On my way to the Hotel, I stopped at a mini-mart in the small town of Pantano. While waiting to pay the cashier for my bottle of Mountain Dew Code Red, I couldn't help but overhear the conversation this young lady was having on her cell phone. I didn't get the whole story, but from what I could tell, she was discussing some common "friend" who was currently on trial. She said stuff like "Don't talk to any lawyers, 'cause their just tryin' to dig up any dirt they can find on him," and "They say he shot her twice, but I don't believe nuthin' they say." I really wanted to inquire about the story, but figured I should just give her her distance.
Then it was off to Benson. Since it was getting unbearably hot, I decided to actually bike the last leg shirtless (the ladies on I-10 sure got a treat that afternoon). While hanging outside of a Taco Bell waiting for check-in time at the Motel 6, an independent truck driver named Ed stopped to ask questions about me and my bike. He said he admired my courage and my sense of adventure. In return, I told him how I admired the stamina and strong-will of independent truck drivers (especially during last year's gas crisis). He simply waved his hand and said that Jesus provides him with whatever he needs to make it in the world. Then he asked me if he could buy me lunch, or at least a Coke. I thanked him but graciously declined his offers.
So, I've now biked over 700 miles so far on this trip. And more miles are to come. CLICK HERE to see a full-color map.
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Ed: Goin far?
ReplyDeleteWF: No just a coupla miles. I'd a walked there if my dogs wasn't pooped out.
Ed: Lookin' for a job?
WF: No, my old man's got a place. Forty acres, he's a sharecropper but we been there a long while.
Ed: Oh. Been doin' a job?
WF: Yeah.
Ed: I seen your hands. You been swingin' a pick or a sledge. That's what makes em shiny, I notice little things like that all the time. Got a trade?
WF: Whyncha get at it, buddy.
Ed: Get at what?
WF: You know what I'm talkin' about you been goin' over me ever since I got in, why doncha ask me where I been.
Ed: I don't stick my nose in nobody's business.
WF: Aw, not much!
Ed: I stay in my own yard.
WF: Big nose o' yours been goin' over me like a sheep in a vegetable patch. Well, I ain't keepin' it a secret. I been in the penitentiary. Been there four years, anything else you wanna know?
Ed: Well ya aint gotta get sore.
WF: Go ahead and ask me anything.
Ed: I didnt mean nothin'.
WF: Me neither, I'm just tryin' to get along without shovin' anybody that's all. See that road ahead? That's where I get out. ... You're about to bust a gut to know what I done, aintcha? Weell, I ain't a guy to letcha down. ... [to be continued]
What is the thing?
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