I only posted a partial part of my story "Jonny from Thunder Bay," and here's the whole thang. Check it!
As Jonny hopped out of the Mack truck, he could see that the haze in the distance dissolved the road into the sky. The hot autumn sun melted away his desire to start walking, so he flopped down in the tall wild grass and pulled out his map.
Pointing to the south bearing highway he mumbled to himself, “Hmmm, that’s the 11, I’m on the 17, it looks like I might be about twenty miles or so from Thunder Bay. Damnit! Too bad that guy wasn’t heading my way for a bit longer.”
Always eager to feel sorry for himself, Jonny shakily drew a slender cigarette from his breast pocket, and lit it with his Bob Marley lighter. He started out on the perimeter highway of Winnipeg at four in the morning. Over the course of the last 12 hours of traveling and waiting, and the three different rides he had managed to score, he had not had a chance to sleep yet. And the previous overnight from Regina was no picnic. "I've never met such a scary trucker in my life," he mused aloud,"I mean that guy was right fucked up."
Jonny was a tall, slender fellow with long blonde dreads. He had the gait of someone who looked like he soiled his trousers, which painted a large target on his back at school when he was growing up. Like many children with certain physical differences, he was bullied to the point where it messed with his self esteem. As he got older he realized that he could fight back, but this tended to get him into trouble so he just kind of avoided people. Being a bit of a loner soon became his identity.
As his goal was to reach Thunder Bay by sundown, he knew that he would have a tough time making it by then, especially if he was walking in this heat. He decided to wait it out and hitchhike and see if his luck would continue to ride, so he continued to relax for a bit. As he lay down in the grass, he thought he'd just rest his eyes for a bit.
Jonny awoke to a loud screeching noise. He looked for the source and saw a large 18 wheel Feedrite truck start to topple over onto its side as it plowed into the ditch on the other side of the highway. As if still in a dream, he could see it all happen in slow motion. He started to turn his head and look around to see if anyone else was catching wind of this strange sight, but no one was around. "What the hell?" he said in shock.
The large truck was fully flipped onto its side and murky oil was gushing out from the inside of the running engine onto the torn up grass below. The 18 wheels were all still spinning violently. There was no sign of the driver, at least from what Jonny could tell from his vantage point. He second guessed whether or not he should make a move toward the possibly dangerous vehicle, so he surveyed the scene closely to look for any signs of sparks or fire. As smoke billowed from the underbelly of the engine, he rounded the front of the truck and saw the driver of the vehicle in a daze and pawing at his seatbelt.
Second guessing himself, Jonny decided it was too dangerous to even try. "Luckily the driver didn't see me," he mumbled to himself as he picked up his belongings off the ground and started to head eastward down the highway to Thunder Bay. Minutes later he heard a loud bang, stopped for a moment as his mind wrestled with turmoil, and then slowly started walking again.
As the next several hours rolled by, Jonny was so transfixed on what he had just witnessed that he didn't even try to hitch a ride. He kept replaying the image of the driver desperately trying to free himself over and over. He peered at the scar marks on his wrist and noticed that they were bleeding again from all the scratching. Suddenly realizing that he was also clenching his teeth, he stopped to have a cigarette. After a few drags, the setting sun reminded him to start hustling to get a ride. After all, he didn't want to be caught out in the dark.
As the blue Hino pulled to the side of the road, Jonny climbed up into the cab. "Where ya headed?" the pudgy and splotch faced driver gurgled.
"Thunder Bay" Jonny replied sheepishly.
"You can hop in but I got one rule, if you bitch about my tunes then you can hoof it. The name's Doug." snorted Doug.
"Uh ok, ahh… I'm Jake," Jonny lied.
"Well pleased to meet you Jake." Doug grinned as he turned up the stereo.
'Shit, rarely do I ever tell someone my actual name,' Jonny remarked to himself as he leaned back into the cracked leather seat and simmered on the George Thorogood song that was blasting through the pristine speakers. 'I always liked Jake because it was to the point. Plus I've never known a Jake that I didn't like.' His internal conversation was interrupted as Thorogood belted, 'I drink alone, YEAH with nobody else!'
Jonny smiled to himself as he soaked in the lyrics, 'Fuck there's nothing like sitting on the docks and drinking some fucking Moosehead.'
The miles drifted by as the sun continued its downward spiral into the horizon. Doug's animated armchair dancing to the classic rock music was interesting to watch as Jonny kept to himself, but soon the amusement wore off and he started to nod. Through the nappy haziness he noticed the Welcome to Thunder Bay sign near the turnpike. "I'll stop at the Husky and let you off there." Doug stated as he turned the volume down.
The tractor trailers were lined up in a community of diagonal silence underneath the autumn dusk. The littered and cracked parking lot was teeming with weeds and cigarette butts. Without a word of thanks or goodbye, Jonny opened the door and hopped to the ground several feet below. 'Too bad convenient stores here weren't like the states,' he wished.
Jonny stopped in at the liquor mart on McNaughton St and headed straight for the McKellar Island. After about an hour of walking he reached the mangled docks. As he stepped over the creaky floorboards, he gazed at the burgeoning stars. Jonny slumped down and cracked open a barely chilled Moosehead beer.
"Well I missed sundown but the stars sure look fuckin-A," he said as he started to swig several large mouthfuls of golden nectar.
“Damnit!” Jonny spat the awful results into the dark water and yelled, “skunk-ass beer!”
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