Mumbling Mel

Walking swiftly past the town’s welcome sign (Logan, NM), I pull my hair back into a bun trying to compose myself. Coming from Texas heading to California, I planned on making a stop in Santa Fe, NM to see where I was born. So now I’ve been walking 5 miles because my truck ran out of gas on the interstate, aka no man’s land out here.
My name is Lorrie Jane Smith and my parents died in a car crash 19 years ago when I was two months old. I have been living with my aunt and cousins ever since, there’s nothing wrong with them but in a big city a girl like me can get lost after a while. So here I was, driving across the country to find out who I am, until I got into this rut.
Everything around me is green and lush, fresh from the rain that hit the southern part of the US recently. A local diner is the first place I see, Mel’s. I must look a wreck because the waitress immediately seats me and says she’ll be right out with some water, saving me from dehydration. After we get acquainted, I figure out her name is Sam and she’s about my age give or take a few years. Her brother is Mel, and they starting running this place together a few years ago after their dad, the original Mel, passed away from a heart attack. I start to tell her about my past and what my big plans for the future are, but then I stop myself. I don’t know this girl… this isn’t where I am supposed to be. I am supposed to be by myself, riding in my beat-up sedan on my way to Santa Fe. But I’m not who I was, I don’t even know who I am so I continue on, not reading the look on Sam’s face as amazement.
Beginning with my parent’s death, onto moving with my aunt, throughout high school, and now my intentions for the future; Sam was intrigued. Muttering comments of approval and touches of sympathy, her act was right on target. Not only did she remind me of some girl off of “Saved by the bell”, she was one of few people that have actually ever listened to what I had to say.
That day changed my life in a way I never assumed. After hours of talking and laughing about old crushes, abnormal gazes were lost as I tackled my past with this girl whom I came accustomed to. I was surprised to hear her offer dinner and a place to stay the night, and also surprised to hear my own voice say yes. After dinner, meeting mumbling Mel, and after Sam clocked out; she showed me around a little. Ending up at a trailer across town, she stopped at the front door and led me to the back. Trying to keep up with her pace I didn’t notice her brother following us home or mumbling behind us either. Sam was nowhere in sight, so when my throat let out a strange cry for help she never came running. Mel’s knife was poking my throat and he was mumbling words I couldn’t understand. He fiddled with my buckle, digging the knife into my neck.
I vaguely recall my kneeing his yoo-hoo or sprinting across town to get out, but I do remember Sam. Just as I passed the “Welcome” sign, I glance to my right, spotting Sam. But finding the scar on her throat first.