Tuesday, May 23 (Day 3)

I woke up again before my alarm clock had a chance to alert me of the morning's arrival.  It was pretty early but I really wanted to make a trip to the local Gold’s Gym to get one last workout in before succumbing to the road.  So I pulled myself out of bed and tip toed around the house careful not to wake Josh who was sleeping on the living room couch.  I snagged an apple out of the fridge then snuck out the door to retrieve my bike.

            I returned two hours later to find Josh had relocated from the couch to the twin bed I had vacated.  I tried to quietly gather my clothes without disturbing him but he must have sensed my presence.

            "I stayed up until six in the morning," he said.

            Needless to say, Josh had a late start getting out of bed.  By the time he left the house to finish the last of his errands it was already nearing noon and well past our projected departure time.  Tomo and I kept ourselves busy getting the trailer ready until there was nothing left to do but practice wheelies in the neighborhood street.

            "I feel like two kids waiting for our Dad to come home," Tomo said over his shoulder as he effortlessly pulled back on his handlebars, raising his front tire off the ground a good foot or so.

He made it look so easy.  All the air I could manage to get between my tire and the road was an inch or two and that only lasted about a second.  We circled the street in front of the adobe for another half hour or so while I tried my best to ignore the hunger that shook the walls of my stomach like an earthquake. 

Finally we saw Josh's maroon Dodge 3500 turn the corner and pull up to a stop alongside the house.  The bed of the truck was loaded up with boxes of lemon juice that we had to move into the garage.  We formed a daisy chain and passed them from one person to the next.  It reminded me of when I helped Erez move his ex-wife’s belongings out of his San Francisco apartment.

I wondered if he missed me.  He hadn’t called, so he probably got the hint that I dumped him.  I couldn’t introduce myself to people and I couldn’t say goodbye either. 

Oh damn well.  He was too hairy anyhow.  When my gay friend Patrick met Erez he took me aside and said, “You start dating that guy and I’ll never talk to you again.  I’ve never seen a guy so hairy in my life.”

Now I know to never date a hairy man ever again.  Yet another life lesson.

Once the boxes were snuggly packed in the garage Josh took us to a true desert gem by the name of Garcia’s where we dined on huevos rancheros with blue corn tortillas and sapodillas. 

            After lunch Josh still had some work things to address on the computer so he sent me and Tomo to wash the truck. 

"So, did you see yourself washing someone else's car for free?" Tomo asked me.

            "Well, no.  But I don't mind it really," I said.  "I know that probably sounds strange to you--but it definitely beats the alternative.  I would otherwise be sitting in a room without windows staring into the screen of a computer about this time on a Tuesday afternoon.  And to be honest, I’m actually having a lot of fun right now."

            “Is that right?” Tomo asked, as he put the truck into gear to take us back to the adobe.

           

Josh had wanted to leave Albuquerque before five o’clock.  Tomo said that was never going to happen and it turned

 out he was right.  It was past nine by the time our 30-foot caravan pulled off into the night.  We drove for about four or five miles before we realized dinner hadn’t 

been had yet and if we had any intentions on eating we’d better do it now.  So any further progress was put on hold as we exited the highway and came to a stop at a small pizza and pasta place at the far corner of a New Mexico strip mall parking lot.

            One small cheese pizza and a couple subs later and we were back in the truck ready for some serious traveling.  I entertained myself for a while stretching out in the backseat to read my newly purchased Stephanie Plum adventure but surrendered the effort when the lines got too fuzzy to focus on.  The urge to sleep won the battle. 

An indiscernible amount of time later I awoke to the sound of the truck pulling off the highway.  I sat up blinking my sleepy eyes recognizing that we were at a rest stop.  Everything I did from that point on was a daze.  I know I somehow managed to cart my pink Jansport backpack over to the rest stop facilities to wash my face and change into boxers.

I noticed on the way back to the trailer that we were in Safety, Texas.  At least I wasn’t going to be raped and/or robbed in the night.