Heading West_5

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin' 
I was layin' in bed 
Wondrin' if she'd changed at all 
If her hair was still red…

Kenny pushed on

As he weaved his tales of his morning escape, we kind of felt bad for him. I personally had no idea how marriage worked. It was a mysterious union  I planned on avoiding. It was inconceivable that married couples could disagree, compromise or end it with a divorce. Who knew love could go bad except in lyrics in singer songwriters we listened to. Lyrics like "Why does love have to be so sad" from the LP Layla came to mind. We were only hours into the ride and he revealed he was on the lam. He had left the scene of the crime in Harrisburg, PA. Now, the three of us were in the getaway car, and the rattly old VW engine was groaning out behind my back seat, and I held a greasy spare tire digging into my lap.

Not for long.

In the middle of the rainstorm, not two hours into middle Ohio, we moved through lightning around 45 mph in the slow lane. There was a BASH, and then we skidded out toward the right shoulder of the highway. The back of the VW on my side was flat on the ground back. Kenny got out, with Bob, and me looking for our tire that had fallen off the right side!  They now they had a reason to get the spare tire off my lap......the back right tire had just fallen off!

The tire had rolled clear and was out in a field somewhere. It was too dark to look for it. Kenny tried, but just cursed. So we picked up the back of the bug by the bumper and the wheel well, and Kenny slapped the spare tire, (my heavy companion) on the rim. He took one lug nut off each of the other three wheels, tightened them up, and said: "Let's get the hell out of here!" We made it to a rest stop, and he put air evenly in the tires, and tightened up the remaining lug nuts real good. We tanked up the gas, he checked the oil, and scratched his beard.

Kenny was the kind of guy you would share a bunk in Army boot camp, or bunk with in steerage on Ahab's Pequod.

At this point Kenny gave Bob the wheel,He moved over to the front seat, pulled out a mushy pillow from behind his driver seat. He proceeded to light a roach from the ash tray, and was quickly into a siesta. "Are you OK Bob?" Bob stared at the wipers and the Ohio thunderstorms. "Oh yea, he said. "I prefer driving, since I can't sleep in a moving car."

Bob was a monster. He drove through Ohio and Indiana. When the sun came up we crossed into Illinois. I slept through the night, snug as a bug, my thighs grateful that spare tire was back on the axle and doing its thing.

The right side of my head vibrated steadily on the passenger window, and six hours later,  I put my glasses on to see the western skies were a light powder blue. The sun was coming up on day 2 of of trip.