,that's like $6.50." She said looking over Tina once more. Before Vincent even handed her the money their food was already neatly propped on a brown tray ready to go. The cashier finally looked at Vinny as he handed her the exact change. Her curiosity finally took over.
"Isn't it a little dark outside to be wearing sunglasses?" She pointed out. Vinny didn't respond to her question and grabbed the tray of food and Tina followed after him. They took their seats in the back corner of the restaurant where smoking was permitted. Vinny shoved the Big Mac with cheese into his mouth like a drug dealer swallowing marijuana before the cops got to it. Tina stared at him like his mother used to do in awe and impressed that he could eat food so fast. Vincent plopped the bag containing the happy meal in front of her and she partook in the food. Tina pulled the sliced pickles out of her hamburger and Vinny snatched them and shoved them into his mouth. By the time Tina got to her small serving of fries Vinny was finished eating and smoking a cigarette. He then blew smoke in her face and smiled. She coughed as she popped fries into her mouth while at the same time wishing she had ketchup. Vinny told her that condiments were for wussies and while he was in the Marines nobody had time for condiments.
When Vinny finished his last drag from his cigarette he impressed her by putting it out on his tongue then placed the cigarette butt in his pocket. He motioned for her to get up because they had to get going.
"Just bring the rest of the food with." Instructed Vinny. Tina scooped up the few remaining fries and placed them in the Happy Meal bag. When she looked in the bag she saw a toy car. She pulled the toy out of the bag and admired it as she walked over to Vinny who was patiently waiting at the door. Just as they were about to walk out the door a mother and a small boy wearing a Power Ranger shirt walked through the door. The little boy had a mop of hair on his head almost covering his eyes and looked cute as a button. Tina handed him the toy car.
"What do you say?" Said the prim happy little mother. The boy looked up at Tina with his twinkle eyes and smiled." Thank you." He finally said.
Tina smiled back at the boy. Vincent became enraged. Just as the boy was inspecting the toy car Vinny snatched the car out of the boy's hands and placed it in the front pocket of his hoody." We'll be needing that." Vinny said curtly. The little boy began to cry and took refuge in his mother's arms. Tina gaped in shock.
"You have some nerve mister!" The mother said angrily. Vinny grabbed Tina's arm ignoring the mother and escorted her out the door towards the Jeep. As Tina hopped along Vinny thought about stabbing the woman with the knife in his pocket right in front of her son. But he had an agenda to follow. First the money, then the killings would begin.