Roadside Bodhisattva Part 2

Her voice was nice but neutral, without a lot of energy. She had some kind of way of talking I thought maybe showed she came from California.

"What can I get for you two?"

Sid said, "Well, now, that depends on what your fine establishment offers. Any chance of us snagging a couple of menus?"

The waitress sighed, and brought us stained laminated menus from the counter.

"Thank you very kindly, darling."

She rolled her eyes and made a point of digging out her pad and pencil and holding them poised like she was in a hurry. I wanted to rush my order, but Sid deliberately made a big deal of taking his time and studying the menu, so I did the same.

"Lets see now. Is the hash homemade?"

"Do I look like the chef? How should I know?"

This smart-mouthing brought a response from the lady behind the counter.

"Yasmine! Show some respect, please!"

Yasmine sighed deeply again and said, "Ill ask. Sonny! Did you make the hash?"

The skinny chef turned around. His face was all sad big eyes and beaten-down weariness. His nose was a large blade of flesh too big for the rest of his wimpy features. But he smiled when he answered, "Fuh-fresh today!"

Sid appeared pleased beyond all measure. "Excellent! Ill have four eggs over easy, the hash, and a stack of waffles."

Yasmine swiveled on me.

"Uh, the same."

"And bring us a two orange juices, two ice-waters and a whole pot of coffee, honey. Dont forget a pitcher of sweet cream. We are two knights of the road with a mighty deep hunger and thirst."

Yasmine didnt bother to answer, but just turned to go. Sid wasnt done with her yet, though.

"And if you could warm up the maple syrup, darling, our tip might knock your nonexistent socks off!"

The coffee came first, and Sid dumped enough cream into his cup to float a battleship, then added enough sugar to sink one. I was used to coffee, but not the hot stuff. I used to have a frappacino every day after school. But after I doctored it up and took a few sips I got used to drinking it this way, and I figured it wasnt so bad.

Sid started talking about how many miles we might make today. He was kinda loud, and I was worried the normal people in the restaurant were looking at us. But then after a while I saw they werent really, and I relaxed. I guessed this place must get our kind of drifters fairly often, being situated on a fairly busy highway like it was.

When our breakfasts came all our conversation dried right up. That long morning walk had left me hungrier than a homeless dog. I broke an egg, forked off a hunk of waffle, soaked up some runny yolk and scarfed down almost more than I could chew. Sid was doing the same. The hash was super good, nothing fake, lots of real onions and potatoes in with the meat.

People left and one or two others arrived. The little chef guy kept busy, the nice older lady replaced a big empty cardboard container of milk in a dispenser with a full one and chopped vegetables for lunch, and Yasmine sat on a stool like a grouchy cafeteria monitor, admiring her nails.

We went through one pot of coffee and got another. By the time our plates were so clean that it was like an army of cats had licked them, I was flying high from the coffee. Sid didnt seem bothered one bit by all the caffeine. He slouched back in his seat, let out a mild burp, then closed his eyes.

That was the signal for Yasmine to tromp over and toss the check down on the table.

"Pay at the register," she ordered us real snidely, then went back to her seat. But the boss lady wasnt having any of her bad manners this time.

"Yasmine, go fill the dishwasher and get it going."

"Oh, all right!"

Yasmine stalked off to the back room where she had brought the dirty dishes. I couldnt see what she was doing, but she made such a racket it sounded like she was breaking half the plates and gla.s.ses she was supposed to be loading.

The older woman came out from behind the counter and right over to our table. I saw now that she had a lot of worry lines on her face. Or maybe, I hoped, some of them were laugh lines. Despite all her wrinkles, a small mole above her upper lip was kinda s.e.xy. She wiped her hands on her ap.r.o.n and smiled.

"How was everything?"

"Maam, if G.o.d had a favorite diner, this would be it."

Her smile got bigger, and she stuck out her hand. "Im the owner. Ann Danielson."

Sid took her hand. "Pleased to meet you, Ann. Im Sid, and this is Kid A."

Ann c.o.c.ked her head at me like she didnt quite understand. Once more I felt stupid about ever withholding my name from Sid. But I couldnt see any graceful way to reintroduce myself, so I just shook her hand and said, "Thats what I go by on the road."

"I see. You have a last name, Sid?"

"Sure do. Hartshorn."

"And what brings you two to the exclusive Deer Park Kitchen?"

"Pure chance, Ann. Kid A and I are blindly navigating our way with luck and pluck from one haven to another, and your fine establishment just happened to be one of the lifesaving beacons along our route. Could you tell us a little about this neck of the woods, by the way?"

"Well, Route One outside there runs from Cape Benefit to Lum-berton, and were about halfway between the two. The big rigs all take the freeway, so we dont see many of them. But theres plenty of local traffic, and some of the drivers are hungry and undiscriminating enough to stop here. My garage business consists mostly of pumping gas and fixing flats, but every now and then we get a transmission to repair or brake job."

"Got a fellow to handle that?"

Anns face got glum for some reason. "Uh-huh."

"How about the Motor Lodge end of your corporation?"

Ann grinned. "Well, you and I pretty much both know where that business comes from. And its not tired families on their way to Disneyland."

"Gotcha. Well, seems like you got a nice little business empire here."

"I suppose. But keeping it all going runs me ragged. Im about one man short of a full crew."

Sid smiled broadly. "Ann, sit yourself down and tell me about your woes. Kid A, take my pack onto your side."

Sid lifted his pack over the table to me, and I crammed it beside mine. Ann slid in next to Sid, and they began talking a mile a minute.

Their talk was pretty boring, and after a minute or so I didnt pay any more attention to what they were saying. My full stomach kept sending sleepy signals to my coffee-wired brain, and this tug-of-war between sleepiness and alertness sent me off into a kind of deep daydreaming. I thought about home, and the road and everything that had happened since yesterday. A lot of fantasy images of what Id encounter down the way today and tomorrow and the next day swam through my head.

Maybe I even dozed off a little. The next thing I knew Sid was shaking me.

"Wake up, Kid A! We got ourselves jobs!"

His words werent making any sense. "Huh? Jobs? What jobs?"

"Miss Ann needs a handyman. Thats me. And youre gonna be my a.s.sistant. Shes gonna put us up in that trailer out back. Meals included, and a little cash too. I said I didnt mind sharing quarters with you, as long as you didnt bash the bishop too often."

I squirmed out of the booth. "What the h.e.l.l are you talking about, Sid? What about the road?"

"Aw, pal, the roadll always be there. This is a chance to rest up a bit and help somebody at the same time."

Ann smiled hopefully at me. I felt like they were ganging up on me. I couldnt think straight.

"I just dont know, Sid. Im not ready to rest up yet. I havent been on the road for forty years like you. I just got started."

"But Kid A-"

"I need to clear my head," I said, and ran out the door.

I paced up and down the gravel under the noontime sun. What the f.u.c.k was going on here? How could Sid give up his freedom just like that? Even if any employment here was only temporary? What about sleeping out under the stars? "That which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night." That was what the Prophet said.

It had to be the woman. Sid was hot for Ann. He figured that taking this job would let him get into her pants. Or maybe he figured he could score with Yasmine. Or both of them!

Now I began to get p.i.s.sed. What kind of friendship was this? He had just gone right ahead and made this decision that affected both of us without even consulting me!

I marched away from the diner. Screw this! Id move on without Sid!

Then I remembered my pack was still inside. s.h.i.t. I kicked the gravel, slowed down and tried to figure out some no-ha.s.sle way to go back inside, get my stuff and tell him off.

My feet took me among the cabins. Then I ran out of steam, and plopped down on the corner of the low step in front of one doorway. I felt sad and sick.

Behind me the door opened and something snapped me sharply in the back of me head.

I jumped up.

A girl was shaking out a bedspread. She jumped back too.

"Oh, s.h.i.t, Im sorry! I didnt see you there."

I ma.s.saged the sore spot and said, "Thats cool."

The girl was more or less my age, maybe a little taller. She wore faded blue farmer jeans over a yellow shirt printed with flowers, and scuffed Doc Martens. She was kinda pudgy, with big b.o.o.bs. Her face made me think of Britney Spears at her fattest. Big blue eyes and tiny nose and short reddish-brown hair streaked blonde.

"Whatcha doing here?" she asked.

"Just hanging out while my friend talks with Ann back at the diner."

She balled up the bedspread and tossed it back inside the cabin. "Changing dirty sheets can wait. Time for my cigarette break." She stepped all the way outside, dug out a pack of Camels and lit up.

"Sit down again, and make some room for me. Smoke?"

"No thanks."

She shrugged. "Your loss. Im Sue. Anns my aunt."

"Oh yeah?"

"My folks sent me to live with her because they got sick of me."

"Whatd you do to p.i.s.s them off?"

Sue puffed, blew a cloud of smoke, then made a gesture like Who the f.u.c.k knows? "Nothing very radical. Hung out with friends they didnt approve of. Stayed out past my curfew. Smoked some dope and got caught. But to listen to them, youd think I slaughtered a whole gymnasium full of cheerleaders."

"Right. So, you still gotta go to school?"

"No way. I dropped out. Now I help my aunt with the Motor Lodge. We live in some rooms behind the office part. Its okay for now. But Ive got plans for later."

"Me too."

"Whats your name?"

Christ, here we go again. "Kid A."

Sue looked impressed, and I was really surprised. "Cool. Radio-head, right?"

I hadnt thought of that musical reference till this very minute. Sids joke actually tied in with something hip by accident. "Uh, right."

"So, whats your friend discussing with my aunt?"

"Whether me and him are gonna stay and work here."

"No way! That would be so fantastic! Theres no one here for me to hang out with."

"You think its a good idea?"

Sue grabbed my upper arm. Her face hovered just inches from mine, and I could smell her shampoo. "I think its an excellent idea!"

We talked some more until Sue finished her cigarette.

"Well, I gotta get back to work. Cabins gotta be clean for the next set of swingers. Hope to see you later, Kid."

I walked real slow back to the diner. Inside, Sid and Ann were still sitting side by side. They stopped talking and looked up eagerly at me.

"Ill give it a shot," I said.

h.e.l.l, even Ray and j.a.phy had stayed off the road and shared a cabin for a while.

The door to the rusting egg-shaped trailer had only one hinge that worked, the lower one. Sid had to heft the door upward in order to swing it open. But the crummy entrance to our new home didnt seem to discourage him at all.

"Thats ch.o.r.e number one for your new handyman, Ann."

Ann Danielson grinned a little nervously. "I hope youre not put off by the inside, Sid. No ones lived in this box for a year or more, since my old jack of all trades up and left on me."