To get to Tucson, we took the high road, through the mountains. The speed limit was an impossibly fast 75 miles per hour, much too fast for the creaking two-lane interstate. I tried to keep a modicum of self-respect but even moving vans were passing us.. "Babe, you ok? Your eyes are getting really small!" Of course, she asked me this after waking from a short, deep nap. What did she expect? Two red-eye flights and hours of sandy monotony were taking a toll.
I kept an eye on the gas but let the needle tick down to an eighth of a tank before getting serious. It's this same stubborn procrastination that keeps me from visiting the dentist or doing my Chinese homework. The line at the gas station was dozens of cars long. When we got closer to the pumps I noticed nobody was pumping - cars were parked with nobody around. Later, I understood why - the credit card software was malfunctioning and the scared staff of youngsters were on the verge of tears.. I didn't think for a moment "this shit would never happen in Singapore." Honest, it didn't even cross my mind. Ever resourceful, the Dodo dipped into her wad of cash and prevented my full meltdown.
When I lived in the desert of inland San Diego I was bitten on the knee by a spider. It was so bad that I had to go to the hospital to get it drained. So, when I saw this sign at a rest stop I stayed right where they told me to. A minute later a man with a large mustache walked his fidgety dog right past the sign. I hoped to see a large snake surprise him from behind, wrap and strangle him slowly to death. We had a late lunch of tacos in Phoenix, followed up by some ice cream at a place called Mary Coyle. The servers were dressed like Amish and wore smiles that were overly enthusiastic for the circumstances. It was as if they'd been talked into moving west by their charismatic leader.but ended up as slaves, serving ice cream against their will. He was probably in a back room monitoring them on closed circuit television.
By the time we arrived on Jenny's block it was getting dark. We'd been on the road for about seven hours. I wondered if a blood clot was about to shake loose from my calf and dive head first into a heart valve. To say that Jenny lives in Tucson is like saying I live in Bangkok. She's so far on the southeastern edge of the city that all that stands between her back door and Mexico is a few thousand coyotes.
We got an extraordinary welcome. Pumpkin cake and hugs all around. After two and a half days we'd finally made it.
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