Chapter 19 - Page 285 - Louisiana Law

   They climbed back into the truck to get their clothes. Jim reached up to the cubby hole above his head to get his log book. He knew the last place he'd filled it out was in Hammond, Louisiana. He snickered as he read the daily entry.

   Rhasha, gathering clothes, noticed Jim chuckling to himself. "What's funny, sweetheart?" she asked.

   Jim decided not to log his trip, but a strange thought occurred to him. "It's not anything that's funny, angel," he said, "it's more a 'what if' situation."

   By this time Shanha was helping Rhasha fold blankets. "'What if' what, Papa?"

   Jim now had two curious people waiting for an explanation. "I was just thinking, what if an officer pulled up right now and asked to see my log book? He would see that we were in Hammond, Louisiana, at nine o'clock this morning."

   "I don't understand," Rhasha said. "Why would it matter?"

   "Well," Jim replied, "how could I explain being in Dallas, Texas, four hours later?"

   "I'd just tell him the truth," Rhasha said.

   "Sure, Rhasha," Jim said, then started acting goofy. "All I'd have to say is, 'Officer, God zapped us to Dallas.'" He snickered again. "He'd lock me up for being stupid."

   Shanha had a serious look on her face as she swayed back and forth in the bunk. "I'm sure people have told osafers that before."

   Jim and Rhasha laughed.

   The warehouse door was open. Jim could see his car parked in the warehouse, no more than a hundred feet from where they were. Rhasha and Shanha were tidying up the truck, so Jim walked to his car and pushed the key into the ignition switch. With a turn of the wrist, the engine hummed to life. He pulled the sedan up next to the Freightliner and parked it. They loaded everything from the truck into the car, Jim locked the truck, and they were soon on the road, going east toward his apartment.

End of chapter nineteen