Saturday, June 25, 2011

KOW part 6

Things were not settled. Our conversation had turned into grunts and nods. A day ago I was in the throes of the best love making of my life. Now I was with the girl responsible for that great event not talking to me. I was sweating the wheel as my mind out paced the tires. "Baby, talk to me. This is killing me. We were having so much fun and now I am driving blindly down the road." You replied with, "You know where you want to go. Just keep going." Shit! I could barely see. I turned the wheel, hit the brake, and made my way off the road into the sand. We came to a dusty halt. I turned the Jeep off. " Talk to me Kate." You put your pretty feet back on my dash and chewed your bottom lip while twirling a finger through your hair. The silence was killing me. I looked past you at a Western sky that I was not used to. The beauty of it was nullified by your silence." Babe, please..." "Don't call me babe!" You jerked a smoke from your bag but could not find a lighter. The Jeep lighter doesn't work when she is turned off. I tried to hand you my lighter but you were having none of that. You found my matches in the glove box and finally lit it. After you had a few puffs you seemed to calm down. I went to put my hand on your leg and quickly realized how misguided I was. You jerked your leg away from me and put a glare on me. Now my steam was starting to rise. Okay, I thought, fuck it. I got out and walked around to your door and opened it. You looked at me like I was a stranger. I reached out and grabbed your arm and pulled you out of the Jeep. " What the fuck are you doing?' "Shut up and let's settle this." I turned and started leading you away from the Jeep. You took a couple of steps and then balled up and punched me in the back of my neck. The shock shot down my spine. I stopped. I reached into my pocket, found my keys, and threw them at you. They bounced of your shoulder and fell into the sand. " There you go you angry bitch. Take em and drive off. I'm gonna keep walking and try to clear my head." I turned and headed out. Two hundred yards later you started yelling. "Where are you going?!?" I turned but kept walking backwards. "I read that there is an old pony express stop about a mile from here and I want to see it." I turned my toes back in the direction I was heading and had great hope you would follow. I looked over my shoulder occasionally and watched you become a speck. I could not even see the road when I found it. Earthen embankments and holes that were windows was all that was left. I could see why it was unmolested, it was out of the way and a damn long walk considering the 100 degree temperature. I regretted not having more water but enjoyed running my hands across the adobe walls. I could smell the history. I looked 0ver the back wall and took in the distant mountains. It was beautiful but I couldn't really take it in fully. I was worried about you even though I should have been worried about myself. I barely had any water, was a mile from the road, and had no idea if someone would pick up a hitcher out here. I found a book that people who had made the hike had signed and dated. It was in a plastic box. More Europeans had signed it than Americans. Yeah, America. We can drive by so we will. I signed my name and yours. I gave a brief description of what got us here. All the sudden you were there. You handed me the gallon of water you carried and said, "Drink you god damn fool." I took it from you and was grateful to follow directions for the first time in my life. As I struggled to put the lid back on I realized how much the heat had affected me. You just stood there looking at me. I started to come back to my senses and started talking about what I had read and started pointing my finger towards the old trail, the range, where the natives were, why the pony express lasted just a year, etc..... You put your arms around my neck and silenced me when you bit down on my tongue. I came back to my senses and was glad we were okay. I wrapped you up and we fell into the sand. I knew I was in the embrace of the kind of woman I had only imagined. It wasn't true I thought. As the sun was peeling the skin off my back and your ass was raw from the sand, we decided that we could find a better place to carry on. You entwined your fingers in my left hand and we started the long hot walk back. When we got back to the Jeep you asked me how much gas we had. "More than enough to get us through." As I reached for your door you opened the back door and climbed in. "What are you doing? You want to ride back there?" You looked at me with fiery eyes. "Yeah, this is where I want to ride. Start the fucking Jeep, turn the A/C on, lock the doors, and finish what you started."

Friday, June 24, 2011

KOW part 5

We entered the place through the back door. It seemed like the front because there was parking. We needed to get a couple of plates for when we were camping again. We broke the one and I cursed myself for not breaking down and getting some proper tin camping plates. My eyes focused ahead and saw the guy at the register at the other end of the store looking at us. I could tell he was wondering why we came in the back door. You saw a 70's issue of Rolling Stone and you were off. I walked to the front and said hi to the guy. "Sorry man, we thought it was the front door." "No problem man. Looking for any thing in particular?" Yeah, I need a couple of cheap plates and a sharp knife." "That stuff's out front. The plates I mean. I have a couple of killer knives. One is from a vet that was Green Beret, served in Nam." "Okay, I am going to go check out the plates. I don't need that kind of knife in my life anymore." " Sorry man, I thought you were cool." Really? My head was getting that clogged filter feeling again. My face must have said too much. As I went to walk by he snorted and said, "Yeah, man. Your so bad ass you don't need a knife. I get it." As I turned I had already grabbed a table lamp and was half way around to landing it when I had to stop because you had rushed up. "Patrick, Patrick, Patrickkkkk!" I froze when I saw your scared eyes. The lamp fell to the floor. "What the fuck man? Chill out!" You gripped my hand and looked into my eyes. I could not do harm in your presence. I pulled a twenty out of my pocket, tore it in half, and laid one half on the counter. "Yeah, I am going to chill out man. I am walking out front and getting what I came here for. If that does not cover it, come find me and I will give you the other half." I got us two plates a knife and a long walk around the shop to where the Jeep was. I was waiting for a door to rush open but we were able to back out and point west again.

KOW part 4

When I came to, I felt like I was on a damn slip and slide. The mattress was soaked. I was looking at that same ceiling for the second time today. I rolled over and drank in my view of you sleeping soundly on your belly. I took a minute to study the curve of your back taking a roller coaster ride up the hill of that perfectly round ass. Damn. I quietly put my feet on the ground and made my way to one of the chairs by the window. I sat down with a smoke and reached for the cold coffee you had got me earlier. As I sipped and smoked I just stared at you. I read you like the best book. I viewed you the way I would great paintings when I was a regular at MOMA. You looked so beautiful the sweat on my skin disappeared from lack of attention. I took an inventory of our surroundings and the torn sheet stood out. It was still tucked under one corner of the mattress but the rest was on the floor. There was a spilled glass of water, the lamp shade was dented, and our clothes were truly helter skelter. Yeah, we could put the clothes together but I wondered what the damage to the room would cost us. I really did not care. We had flirted around this moment for way too long. It made perfect sense that that we ate that room up while devouring each other. I reached into my bag and found some underwear, grabbed my jeans, and put a T shirt on. I walked over to the front office to find the owner. As I pushed the door open it hit some hanging bells that I didn't notice the first time I had come in. Now the sound set my nerves on edge. He walked out and said, "Hi Patrick. How's it going?". "Good. Good. I just wanted to talk to you about", "Listen Patrick, don't worry about earlier. I know you were upset because you didn't know where your girl was. No worries man.". "Thanks. That's not what I came to talk about though". He looked past me towards the room and then quickly looked back at me. "Well then, what's on your mind brother?" This set me back for a second because "brother" was not a term I passed around lightly. I liked this guy but "brother" he was not. I stared through him a second before I could reply. "I need to settle up because I am ready to head out". "Sure man. Um, it is late in the afternoon though and I will have to charge you for two nights. So why don't you guys just stay tonight and get a fresh start in the morning? I mean, what the hell, you are paying for the room until eleven tomorrow. Maybe we could all have a drink later. I have a grill that I could...." The buzz was howling in my head. "No. Thanks. I need to drive tonight. Listen brother, I kind of tore the room up with my girl and need to know what it is going to cost before I shove off. I don't want any surprise charges down the road so I want you to come take a look and charge me now." Now he looked a bit pensive. "Okay brother, I can do that.." "Stop calling me brother. I like you but no one calls me brother without a good reason." "I didn't mean to offend you, I was just.." "Stop talking man. I am going to wake up my girl to get ready to leave. Give us forty five minutes to get our shit together and come do your inspection. Access the damages and let me settle up with you." "Okay, Patrick. I will be over in forty five. I did not mean to set you off." "You didn't Brian, I set myself off and now I need to roll. Your motel and your kindness will be a part of me from here on out. Trust me, I will be back and then you can fire that grill up. For now, I need to get moving. It's nothing against you or your motel. I'm in the dark as to what is going on, to be quite honest with you. I am relying on instinct and instinct is telling me to get moving." I walked back to our room and regretted not wearing shoes. My feet were on fire! I opened the door and you were sitting at the table drinking a beer. The ash on your cigarette was long and threatening to add more to our room damage charges. Your eyes seemed to look straight through me. "Hey babe, you okay?" Now you gained focus and looked straight at me. I did not know what to expect. Your face was as unmoving and pure as alabaster. You never even blinked as you stood up, put your hand on the back of my neck, and pulled me towards your lips. As we kissed, I felt like I had never had a kiss in my life. When you broke the kiss and pulled away you locked on my eyes and said, "What's the next move babe?" I explained as you presented me with packed bags. "I knew you would do the right thing." You then proceeded to pack the Jeep. When I was done with Brian we headed out. God bless him, he must have liked us. He didn't charge us for half the damage that our fireworks caused. As I pulled out of that tight garage and steered back onto 66, I wondered if I would ever see this again. It didn't matter at that moment though. I was too distracted by you. The cut off' jean shorts you were wearing gave my eyes a large expanse of your perfect legs. I put my hand on your knee. You wasted no time grabbing my hand and putting it on the fringes of your shorts. Your milky thigh in my hand I hit the pedal on the right and sped towards the next time I could give you my full attention.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Kisses on the wind 3

I woke up with a jolt. My eyes focused on a ceiling and it took me a minute to realize where I was. So many nights in the tent and now I was in a bed. As the memories from last night started arranging themselves I felt my initial panic melt away. I could feel a ridiculous grin form on my face as I slid my hand to your side of the bed. The grin was lost quick when my hand found nothing more than sheets. I sat upright and looked over. You weren't there. I felt dizzy. I got up and saw your bag on a chair. I opened the door to the garage and the Jeep was still there. I went out the front door and was greeted by the dry heat. Shit! Where are you? I made my way around to the front of the motel and the owner came out and said good morning. "Morning", I replied though it could have been the afternoon for all I knew. My clock was out of whack and the bright Western sun was not helping. "You okay?" he asked. "Um, yeah. I guess. I don't know where the girl I came with is". "Oh, your girlfriend walked down the street about an hour ago". He then introduced himself and started asking about our trip and such but my mind was in a buzzing haze. My girlfriend? I knew that was not the case but felt good to hear it. I started to wonder if I was still asleep as I strained my eyes down the road in the direction he said you had gone. I knew I was not still asleep when I caught sight of that Tangerine summer dress of yours. It seemed like you were adding humidity to our dry surroundings as you strolled up that street. It appeared to me that there was a slight mist surrounding you. I stuttered something to the guy and started walking towards you. I must have still looked lost because as I neared you, you said, "What's wrong baby?". "Nothing. Just didn't hear you leave and....". You just smiled and handed me a take out cup of coffee. "Here babe. You were resting so easy and I thought you might need the extra rest and a bit of caffeine". You put your hand on me, leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "After all, you were a bit of an animal last night". You cracked yourself up while grabbing my hand and lead me back to the Blue Swallow. On the walk back the night replayed in my mind. My grin started creeping back in. By the time we passed the owner, my face was sore from the silly grin that was plastered on it. "Ha! You look better Patrick. Glad you found your girl!" My girl? Again my head was spinning. You just tightened your grip on my hand and pulled me into the room. It felt surreal as I watched your hips twitch underneath that Tangerine smock. The old GE black metal fan on the desk whirred away. I stood there stiff as I wondered what the next move was. As you went out the garage door I wondered if it was time to move on. You came back in and put Thunder Road on my portable. No. Not time to move on just yet. You let the Tangerine fall to the floor and I had no need for the silly cup in my hand. I put it down and realized I had the fever.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Kisses on the wind part 2

I wasn't sure where we were heading. I knew our plan of camping all the way across was on hold. After I read the sign in New Mexico saying we couldn't build a fire, couldn't use a propane stove, could not smoke unless we were in our vehicle with the windows rolled up. That was enough for me. The drought that was strangling the south west was turning our camping into an adventure in misery. Flip the page, change the story. On to old 66 seemed the way to go. Let's slow this thing down and make the most of it. Luckily that last job in New York padded the wallet in case of an emergency. This might not have seemed like an emergency to most but it seemed pretty dire to me. I was not going to blaze past scenery just to get to the coast and escape the drought. Let's take 66 and stay in some iconic motel's from another time. You didn't even grumble as I changed course. You kicked off your sandals and put your pretty feet on my dash. The miles seemed effortless. Funny how distance has no meaning when you don't care where or how long it takes to get someplace. I reached over and ran my hand through your tangled hair as we came into the first town. You woke up and shouted, "Hooray! That is the real deal! Sonic kiss my ass!" We rolled past the old drive up joint and smiled. I stopped and got us a shake and left a twenty on the counter. I was ready for a beer, not a shake but felt the need to keep that register ringing. The chains out on 40 were bleeding the locals on 66 dry. Not on my watch fuckers. Before we knew it the town was in the rear view and scrub weed and sand were all we could see. We rode a decent stretch before we had cause to slow down again. The sun was beating us up pretty bad and we both felt an escape was necessary. Like a dream the little mom and pop places started appearing. We rode through gazing on a living museum. I felt the need to soak it all in. I just didn't know where to start. I reached for the lighter and when I looked up there it was. A perfect neon sign. The Blue Swallow was on our right. I jerked the wheel and slowly crunched along the asphalt to the entrance. A 66 Stingray was sitting under the over hang. The sign promised phone, TV, and garage. Garage? Yep every room came with a garage. I walked into the office expecting the place to be cost prohibitive. I walked out with a key to room 6. I asked the guy if you could really use the garage. Yep. Most people don't because they are small, but you are welcome to it. I carefully backed into the tight space and entered the room from the garage. You had already made a drink in a plastic cup and had discovered that the windows rolled out with little effort from an old crank. Sitting there with your feet on the windowsill, I felt like I was stumbling onto something that did not belong to me. I was right of course, but looking at those beautiful legs I knew I had to at least borrow you for a bit.