Road to Nowhere
by Gillian Brown
Iraked my fingers through my spiky blonde hair. My tongue stud hurt and my skin itched. Memories of what happened in Adelaide were still raw, pulsing through my head. I should never have done it. I’d panicked. If only I’d shown some self-control, I wouldn’t be where I was now. On the road to bloody nowhere.
Just after sunrise we hit a kangaroo. Josh got out of the Ute and killed it with a wheelwrench. The macabre scene, backlit by a blood-orange sun bursting over the horizon, made me wonder if I was hallucinating.
I stole a look at Josh as he jumped back into the cab. There was something earthy about him I found attractive. What was I thinking? I was always too quick to hit on men. He would turn out just like the rest of them. Try to make me go straight. ‘Your habit will kill you, Maggie,’ Nathan always said. No, this was just a ride. When we got to Darwin I’d make some excuse and leave him. I’d get a job in a bar there.
Outside the window, the mulga scrub scudded by like a neverending video. ‘When will we reach Darwin?’ I asked.
‘Tomorrow, I guess, if the traffic isn’t too dense.’
I groaned. ‘Hilarious.’ We’d only passed two roadtrains all day. Each time one hurtled towards us, Josh was forced to swerve off the road, choking us in a cloud of red dust.
‘What are you running away from, Maggie?’ he said. ‘A boyfriend?’ ‘Who said I was running?’
‘You’re twitchy. And a lousy liar.’ He sighed.
‘Guilt does that.’
‘Who mentioned guilt? I’m just travelling.’ I picked at my chipped, purple nail polish. ‘What about you?’
‘I killed someone.’
I swung my head round. ‘You what?’
‘Long story.’ He glanced at me. ‘I heard in Darwin they don’t ask questions.’
I edged away from him across the torn leather seat. Why was he telling me this? What if he was violent? I reached for the doorhandle, ready to jump, but one glance across the parched expanse of outback told me it was pointless. Roadtrains were rare, and might be travelling too fast to stop for hitchhikers.