It's the summer of 2021 and I am packing for the last trip before I start up work at seaside elementary. I am leaving the beautiful state of Oregon as the temperature decides to drop. Soon the weather will flip like a light switch from high 90’s to low 60’s. As I laid my final bag in the old trunk of my Subaru outback my worries slid down my back. I called my brother Al to let him know my journey starts now. Al is a stubborn man, he means good but all those years in the army didn't age well on his people skills.
As I pulled out of my driveway the elongated drive began. While I drove I soaked in all the memories I had made over the summer camping with friends, visiting family all over the world, and studying different cultures. I am used to long drives due to my lack of passion for international flight with all those people crammed in together like sardines. Most of the drive to California would be Oregon terrain, country roads and open pastures. I don’t mind though because I always wanted to live in the country with my own land, peace and family away from the rest of the world. As I drove further I started to realize the amount of people hitchhiking in the scorching summer heat. I had empathy in my heart for people who couldn't afford a ride to their destination. My sorrow for all these people grew more and more and felt like a weighted blanket on my chest holding me down. I decided if I couldn’t help them all I would at least help one of them. I told myself that the next hitchhiker I saw would give me a ride. I saw a distant body on the side of the road half a mile ahead. I pressed on the brake slowly and felt the steering wheel shake. I’d been meaning to get that looked at. I pulled up right next to the man and asked him where he was headed. The man is small, shaggy, and looks harmless at first sight. He told me he was headed to San Francisco, lucky for him that was on the way. The man didn't have much with him, a light traveler I thought to myself. 10 to 15 minutes after the man had aborted my car I learned alot about him. He claimed to have been in the army recently and just finished his journey there. Although the man seemed to be pretty open about his life, he seemed unstable and sketchy to say the least. The man picked at his finger the same way I did when I was nervous. I started to study the man while I drove and kept him occupied with questions. His name is Stephan and he is headed to San Francisco to start a new life. The man didn't seem interested to ask me any questions nor did he talk at all, if I hadn't asked him a question first. Although I still have empathy for Stephan the red flags that show up in his behavior start to indicate I should do something, I'm not sure what yet but something needs to be done. I let the man know I needed to call my brother to tell him my whereabouts.
When I called, Al picked up and I told him all about the man and how he reeked of alcohol as if he had been soaking in it. Al told me I need to create a distraction and get the man out of the car and drive off. I walked back to the car and looked through the back window to see the man’s stuff but not him. A loud crunch of gravel snuck up behind me piercing my ears with dread of leaving the man alone. A sharp object was then pressed against my throat as the man told me to empty my pockets and give him my stuff. The knife walked across my neck barely cutting the first layer of my skin. I cried for help but no one could hear me because we hadn’t reached the city yet.
At that moment I remembered the pocket knife attached to my car keys Al had given me last year for my birthday in case of an emergency. This is an emergency I thought to myself. As I drew the keys from my pocket I quickly lodged the knife in and out of his right leg three times before he pushed me away and stabbed me in my shoulder with his knife. I quickly grabbed the knife out of my back and shoved the man to the ground. The adrenaline rushed through my body so fast I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts. I stood over the man and contemplated my choices. I could let them go and report him to the police but he could easily rat me out. I decided to end his life today, I cut his throat quickly and lodged the knife into his chest. A car pulled up just as I had staged the mans death as a suicide. The diver saw everything and started to freak out and call the police but before he could dial the last digit I offered the man 20,000 dollars. The man agreed to my terms as I venmoed his money. He drove off without a phone call and I got into my car thinking of this day for the next three hours. I am going to erase this day from my memory never to be talked about or even thought of past this day. That man would never hurt anyone ever again.