Run: Day 12

Word Count: 72,008

Summary of Events:

Ty and DaNiel spent the night at a rest stop a short way into Idaho, where DaNiel slept fitfully on the backseat of the car before being woken up by Ty getting out of the car to steal the plates off a car parked beside them; DaNiel tried to stop him, but Ty refused to heed him. Later that morning they reached Boise, where the restaurants lining the Interstate made Ty — who'd not really had any breakfast — hungry, so he convinced DaNiel to turn off the Interstate and find them a restaurant to eat at . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

After awhile they came to an interchange and DaNiel headed north. The first restaurant they spied was McDonald’s, but it was followed by several other more appealing restaurants that made Ty’s mouth water as he thought of all the delectable foods they offered, but DaNiel drove by them all and before long they had left the restaurants behind.

“But what about those?” Ty asked. “There was more than just McDonald’s.”

“I didn’t want any of those for breakfast,” DaNiel replied.

“It’s practically lunchtime!” Ty protested.

“Still,” DaNiel replied. “It shouldn’t just be what you want.”

Ty sighed; couldn’t they have gotten him something from one restaurant and DaNiel from another if he didn’t want to have something at the same restaurant.

A couple more restaurants — none of which were part of chains — appeared before the road they were on ended in a T intersection, forcing them to go left or right.

DaNiel elected to turn right and they passed several restaurants that were chain and not chain, most of which looked like they’d sell some pretty good food, but still DaNiel didn’t stop.

Ty spied IHOP ahead. “Well there’s pancakes if you want breakfast food.”

“No,” DaNiel said.

“I thought you wanted breakfast food,” Ty snapped.

“But I don’t want IHOP,” DaNiel replied.

“Well then why don’t we go back to that grocery store we passed and both just grab what we want from there?” Ty asked irritably.

DaNiel didn’t make any moves to do that either, but instead kept driving east, past restaurant after restaurant that called to Ty’s mind the delectable foods he’d eaten at other locations in the past.

Finally DaNiel made a left hand turn  into a parking lot at a pancake restaurant.

“I thought you didn’t want pancakes,” Ty snapped.

“Not IHOP pancakes, no,” DaNiel replied.

“But you still wanted pancakes?” Ty asked.

“No, not necessarily,” DaNiel replied. “I just wanted breakfast food. And I know these guys make great breakfast food.”

Ty sighed. He felt supremely frustrated, but at least he was getting food.

DaNiel pulled into a parking stall and shut the car off; without asking Ty what he wanted he got out of the car.

Immediately Ty scrambled out of the car. “Well aren’t you going to ask what I want?”

“No, you can tell the waitstaff yourself,” DaNiel replied, not looking back.

“You mean this is a sit-down restaurant?” Ty asked.

“I’ve never heard of a breakfast restaurant doing drive-through,” DaNiel replied.

“Aren’t you forgetting something important?” Ty asked, hurrying over to DaNiel.

“Don’t look guilty and they won’t think you guilty,” DaNiel replied quietly, not breaking stride.

DaNiel had been so worried about being seen before he’d been arrested, but now it seemed like DaNiel could care less; Ty didn’t get it. Did he really think the beard was that much of a disguise? Or the fact that he’d cut off his cornrows? Ty certainly didn’t think they combined to make DaNiel look that different.