Ana: Assasin of the Mafia, Chapter 6

by Maryam in A Land Of Desert And Sun

Just keep your eyes open, she coached herself. Keep...Eyes..Open. Ana blinked once, rubbed her eyes as best as she could with one hand on the steering wheel, and thought desperately about something to wake her up. It was no use to try to resist the urges of sleep. Just a few more minutes.. she thought to herself. All right. She rummaged in a bag in the front seat next to her and found a thermos. Thank heaven for Louie, she thought to herself as she popped the bottle open and swigged it down her throat.
Mercifully, the caffine worked and she found herself more alert and awake. Aah, she thought, the wonders of modern beverages.
But there was just one problem with modern beverages.
Their effects didn't stay for long.
That was it. The thermos finished and she just couldn't bear it any longer. Swerving, she pulled to the side of the road and stopped the car. On second thought, she turned it on again. She would just close her eyes for a few minutes. Just a few minutes, then start driving again. You couldn't risk a night's sleep when you were running from the Italian Mafia. The very thought was ridiculous! She tapped the steering wheel knowingly. Ana sighed. Peeking at the figure in the back, she shook her head. Envy was not a good thing. But that was exactly what she felt for this person. Something else, too. But she couldn't exactly put her finger on it. And why should she envy him? Hunted by the Mafia for witnessing (well, sort of witnessing) an act of murder and fored to go on a cross-country trip with a killer at the wheel with hands and feet tied? That wasn't lucky.
Not in the least.
Now, she was willing herself to wipe her mind of all things except a few moments of blissful shuteye.

******

Ummm. Now that was better. She stretched herself lazily, refreshingly. What a wonder a night's sleep could do for you! And getting up just as the sun was rising. Yes, this was the.. WHAT? Ana bolted upright suddenly. WHAT WAS SHE DOING?! Oh darn it, she thought, berating herself. Darn, darn, (curse, curse). She tried to start the car, jerking the key to the right. The car wouldn't make a sound. She pressed down on the gas. No sign of life. Oh, great, she thought angrily. Just great. Because she had been so inoxerably stupid and kept the car running all night, the car was as good as worthless. What had possessed her to keep the car going all night? What? She bonked herself on the head. And you deserve it. She looked at the guy in the backseat and suddenly felt anger. Is was all because of him, she fumed. Why couldn't she have just pulled the triggger and be done with it. But there was no erasing the past, and she doubted the Mafia would accept her again, even is she did eventually kill him. So there was no way out.
Muttering under her breath, she opened the car door and swung herself out. Unknowingly, she had pullled
over next to a high cliff facing the east. The sunrise really was fantastic, she thought subconciously and slumped down, leaning against the car door, wondering inside herself how she would get herself out of this mess. A few minutes later, or it could have been hours, as she sat there contemplating her problem, the car door opened. There she saw the guy (Paul, his name was), hands and feet still tied, looking at her sympathetically. Ana sat up, startled. 'How - how did you ever open the door?' 'Knee.' She shook her head at herself. He continued. 'What's the problem?' 'I'm stuck out here with you in the middle of nowhere.' 'So?' She looked up at him unbelieveingly. But he was serious.
'The PROBLEM is, sir,' she sat up and looked him in the eye, 'That I had the amazing stupidness to not put a bullet through you when I first saw you and not put you out here like a blithering idiot. The PROBLEM is that I belong with the Mafia. But sparing your life will most probably have put me out of a job. The PROBLEM is that I am probably being put on the Mafia hit list and when we - when I,' she corrected herself, 'get to any big city, I'll be murdered on sight!' she spat at him, amazed at how angry she was. 'The PROBLEM is, SIR, that I have, because of you, been put out of my former life and thrust into one I know nothing about! I mean look,' she gestured at the Toyota, 'Look at that!' Her response was not the slamming of the car door, as she expected, but him just staring at her.
It was certainly more unnerving than any slamming, and she was suddenly speechless and a bit tired. Ana slumped down again. 'The problem is,' she murmured, barely audibly, 'is that I just don't know what to do.'