Storymania - Rhia by Francis Homestead

Rhia
Francis Homestead

It was a Saturday evening. Rhia was about to start her shift. She was a waitress at a bar and restaurant. She was a damn good waitress, usually pulling in well over a hundred dollars a night. She had a certain charm about her that the patrons liked. She had spunk, not to mention her striking good looks. She was about 5’4” and around 115 pounds. People were always mentioning how they loved her huge green eyes and her long, slender, beautifully manicured fingers. At 5:00 she punched in and headed to her first table, a family of four. Every Saturday the Mann’s would come to her restaurant and eat. It was obvious that Bobby Mann had a crush on her, and Rhia thought that Bobby’s father did too. “Good evening,” Rhia started, here voice as twice as beautiful as she “can I start you off with something to drink?” She already knew the answer. Mr. Mann would order a ‘Bud Lite’, his wife would get a Long Island iced tea, and his children would both order a 7-up. She pulled a pen out from behind her ear, and wrote down the order that she had predicted. “I’ll be back with your drinks in a minute” Rhia said as she turned towards the bar. She grabbed four glasses and filled them with the appropriate drinks. Mike, her manager, walked up behind her, and with his deep voice he said. “Hey beautiful. How about you and me go out for something to eat tonight.” Mike was a big man, very big. He was going bald and his eyes were spaced too far apart. He also had a problem with hygiene, and his breath always smelled like he had just woken up. He was also twenty years older than Rhia. “Oh Mike, how sweet. Week after week you ask me out. You know that I would love to go out with you, but you’re my boss. I don’t like to mix business with pleasure.” Rhia let him down gently as she usually does. She was so kind hearted and considerate. She headed back to work.

Around 10:00 she took a break. She sat at the bar eating chicken wings. She washed them down with a coke with no ice. Rhia didn’t like ice in her drinks. A man in his thirties sat down next to her. Rhia had never seen him before. He ordered a cold Molson ice. His name was Wayne. She knew this because his name was embroidered on his corduroy ‘Monster Truck Drivers Association of America’ jacket. Wayne was a big man, about 6’1” and 220 pounds. His messy, greasy hair covered his multiple ear piercings. Wayne finished off his first Molson, and turned to Rhia, “What are you wearing? You thmell great.” Rhia turned to him, smiled and said. “It’s Sunflowers by Elizabeth Arden.” She had noticed his lisp, and found it adorable. Wayne took long look at Rhia and said, “I’m Wayne. I’m a monthter truck driver” He stuck out his hand and Rhia shook it. “Rhia” she said, “I’m Rhia”. “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Bruce said with confidence. He wasn’t always this confident. His lisp and occasional stutter had always put a damper on his confidence. The main reason he now had confidence is monster truck driving. People recognize him now. He is somewhat of a celebrity in his mind. Rhia blushed and thanked him. “I would love to sit and chat, but I have to get back to work.” She meant it. There was something about Wayne that she really liked. As she got up and started to walk towards the customers Wayne said, “Rhia. Here’th the phone number of my hotel room. Call me anytime. I’ll be in town until nextht Thaturday.” Rhia took the matchbook with his number written on it, and put it in her pocket. She thanked him and walked back to her tables.

Rhia arrived at home a little after midnight. She had gotten a ride home from her Laura, another waitress at the restaurant. Rhia didn’t drive. She had a fear of driving. It all started when she was a little girl, around the age of six. A taxi hit the family dog, Tiny. Rhia loved her dog. She had picked him out of a litter of seven other dogs, and named him Tiny, because he was the smallest puppy in the litter. Rhia spent most of her time with Tiny, playing fetch and having tug of wars. Then three days before her sixth birthday, Tiny was killed. Hit by a taxi. The driver stopped to make sure that the dog was all right, but it was too late. Tiny had a quick and painless death. Rhia on the other hand suffered a lot. She no longer wanted a birthday party or presents. This was the biggest loss she had ever suffered. Her parents planned a trip back out to their uncles’ farmhouse to get another puppy, but Rhia didn’t want to replace Tiny. Rhia still carries a picture of Tiny in her wallet, its right next to the picture of her parents.

As she pulled out her keys to unlock the door, the door opened. A man in his twenties stepped outside and vomited in the bushes. Rhia wasn’t sure who he was. She assumed that he was one of her roommates’ boyfriends. She walked past the vomiting man, and walked into the apartment. Lying on the couch was Nicole, Rhia’s roommate. Nicole was a little younger than Rhia and had more experience with men, but wasn’t quite as beautiful. Nicole stood up and staggered to the kitchen. She was obviously drunk. In the kitchen she opened another beer, sat at the kitchen table, and passed out. Her male friend came inside, and saw Rhia. He approached her, and started telling her how beautiful she was. “You are so beautiful. I would love to have sex with you right now.” Rhia, nauseous from his breath, which smells of vomit and cheap beer, punched him right in the mouth. He crashed to the floor and remained there until the morning. She walked into her room, changed for bed, and stared at the phone. She wanted to call Wayne. There was something about him that intrigued her. It wasn’t the way he looked. He kind of resembled Tom Arnold. Maybe it was his lisp. That was it. It was the lisp. It reminded her of innocence, of a little boy, but at the same time his image showed differently. He was macho, strong, and brave. He drove monster trucks for a living. She picked up the phone, but quickly hung it back on the receiver. Tonight she would have sweet dreams of Wayne. She turned off the lights and fell asleep. She dreamt sweet dreams of men in corduroy jackets, and cars being crushed by monster trucks.

Rhia woke up around 10:00 am, and picked up the phone. She called the number on the matchbook. Wayne answered. “Hello.” Rhia explained who she was. Wayne already knew. They talked for about an fifteen minutes, and Wayne asked her to come meet him at his hotel room and give him a tour of the town. She agreed. She was excited. She spent the next hour getting ready. She wanted everything to be perfect. She picked out her favorite outfit. A tight black skirt, and a tight red shirt. She on her makeup, and headed towards the bus stop.

Rhia arrived at the hotel an hour later, and saw Wayne washing his monster truck. The truck was hunter green and had the words ‘The Crushenator’ written on the sides. She walked up to the truck, and Wayne turned around. “Glad you could make it.” He said. “Thith ith the Cruthenator. It’th a Ford truck with a 570 Rodek engine, front four link thuthpention , and gath thocks with coiled thpringths. It hath thixty thix inch Goodyear Terra tireth, and ith eleven-thouthand poundth of pure trucking power.” Rhia looked up at the monstrous vehicle and smiled. “Want to go for a ride?” Rhia’s smile grew. “Oh God yeah. Can I?” She said joyously. They hopped in the truck and headed towards the center of town.

They pulled into a Burger King parking lot, and went inside. Wayne ordered chicken sandwiches for both of them. They sat down and conversed over lunch. Wayne was about ten years older than her, and grew up in New Jersey. Rhia, being a native New Yorker, hated people from New Jersey. She also noticed his bad home done tattoos. He had, what she guessed, was supposed to be a skull with a knife between the skull’s teeth. There were a few others that she couldn’t make out. They were either too faded, or impossible to figure out what the artist wanted them to be. He also had fewer teeth then she had remembered. After lunch he dropped her off at her apartment. “I had a good time today.” Rhia said with a false smile. “Really, I had a thpectaular day. I really enjoyed thpending time with you.” Wayne said as Rhia leaped from the giant truck. She said ‘Goodbye’ one last time, and the Crushenator drove away. The monstrous roar of the engine shook her as he drove away. She turned and walked towards the front door. ‘This isn’t going to happen ‘ she thought to herself. ‘Why do I always pick the winners? What’s wrong with me?’ She walked into the apartment and put on some coffee. Tonight was going to be another lonely night.

She sat on the couch. It was quite. “Nicole must be at work she said out loud to herself. She picked up a book, and started reading. She didn’t even think about watching the television. She wasn’t a fan of television. She felt that it rotted the mind, erased imagination, and lowered attention spans. She read for a little oven an hour, and decided to go out. It was still early. She would go clothes shopping. Something she hadn’t done in a while. She needed to shop. She was felling low. She would catch the next bus to the mall and charge everything she could to her credit card.

It was now Wednesday, and for the past two days she couldn’t stop thinking of Wayne. She decided to call him again. She didn’t think she gave him a fair chance, she didn’t know much about him. She picked up the phone, and dialed. Wayne answered, and they talked for over an hour. They made plans for dinner that night. She would give him a chance. She didn’t think it was fair to judge him on his appearance. Sure he looked like Tom Arnold, had bad tattoos, and spoke with a lisp, but he seemed like a great guy. She couldn’t quite remember what had attracted her to him originally, but she wanted to find out. She would find out over dinner. She let him pick the place, and told him to pick her up at 7:00.

At ten minutes to seven, Wayne arrived. He was wearing faded jeans and a flannel shirt. Rhia was wearing a tight, black, strapless dress that accented her slim, yet curvaceous body. “Woo Hoo. Will you take a look at that body.” Wayne shouted. Rhia frowned and said, “Okay, let’s get going.”
They arrived at T.G.I. Fridays and were seated immediately. Wayne ordered a spicy chicken sandwich, and Rhia ordered a Caesar salad. Wayne told stories about his childhood, his family, and his monster truck driving career. Rhia found out a lot about Wayne, and was glad she gave him another chance. She really liked him. After they finished eating, they talked for another hour. They decided to go back to Waynes’ hotel room. Rhia knew that she would be spending the night.

They arrived at the hotel room, and sat on the bed. He kissed her. It was a strong powerful kiss. It was a monster truck of a kiss. He kissed her again. This kiss was better than the first. Wayne stood up and headed towards the dresser. He pulled out a bag with some kind of white power in it. “Is that cocaine?” Rhia nervously asked. “No, it’th meth. You know, thpeed.” Wayne replied. He grabbed a mirror and with his Discover card he cut two lines. He snorted one of them, and handed the mirror to Rhia. “No thanks. I don’t do drugs.” Rhia said kindly. “It’th fun. There’th nothing like fucking when you’re high on crythal meth” Wayne said. “That’s ok. I’ll pass” Wayne snorted the other line, and put the mirror and the bag back in the dresser drawer. He pulled out a bottle of cough syrup and asked, “Would you care for thome cough thyrup?” Rhia looked confused, “but I’m not sick.” Wayne let out a small laugh and said, “I know you’re not thick, but if you drink a bottle of this thtuff you’ll be flying high for a while.” Again Rhia declined. Wayne sat down next to her and started kissing her again. She felt it. She knew she was falling in love. It was happening too fast, but she liked it. She wanted this to happen. The next few hours were love, passion, and the greatest sex she had ever had.

She woke up in the morning. Wayne was cleaning. He was washing the windows, dusting, and refolding his clothes. “Good morning thleepy head.” Wayne said cheerfully. “Morning. What are you doing?” Rhia asked. “Oh Thith.” Wayne started. “I’m cleaning. It’th the meth. I alwayth clean when I’m high. Can’t thleep when you do meth.” He picked up a bottle of cough syrup off of the dresser, and chugged it down. She got out of bed, and headed towards the bathroom. She took a shower, a forty-five-minute shower. She stepped out of the shower, and put on her clothes. She walked into the bedroom and found Wayne doing push-ups. “One hundred one, one hundred two. Hey baby, just doing my daily exercises.” He stood up and gave her a big hug. He grabbed the keys to the ‘crushenator’. He was going to take her out for some breakfast, and then drop her off at work.

They stopped at Denny’s. “I’d like thcambled eggth, thauthage, and hath brownth pleath.” Wayne told the waitress. “And my girlfriend here would like blueberry pancaketh.” ‘He called me his girlfriend. He must really like me.’ Rhia thought to herself. She looked over at him and smiled. This was the happiest she had been in a long time, maybe even the happiest she had ever been. Over breakfast they discussed a wide area of topics. Everything from animal rights, to gun control. He was a great conversationalist. This is what turned her on to him. She could listen to him talk for hours. She didn’t even notice his lisp anymore. Then Wayne asked her. “Hey, do you want to come with me to my next race, and maybe the one after that too?” He was asking her to be with him. This is what she wanted. “I’d love that Wayne. Where are you headed to next?” “Florida, There’th a big race down there next week. Are you thure you want to come?” Rhia smiled and nodded.

Wayne dropped her off at work and kissed her goodbye. He told her that he would pick her up at midnight. He watched her go through the door, and drove away. Inside Rhia told her boss that this was going to be her last night working. She told him that she had fallen in love and was going to travel around with her new boyfriend. That night she made good money. She was happy. She was pleasant. She wasn’t the usual bitter waitress that people were used to. She was in love and she wanted the world to know it.

Wayne picked her up at midnight and drove her home. They sat on the hood of the ‘crushenator’ and talked about how they were going to be happy together. She didn’t mind the constant traveling. Actually she would enjoy it. It was getting late. Rhia kissed him goodnight and headed towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow honey.” She said as she put her keys in the lock. “How about Friday before the rathe? I have a lot of thingth to do tomorrow. Have to the truck looked at, and inthpected. Then I have to go and meet up with the other racerth at the colitheum. I’m thorry though. I promithe I’ll call you ath thoon ath I get home.” She was a little disappointed, and Wayne knew it. He walked up and started to serenade her. He sang, “Her name ith Rhia and thee dantheth on the thand. Jutht like that river twithting through a dethert land. And when thee dantheth thee really thowth you all thee can. Oh Rhia, Rhia danth acroth the Rio Grande.” Her heart melted. No one had ever sung to her before. He showed so much courage, so much heart, so much love. She told him that she loved him. “I love you too,” He said with a gigantic smile on his face. She walked inside and headed for bed. She would miss him tomorrow, but knew he would make it up to her on Friday.

It was Friday. She was all packed. She was ready to leave tomorrow. She wanted to leave. She didn’t really have anything there. A few friends but that’s about it. She wanted to spend every day with Wayne. Wayne called from a payphone and told her that he would be there in five minutes. Exactly five minutes later he showed up. The Crushenator looked beautiful. She hopped in and they headed for the race. On the ride there he told her his schedule and where they would be traveling. They would be going to Florida, Arizona, Texas, California, and a few other places she had always wanted to visit. They arrived at the coliseum, and Wayne showed Rhia her seat. She had the best seat in the house. She wanted to be down on the floor with him, but Wayne showed her that the rules clearly stated that only racers could be on the floor. She took her seat and waited for the show to start. This was the first time she had ever been at a monster truck race. She was excited. The race started. Everyone went crazy. With the noise from the trucks and the noise from the thousands of screaming fans, she could hardly hear herself think. Her only thoughts were of her sharing her life with Wayne.

Wayne had proceeded to the Finals. It was he against the legendary ‘Bigfoot’. It was a best or three races. Who ever won would take home the two hundred thousand dollar prize. They revved their engines. The starting light turned green. They both hit the first jump at the same time. They came down crushing all of the cars. At the second jump ‘Bigfoot’ was ahead by a few feet. They hit the second jump and crushed the next set of cars. “Bigfoot’ finished first. Rhia sat quietly as everyone cheered. The next race was different. The “crushenator’ had taken a fast lead and won the second race by a few feet. Rhia jumped out of her seat, and cheered. She was really excited. Wayne had a chance to win the money. Rhia knew it wasn’t the money that mattered. It was the win. Wayne raced to win. He loved racing. Even if there weren’t any money in racing, Wayne would still race.

This was it, the third and final race. Rhia crossed her fingers and said a little prayer. She wasn’t really a religious person, she just thought a prayer was a good idea. The light was red. The powerful machines revved their engines. The light turned green and they both sped off. ‘Bigfoot’ hit the jump first, but only two seconds before the ‘crushenator”. Wayne hit the jump and landed on the row of crushed cars. Something wasn’t right. The front axle split and the ‘crushenator’ flipped. It started to roll. Rhia held her breath. A gas leak. First it started as a small fire. Then there was an explosion. The ‘Crushenator’ was blown into thousands of pieces. Rhia jumped out of her seat and ran towards the flaming truck. She was held back by the emergency personal usually on had at monster truck races. They pulled Wayne’s charred body out of the truck and loaded him into the ambulance. Rhia knew it was too late. He was already dead.

She arrived at the hospital shortly after the ambulance did. She was given the bad news by one of the doctors that had worked on him. Rhia broke down and cried. A police officer gave her a ride home. Even if she knew how to drive, she was in no shape do be driving. She went into her apartment and headed for her room. She sat at her desk and turned on her computer. She was looking at all of the web pages dedicated to Wayne. She clicked on a link that led her to a site called “Yahoo!” She clicked on another link, which brought her to a chat room. This is where she would spend the next few years. Talking to people with hardly any social skills. Talking to people who are looking for nothing but sex. Talking to people who live their lives a lie. While all the time telling the story of Wayne Pollard, the greatest monster truck driver ever.