Monster - A. Lee Martinez [45]
Greta didn’t find her comment particularly funny, but it was an honest effort, so she smiled back and nodded.
Jeanine greeted Mary cheerfully. Mary offered a terse reply, and they were off.
“Sorry. Didn’t get out on time,” said Greta.
“Don’t worry about it,” replied Jeanine. “These things happen. Not like it’s the end of the world.”
Mary grumbled. The end of the world was probably the only excuse she’d accept, and then only grudgingly.
Greta sped a little. There was a five-minute window to avoid the morning rush. If she could beat that, they could make up for lost time. It might even appease Mary.
They didn’t make it. There was an accident that slowed traffic to a crawl. The cars crept along in the exhaust-choked morning air. Jeanine talked the whole while about everything and nothing in particular. Greta did her best to carry some of the weight of the conversation to keep things pleasant as Mary continued to stare, brows furrowed, out the windows.
Something bumped into Greta’s car. She thought the driver behind her had carelessly smacked her bumper. But then the roof creaked.
“What the hell?” asked Jeanine. “Pigeons?”
If it were pigeons, it would have to have been a heck of a lot of them, judging by the bend in the roof.
“What’s that?” said Jeanine, pointing to the back window. A lion’s tail swished back and forth from above.
Greta was too focused on the possible jungle cat sitting atop her car to notice the traffic pull ahead. The driver behind her honked his horn to remind her. She eased forward slowly, nearly banging into the car ahead of her as the lion shifted its weight.
They drove for several more minutes. Everyone was quiet. Greta and Jeanine exchanged curious glances as the lion remained above them, while Mary appeared no less annoyed or concerned than before.
“We should do something,” said Jeanine. “Shouldn’t we?”
Greta agreed, but she wasn’t sure what.
“I’m calling 911.” Mary flipped open her cell phone. “Yes, I’d say this is an emergency. There’s a lion on our car, and I’ve got a meeting in half an hour.”
While Mary discussed the situation with the dispatcher, Greta decided it might be wise to pull off the freeway. The next exit was three miles away through sluggish traffic and two clogged lanes. No easy feat, even without a lion on one’s car. But it turned out not to be so difficult. Greta discovered that a lion on the roof was as effective as a police siren.
Off the freeway, Greta tried speeding up to persuade the beast to jump off her car. It only secured its grip by digging its claws into the roof. They sliced into the interior. Rather than risk having her roof torn off, she slowed to a stop and pulled in to a convenient strip mall parking lot.
“We’ll wait here,” said Greta.
Mary gave the dispatcher their location and hung up. Impatiently and with great annoyance, she dialed to inform work she’d be even later than expected.
“Should we get out?” asked Jeanine. “Maybe we can make a run for it.”
“It’s a lion,” said Greta. “We can’t outrun a lion.”
“Maybe it won’t chase us.”
Mary lowered her phone. “Do you mind? This is an important call.”
Jeanine whispered, “I bet it won’t chase us if it’s not hungry.”
“It’s probably hungry,” Greta said. “How many gazelles are there in the city for it to catch? Don’t they always say you should stay in the car no matter what in those animal safari parks?”
“This isn’t a park,” said Jeanine.
“The logic still applies. Stay put. Sit still. Wait for help.”
Greta didn’t feel much safer in the car. The gashes in the ceiling proved just how thin a layer of protection the automobile provided. But she reasoned that if the lion was indeed hungry, it would probably go after one of the tasty morsels walking around in the open. She expected everyone to run and hide, but a surprising number of people seemed unimpressed by her situation. They gave the car a wide berth, but it was more of an uncomfortable avoidance that showed in their expressions than outright fear.
A pair of huge paws slapped on the windshield. Spider