he laughed. There was an undeniable chemistry between the two of them and he wanted to plan some alone time with her so badly.
“So, you know how I grew up in Ohio right?” Nathanial said.
“Uh, no,” she said. “I don’t really know anything about you…” Then this goofy grin took over her face as she glanced down at his crotch.
“Well…I mean I know some things,” she perversely added.
“Right,” Nathanial laughed and blushed. “Well…”
“You told me that,” Jimmy interrupted. “That you were from Ohio.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right, Jesus last night’s a blur. Thanks, Jimmy, anyway, I know of some great places in Ohio to camp out at. That’s a good place to take a break.”
“We’re not taking a break until we get to Ohio?” Clair said, of course in that negative tone of hers.
“Look at the map, Clair,” Nathanial said, trying to mind his tone. He didn’t want to make Clair even more upset. “I marked places I want to stop at, but as far as spending the night – yes, Ohio is a good spot for that. They have great campsites…” he glanced at Marisa. “Lakes…parks,” he said, trailing off.
She smiled. “Sounds great,” she stretched. “But we should eat first so we don’t starve to death before all that happens.”
“Oh you,” he said, crushing. “So fucking dramatic…what am I getting myself into?” Marisa smiled before looking away, out of the window. Then she noticed Clair’s hand dangling over her shoulder and the little note she was holding. Marisa tried to go unnoticed as she took it and read what it said:
JIMMY SMELLS LIKE DEAD FEET!!!!!!!!!
Marisa chuckled. She covered her nose like she’d sneezed and Jimmy gave Clair the stink eye. He looked frazzled and warranted. Marisa promised her eyes to the window once again, trying to keep her amusement tame. Nathanial glanced at her, wondering what was going on.
“Yo,” Jeremiah said, “Exit coming up, take it, gotta be some food involved.”
“Okay,” Nathanial responded. Everyone involved themselves in private thoughts for the next five minutes as Nathanial turned off the highway and followed signs to a cozy restaurant up ahead. It was a cabin huddled in the woods. Its wooden sign swung a little in a hard wind with the name of the restaurant etched into it, JOE’S AND MARY’S. The gravel lot was surrounded by a wooden fence.
“What is this?” Clair of course disapproved.
“It’s a restaurant, Clair,” Nathanial flatly responded. “I’m tired of everyone saying they’re starving.”
“Okay Café Grumpy,” Clair said before getting out of the van. Wow, it felt good to stretch. The noise of the city had long since dropped off and now they were here, nestled between trees. Everything felt unplugged. The trees were tall and bare. Clair couldn’t stop staring at them. Next to the restaurant was a gas station and deli. The deli looked like it was trying to be hip, like it wanted to be pals with the bodegas in East Williamsburg.
Nathanial walked up the steps to the wooden porch and pulled the door open. There was a cowbell on the door, which made Nathanial cackle at obnoxiously.
“Oh my god! That’s a cow bell!” he exclaimed. “I think we need more cowbell!” His Christopher Walken impression absolutely failed but it still drew a grin from Marisa.
A stunning little waitress approached them. She had long dark brown hair and brown eyes with a youthful sparkle. She was very petite and her face was such a gem it took Nathanial almost a minute to notice her giant tits. She was just so…
“Nathanial?” Clair said. “She asked where we wanted to sit.”
“Up…in the restaurant…” he said, at a loss because she was so adorable.
“Okay,” she smiled, and the dimple creased her cheek as she turned around and walked into the dark belly of the restaurant. Her tight black skirt hugged her nice supple bottom. Good god, Nathanial thought, this just wasn’t right. No one should be this hot!
She led them to the booth in the back and Clair was glad to be stored away from all the other people in the restaurant. People who weren’t New Yorkers tended to stare at New Yorkers.
“So my name is Tiffany,” the cute waitress informed as they got situated in the booth. Clair definitely wanted to be stationed between the wall and Nathanial. She marked the spot with her eyes and looked like she’d stab them all with a fork if she didn’t get to sit there.
“Welcome to Joe’s and Mary’s, a Mexican restaurant,” Tiffany said.
“Mexican?” Jeremiah responded, amused. He sat next to Marisa, so Marisa and Clair sit facing one another and he and Nathanial the same. Jimmy took a spare seat and sat at the end of the table, obviously still feeling like the outsider.
“Joe’s and Mary’s? That doesn’t sound Mexican,” Jeremiah said.
“Well it is, dude,” Nathanial said. “So deal with it.”
“I just…” Jeremiah was about to defend himself but Tiffany quickly and professionally interrupted.
“The owners are not Mexican but the cooks are,” she explained.
“Its fine,” Nathanial said. “We don’t care what it is, we’re just hungry. We’ve been on the road for a while.”
“Oh yeah? Where are you going?” Tiffany flashed a pristine smile. What was she? She looked Italian. Nathanial was so horny right now. “Up your skirt,” he wanted to respond.
“Oh…Los Angeles.”
Understandably, her jaw dropped and glimmering eyes widened.
“Los Angeles?”
“Yeah, we’re in a band,” he gestured to Jeremiah.
“Oh what kind of band?” she sounded a little shy then.
“Punk,” Nathanial proudly answered.
“Well that is cool,” she seemed to overwhelmed to say anything else. Jimmy meanwhile was devoting a thousand-yard stare to the table. Tiffany was standing next to him.
“It is very cool,” Nathanial said. “We fucking can’t wait to rock that little town.”
Clair stared at him, confused. He was talking like he was already famous and on some worldwide tour.
“Where are you from?” Tiffany asked.
“New York,” Nathanial said.
“Wow…” she stared at him for a minute, not knowing how to react to him.
“So Nathanial, this isn’t an interview with MTV. We need to order food,” Clair said.
Nathanial made sure to avoid looking at Clair and just ordered. “Can I just the steak burrito please?” he looked up at Tiffany from his menu. “And a Wolf’s Tooth Ale.”
“Of course,” Tiffany said, demure. Nathanial wanted to unfold her, bend her back, open her up, become engulfed by her smell and taste her until his tongue numbed. He just couldn’t get over her.
“I’ll get the…” Jeremiah studied the menu and flipped it over. Clair rolled her eyes impatiently.
“He’s too stoned,” Clair said. “I know what I want – two steak tacos and a Heineken.”
“Clair? You’re driving next,” Nathanial alerted.
“I can drive after one beer, Nathanial, fuck sake.” Clair handed Tiffany her menu. Tiffany’s eyes jumped around the group, wondering who was going to order next when she felt a hand on her ass. It ran up her left cheek and tried to go between her legs but she quickly stepped away. She was too stunned to speak. Jimmy put his hand back in his lap. During the groping, his expression never altered, his eyes remained on the table the whole time.
“That sounds good,” Nathanial said, closing his menu, oblivious to what just occurred. Tiffany grabbed the menu. Nathanial hoped for another smile from her but she took off.
“Uh…I didn’t get to order,” Marisa said.
“I’ll go tell her, what did you want?” Nathanial said.
“Avocado salad and a Wolf’s Tooth Ale? Thanks, Nathanial,” Marisa said. Clair stared at Marisa after Nathanial got up to chase down the waitress.
“You know why he wants to do that, right?” Clair said. “He thinks t
he waitress is hot.”
“She is,” Jimmy said. Clair rolled her eyes and sat back in the booth, repulsed.
“I think I just lost my appetite,” she muttered.
15 “This Is Like Some Hitchcock Place”
Damn he was going fast. This shit should be in a rap video or something. Josh rolled down the windows and howled. A mad man. You’re a madman.
“AHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” He cackled, looking out of the window for a minute at the beach. Then something attacked his car all of the sudden – covering the windshield completely and stealing his view of the road. He swerved, cursing this time instead of yelling joyously.
Thankfully there were no other cars out here so he managed to slam on the breaks without injuring anyone or anything.
Its just a tarp, relax. He sat there though, too afraid to get out of the car. Josh was a pretty tough guy, but he found himself suddenly scared. No one else was here, but he knew he was getting closer to The Black Rock. He felt a forebodingness creeping up and soon it would totally captivate just like this tarp. Oh calm down…where are your balls?
He got out quickly and ripped the tarp off the car, balled it up and tossed it aside where it would be out of the road. It was big enough that it had wrapped the car like a present. He figured it blew off one of the half-built houses that was never finished. He quickly looked around. He spotted the black sheet of an ocean on one side of him, and abandoned muddy lands on the other side where homes were supposed to have been built. Don’t look too hard, you might see something you’d rather not.
He got in the car and slammed the door and took a second to