Pirates Of The Boudreauxs.

Cameron didn’t know where they were going just yet, but straight was the only direction that felt worth heading in. It had been hours since they passed any sign of city life, and it was only getting darker as they drove. The smell of burning rubber and asphalt on the desert road was the only thing keeping him alert at this point. A repetitive clicking had been ringing in his ear for a while, it was hard to ignore at first, but Cam had become engulfed in the road. The patterned white lines in the middle of the highway and the dilated pupils of his eyes were now in sync. The white line fever had taken him. He was stuck in a trance, trying to make sense of how they both ended up here. Tara never planned for this lifestyle either, but she was always optimistic.

“That light’s blinking.”

“What?” Cameron snapped back to reality.

“The gas light,” Tara nudged towards the dashboard,

“I think we’re low babe.”

Cameron shook his head in disbelief, “How!? We shouldn’t be low, I thought we filled up at that last hit. What were you doing when I was getting the cash?”

“You don’t remember, You told me to keep a lookout!”

“Yeah but what do I always say to do while I’m in there?”

The momentum suddenly shifted.

The car became silent as came to a halt.

The only sound that echo’d in the night sky what the clicking of their low gas gauge.

“How do we rob a gas station and not get gas!? That’s literally the one thing you don’t forget Tara!”

“I’m sorry how was I supposed to know to keep track of that kind of thing when you’re always the one driving!?”

Cameron and Tara had been doing this for months now, on the run, hopping town to town taking from anyone they felt was an easy target. They were good people at heart, and even if they weren’t, there were once. The idea of running away and starting a life together was so tantalizing that they were willing to do anything to get them there, even if it meant hurting people. Over the months, they had gotten away with robbing every store they passed. It had been so easy for them that they became careless. It had been the worst job they’ve done so far, and there was no turning back now. Cameron couldn’t get the cashiers face out of his head. There names were on all local news.

After a few hours of walking, Cameron collapsed to the ground.

“I can’t, leave me on the pavement, I’m too tired to move, baby, let the state troopers scrape me.”

Tara looked down at her boyfriend, wanting to console him the best she could, then scanned the horizon of the desert planes surrounding them. She was never too great with her words but after seeing what she saw in the distance, she knew exactly what to say.

“Sign- It’s a sign! Look!”

Cameron groaned, still grasping the ground as if it were to suck him into the earth's crust in that very moment.

“Enough with this divine universal bullshit! This is real life! What kind of sign could this situation possibly be, Tara.”

“If you would just get up!”

Cameron turned his head, he had to squint, but in the distance he could see it too.

“A sign?”

“See. A sign. Not a metaphorical one, but a real one!” Tara chimed in. “Let’s go! There could be food there!”

“Tara!!” Cam yelled while forcefully throwing himself off the ground. He was significantly less hopeful for the possibility food.

After walking for another few hours, ther arrived to the source of their beacon. Tara walked up to the abandoned gas station while Cameron trailed behind looking up at the sign, it was much more visible now.

“Ami-Mart?” He read curiously.

“Look babe!” Tara screams while charging to a rusty pump, immediately giving the side of the pump a hardy slap, “You think they still might have gas in them?”

Cam walked up to inspect the gas pump, he knew it was a long shot, but it seemed like the only option for them.

“I’m not sure, maybe if I can look in the pump from the inside, but I don’t even know how gas pumps work to be honest, babe.”

“Well you’ll really never know if you don’t try.”

She had a point, and Cameron could never deny her that whenever she spoke her mind.

“Okay, I’ll give it a shot.”

They struggled with the

lid for a while but eventually pried the gas pump open.

“Do you see anything?”

Cameron poked his head in the pitch black interior of the gas pump.

“It’s really dark in here, but no just some old wires, I think.”

He reaches his hand into the pump.

“I think I feel something babe.”

To their surprise, Cameron, pulls back his arm to reveal a brown paper bag gripped in his hand. It was labeled “The Boudreauxs”

It was heavy by the looks of it. And wasn’t nearly as old as the pump it resided in.

Tara looked as confused as Cam was.

“Who the hell is Boudreaux?” Cam said.

“Who cares! What’s in it?” She asked while reaching towards him.

“You want to open it!? Are you serious?”

Cameron panicked, “What if there’s a human hand in here or something!?”

Tara laughed, “Come on, out of everything it could possibly be—“

“Look where we are Tara!”

Cameron motioned at the empty desert around them.

“This is the literally the only thing it could be.”

“Come on, open it!”

Cameron slowly peeks in the bag before immediately dropping it to the ground.

“You gotta be kidding me.”

And for the first time in months, Tara saw Cameron smile, possibly the biggest smile he’s ever made while they were on the road.

Tara paused and locked eyes with Cameron.

“What’s in it?” She asked again.

“Looks like at least twenty thousand dollars”

As she began to celebrate, she noticed the smile quickly leave Cameron’s face, and his eyes shifted past her entirely. Before Tara could even turn around she heard the voice.

“Are you two lost?” Asked an old woman from a car on the road adjacent to them. The woman looked to be in her seventies and had pulled up beside them in a classicLincoln sedan.

“ No, Ma’am” Cam replied, “Our car ran out of gas a few miles back, we’re just passing through.”

Tara felt uneasy. There was something strange about this woman, everything she adorn was as vintage as she was, it was as if she was from another time period.

The woman introduced herself as Ms. Ethel,

“Y’all not from here are you? There’s a town about a few more hours in this direction. I can give you kids a ride to the nearest phone, I’d hate to leave here knowing I could’ve done something to help such a nice looking young couple.”

“No, thank you! Really, we’re fine walking!”,Tara interjected.

“Oh, I promise you can trust Ms. Ethel”, the woman went on, “ I just want to help, how about this, I’ll let you drive me where you need to go, and I’ll be on my way from there.”

They knew they couldn’t walk any further, so they reluctantly agreed. Tara got behind the wheel, and sat next to Ms. Ethel, as Cameron closed the back door to the car; brown bag still in hand. Tara and Cam both sigh a breath of relief as the air conditioning kicks on. The interior of the car was so clean it could have brought new off the lot that day. The only visible thing in the car was a black book that sat on the dashboard.

They drove for about an hour and talked to the mysterious woman who had rescued them. Ms. Ethel was nice. Cameron and Tara knew elderly loved to talk so didn’t mind the conversation. She told them she had been a resident of a small town nearby all her life.

“You know, my great great grandfather helped build that town” Ms. Ethel went on. “He was one of the people that helped folk like you, ya know”

The car became eerily quiet.

“What do you mean ‘like us’” Tara asked.

Cameron turns his head to look behind them and notice a car had been tailing them.

Ms. Ethel looks behind her seat to Cameron and reaches her hand out.

“What’s in the bag?” She asked.

Cameron jerks his hands back, protecting the bag and it’s contents from the woman’s wrinkly grasp.

Sudden police lights flash from behind them, and Tara abruptly stops on the side of the road. The black book falls to her feet, revealing the pages inside. Tara only got a glance but she could make out writing. Ms. Ethel was a Boudreaux.

The police flashes his light into the open window. His badge read the same surname.

“Jesus does everyone in this town have the same last name or something?” Tara asks.

“We got them son” said Ms. Ethel, digging around In her purse.

The officer jolts the butt of his baton into Cam’s head, knocking him unconscious. Tara began screaming loudly and suddenly felt a needle poke quickly into her leg. Her surroundings began to fade.

“This is our town” Ms. ethel said, pulling the needle back slowly.