Chapter 21; On to Houston
Musical theme: Jessiluna by Thalia
Dave laid down in the sleeper, and Tabs got up on top of him. He petted her. Jainie took off out of the truck stop.
“She isn’t getting any of my attention, is she? Why don’t you sit up here with me?”
Dave got in the passenger seat. He put the belt on loose, and laid over with his head in her lap. Tabs jumped up on him. He petted her. “You’re jealous of the cat?”
“Maybe I am.” She ran her hand over his face.
“I’m traveling with a woman who gets stared at by every man who sees her, and she’s jealous of her own cat.”
“I’m insecure. Marcie is more insecure. It has nothing to do with how many prospects you may have. It’s about when you have what you want, and you are worried that somehow you will lose it.”
“All Marcie has to do is pick a nice guy out of her millions of admirers, treat him like a prince, love hell out of him. He won’t want someone else.”
“She would never believe it.”
“Even if it’s true.”
“That has nothing to do with it.”
“And even you. You think I am going to find someone else.”
“I’m afraid you will.”
“Well, first of all, I love you, so I’d be sort of reluctant to cut your heart out. But secondly, what would I want? I’ve already got a beautiful woman. I’ve already got one who treats me like a prince. I’ve already got one who is great to talk to, with all kinds of clever, amusing things to say. What would I want?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, there is nothing left. You are everything I want, I love you, and I’m not going to leave you.”
“Not even for Tabs?”
“Not even for Tabs.”
He ran his hand up her. “This satin feels nice.” He found her breast. “You know, Tabs doesn’t have anything like this.”
She giggled. He undid a few of the buttons. He slipped his hand in. “We shouldn’t do sex play while you’re driving.” He fondled her a little.
“OK, then don’t. We can save it for when we have this thing parked for the night.”
His fingertip found her nipple.
“Dave, stop that.” “I could go off the road or something.”
“OK. When we’re parked for the night, you can remind me to do that.”
“You’re going to need to be reminded?”
“Of what?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“OK, I’ll play with Tabs.”
“She needs someone to play with her.”
Dave got Tabs going in a game of “I’m going to flick your ear and you don’t like it so you pretend to claw my hand.”
“She’ll do that all night.”
“Well, at least for a while.” He said.
“She will lose interest if you are not frisky enough.”
“Or if I get too rough. Some cats get much more violent than she does. You never have met Dan, at the Big Bird Hardware store?”
“No.”
“Dan draws blood in these games.”
Dave and Tabs were mock threatening each other. He moved with his hand, and she moved with her paw, he withdrew, and did it again.
“Sparring. She’s practicing her predatory skills with you.”
“Right. Or sparring for fun. But the main point is her predatory skills, like kittens chasing mama cat’s tail.”
“Just like lions.”
“But what’s the most dangerous predator that ever existed on the planet?”
“Hmm. T. Rex was pretty scary.”
“How many rounds of 20 mm AA could T Rex take in the head?”
“One round of Twenty mike mike would blow the engine out of this truck, wouldn’t it?”
“Sure.”
She ran her hand over him. “I guess I’m petting the most dangerous predator right now.”
“If T. Rex existed today, we would either take steps to protect him, or he would end up as hamburgers.”
“It took us a long time to develop firearms.”
“Clovis man killed mammoths with flint spearheads. 15 thousand years ago, or maybe a little more recently.”
“You’re saying stone age man could have exterminated the dinosaurs?”
“Yes.”
“So?”
“Evolution has created predators of increasing power, and it ran into the asymptotic predator. The one that can destroy everything, and likely will.”
“What will happen?”
“Ask a mathematician about global ecology? Ask a climatologist about global warming and they tell you that a few degrees of warming, most of which happened before WWII, shows that the oceans will rise, and so on. That’s a half century trend. The whales have been taken mostly to extinction in less time than that. The blue whale, the largest thing that ever lived on the planet, may be too scarce to reproduce. The sperm whale, maybe the biggest predator that ever lived on the planet, is close to extinction.
“We have set things into motion that we don’t understand. It’s already too late for most decisions to be made, and we are not going to stop our petty bullshit to make the ones that count now.”
“What kind of cats should we get?”
“Shorthairs, for sure. Longhairs get too much crap in their fur, and they are not so smooth to pet.”
“Do you want to get them fixed?”
“I suppose a new generation of kitties needs to happen. Maybe we breed selectively, fix most of them, but not the best ones. If Tabs isn’t fixed, she should have a litter.”
He petted the cat, who purred loudly. She was done with the games.
“The cattle at the Texas ranch are a mixed bag of tricks. Lots of junk. Why don’t we get a good bull, and a bunch of heifers, and start a good herd?”
“We could take some to Wyoming if we had good stuff. Although they say Brahmins do better in Texas, and maybe that is not so in Wyoming.”
“Do you have any you think are anything much?”
“No.”
“Let’s sell off the Texas cows. Prices are good. Let the grass grow. We’ll get some good breeding stock in the next year sometime. I like Brangus.”
“OK.”
“Go to sleep. I have another 4 hours in me. Then you can run some.”
He went to the sleeper.
“Wake up Dave.”
“Where are we?”
“A truck stop.”
He put his shoes on, and they went in and ate. She paid for some fuel, and he brought the truck around. He parked it. She got in and put up the curtains. She got undressed, and so did he. “You know what it’s time for, Dave.”
* * *
She bustled about the truck. “I’m really happy this morning, Dave. The sex was great, but it was the cuddle that put me in this mood.”
She was wearing her black boots, white iridescent stockings, and a short black patent leather dress with a halter top. Her hair was down, brushed out. It shone beautifully in the morning light. Dave had stopped trying to figure out how she did it.
They went into the truck stop and got breakfast. Dave ate his oatmeal and scrambled eggs.
“We could make Houston by 7 pm. If we do, we can unload and head back to Big Bird tonight.”
“I’m so up, I want to drive for a few hours. Can you and Tabs sleep? Then you can take it for ten, and we’re there.”
“Let me take it now.”
“OK.”
A guy who was probably on drugs, came by, and looked at Jainie. “Hey, baby, whst hspn?”
“I’m eating breakfast with my husband.”
“Wsi aht?”
He staggered away.
“Once we unload in Houston, I want to go to Texas. Play with the lathe, and then we can take those cows to auction.”
“We can auction them in Satellite. 15 miles.”
She got on her cell and called the auction. She got the information she needed. “OK, we can sell there. I have to do reserve, so we have to be there. We’re good on time.”
“Reserve?”
“I refuse to sell if the price does not go high enough. Dave, I know all about this stuff. Don’t worry.”
“You speak bezeebedob”
“I understand it.”
They finished, filled the big coffee cup, and went back to the truck. Dave took the wheel, and started chewing up miles to Houston. Jainie got impatient after a couple of hours, so he let her take the wheel and went back to the sleeper. He took his shoes off, and laid down.
Tabs got on him and started kneading. He put up the restraints.
“Dave, there has been an accident.”
“We hit someone?”
“No, not us.”
He put on his shoes and took the passenger’s seat. Traffic was stopped. He put his belt on. “Do you want me to drive?”
“I’m all right.”
They came to the scene. “Don’t look, Jainie.”
There was what looked like a bundle of rags off the shoulder. Someone who had not been belted in, and had been ‘thrown clear’, dead as they almost always were. Dave cursed silently the people who propagate the myth that you can be ‘thrown clear’. There was a car upside down on the right. Dave watched the troopers in case Jainie lost her focus. They waved the truck through. They came out of the scene, and back to the highway. She speeded up gently.
“They follow too close, and get in these little packs, wanting to go faster than the one in front. Then something happens, and they don’t have reaction time, so they all get involved.”
Jillian took the next exit, and pulled into a truck stop. They went in. Dave ordered pancakes, and they shared them, Jillian not eating much.
“Jillian, do you want to go cuddle?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s eat these pancakes. Then we’ll take a few hours of time out.”
The waitress, having heard they had a cat, gave them some sausages that had been sitting around. They tipped as usual, and went out to the truck.
Tabs ate the sausages while Dave caressed Jillian. He pulled her on top of himself, and massaged her back. When that was done, Tabs came and found her way under the blanket and they all went to sleep.
Dave awoke to the sound of the truck moving out.
“Dave, I saw more of that than you wanted me to.”
“Are you all right?”
“You have, I suppose seen a lot worse.”
“I’m not going to talk about that.”
“Why? We don’t have secrets.”
“This is not a secret. It’s about things that injure you when you see them. Things you should never see or hear of.”
“Sond told me about some pretty ugly things.”
“No. He wouldn’t.”
“What have you seen that is so bad?”
“War.”
“I saw…”
“Don’t describe it. You’re very verbal. You will remember things you have described. You need to let this memory get fuzzy and unclear.”
“Post traumatic stress.”
“Combat vets have it.”
“Your irritability. Your violent proclivities. Your intolerance.”
She took an exit and parked off the pavement at the on ramp. She went back and took him in her arms. She burrowed in. “It isn’t you. It isn’t me. You’ve been hurt.” He held her for a while. Then he got up and took the driver’s seat and headed on south.
“You know why I like to drive when something upsetting happens?”
“Your experience.”
“Because I know I can function, and you may not. There are people who are so hardened that they just don’t care any more. But not many. Denis Davis is not like that. Maybe only sociopaths ever get there. The rest of soldiers hold it in so they can function, and it sort of oozes out. I don’t mean just the sight of blood kind of thing. I can look at a dead guy, and it doesn’t bother me. I’ve seen a lot of dead guys. But the real bad stuff does not go away. I didn’t want you to look because I don’t want you to learn to function by putting those things away in a place you can never get rid of them.”
“Now let’s stop thinking about those things.”
“That isn’t how it works. You can stop thinking about them for now, and later, they come back. Some people think you can talk them out, and if you want to talk to me about yours, I’ll give it a try. You will never go in my little house of horrors.”
“You can try to help me, but I can’t try to help you.”
“Let it rest, Jainie.”
“We don’t have cat food.”
“We should. There is nothing wrong with her eating sausages and stuff, I don’t think. But if she is hungry and we don’t have anything, we should have some cat crackers. Get a couple of ½ gallon storage jars, and keep it around for when she doesn’t have anything better.”
“I’ll ask for a plastic jar like they put maraschino cherries in. Get someone to put their cherries in a Tupperware to help us out, and tip them $100. Or we could just buy our own Tupperware things.”
They laughed. He took an off ramp for a business district, and there was a supermarket there. He went around and found a place to put the truck behind the store. Tabs got out and peed, and went back in, and they closed up the truck and went in the store. Dave bought the lunch stuff, and then they went and looked at cat food, and picked up a small bag, then saw the Alley Cat brand in a plastic jar, and took that instead. The store had a little deli, so Jainie was able to fill her coffee cup. Dave bought coffee and a jug of water and filters for the 12 volt coffeemaker. He got some sliced turkey, pepperoni, tomatoes, pepper jack cheese, and a head of red leaf lettuce. He got some fried chicken and corn, some butter, and a sandwich he intended to share with Jainie once he had put the Chinese mustard and Best Foods mayonnaise on it.
They went in a thrift shop in the same strip mall, and Dave bought a dish washing tub, and some small plates, knives, forks, and spoons. He found a couple of books and music cds and a couple of movies.
They got back in the truck, and he stowed the stuff they had bought. Jainie took the driver’s seat and took off. Dave got in the sleeper. Tabs sat with him. He fell asleep.
“Dave, wake up. Right away. We’re in the middle of the road, and there is no way I can do this.”
He put on his shoes, and got out of the truck. Cars were honking their horns. There was a guy pointing at the truck, and waving him into a narrow drive. He waved and took the driver’s seat. He backed across three lanes of traffic and into the tiny driveway. He got out to see what the rest of the backing would be like. The tractor was still sticking out a little into the traffic lane. The drive was clear, but only a few inches wider than the trailer.
“Where do you want the rig?”
“All the way back, but they didn’t leave us space.”
“ I could probably put it there, but it’s easier to drive the cars, uh?”
“Yeah, much. Let’s just get your tractor out of the road.”
Dave got back in, while a bunch of morons honked their horns because he was blocking four feet of a twelve foot lane, and they had six foot cars to get past him. He pulled back until he had space to open his door and to operate the controls of the trailer. Someone was honking because the front of the truck was in the parking lane.
“You all right, driver?”
“Yeah.”
“They are just like that here. If you’ll drop the ramp, the salesmen can park the cars. Well, maybe they can.”
“Sorry, my wife just woke me up. We can drive them, or your salesmen. We’re insured for our liability, so you can do as you like. Parking the cars is part of what I expected to do for you.”
“She’s your wife?”
“Yeah.”
“Can she drive, too?”
“Sure. She is a Class A commercial driver. She drives the truck. Anything that has wheels on it.”
“I want to squeeze these into some hard spots.”
“She’s slimmer than me. Jainie? Could you get a car on the ground?”
She ran the ramp down, and dug in the keys. She pulled the first car out, and pulled it back about 50 feet, leaving it idling. She went for the second one. Dave and the sales manager got in the first car, and Dave took it back according to directions, and the manager got out to wave him into a spot that was not really large enough. He parked it an inch from the next car on the right and got out.
They walked back in. “She’s pretty good?”
“Yeah. Probably better than your salesmen.”
“Don’t start me. I’m sure she is. Let her unload a few for us for my really bad spots, and she can drive the rest in. These guys scratch a lot of fenders.”
“The red one?”
“The yellow one.” They got in, and Dave backed around the car behind, taking dust off a parked car. “Up by where we just were?”
“Yeah. First empty spot in that same line.”
Dave jammed it on and backed up to the spot. “Get out, or you’ll have to climb over the center.” The manager did, and Dave shot into the spot, and stopped. He handed the manager the keys.
They went back to the truck, but it was empty. Dave ran up the ramps and secured everything. Jainie came down. “Your hands have the keys, you have the papers. Are we done?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You have 4 salesmen here, and yourself, so this should split pretty well.” She handed him $200.
“What is it for?”
“We give money away. Some people call it tips.”
Dave took the truck to the next truck stop, and parked. They put up the curtains, and Jainie set about seeing if she could get what she wanted, or failing that, some nice caressing and cuddling. Had the gentle reader done as she would not have, and listened at the truck, she would have heard evidence that whatever Jainie got that evening, she liked it.
Chapter 22: From Houston back to Big Bird
Musical theme; Say that You Love Me by Fleetwood Mac
They went in the truck stop for breakfast. They went to the drivers’ table, and Dave held out the chair for her. She gave him a big smile. She was wearing her black boots, some stockings with embroidery like figures on them, and a pleated linen skirt, with a fuzzy sweater.
She brushed her hair back a little with her left hand, her ring clearly in sight. She was happy and frisky. When the waitress came, she ordered coffee, and said “My husband wants about ¾ of an inch of milk in his.”
They took their menus.
A slim black man on the other side said “The best thing is their big breakfast.”
Dave looked at it on the menu. “Looks like you’re right.”
They set their menus down, and Jainie caught the waitress’ eye. She came over, and Jainie asked for two big breakfasts. She decided Dave would have English muffins, and they would both have their eggs scrambled. He would have a milk, and could he have French fries instead of the grilled potatoes? Did they have salt free Tony’s? Sliced Jalapenos? OK then, Louisiana hot sauce.
The black man smiled. “You sure are fussy about what he wants. I’m Maurice. I’m a heavy hauler. If you saw the track laying crane in the back lot, that’s me. This girl here is my lead truck driver, Silly.”
“You let them call you ‘Silly’?”
Silly was a tiny brunette with a bob cut and flashing black eyes. “Silianivestriana Dellapena-Lopez Urgilla. Yes, I let them call me ‘Silly’.”
Jillian spun her card across the table. “We might need some heavy hauling done. I’m taking him to an auction.”
“What are they auctioning, Jainie?”
“What I want is a D-9. Don’t bother me about my toys. I already know the boys don’t want it, but I do.”
Maurice held out a card, looking from one to the other.
Dave motioned to Jainie. “She’s the businesschick.”
A guy down the table said “She wears the pants.”
“I wear the skirts and the negligees you aren’t going to see. My husband wears the overalls.”
Maurice handed his card to Jainie. “I’m unloading in Houston. Where is your auction?”
“Huntsville. Tomorrow.”
“I’ll call you when I put the crane on the ground. You going North?”
“To Big Bird. With or without the cat.”
They left the truck stop, and Dave took them to Huntsville. They got in the sleeper and cuddled. Dave fell asleep, and she woke him in the morning. She was wearing a frock and ballet slippers. Her ‘please underestimate me’ outfit. She took him into the auction. The D-9 attracted little interest. She calmly bid the starting price of 94 thousand. She sat down, and nobody else bid. She went to the cashier desk. She wrote a check. She called Maurice, who came in a few hours with Silly.
Maurice loaded the 9 in reverse with a big slam. He put it where the weight would be right, and shut it down. He chained it down with some massive chains that looked too heavy for him to throw around. “I’m gonna have to put your 9 on a Cat scale and make sure my weight is right, but it will be. I’ve hauled nines before. I’ve gotten away with charging more, though.”
“You’re saying my businesschick drives a hard bargain.”
He smiled. “I shudder to think what you came up with to get her.”
“Everyone in business has this one thing they just have to have. When it comes to that, they pay whatever they have to.”
“That would be Silly for me. She never goes to church, but I should be a Catholic.”
“So get baptized. Go to confession and tell the priest you’ve been bad, but you had to have the girl. Give to the poor. Buy her a nice dress every year and go to mass with her on Christmas. You’d better do it soon, because otherwise some Tejano will grab her. Beautiful Spanish girls go fast around here.”
Jainie was behind him. “Maurice, you would hardly believe all the women who want my mathematician. You’d better get serious about this real soon.” She turned, and saw Silly standing there.
“Ask her right now, Maurice. Tell her you will do anything for her. Whatever she wants. You’ll join the Church. Anything.”
Silly walked over to Maurice. He got on one knee, and held her. She was so little that his head was against her bosom. “I will, Maurice.”
Jainie nodded. “I have a ring for you. I don’t believe in dealing with the diamond criminals. It’s a violet transparent sapphire. There is a wedding band, too. I’ll have them resized.”
Silly threw her arms around Jainie. When she let go, they went to their rigs. Silly took off with Maurice behind her. Jainie put up the curtains. “Time for a cuddle.”
“We threw the spark in the right spot, didn’t we, Jainie?”
“Let’s hope.” They took their clothes off, and got in the sleeper.
She burrowed in. “I didn’t expect you to be ready this soon, but I wanted to be warm with you.”
“Are you warm?”
“Oh, I’m really feeling good.” She pulled him tighter and burrowed in some more.
“This is one of those moments where people say they wish it could last forever.”
“But you wouldn’t want that really.”
“No, but I want it to last a while. Hold me.”
* * *
Dave woke to the truck moving. She was on the way again. He put his clothes on, and got in the passenger seat, belting in. Tabs got on his lap. He started running his finger around her head, and she began acting like she was trying to bite the finger, never using any force.
“Billy and Harlan will be there to load the cows. Harlan says we can get them all in one load.”
“We should put them on the payroll, full time. They have to go to Wyoming if we want. Neither of them has a girl, do they?”
“No.”
“Why are so many people alone?”
“The modern world is cruel and lonely. West Texas, the pretty girls graduated from high school, and either married their high school sweetheart or left. Even the plain ones have been picked over. There is not much left.”
“Billy and Harlan are going on the payroll, and if I can work it, they’re taking two of those midnight blue pickups down to New Orleans, and entertaining my cousins. I’m assigning Harlan to Marcie, because he knows how to handle mean animals. Billy will treat Danielle like the delicate little Southern Belle she thinks she is.”
“I think you’re right, Jainie. Billy isn’t qualified to handle anything like Marcie.”
They switched places, and she got on the phone. Her offers of full time high paid employment were accepted the way a cat accepts a cocktail shrimp. When she called her cousins, there was no schedule problem there, either. Marcie explained that if this guy was going to bring her a new truck, she would like that, and since Jillian was financing a couple of days of eating in nice restaurants, drinking and dancing and all, it sounded great, but what if this Harlan got out of line and assaulted her? “Marcie, I will let him know that if he does that, Dave will kill him.” Marcie, who knew that Dave would kill him, was reassured. Danielle was happy to be told that Billy was “A nice guy and kind of cute.” And she asked no more. Jainie choused Dave into the sleeper, and he sle