Chapter 22: There's A Storm Coming

Sarah Connor drew in a deep breath of the humid Mexico air as the wind blew her blonde hair all over her face. She had tried to pull it back in an effort to keep some of the bangs back but it didn't really bother her. She squinted behind the sunglasses as she drove directly towards the sun on a deserted road. She passed by dirt and desert plants in her red Jeep, glancing every so often at the pistol lying in the passenger's seat.

Her eyes drifted from the road to the tape recorder by the side of her seat and lifted it up, placing it in her lap. She pressed the record button and began to speak whatever came to her mind.

"Tape 7, November 10. Where was I?"

She paused for a moment before she drew in another breath and continued.

"What's most difficult for me is trying to decide what to tell you and what not to."

Sarah glanced down at her lap and placed a hand on her pregnant stomach, rubbing it gently.

"But I guess I have a while yet before you're old enough to even understand these tapes. They're more for me at this point, just so I can get it straight."

She drew in another breath as if to continue but stopped the recording instead and set it down in the passenger's seat as she noticed a gas station up ahead. Her blue eyes scanned over the small faded yellow convenience store with advertisements littered on the windows almost in desperation, waiting for someone to purchase something. She pulled off the road but quickly slowed down once she noticed a few chickens in the way, maneuvering around them.

She saw an old blue car that looked as if it were too old to be running next to a rack of torn tires. Sarah stopped at the gas pump and the Jeep creaked as she shut off the engine. She took off her seatbelt and stepped out of the car, letting out a deep breath. She took her sunglasses off and glanced down at a Spanish Dictionary in her hands. The wind flowed under her long gray dress that accentuated her stomach. She turned slowly to see a man in a red plaid shirt and tan hat walk up to her.

"Uh… gasolina por favor?"

"Ah, quanto."

She glanced back at the book and asked the man in English if he could fill it up for her to which he kindly agreed. Sarah ran her hand over her stomach again, breathing heavily before she stepped back into the car and clicked the record button again.

"Should I tell you about your father? Boy, that's a tough one. There's so much I could say about him but you're too young to know most of it. A person could go crazy thinking about this."

Sarah smiled sadly into the distant and let out a quick sigh as she glanced down at her stomach and gently rubbed it.

"I suppose I will tell you. I owe him that. Maybe it'll help if you know that in the few days that we had together, we loved a lifetime's worth."

Sarah's attention instantly shifted once she heard the click of a camera and turned to see a small boy with a large camera, pulling out a photograph. He spoke to her in Spanish and she looked at him confused, relieved to see the man from earlier return.

"What did he just say?"

"He says you are very beautiful, senorá and it is a shame to ask you for five American dollars for this picture but if he doesn't, his father will beat him."

Sarah's eyes drifted back to the boy, staring straight into his brown eyes with a smile.

"Pretty good hustle, kid."

Then she held up her fingers and spoke softly.

"Quatro."

"Sí, sí!"

She handed the boy his money and he gave her the photograph with a smile on his face.

"Graciás!"

He took the money and ran off as she looked down at the picture with a smile. She tucked it under the tape recorder so it wouldn't fly away in the wind and turned once she heard the boy shout something to her in Spanish.

"What did he just say?"

"He said there's a storm coming in."

Sarah turned away from the man and let out a small breath, staring ahead of her.

"I know."

Then she pulled up her sunglasses and started the car, quickly driving away from the gas station. She could see dark clouds rolling ahead of her in the sky as well as hear thunder in the distance but she drove straight towards the storm, ready for whatever it decided to throw at her.

Next Up:

T1.5: The Connors