The Getaway

"Straight lines, baby, straight lines."

Sweat beaded at Eli's temples as he clutched Nadeena's small hand in his.  He tried to keep eye contact with her and not steer the small pick-up into a dividing wall.  Whenever his eyes flicked towards the highway, he squeezed her hand that much tighter.

"Here, straight lines in straight rows, baby."  He cooed this at her and rubbed his thumb over her knuckle.  Nadeena breathed a little easier each time he did it.

He murmured this incantation a few more times, barely heard over the spattering of the flat Appalachian raindrops against the windshield.  He wasn't trying to compete with the rain.  Nadeena pressed her head against his shoulder and hiccuped a last watery sob.

"My hands." Nadeena's voice was raspy with crying and exhaustion.  "No, my fingernails, are still so goddamn dirty."