Tony's Arc

Chapter 3 of 9

Tony walked across the lot to the blue truck. Bev sat by the loading zone, engine ticking. Percy had warned him. Bev was picky. Tony had to make him say yes. "Hi, Bev," Tony said. "My mom is at Pondview. Will you drive me?" The truck's headlights blinked once. "Pondview is far," Bev said, his voice low as a rumble. "I don't haul kids for free. What do you carry, small one? Fuel? Cargo? A reason worth the road?" Tony checked his pockets. He had the postcard, a bottle cap, and lint. His stomach sank. He had nothing a truck would want. "I don't have fuel," Tony said. "I don't have cargo. But I have a question. Why won't you go?" Bev was quiet. His engine ticked slower. "Because the road bores me," he finally said. "Same lot. Same crates. Nobody tells me anything new." Tony's eyes went wide. He knew this feeling. He asked questions all day for the same reason. He wanted new things. "Then I'll trade you," Tony said. "Not fuel. Facts. For every mile, I'll teach you something you don't know." Bev's mirrors twitched. "Prove it. Tell me one thing right now." Tony pointed across the road at the huge store. It rose up like a fortress, with wide doors and tall red pillars. Carts streamed in and out of it. "See that giant store?" Tony said. "It sells ketchup in jugs bigger than my head. And a pizza there is wider than a car tire. I measured once with my arms." Bev's engine gave a short cough. It almost sounded like a laugh. "Bigger than your head," Bev repeated. "Huh. I park by that place every week. I never knew." "There's more," Tony said fast. "Ask me anything on the drive. Why the sky turns pink. How turtles breathe. I know a hundred things. I'll trade one for every mile to Pondview." Bev rolled forward a foot. His passenger door swung open with a creak. "Climb in, small one," Bev said. "You bought yourself a ride. But I warn you. If you run out of facts before we reach that cottage, I turn around." Tony scrambled onto the seat. He buckled the belt tight. Through the windshield he pictured it now. The cottage by the pond. Ivy on the walls. His mom in the rocking chair on the step. The engine roared. Bev pulled out of the lot and onto the open road. The store shrank behind them. "First mile," Bev said. "Start talking." Tony grinned and opened his mouth. Then his grin froze. Pondview was many miles away. He knew a lot of facts. But did he know enough to fill the whole long road? If he ran dry, Bev would turn back, and his mom would stay lost.