The words, "I love it when a plan comes together," kept echoing through my head over and over. I believe it was Hannibal Smith who made those 8 words famous, but in truth, at that moment, with nothing in front of me but a clear expanse of I-90 in South Dakota, those words were meant entirely for me.
I had just turned 42, and after beginning as an intern at Midwestern Mutual Insurance as a senior at the University of Wisconsin, I had stuck with the company and paid my dues. I had kept my mouth shut many times when I was passed by for promotions until my opportunity finally came, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the entire multimillion dollar company.
My pay doubled up to 140 K, plus bonuses and commissions, a company car, and the golden opportunity to move up to President of Marketing when my boss, George Soloman, retired in five years.
For once in my life, it felt as if all my hard work was indeed paying off and my life seemed to be on the fast track. My wife Lindsey had faithfully stuck by me for 22 years, through the good times and the bad and she had given me two beautiful children, Mark who was 21 and a Junior at Marquette and Kimberly, who was 16 and a junior in high school.
Although the travel involved with the new position would be straining, the money we could save up as a family after finishing sending both kids to school along with the unwritten promise of becoming President of the marketing department down the road ,made the vision of our golden years a very pleasant one.
As I stared down into the harsh emptiness of I-90 , going west through the Dakota Badlands on that late May day last year, I certainly felt like I was the king of the road.
I had just gotten off the cell phone with Lindsey back in Sheboygan and other than the fact that our request for Packer season tickets had been turned down for the eighth year in a row, all was going well at home. Mark was safely back from college and Kim was getting ready for her high school rendition of "Cats". I ground my teeth from the disappointment of not being there.
Another thing I purposely steered our brief conversation away from was the fact that the next day was going to be our 22nd wedding anniversary and for the first time ever, we were not going to be able to spend it together.
With my new position's added income and responsibility, Lindsey had begrudgingly accepted the fact that we would have to make some sacrifices for a greater benefit down the road.
"I love you babe... I will make it up to you," I said as sincerely as I could, knowing she knew exactly what I meant when I said "it'.
"I know she replied....I love you too...You're going to be in Rapid City tomorrow night...right?" Lindsey caringly replied.
"Yeah...at the Courtyard.....should be there by late afternoon...I'll give you a call when I get in...OK," I promised.
"I'll be here Baby...Love you..," She said, hanging up.
"Bye."
I laid the phone back down in its holder, trying my best to fight back a tear, at that moment missing Lindsey and the kids more than I ever had before.
* * * * *
I pulled out of Mitchell, South Dakota the next morning a little after 11 am after meeting with our office manager there. Looking at my road map, I figured I had about a 6 hour drive left before I got to Rapid City to turn in for the night. The whole afternoon, alone in my car, cruising down the barren, desolate wasteland , I couldn't help but kick myself over and over that I was missing my 22nd anniversary, my heart feeling eerily like my Dakota surroundings.
As the miles and the hours clicked by, about 40 miles outside of Rapid City, I saw a broken down older Toyota sitting lifeless on the side of the road. About three minutes later, off in the hazy distance, I got a glimpse of someone walking west along the same side of the highway I was driving. Getting closer, I saw a dark ponytail swinging side to side.
I couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl until I sped by at nearly 75. Looking back in my rearview at the frame of the unfortunate soul, I guessed it was a female, either a thin young woman or teenager, as the dot behind me got smaller and smaller with each turn of my wheels.
A twinge of guilt went through me as I put two and two together figuring it was that young lady's car that was resting motionless a few miles back. Looking at the map beside me, I could see there was hardly anything between where we were and Rapid City. Turning my gaze forward and looking at the desolate expanse of highway in front of me, something deep within me took control and made me pull over to stop and wait.
Pushing the gearshift up into park, I gazed back in the rearview and saw the dot that was about a half mile back, steadily move closer. I looked up at the sun slowly sinking in the western sky and guessed that there was only a half an hour left of daylight. If the young lady behind me was to have to walk to the nearest town she could be out here to midnight and as I surveyed the surroundings, I wouldn't have wished that on anyone.
As I sat there and watched the figure of the woman approach, I turned up the car's AC to ward off the stagnant late Spring heat. I knew though once the sun went down in open spaces such as this , the temperature would plummet. I knew it wouldn't be a safe situation for anyone, much less a young girl out in this vast emptiness, so I told myself secretly, what a hero I would be when she got up to the car and I was there to help her. Another voice inside my head however told me she would probably freak seeing that someone had pulled over to wait for her, as if they were a vulture waiting for the right time to pick her bones.
I made the conscious decision to sit and wait and at least offer my services and if she declined then I would politely leave her be and wish her well.
Five minutes or so passed before the young lady's face came into clear view. I focused on her, seemingly like a voyeur in the rearview as she approached my parked car. Although she was wearing a pair of dark boots that added a few inches to her height, she still was a tall girl, probably around 5 foot 9 and had long black hair that was braided into a pony tail behind her.
With a sweatshirt and jeans on it was difficult to tell what kind of figure she had but as she got closer, there was a certain wiggle in her walk that indicated to me she was a very confident, if not exasperated, young woman.
I slowly rolled down my driver's side window so I could ask her I she needed any help. When I could hear the sounds of her boots heels meeting the asphalt, I knew she was in ear shot.
"Do you need any help?" I asked bluntly as she neared my car, about 10 feet behind my car. The young woman stopped cold in her tracks and yelled back.
"I guess I do.." The young woman said exhaustedly. "My car's broke down a ways back."
I had anticipated a skiddish response, any guy traveling a desolate stretch of highway and stops to pick up a woman walking alone on the highway would be a red flag for something bad getting ready to happen. I wouldn't have blamed her a bit if she had taken off across the high plains screaming for help.
Instead, the young woman just stood there with her long black bangs willowing across her forehead as she measured me up.
"I guess I ought to be glad somebody stopped," she finally sighed." I bet it gets cold as shit out here when the sun goes down and I don't have a clue how far it is away from the next town."
"I'm headed for Rapid City to stop for the night...I'm sure you could find a garage there to come get your car," I offered.
Sensing she was willing to accept my offer, I reached over and unlocked the passenger side door, picked up my briefcase, laid it in the backseat and threw a few assorted loose papers into the floorboard to make room for the stranded young woman.
"Don't mind the mess...I'm traveling alone...I can get a little messy sometimes. My name is Darrell...Darrell Montgomery...I'm an insurance salesman...I live back in Sheboygan...Sheboygan, Wisconsin...Every couple of months I have to do a cross state trip through the Plains checking on some of our local field offices..." I rambled on, trying to put the young lady as well as myself more at ease.
"Oh yeah...by the way," I continued, "Here's my cell pone...if you want to call somebody to let them know where you are OK...be my guest...talk as long as you want..."
Taking the phone out of the holder, I extended it towards the young woman as she made herself comfortable in the passenger seat.
"....Wendy," she replied, taking the phone tentatively from my hand. "Wendy Bennett...thanks for the phone...I think I will call information to get a garage to come pick up my car."
"Sure," I said reassuringly.
"I was on my way back from school...my folks just moved to Casper ,Wyoming and I was planning to stop for the night in Rapid City too," Wendy sighed as she dialed 411 and waited for the operator to pick up on the other end. "That's a long drive with that piece of shit I left back there...I tell you...I had a bad feeling before I even left that something like this would happen."
"College huh," I replied trying to make conversation. "My son's a Junior...will be a Senior at Marquette and my daughter Kimberly....she's 16," I said, pointing to the pictures of my kids taped to the dashboard in front of me.
I pegged the young lady to be about 20 maybe 21 or 22, slightly younger than my son but a little older than my daughter. I ground my teeth a little, upset that Mark, my son, never brought home girls that looked this pretty.
I couldn't help but peek out of the corner of my eyes as I drove , down at Wendy's long denim covered legs as her feet intertwined in the floorboard, her black patent leather boots rubbing together, massaging her tired toes from her long walk as she waited for information to get her the nearest garage's number.
Looking over at Wendy as she continued to talk on the phone, I felt a distinct tingle dance around my spine as I listened to her talk to the garage owner on the other end, her voice sounding smooth and confident with just a touch of sweetness and innocence as she told him where to send the tow truck driver.
Wendy grabbed one of the old newspapers from the floor and wrote the address to the garage down so we could find it when we got to town.
