Lulu kept to the edges of the store, peeping sporadically at an increasingly frustrated Drake as he tried to deal with an uninterested employee. She picked up one of the display phones. It looked like a relic of days long past, flipping open and lacking a touchscreen. She tried typing out a text but got frustrated with the repetitive repetition for each key, to make a phrase as simple as “I’ll be there in a little bit.” But it was better than being around Drake, and the poor sales rep who was supposed to be helping him.
She put the phone down and moved on to the next one. It reminded her of her first phone, which slid sideways to reveal a full keyboard with the tiniest keys she’d ever seen. The phone had only the most basic apps, and the lowest megapixel camera legally available. But nothing could be added to the phone that wasn’t already installed at purchase. No Facebook. No Instagram. No Snapchat. And no FanGirlz.
Lulu slid the phone open and mocked texting someone. She typed out: “What’s the move tonight?” Then, “I can grab something from my dad’s stash.” She giggled thinking about the party she’d attended in high school, and the plans she’d made with her friends over a phone just like this one.
If she could have afforded a new phone – hell, if she could afford a used one – she would have considered buying the one that looked outdated by over a decade.
She moved on to the next one, a brick-sized display of modern technology, and messed around with the demo apps, trying to ignore Drake’s escalating shouting match with the salesperson.
“I’m not waiting. I can see twenty fucking phones right over there.”
Lulu looked up to see him throwing his arm in an arc, directed at the row of display phones.
The rep said exactly what she, and probably Drake, too, thought he was going to respond with. “Sir, those are for display only. They don’t actually work.”
“They turn on, don’t they?”
She could feel his heat filling the room.
“Listen, man,” the worker started, his tone communicating clearly how ready for the end of his shift he was, “Best I can do is five business days. No one’s gonna be moving during the holidays. Five days is honestly pretty good all things given.”
“Five days isn’t good, man. My whole life is on that phone.”
Lulu stepped over, careful not to make any noise that would escalate the situation. She came up just beside Drake.
He didn’t notice.
“Look, it doesn’t even have to be the same model. Literally whatever you’ve got in stock, I’ll take.”
Lulu looked at the man’s nametag. Liam.
He looked like he could still be in High School. Acne covered his face, and he was still learning to style his moppy hair in a way that didn’t announce to the world he didn’t quite know how to be a man, yet. The way he wore his uniform said he was trying his best, but probably didn’t get the best orientation. And now it was two days before Thanksgiving. He was probably just trying to run out the clock before getting a few days off, and was getting hassled by a stranger in a mood he would only be able to compare to after a few more years of living and paying taxes in a middle-class society.
“I can give you a flip phone if you really need something,” Liam said.
Drake rubbed his thumbs across the tips of his fingers in frustration. He strained to keep his voice balanced and asked, “Can a flip phone do tap-to-pay?”
Liam took a step back from the counter. “I don’t think so.”
Before Drake could burst, Lulu stepped in between him and the counter. She remarked the shift in Liam’s face when she stepped into view, but pushed past it.
“What about other stores?” she asked.
Both men looked down at her.
She looked up from one to the other. “This isn’t the only location in Illinois, right?”
Drake brought his glare up to Liam. Liam tentatively brought his gaze up to meet Drake’s. Lulu shied back to let the two figure it out.
“Well?” Drake asked.
Liam’s fingers began tapping away at the keyboard before his eyes fell to read his computer’s monitor. His head jerked back and forth, reading the information appearing, hoping that it would provide an answer that would get this jerk out of his hair.
As Drake continued to rub his thumbs against his fingers, Lulu bounced on her heels. Anticipation of different varieties built in all three of them.
Liam took a deep breath in to prepare for the onslaught of nasty words. “There’s some iPhones in stock back in Orlando Park.”
“Awesome!” Drake shouted louder than he intended and slapped his hands down on the counter. “Where’s that?”
Liam shrugged, “About an hour…uh…that way.”
Drake turned in the direction Liam pointed. “What’s ‘that way’?”
“Uh…toward the city.”
Drake leaned in, wide-eyed. “Chicago? You mean west?”
Lulu tried to step in again, putting her hand on his chest with a soft, “Hey.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Liam said.
Drake leaned in. Further. He then raised his hand to guide Liam close with his finger. He wasn’t intent on getting physical with the retailer who just happened to be on the wrong shift at the wrong time, but he didn’t have anything nice to say, either. Even if this situation wasn’t Liam’s fault. Lulu saw this and was quick to take hold of Drake by the forearm.
“I’m sorry about my boyfriend,” she said, getting a mix of looks from both men. “We’re headed in the opposite direction. Maybe you can find us something east?”
Drake took her cue and added, “Like in Indiana?”
“Dude,” Liam said, almost able to laugh. “You’re in Indiana.”
Lulu watched Drake stretch his jaw with stale eyes. To be fair, she didn’t realize they had crossed state lines, either. In her book, though, that was a win. Right?
“Okay…” Drake said slowly. “Listen to me carefully. I need a fucking phone. I need a fucking smartphone. A fucking iPhone. A fucking Samsung. A fucking Nokia for Christ’s fucking sake. I need a phone I can fucking text with. I need a phone I can fucking pay for shit with. I need a phone I can fucking use to fucking call your manager with and tell him how fucking shitty this store is fucking run with.”
This time, Liam didn’t even look at his computer. “I don’t think I can help you with any of those. Sir.”
“And why the fuck not?”
Liam huffed. “Everything is closed cause of the fucking storm.”
* * *
Drake slammed the door of the rental, hard enough to shake the entire vehicle. They sat there in silence without starting the engine. Lulu had her legs pulled up onto the seat, waiting for him to get himself together before her legs froze again.
“At least we’ve still got mine,” she said weakly.
“That’s not going to help.”
“But if you need to call your family-”
He cut her off.
“It’s not about that, Lulu. My card was on that phone.”
“Don’t you have, like, a real one too?”
Drake’s hand fell to the ignition button, but he didn’t press it. He knew that once he turned on the car, the first thing he would see was the gas level. They hadn’t been driving long from the airport, but in a few more hours they would have to fill up the tank. They’d probably have to fill it up at least twice more before getting to New York. He weighed the cost of gas, a place to stay, and food against the amount of cash they had on hand at the moment. That amount being: none.
“My card was on the phone,” he said again.
“You don’t have an actual one? Like in your wallet?”
Very slowly, knowing the irony of his words, he admitted, “It’s safer to not keep your money on you.”
“Do you even have a wallet?”
“Of course I do! I gotta keep my I.D. on me. You know, a driver’s license? Like adults have.”
“Ha! That’s rich. Well, I guess nothing from you is rich right now?” She fell back into her seat and laughed to herself. “Come on, let’s get going. It’s freezing in here.”
He asked, not turning on the car, “You’ve got cash, right?”
“I’ve got a little on me. Not cash cash. But I’ve got a little left over from my last job.”
Drake chuckled incredulously and pressed the ignition button. The car hummed to life. Hot air blasted through the vents onto Lulu.
“Your job,” he said to himself, pulling out of the parking spot. “Right, okay.”
“Knock it all you want. My job,” she matched his ironic tone, “is what’s gonna get you to New York now. If you start being a little nicer to me, I mean.”
The car sat at the intersection, waiting for an opening in the rushing traffic.
“I’ll figure something out,” Drake said. “You’re gonna carry your own weight, but don’t think I’d be totally screwed on my own. I’m only here because-”
“Because you couldn’t stand to be without me,” Lulu teased. She plugged her phone into the aux and queued up her music.
Admittedly, Drake was thankful for the shift in conversation. He pulled out onto the road, saying, “Please, for the love of God, do not put any white girl pop on.”
Lulu turned up the volume on an alternative-pop guitar riff. “I feel like you just like complaining, sometimes. You’ll like this artist.”
Drake turned the volume down to an almost inaudible level with the buttons on the back of the wheel. “No, no Taylor Swift.”
Lulu laughed at him, turning the volume back up. “Not everyone is Taylor Swift. It’s Kailee Morgue.” The vocals started, and she sang along.
“Your phone’s going out the window next,” he warned.
“Don’t worry,” she shoved his arm. “I’ll let you pick the next song.”
“Thought you didn’t have a service plan?”
“I don’t,” she said, her oh-so-innocent tone holding strong. “You can pick something from my library. What do you like? Wolf Alice, Five Seconds of Summer, The Regrettes, KiNG MALA…Taylor Swift?”
“All of those sound awful. I’ve never even heard of any of them. What about Green Day or Pierce the Veil?”
Lulu groaned. “Oh my God, you’re that kind of guy. Oh! That’s your turn.”
“I know where I’m going.” Drake pulled over to merge back onto I-90 eastbound. “And what’s that kind of guy?”
“You know,” she shrugged. “That kinda guy. Hey, when do you want to stop for lunch?”
A hesitant grin cracked the edges of Drake’s lips. “What?”
“Getting close to noon. You wanna stop and eat?”
His surprise blocked out the song she was playing. “You serious?”
She nodded her answer, with eyes wide enough to express her equal surprise in him for not immediately agreeing.
“Lulu,” he said, speeding up and pulling the car into the next lane to the left. “We’ve got about eight hours of driving ahead of us for the next two days. Tomorrow, if we drive through the night. And that’s being optimistic with this weather. On top of that, we don’t have maps, and you don’t know how to drive-”
“I know how to drive, I just don’t have a license.”
“-so I’m basically stuck in this seat, living on a prayer that I’m actually taking the fastest route. We also have no money. I can starve myself if you can, so that just leaves us figuring out what we’re gonna do about sleeping if we can’t push through.”
“You really like finding things to complain about, huh?”
“I’m being realistic, Lulu. That’s what’s going to get us to New York.”
Lulu bobbed her head to the music while scrolling through her phone. “I think us working as a team is gonna get us there.”
“Yeah? What’s your contribution?”
“About a hundred bucks when we stop for lunch.” She held her phone over the center console for him to read the screen.
It took him a moment to understand what he was reading, then almost crashed the car and stated clearly, “Absolutely not.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’d do that for a hundred? Seriously?”
She shrugged and pulled her phone back. “I could probably get more if I had a partner on camera with me. What’d’ya say? Step into my world for an afternoon?” She even bit her lip when he looked over disbelievingly at her, just to push his buttons.
“No, thank you. I do not need pictures of myself online like that.”
“Well, it’d be a video,” she corrected.
His hand cut through the air. “Pass. But thanks for the offer.”
“What if we keep the camera turned off?”
Drake hesitated.
Lulu caught it, and her grin began to drop.
“No,” he finally said. “Thank you, but no. You and I should focus on getting to New York before anything else.”
“And then what happens when we get to New York?”
Drake flicked his blinker and merged into the center lane. He flipped off an asshole speeding by in a Tesla who’d been riding his ass for the last half mile.
“After New York we go our separate ways. Can we skip this song? It’s terrible.”
Lulu sat forward and turned the volume up, ear-gratingly loud.
“Hey!” Drake shouted and reached for the volume dial. “What the hell is your deal?”
“What’s your deal?” she countered.
“I don’t have a deal.”
“Look, I know that this trip isn’t ideal for you, but at least I’m trying to keep a little positivity. Is it so bad having a little company for a trip like this? I mean, last night I thought, ‘Hey, it’s been a long day, longer night. Things don’t always go to plan, but in the morning he won’t be such a jerk.’ Holy shit, was I wrong. Maybe if that stick wasn’t so far up your ass we could consider each other friends after we get to the City.”
Drake swerved the car hard to the right shoulder, dangerously cutting off a semi-truck in the process. The two of them slammed forward in their seats. Multiple horns blared as cars sped past them.
“Alright, let’s get this out there,” Drake stated. “I didn’t want to be here in the first place. I don’t want to be in New York, I don’t want to deal with this storm, and I don’t want to be stuck in this car with miss not-a-care-in-the-world. I feel like I need an insulin shot being around your personality for too long. The only reason I am in this car is that the faster I can get to the City, the faster I can get back out and not deal with any of that shit ever again. So don’t get all cutesy thinking I got off that plane because I wanted to spend more time with the person who’s turning this trip into a preview of Hell. You screwed up my flight, you screwed up my hotel, you destroyed my phone, and you’re not even sorry about it. All of this is a joke to you. So here’s a new rule. We’re going to drive. We’re going to drive for as long as we can, and when we have to fill up on gas, whatever you can spend is going toward getting us another few miles closer to the end of this farce. Got it?”
Lulu sat, pressed against the door with her hand on the handle. “You really are a jerk, aren’t you?”
“You’re not the first to say it.”
She studied his face. She replayed his words in her mind, searching for hints of truth and lacks thereof.
“You know why I’m so fucking happy all the time? I have to be.”
“Oh, God. Here we go again.”
“No! Fuck you!” she shouted, propping herself up on her knees. It wasn’t the most dignified look, but it gave her enough height to meet his eye level. “I have to be this way because if I’m not, no one else is going to be. Everybody else is so fucking miserable, but doesn’t know how good they’ve got it. You know how good I’ve got it? I don’t remember the last time I had breakfast like the one this morning. I can deal with the cold for an hour here because of all the nights I’ve spent in the rain outside of Marsha’s apartment. I don’t know why you’re such a fucking pussy about seeing your family again, but fuck you! Do you know how fucking lucky you are that they even want you around?
“I hope we get there and they are fucking ecstatic to see you. I hope we get there and they don’t let you leave because they missed you so much. I hope you have such a great fucking Thanksgiving that they beg you to stay for Christmas. And I really hope that at some point you text me and tell me all of this happened, so that I can tell you, ‘See? Life isn’t that bad.’ So cheer the fuck up, you asshole.”
She fell back down in her seat and stared forward.
“Go,” she said.
Drake rubbed his thumbs against his fingers.
“Go!” she shouted again.
“No!” he shouted back.
“Go! Let’s just fucking go! I have places I actually want to be!”
“Too bad!” he kept his volume just over hers. “I’m hungry. And you need to eat. You look sick.”
Lulu threw her gaze out the window. “Just drive. That’ll only hold us up. I can wait a little longer.”
Drake put the car in drive and pulled out slowly onto the interstate. “No, you can’t. Look at you. You need to eat. I’m not sleeping on a couch again tonight, but I don’t want to be stabbed in my sleep by your bony frame.”
Her head jerked to the side. What kind of tone was that he was speaking in? “Are you trying to be funny?” she asked.
“No, I’m serious. You’re all bone. It’s off-putting.”
She laughed, half-aghast and half-impressed at the balls he was starting to grow. Finally, he was finding a safe spot between emotional cowardice and complete jerk.
“Maybe if you didn’t look like the next high wind was going to carry you away, I’d be a subscriber.”
“Maybe if you were a subscriber I could afford to gain a few pounds.”
“A boob job, too. Get implants, and I’ll consider it.”
Her laugh was much more audible this time; one strong, “Ha! And should I get work done on my ass, too?”
He pretended to look back, then said, “No. Somehow your ass is fine as is. Really sets the wrong expectation for the rest of you.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
Drake reached over and turned her music back up.
She bobbed her head again and mouthed the words, hoping she’d see some groove on his end.
The groove didn’t come. But after a few seconds, he said, “Look, I didn’t say it last night but I’m sorry. I mean, you did destroy my phone, but other than that, I’m sorry. I don’t need a speech from you every five minutes, so let’s just find somewhere to eat and work out a plan where we don’t tear into each other constantly. That work for you?”
“Promise not to keep acting like a jerk?”
Drake held out his hand. “I promise I will do my best.”
“Uh uh,” she said, pushing his hand away. “That’s not good enough.”
He huffed and put his hand back out. “I promise. As long as-”
“No!” she laughed, once again pushing him away. “No contingencies. You’re kind’a a dick, Drake.”
She watched him force a smile through a deep inhale.
“Okay,” he said, releasing his breath. “I promise. No more being a jerk.”
This time she shook his hand.